Leigh Dodd
Archaeopress, £30
IBSN 978-1789696271
Review Nick Hodgson
This is a lucid and business-like report on developer-funded digs in the northern and eastern environs of the legionary fortress at Chester. It brings together work by various archaeological contractors, an initiative of synthesis to be applauded, and complements recent publication of work south and west of the fortress.
To the north, the sites reported produced sporadic evidence of occupation, but much of the area was used for the extraction of stone and clay in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. By the 3rd century, there was a cemetery, very close to the fortress. Along the road running from the east gate, there was more intensive buildup of mercantile strip houses, but the interventions here were smaller and in the backplots. The peak of activity was in the 2nd century, with much less later-Roman material found. This area produced an interesting (temple?) inscription (RIB 3152), which might mention the local magistrates.
This review appeared in CA 370. To find out more about subscribing to the magazine, click here.
