The Roman Rig is a defensive dyke built to defend against attack from the south. It runs from Sheffield, past Templeborough and carries on almost to Doncaster. If this is a Brigantian dyke it would certainly add weight to Websters definition of the Roman border in the period.
Period: Iron Age
Roman Rig Defensive Works
- Filed under Brigantia, Brigantia England, Britain, Dark Ages, Dark Ages Brigantia, Defensive Dike, Defensive Structures, Dike, Europe, Iron Age, Late Iron Age, Linear Earthworks, Medieval, Petilius Cerialis
- Adwick-le-Street Roman Fort, Carl Wark, Cartimandua, Danes Camp, Defensive Earthwork, Defensive Works, Doncaster Roman Fort, Dunum, Dyke, Linear earthwork, Mam Tor, Petilius Cerialis, Roe Wood, Roman Rig, Scoles Coppice, South Yorkshire, Sutton Common, Templeborough Roman Fort, Venutius, Wincobank
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Cleave Dyke Defensive System
- Filed under Brigantia, Brigantia England, Britain, Defensive Structures, Dike, Iron Age, Landscape feature
The Cleave dyke system is several Dykes which combine to create a boundary of between 9 and 18 kilometres running north south to the west of Thirsk.
Black Dike – Coverdale
- Filed under Boundary Marker, Brigantia, Brigantia England, Dark Ages, Dark Ages Brigantia, Dike, Iron Age, Landscape feature, New Sites
Black Dike is the diminutive counterpart to the great Tor Dike, rising from its western arm and climbing to the watershed between Great and Little Whernside. Beginning at roughly SD 988 756—where Tor Dike cleaves the limestone scarp—the Black Dike pursues a steep, sinuous course uphill for nearly 0.6 km, finally spilling onto the ridge crest at about 675 m above sea level
Tor Dyke
Tor Dyke appears to have been attributed to Venutius which dates it of the period AD 52 – 70. The presence of a legionary size marching camp a few miles to the southwest at Malham certainly indicates an active role in the Roman advance of AD 70. However, given the lack of published research so far a clear picture has yet to emerge.
Jun 16
Hillforts: Defence or Ritual? – Part 1
- Filed under Archaeology, Brigantia, Brigantia England, Britain, Critical Thinking, Defensive Structures, Earthworks, Guide, Hill Fort, Univallet Hillfort, Vitrified Fort
Over the last five years Iron-Age specialists have been re-examining what British hillforts were really for. The question is no longer just “fortress or farm?” but whether many of them were built first and foremost as places of gathering, display and ritual.
- Ad Gefrin, Barry Cunliffe, battle, Bowden, Castle Dykes, Ceremony, Debate, Defence, Hill Fort, Hill of Tara, hillfort, Iron Age, Julius Caesar, Maiden Castle, McOmish, Mortimer Wheeler, Northumberland, Paulinus, Ringforts, ritual, Ritual First, tacitus, Thornborough Henges, vitrified, Yeavering Bell
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Castle Dykes Henge, Thoralby – North Yorkshire
- Filed under Archaeology, Brigantia, Brigantia England, Britain, Class I, Earthworks, Henge, Iron Age, Landscape feature, New Sites, Ritual Landscape
Castle dykes it is a small class one henge, 90m across, perched on the high ground up in the North Yorkshire dales. The bank survives up to 1.5 m high in places, and the ditch up to 3 m deep. Early 20th-century reports (1908) noted its intact form, and recent LiDAR-based surveys have confirmed its classic henge profile with minimal later disturbance.
Jun 11
Guide: Spoil Heaps
- Filed under Archaeology, Guide, Industrial Heritage, Landscape Archaeology, Landscape feature, Mining, Spoil Heaps
These are artificial hills made from the unwanted rock, shale and tailings that come up with coal, metal ore, stone or clay when it is being mined or quarried. Because extractive industry is both deep and long-lived, single collieries or pits can generate tens of millions of cubic metres of spoil; pushed out by locomotive, conveyor or tippler wagon and dumped in successive layers, the piles quickly become a distinctive landform.
Jun 10
Guide: Hillfort Mounds of Europe
- Filed under Archaeology, Castro Hillfort, Contour/Plateau Fort, Europe, Guide, Hidden Remains, Hill Fort, Landscape Archaeology, Landscape feature, Multivallete Hillfort, New Sites, Oppidum, Promontory fort, Slavic Gord, Univallet Hillfort, Vitrified Fort
Guide: Common Features of Iron Age Hillforts This article attempts to serve as a guide for many of the features of the hillforts found in Britain, in Read more Guide: Iron-Age minting: Ceramic Pellet-mould trays This article explores the most tangible evidence we possess for indigenous minting north of the Humber: the smashed ceramic “pellet-mould” …
Jun 10
Guide: Barrows
- Filed under Archaeobotanical, Barrow, Bell Barrow, Bowl Barrow, Bronze Age, Dark Ages, Disc Barrow, Europe, Guide, Iron Age, Landscape Archaeology, Landscape feature, Long Barrow, Neolithic, Ring Barrow, Ritual Landscape, Roman, Round Barrow, Square Barrow, Steppe Kurgan
A barrow is a mound of earth and/or stones raised over a grave or group of graves. Used from the Neolithic through to the Iron Age (roughly 4000 BCE to 500 CE), barrows were often constructed to honour elite individuals, such as tribal leaders, warriors, or chieftains. They are frequently found singly or in cemeteries known as barrow fields.
- AngloViking, Arras Culture, barrow, Barrow Timeline, Bell Barrow, Bowl Barrow, britain, Bronze Age, Burial Mound, Disc Barrow, Eastern Europe, Hallstatt, Iberian Peninsular, ireland, Iron Age, la tene, Long Barrow, Neolithc, Nordic Bronze Age, Ring Barrow, Roman, Round Barrow, ScandinaviaUkraineCentral Europe, Square Barrow, Steppe Kurgan, timeline
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Jun 05
Guide: Classification of Henge Monuments
- Filed under Archaeology, Bronze Age, Earthworks, Henge, Iron Age, Landscape feature, Neolithic, New Sites
Archaeologists use the word “henge” for later-Neolithic and earliest Bronze-Age earthen rings whose ditch lies inside the bank, creating a deliberately bounded interior. The term itself was coined in 1932 by Kendrick; it was refined in the 1950s by Richard Atkinson, whose system still frames most discussion.
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Announcing: The Brigantian News!
- Roman Road to the West uncovered under Manchester Street 16 July 2025
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A silver threepence of Elizabeth I (1558 to 1603), second coinage and dated to 157(8?), with plain cross initial mark. London Tower mint. As North vol2, (1991) No. 1998. [...]
A silver post Medieval halfpenny of Elizabeth I dating to 1582-1603. No initial mark. London Tower mint. As North 2018. [...]
A silver medieval halfgroat of Henry VII (1485-1509), martlet initial mark dating to 1501-1509. Archiepiscopal mint of Archbishop Savage at York. As North 1714. [...]
A Iron Age silver "concave square" minim of the Regini and Atrebates / Southern region, possibly attributable to Tincomarus and dating to 50-20 BC. Obverse: square with concave sides, central pellet in ring. Reverse: annulet horse [...]
A post Medieval cast copper alloy discoidal 1/4oz trade weight. The weight has a upstanding rim enclosing a recessed upper surface bearing stamps of a crowned W for William III (1694-1702). [...]
A post-Medieval silver threepence of Elizabeth I (1558-1603). Second issue (1561-1582), probably portcullis initial mark and dated 1566 on the coin. London Tower mint. As North (1991) no. 1998. [...]
A complete silver Scottish twelve shillings coin of James VI of Scotland and I of England, eighth coinage post-dating accession to English throne, dating to 1603-1625, Lys initial mark. Reverse has a shield with arms of [...]
A silver Post-Medieval sixpence of Elizabeth I, dated 1569 with coronet initial mark. Mint of London. As North 1997. [...]
A silver Post-Medieval shilling of Elizabeth I, third issue with ‘A’ initial mark dating to 1583-1585. Mint of London. As North Vol 2, p.136, no.2014. [...]
A lead alloy pipe tamper dating to the 17th century. The plate has moulded decoration to both sides depicting Charles I (facing right) and Henrietta Maria of France (facing left). Both images are contained in [...]
A damaged lead-alloy Medieval pilgrim's ampulla, 50mm in length and 35mm wide, with a round bodied flask with a flaring open top which is partially complete. One side of the flask body has traces of moulded [...]
An incomplete Medieval cast copper alloy buckle plate, dating to c. AD 1100-1400. The plate is missing its buckle and part of its sprues. The buckle plate is sub-rectangular in plan. Projecting from one long edge [...]
A Roman copper-alloy nummus of the House of Valentinian , dating to AD 364-7 (Reece Period 19), GLORIA RO-MANORVM reverse type depicting the emperor with right hand dragging captive right and holding a labarum in left hand. Mint of [...]
A Post-Medieval copper alloy farthing of Charles I (AD 1625-1649), dating to AD 1636-1644. Rose type 2, with sceptres in saltire through single crown. Mint of London. Unclear initial mark. North (1991: 165) no. 2291. [...]
A clipped and heavily worn Roman copper alloy nummus of Gratian (AD 367-383) dating to the period AD 367-378 (Reece period 19). SECURITAS REI PUBLICAE reverse type depicting Victory advancing left, holding a wreath and palm. Unknown mint. [...]
A silver Roman siliqua of Honorius (AD 393-423) dating to the period AD 397-402 (Reece Period 21) minted in Milan VIRTVS ROMANORVM reverse type depicting Roma seated left on cuirass, holding Victory on globe and spear. Hoxne, p. 145, no. [...]
An incomplete Roman composite plate brooch probably dating to AD 100-200. The brooch is missing it's pin and part of the top and bottom circles. The brooch is flat in cross section and probably originally consisted of [...]
Fragment from a probable buckle frame dating to the Post Medieval period (c.AD 1720-1790). The fragment is broadly rectangular in plan and includes a short section of the corner of the buckle frame. The fragment includes the [...]
Fragment from a buckle frame dating to the Post Medieval period (c.AD 1720-1790). The fragment is broadly C shaped in plan and D shaped in profile. It consists of two corners and one side of a sub-rectangular [...]
A complete copper alloy bovine (bull's head) vessel / bucket mount, dating to the Roman period (c. AD 50-200).The cast copper alloy mount is a sub-inverted triangle with a pointed lower tip and slightly waisted sides to form the nose.The [...]
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