Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T06:46:15.584Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Contextualising Romano-British Lead Tanks: A Study in Design, Destruction and Deposition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 July 2012

Belinda Crerar
Belinda Crerar*
Affiliation:
University of Cambridgebjc45@cam.ac.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Despite being an intriguing, if obscure, series of artefacts there has been a hesitancy in academic discussion to address fully the myriad of questions raised by the design and archaeological find-spots of lead tanks from Roman Britain. This, and an uncritical acceptance that they were used by early Christians as baptismal fonts, has led to a lack of appreciation of their contribution to our knowledge of late Romano-British religion. This paper seeks to redress this via two channels. The first is a detailed and contextualised examination of the design, iconography and manufacture of these tanks. The second is an investigation into how the manner of their deposition can inform their function. It is concluded that the evidence used to associate the tanks with baptism is flawed and greater attention must be given to other facets of their design in order to gain an appreciation of their proper place in the culture and religion of Roman Britain.

Keywords

Roman Britainlead tanksiconographyChristianitychi-rho baptismfontsAquileia reliefWalesby frieze
Type
Articles
Information
Britannia , Volume 43 , November 2012 , pp. 135 - 166
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2012. Published by The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Barnard, S. 1985: ‘The Matres of Roman Britain’, Archaeological Journal 142, 237–45CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beagrie, N. 1989: ‘The Romano-British pewter industry’, Britannia 20, 169–91Google Scholar
Bennett, P., Riddler, I., and Sparey-Green, C. 2010: The Roman Watermills and Settlement at Ickham Kent, The Archaeology of Canterbury, New Series 5, CanterburyGoogle Scholar
Bossert, M. 1983: ‘Eine Warmwasseraufbereitungsanlage in den römischen Thermen von Schleitheim-Iuliomagus’, Jahresberichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst 3, 81–5Google Scholar
Bradley, R. 1990: The Passage of Arms: An Archaeological Analysis of Prehistoric Hoards and Votive Deposits, Cambridge Google Scholar
Bradshaw, P.F. 2002: The Search for the Origins of Christian Worship: Sources and Methods for the Study of Early Liturgy (2nd edn), London Google Scholar
Brown, P.D.C. 1971: ‘The church at Richborough’, Britannia 2, 225–31Google Scholar
Brusin, G. 1936: Il R. Museo archaeologico di Aquileia, Rome Google Scholar
Burn, A.R. 1969: The Romans in Britain: An Anthology of Inscriptions (2nd edn), Oxford Google Scholar
Cabrol, F., and Leclercq, H. 1907: Dictionnaire d'archéologie chrétienne et de liturgie, Paris Google Scholar
Chapman, J.C. 2000: Fragmentation in Archaeology: People, Places and Broken Objects in the Prehistory of South-Eastern Europe, London Google Scholar
Corney, M. 2004: ‘The Roman villa at Bradford-on-Avon: investigations at St Laurence School’, ARA: The Bulletin of the Association for Roman Archaeology 16.1, 10–15 Google Scholar
Cottam, S., Dungworth, D., Scott, S., and Taylor, J. (eds) 1994: TRAC 94. Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Theorectical Roman Archaeology Conference, Oxford Google Scholar
Coulston, J.C., and Phillips, E.J. 1988: Corpus Signorum Imperii Romani, Great Britain. Vol. 1, Fasc. 6, Hadrian's Wall West of the North Tyne and Carlisle, Oxford Google Scholar
Cowgill, J. 1994: ‘The lead vessel’, in K. Steedman, ‘Excavation of a Saxon site at Riby Cross Roads, Lincolnshire’, Archaeological Journal 151, 267–71Google Scholar
Crerar, B. 2006: ‘Votive leaf or feather plaques from Roman Britain’, in Henig 2006, 71–89 Google Scholar
Croxford, B. 2003: ‘Iconoclasm in Roman Britain?’, Britannia 34, 81–95 Google Scholar
Crummy, N., Crummy, P., and Crossan, C. 1993: Excavations of Roman and Later Cemeteries, Churches and Monastic Sites in Colchester, 1971–88, Colchester Archaeological Report 9, ColchesterGoogle Scholar
Curwen, E.C. 1943: ‘Roman lead cistern from Pulborough, Sussex’, Antiquaries Journal 23, 155–7Google Scholar
Davies, J.G. 1962: The Architectural Setting of Baptism, London Google Scholar
Denzey, N. 2007: The Bone Gatherers: The Lost Women of Early Christian Art, Boston Google Scholar
Dix, G. 1968: The Treatise of the Apostolic Tradition of St Hippolytus of Rome (2nd edn., reissued with corrections, preface and bibliography by Henry Chadwick), London Google Scholar
Dölger, J. 1905: ‘Die Firmung in den Denkmälern des christlichen Altertums’, Römische Quartalschrift für christliche Altertumskunde und Kirchengeschichte 19, 1–41 Google Scholar
Dunning, G.C. 1934: ‘Pottery and other objects’, in H.E. Donovan, ‘Excavations at Bourton on the Water’, Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society 56, 109–21Google Scholar
Elliott, L., and Malone, S. 1999: ‘Flawborough’, Transactions of the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire 103, 88–9Google Scholar
Elliott, L., and Malone, S. 2005: ‘Iron Age/Romano-British features and a fourth century A.D. Christian lead tank from Flawborough, Nottinghamshire’, Transactions of the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire 109, 25–43 Google Scholar
Esmonde Cleary, A.S. 1989: The Ending of Roman Britain, London Google Scholar
Ferguson, E. 2009: Baptism in the Early Church: History, Theology, and Liturgy in the First Five Centuries, Cambridge Google Scholar
Frend, W.H.C. 1955: ‘Religion in Roman Britain in the fourth century A.D.’, Journal of the British Archaeological Association 3rd series, 18, 1–18 Google Scholar
Frere, S.S. 1989: ‘Roman Britain in 1989 I. Sites explored’, Britannia 20, 258–326 Google Scholar
Gatti, G. 1905: ‘Capselle reliquiarie cristiane e misure romane di capacità’, Bulletino della Commissione Archeologica Comunale 33, 316–28Google Scholar
Gough, M. 1961: The Early Christians, London Google Scholar
Green, M. 1986: The Gods of the Celts, Gloucester Google Scholar
Grew, F.O. 1981: ‘Roman Britain in 1980 I. Sites explored’, Britannia 12, 314–68Google Scholar
Guy, C.J. 1977: ‘The lead tank from Ashton’, Durobrivae 5, 6–9 Google Scholar
Guy, C.J. 1978: ‘A Roman lead tank from Burwell, Cambridgeshire’, Cambridge Antiquarian Society Proceedings 68, 1–4 Google Scholar
Guy, C.J. 1981: ‘Roman circular lead tanks in Britain’, Britannia 12, 271–6Google Scholar
Guy, C.J. 1987–88: ‘A lead “bucket” from Kenilworth, Warwickshire’, Transactions of the Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society 95, 107–9Google Scholar
Guy, C.J. 1989: ‘The Oxborough lead tank’, Britannia 20, 234–7Google Scholar
Harkins, P.W. 1963: St John Chrysostom: Baptismal Instructions, New York Google Scholar
Hartley, E., Hawkes, J., Henig, M., and Mee, F. 2006: Constantine the Great: York's Roman Emperor, York Google Scholar
Hawkes, C.F.C. 1946: ‘Roman Ancaster, Horncastle, and Caistor’, Archaeological Journal 103, 17–25 Google Scholar
Henig, M. 1984: Religion in Roman Britain, London Google Scholar
Henig, M. 1993: Corpus Signorum Imperii Romani, Great Britain. Vol. 1, Fasc. 7, Roman Sculpture from the Cotswold Region, Oxford Google Scholar
Henig, M. (ed.) 2006: Roman Art, Religion and Society: New Studies from the Roman Art Seminar, Oxford 2005, BAR International Series S1577, Oxford Google Scholar
Herdman, D.W. 1933: ‘Lead vessels, Bourton-on-the-Water’, Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society 55, 377–81Google Scholar
Hill, E.C., Millett, M., and Blagg, T.F.C. 1980: The Roman Riverside Wall and Monumental Arch in London: Excavations at Baynard's Castle, Upper Thames Street, London 1974–76, London and Middlesex Archaeological Society, Special Paper 3, London Google Scholar
Hobbs, R. 2006: Late Roman Precious Metal Deposits c. AD 200–700: Changes over Time and Space, BAR International Series S1504, Oxford Google Scholar
Johns, C. 1994: ‘Romano-British precious metal hoards: comments on Martin Millett's paper’, in Cottam et al. 1994, 107–17Google Scholar
Jungmann, J.A. 1959: The Early Liturgy to the Time of Gregory the Great, London Google Scholar
Leahy, K. 2003: Anglo Saxon Crafts, Stroud Google Scholar
Lindgren, C. 1980: Classical Art Forms and Celtic Mutations: Figural Art in Roman Britain, Park Ridge, NJ Google Scholar
Looker, J. 1998–99: ‘Another early Christian font/tank from Northamptonshire’, Northamptonshire Archaeology 28, 163–4Google Scholar
Loveluck, C.P. 1998: ‘A high-status Anglo-Saxon settlement at Flixborough, Lincolnshire’, Antiquity 72, 146–61Google Scholar
Loveluck, C.P. 2007: Rural Settlement, Lifestyles and Social Change in the Later First Millennium AD: Anglo-Saxon Flixborough in its Wider Context, Excavations at Flixborough Vol. 4, Oxford Google Scholar
Manning, W.H. 1972: ‘Ironwork hoards in Iron Age and Roman Britain’, Britannia 3, 224–50Google Scholar
Mattingly, D. 2006: An Imperial Possession: Britain in the Roman Empire 54 BC–AD 409, London Google Scholar
Mawer, C.F. 1994: ‘The lost lead tank from Icklingham, Suffolk’, Britannia 25, 232–6Google Scholar
McKillop, S. 1982: ‘A Romano-British baptismal liturgy?’ in Pearce, S.M. (ed.), The Early Church in Western Britain and Ireland, BAR British Series 102, Oxford, 35–48 Google Scholar
Millett, M. 1994: ‘Treasure: interpreting Roman hoards’, in Cottam et al. 1994, 99–106Google Scholar
Nicholson, A. 1998: ‘The lead’, in P. Hill, Whithorn and St Ninian: The Excavation of a Monastic Town 1984–91, Stroud, 389–97Google Scholar
Painter, K. 1971: ‘Villas and Christianity in Roman Britain’, British Museum Quarterly 35, 156–75Google Scholar
Payne, G. 1874: ‘Roman coffins of lead from Bex Hill, Milton-next-Sittingbourne’, Archaeologia Cantiana 9, 164–73Google Scholar
Pearce, S. 2008: ‘The Hinton St Mary mosaic: Christ or emperor?’, Britannia 39, 193–218 Google Scholar
Penney, S., and Shotter, D.C.A 1996: ‘An inscribed Roman salt-pan from Shavington, Cheshire’, Britannia 27, 360–5CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Petch, D.F. 1957: ‘Archaeological notes for 1956’, Lincolnshire Architectural and Archaeological Society Reports and Papers 7, 1–26 Google Scholar
Petch, D.F. 1961: ‘A Roman lead tank, Walesby’, Lincolnshire Architectural and Archaeological Society Reports and Papers 9, 13–15 Google Scholar
Petts, D. 2003a: ‘Votive deposits and Christian practice in late Roman Britain’, in Carver, M. (ed.), The Cross Goes North, York, 109–18Google Scholar
Petts, D. 2003b: Christianity in Roman Britain, Stroud Google Scholar
Petts, D. 2006: ‘The Roman lead tank from Perry Oaks’, in Brown, L., Lewis, J. and Smith, A., Landscape Evolution in the Middle Thames Valley. Heathrow Terminal 5 Excavations Volume 1, Perry Oaks, Framework Archaeology Monograph 1, Oxford and Salisbury, 227–30 + CD RomGoogle Scholar
Philips, C.W. 1970: The Fenland in Roman Times, London Google Scholar
Poulton, R., and Scott, E. 1993: ‘The hoarding, deposition and use of pewter in Roman Britain’, in Scott, E. (ed.), Theoretical Roman Archaeology. First Conference Proceedings, Aldershot, 115–32Google Scholar
RIB I: Collingwood, R.G., and Wright, R.P. 1965: The Roman Inscriptions of Britain, I: Inscriptions on Stone, Oxford Google Scholar
RIB II.2: Frere, S.S., and Tomlin, R.S.O. (eds) 1991: The Roman Inscriptions of Britain, II. Instrumentum Domesticum: Fasc. 2. Weights, Gold Vessel, Silver Vessels, Bronze Vessels, Lead Vessels, Pewter Vessels, Shale Vessels, Glass Vessels, Spoons, Gloucestershire Google Scholar
Richmond, I. 1945: ‘A Roman vat of lead from Ireby, Cumberland’, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society New Series, 45, 163–71Google Scholar
Sauer, E. 2003: The Archaeology of Religious Hatred in the Roman and Early Medieval World, Stroud Google Scholar
Smith, C.R. 1878: in ‘Proceedings of the Association’, Journal of the British Archaeological Association 34, 109–34 and 218–62Google Scholar
Smith, K.A. 1993: ‘Inventing marital chastity: the iconography of Susanna and the Elders in early Christian art’, Oxford Art Journal 16:1, 3–24 Google Scholar
Stevenson, J. 1978: The Catacombs: Rediscovered Monuments of Early Christianity, London Google Scholar
Thomas, C. 1981: Christianity in Roman Britain to AD 500, London Google Scholar
Toller, H. 1977: Roman Lead Coffins and Ossuaria in Britain, BAR British Series 38, Oxford Google Scholar
Toynbee, J.M.C. 1953: ‘Christianity in Roman Britain’, Journal of the British Archaeological Association 3rd series, 16, 1–24 Google Scholar
Toynbee, J.M.C. 1962: Art in Roman Britain, London Google Scholar
Toynbee, J.M.C. 1964: Art in Britain under the Romans, Oxford Google Scholar
Vatcher, H.F.W.L. 1967: ‘Excavation and fieldwork in Wiltshire’, Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine 62, 124–31Google Scholar
Watts, D. 1988: ‘Circular lead tanks and their significance for Romano-British Christianity’, Antiquaries Journal 68, 210–22Google Scholar
Watts, D. 1991: Christians and Pagans in Roman Britain, London Google Scholar
Watts, D. 1993: ‘An assessment of the evidence for Christianity at the Butt Road Site’, in Crummy et al. 1993, 192–202 Google Scholar
Watts, D. 1995: ‘A lead tank fragment from Brough, Notts. (Roman “Crococalana”)’, Britannia 26, 318–22Google Scholar
West, S.E., and Plouviez, J. 1976: ‘The Romano-British site at Icklingham’, East Anglian Archaeology 3, 63–134 Google Scholar
Worrell, S. 2005: ‘Roman Britain in 2004 II. Finds reported under the Portable Antiquities Scheme’, Britannia 36, 447–72Google Scholar
Wright, R.P. 1947: ‘Roman Britain in 1946 II. Inscriptions’, Journal of Roman Studies 37, 178–82Google Scholar
Wright, R.P. 1955: ‘Roman Britain in 1954 II. Inscriptions’, Journal of Roman Studies 45, 145–9CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yarnold, E. 1971: The Awe-Inspiring Rites of Initiation: Baptismal Homilies of the Fourth Century, Slough Google Scholar