Ritual, Rubbish and Retrieval: new approaches to Roman river finds

从王者之剑到尼伯伦根，被抛入水中的物品激发了诗意和通俗的想象力，从潮湿环境中发现的物品代表了一个主要的考古学研究主题。然而，在罗马时期，进步一直受到理论和方法问题的阻碍。我们的项目将结合德国学者和英国考古学家目前采取的方法，德国学者通常倾向于对罗马河发现(如垃圾处理或意外损失)进行理性解释，英国考古学家通常倾向于宣誓沉积。关于以前的工作，德国有区域概述，但英国没有，而英国申请者最近发布了第一份从Piercebridge发现的完整河流组合，并与附近定居点的发现进行了直接比较，突出了陆地和水中沉积的变化。我们将把Piercebridge所学到的经验应用到Trier，这是罗马世界最大和最重要的河流组合之一，Trier是一个主要的城市中心，有一系列有充分记录的桥梁。在低潮时期(20世纪70年代至90年代)，私人收藏家收回了数千件文物，但只出版了最壮观的作品，这是一种扭曲的解释。对于英国，我们将制作所有河流发现的第一份概览，探索改变河道的影响，与河流渡口的联系，并将选定的组合与陆地上附近的材料进行比较。我们将进一步将英国的河水材料与泉水和沼泽中的发现以及水神的分布进行比较。特里尔还提供了一个难得的机会，第一次检查收藏家的动机。对于所有时期的河流发现，关于打捞情况和发现者的信息很少。长期以来，德国的考古学家一直不信任业余考古者，因为一些考古学家提供的信息不可靠，甚至是伪造的，但英国考古学家经常与探测器密切合作，探索他们的动机和收藏偏见。我们已经获得了八位收藏家的许可，可以记录他们的发现，并记录他们在20世纪70年代“黄金潮”期间的做法和动机，并将其与目前泰晤士河上的“浑水”热潮进行比较。我们将开发一个新的、集成的方法和理论框架，以改变对罗马河发现的研究。该项目将揭示古代文物沉积、祈祷习俗和与过去景观的仪式接触的新情况，并制作一部详细的河流收集社会史--与所有考古时期相关的发现。

From Excalibur to the Nibelungen, objects thrown into water have exercised the poetic and popular imagination, and finds from wet contexts represent a major archaeological research theme. However, for the Roman period, progress has been hampered by both theoretical and methodological issues. Our project will bring together approaches currently taken by German scholars, who usually favour 'rational' explanations for Roman river finds (such as rubbish disposal or accidental loss) and British archaeologists, who generally lean towards votive deposition. Regarding previous work, there are regional overviews available for Germany but not for Britain, while the UK applicants recently produced the first publication of an entire riverine assemblage from Piercebridge in direct comparison with finds from a nearby settlement, highlighting how deposition on land and in water varied.We will apply lessons learned at Piercebridge to one of the largest and most significant riverine assemblages in the Roman world at Trier, a major urban centre with a sequence of well-documented bridges. Thousands of objects were retrieved by private collectors during periods of low water (1970s-90s), but only the most spectacular were published, skewing interpretation. For Britain, we will produce the first overview of all riverine finds, exploring the impact of changing river channels, associations with river crossings and comparing selected assemblages to nearby material on land. We will further contextualise the British riverine material by comparing it to finds in springs and bogs and to the distribution of water deities. Trier also provides an exceptional opportunity to examine, for the first time, the motives of collectors. For river finds of all periods, there is very little information on the circumstances of recovery and the finders. Archaeologists in Germany have long distrusted amateurs as some provide unreliable or even falsifying information but British archaeologists often work closely with detectorists, exploring their motivations and collection biases. We have secured permissions from eight collectors to document their finds and record their practices and motivations during the 1970s 'goldrush' and compare it to the current boom in 'mudlarking' on the Thames.We will develop a new, integrated methodological and theoretical framework to transform research on Roman river finds. The project will shed new light on ancient artefact deposition, votive practices and ritual engagement with past landscapes as well as produce a detailed social history of riverine collecting - findings relevant to all archaeological periods.