Research Items

Abstract

SOME ROMAN ANTIQUITIES.—Two articles in the Journal of Roman Studies (Part 1, vol. 10 for 1920) refer to antiquities in England. In the first, Mr. A. M. Woodward describes a decorative bronze Silenus mask found at Ilkley during excavations conducted by the Yorkshire Archaeological Society. This was probably used as a jug-handle, and that a bronze vessel so elaborate should be found at the quarters of an auxiliary cohort is at first surprising. But the site seems to have been long occupied, and the inhabitants included a civilian settlement. The vicinity of York, a great military station, may have led to the introduction of articles of luxury. In the second paper Mr. C. D. Chambers remarks that, although the Romans valued pigeon manure, it is strange that so few dovecots of that period have been discovered. Though octagonal foundations like those of medieval dovecots have been found at Great Witcombe and Stroud, rectangular dovecots, though probably numerous, cannot be identified with certainty, except where the pigeon-holes actually exist, as at Caerwent. If excavators were to look for dovecots rather than shrines, it is not unlikely that further evidence would be forthcoming.