Cement Fragment
Title
Cement Fragment
Description
A fragment of Roman cement or mortar, roughly trapezoidal in shape, with a sticker on one face, identifying it as "Roman Cement fm (from?) Vinyard Block" in black ink. The sticker appears to be the selvedge of a sheet of stamps, possibly from a sheet of British King George V stamps, which feature the red 'neatline' in the selvedge and right-angled guideline for a punch, as seen here. The fragment is very pale cream colour with numerous grey and buff inclusions, and one large flint nodule.
This type of cement of mortar is consistent with Roman construction methods in Britain which called for the use of thick cement or mortar with coarse inclusions in the construction of rubble walls levelled with courses of brick. At Verulamium, cement was produced without the addition of brick-dust, as in the present example, in the second century AD. This period is consistent with the reconstruction of the city after its destruction by the Iceni in AD 60/61. Occupation of the site continued until the 5th century AD. This fragment is the only one taken by Emmett that can be identified with a specific location within the site of Verulamium. The "vinyard block" referred to in the label is probably Vineyard Field, excavated by Charles Ashdown in 1905. Ashdown uncovered part of a house with two mosaic floors in the north-west corner of the field.
Samuel Emmett collected three pieces of Roman building material, including this piece of cement or mortar, when he visted the site of Verulamium in 1918 or 1919. The site of Verulamium was not formally excavated until the 1930s and until the late 1920s was on private land owned by the Earl of Verulam. The site became a scheduled ancient monument in 1923. Several antiquarians and amateur archaeologists had conducted excavations at the site in the 19th and early 20th centuries, to investigate the area's significant remains including the theatre, city walls and other standing remains. It is likely that Emmett collected his fragments from these architectural elements that were readily accessible in the landscape. In a letter to the Queensland Museum in the early 1970s, Emmett relates that as a Civil Engineer he was drawn to these pieces as evidence of ancient Roman engineering.
This type of cement of mortar is consistent with Roman construction methods in Britain which called for the use of thick cement or mortar with coarse inclusions in the construction of rubble walls levelled with courses of brick. At Verulamium, cement was produced without the addition of brick-dust, as in the present example, in the second century AD. This period is consistent with the reconstruction of the city after its destruction by the Iceni in AD 60/61. Occupation of the site continued until the 5th century AD. This fragment is the only one taken by Emmett that can be identified with a specific location within the site of Verulamium. The "vinyard block" referred to in the label is probably Vineyard Field, excavated by Charles Ashdown in 1905. Ashdown uncovered part of a house with two mosaic floors in the north-west corner of the field.
Samuel Emmett collected three pieces of Roman building material, including this piece of cement or mortar, when he visted the site of Verulamium in 1918 or 1919. The site of Verulamium was not formally excavated until the 1930s and until the late 1920s was on private land owned by the Earl of Verulam. The site became a scheduled ancient monument in 1923. Several antiquarians and amateur archaeologists had conducted excavations at the site in the 19th and early 20th centuries, to investigate the area's significant remains including the theatre, city walls and other standing remains. It is likely that Emmett collected his fragments from these architectural elements that were readily accessible in the landscape. In a letter to the Queensland Museum in the early 1970s, Emmett relates that as a Civil Engineer he was drawn to these pieces as evidence of ancient Roman engineering.
Creator
Date
AD 60 - AD 400
Format
Height: 11 mm
Width: 27 mm
Depth: 24 mm
Type
Identifier
C.010.003
QM H9731.3
License
© Queensland Museum, Peter Waddington.
Medium
Accrual Method
Provenance
Collected by Spr. S Emmett, St Albans, United Kingdom, c. 1919.
Donated by Spr. S Emmett, Sandgate, Australia, to the Queensland Museum, Brisbane, 1972.
Donated by Spr. S Emmett, Sandgate, Australia, to the Queensland Museum, Brisbane, 1972.
Rights Holder
Queensland Museum, Brisbane
Bibliographic Citation
Ashdown, C. H., & Kitton, F. G. (1893). St. Albans: historical & picturesque: with an account of the Roman city of Verulamium. E. Stock.
Frere, S. (1972). Verulamium excavations. London: Society of Antiquaries of London.
Wacher, J. (1995). The towns of Roman Britain (2nd rev. ed.). B. T. Batsford.
Page, William. (1902). The Victoria history of the count of Hertford. A Constable & Company: Westminster. 129-138.
(n.d). Sheets & Perforations. GB Stamp Booklets. Retrieved: https://www.gbstampbooklets.com/sheets-perforations/
Queensland Museum Inwards Correspondence #2155(1972)
Evans, J. (1892). XIII.—An Archaeological Survey of Hertfordshire. Archaeologia, 53(1), 245-262. doi:10.1017/S0261340900011322
Wheeler, R. E. M. (1932). Notes on Building-Construction in Roman Britain. The Journal of Roman Studies, 22, 117–134. https://doi.org/10.2307/297094
Relation
P.010
Contributor
Mr James Donaldson
Files
Collection
Citation
Imperial (Roman), “Cement Fragment,” First World War Antiquities, accessed May 16, 2024, https://ww1antiquities.omeka.net/items/show/101.
Comments