Roman fort dig near Neath school unearths new secrets

[Neil]

Courtesy of BBC online

Excavation work on the site of a Roman fort near a school has revealed what archaeologists believe are structures never previously seen in the UK.

The dig in the playing fields of Dwr-y-Felin Comprehensive Upper School in Neath has uncovered sections of the defences of the 1st Century building.These include a defence tower partially set outside its ramparts allowing soldiers to shoot at gate attackers.

A fort was in occupation on the site until at least the 3rd Century.

The Romans had an extremely efficient field army and their best form of defence was attack”
 
Richard Lewis, head of projects at the Glamorgan/Gwent Archaeological Trust, said: "It's certainly of high importance in Wales and the UK because nobody has been able to expose as large an area as we have".

The trust was asked by Neath Port Talbot council to carry out the work before a new teaching block was built on the playing field.

The fort of Nidum was discovered in the 1950s, and according to the trust, it would have been occupied by a unit of auxiliaries, who were regarded as high quality troops but "less prestigious than the legions".

They protected the fort against the fierce local tribe, known as the Silures, who were native to much of south, mid and west Wales.

Mr Lewis said: "There are some very unusual defences. We can't find anything like it anywhere else.

"They did exist 200 or 300 years later but they were very, very unusual (for the 1st Century).

"The Romans had an extremely efficient field army and their best form of defence was attack."

The structure was initially built from timber, and the later stone version was built in the early part of the 2nd Century in a slightly different position.
 
A worker excavates the site of one of seven bread ovens at the fort The trust said its excavations had "given us a whole new understanding of the early fort and the area outside its north-west gate".

The work has shown that the timber fort was protected by four parallel ditches and a rampart, with a tower.  Their combined width was more than 12m (39ft), which Mr Lewis said provided "formidable" defences.

"There's no road leading out and it appears that this is as far as they've got in a very, very hostile area. It basically tells us that that the Silures were rampant and they really needed good defence."

The tower had two of its four posts set on the outside of the rampart, which the trust believes "would have allowed soldiers to shoot at anyone attacking the gate".

Workers have also identified what they call another unique feature in the face of the rampart. They uncovered a trench for a palisade - a defensive fence of stakes - to prevent the collapse of the rampart, and possibly to support a lifting mechanism.

The work on the site was finished last week and it will be preserved before the school building work is carried out on top.

[jaydogg]

I worked at this excavation for GGAT for the last two months of it. Although having excavated large stone built Roman structures before at placed like Caerleon, I never had the privilege of excavating an early phase timber built roman fort and was surprised at the level of engineering that went into it. The defensive ditches were huge and having to excavate them gave the team a real appreciation of how formidable a defence they actually were.

Not many small metal finds came up although a lot of beads made of fiancé, pottery and fragments of glass vessels were found, suggesting that even at a small fort such as this the garrison did have a certain standard of living. It’s a pity anyone from DW who lived at the Neath/Swansea way didn’t pop in for a look around as we were always keen to provide tours of the site.

[jaydogg]

A very muddy team of archaeologists but still with smiles on their faces:D Me on the far left 

[jaydogg]

Mud,mud and more mud!

[Neil]

I thought of you when I posted this matey!

Thanks for adding your thoughts - looks like it was muddy to say the least!

See you soon
Neil

[dances with badgers]

oh man dont tell napoleon or he will be in the vack of a police  :)van again lol