Metalworking in a Legionary Fortress (awarded 2017)

Funds were awarded to support archaeometallurgical analysis on the remains of Roman metalworking activities, discovered in the 2007-10 Priory Field excavations in Caerleon (UCL/Cardiff University). These relate to the use of the site before and during the life of the legionary warehouse building occupying this particular part of the legionary fortress of Isca. A range of methods including Scanning Electron Microscopy, X-ray Fluorescence and chemical analyses were used by the archaeometallurgical specialist, Dr Tim Young. Information on production technologies, sourcing of raw materials, and other aspects of the assemblage was recovered, shedding light on the methods of legionary metalworkers, particularly at the time of the construction of the fortress in the late 1st Century AD. This project has now been completed, and the results will be published in due course.