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Sussex Archaeological Collections, 128, 141-156

A recent geophysical survey of the Roman fortress at Lake Farm, near Wimborne Minster, first discovered in 1959, has clarified the nature and extent of the site, a major base of the Legio II Augusta during the conquest of the Durotriges and other tribes of South-West Britain in the mid-40s AD. A reconsideration of the social context and landscape setting of the legionary fortress is presented here and the suggestion is made that it was quite probably the site of Isca, as noted by the Roman geographer Ptolemy

Sussex Archaeological Collections, 157, 125-132, The nature, and possible significance, of a bronze arm unearthed near Halnaker, West Sussex, sometime before 1970, is here considered in detail for the first time. The find, probably detached from a Roman statue in antiquity, was found close to Stane Street, the main road to London from Chichester, in an area of intensive Romano-British activity. It may represent part of a 1st- or early 2nd-century religious or imperial image, broken up for political or ritual reasons, or for scrap.

The Roman site of Frampton (Dorset) is something of an archaeological enigma. Discovered and first excavated in the 1790s (fig. 2), four rooms, all connected by corridors were found to contain high quality figurative Roman mosaics, one famously bearing the rare Christian Chi-Ro monogram and an even rarer inscription (fig. 1), These floors have been considered by some scholars to be part of a temple complex situated on a raised platform amid the water meadows of the river Frome. A scheduled ancient monument, the site is listed “Frampton Roman villa” (Historic England 2018), however, its position, right on the valley floor, made no apparent sense as a domestic structure, and the early plans suggested a series of isolated structures, convincing some archaeologists that it had a religious function. At the time of the excavations, the mosaics were considered to be some of the finest found in Britain, with King George III visiting on two occasions. The site was further investigated in 1903, but nothing was discovered to help understand the structure any better, and so the temple or villa question has remained unresolved.

In March 2003, it was noted that rabbit burrowing had uncovered possible human remains close to the centre of Race Down long barrow. In order to determine whether the bones were human and/or of forensic interest, the School of Conservation Sciences (now the Department of Archaeology, Anthropology & Forensic Science), Bournemouth University, carried out a limited investigation on behalf of Dorset Police and the landowner, Defence Estates. The spoil heap of the rabbit burrow was excavated and this process revealed other displaced human bones, including long bones. A human osteologist examined the recovered bones and determined that the burial was ancient. Based upon results of the initial investigation, Dorset Police concluded that, although the remains were human, they would not be carrying out a criminal investigation due to the antiquity of the remains. In March 2004, a small excavation team from Bournemouth University returned to the site to fully recover any in situ human remains, together with recording the burial context and stratigraphy. A wider topographic survey of the long barrow was also carried out. This paper reports on the results of this field survey and excavation.

Sussex Archaeological Collections, 154, 113-121, An extremely weathered marble portrait unearthed near Pulborough in 2008 is considered here in print for the first time. The find was made within an area of intensive Romano-British activity and, although the possibility of recent importation cannot be completely discounted, the likelihood is that it represents a genuine Roman portrait of the mid-3rd century AD, defaced and disposed of in antiquity.