Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T04:21:17.223Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A Chi-Rho Graffito from Brandon House, Southwark

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2021

Eniko Hudak*
Affiliation:
Pre-Construct Archaeology Ltd [email protected]

Abstract

Excavations at Brandon House, Southwark, uncovered a fragment of Roman pottery with a graffito identified as the Chi-Rho symbol, only the second example to be found in London. This note describes the find itself and its context, presents an overview of similar finds from Roman Britain and offers a glimpse into the significance of the sherd as evidence for Christianity in Roman Britain and its place in the dynamic religious landscape of Roman Southwark.

Type
Shorter Contributions
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of 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

Beasley, M. 2007: ‘Roman boundaries, roads and ritual: excavations at the Old Sorting Office, Swan Street, Southwark’, Transactions of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society 57, 2368Google Scholar
Biddulph, E. 2015: ‘Pottery production at Heybridge’, in Atkinson, M. and Preston, S.J., ‘Heybridge: a Late Iron Age and Roman settlement: excavations at Elms Farm 1993–5. Volume 2’, Internet Archaeology 40, http://dx.doi.org/10.11141/ia.40.1.biddulph (accessed June 2021)Google Scholar
Biddulph, E., and Compton, J. 2015: ‘Vessel function and use’, in Atkinson, M. and Preston, S.J., ‘Heybridge: a Late Iron Age and Roman settlement: excavations at Elms Farm 1993–5. Volume 2’, Internet Archaeology 40 http://dx.doi.org/10.11141/ia.40.1.biddulph2 (accessed June 2021)Google Scholar
Canham, R.A. 1971: ‘Brentford excavations’, London Archaeologist 1.13, 291–5Google Scholar
Cowan, C., Seeley, F., Wardle, A., Westman, A., and Wheeler, L. 2009: Roman Southwark: Settlement and Economy: Excavations in Southwark 1973–91, Museum of London Archaeology Service Monograph 42, LondonGoogle Scholar
Evans, J. 1987: ‘Graffiti and the evidence of literacy and pottery use in Roman Britain’, The Archaeological Journal 144, 191204CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fox, A.M.H. 1952: Roman Exeter (Isca Dunmoriorum): Excavations in the War-Damaged Areas, 1945–1947, History of Exeter Research Group Monograph 8, ManchesterGoogle Scholar
Frere, S.S., Hassall, M.W.C., and Tomlin, R.S.O. 1983: ‘Roman Britain in 1982’, Britannia 14, 279356CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grew, F.O., Hassall, M.W.C., and Tomlin, R.S.O 1980: ‘Roman Britain in 1979’, Britannia 11, 345417CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haslam, R. forthcoming: Land-Use and Liminality on the Fringe of Ancient Southwark: Excavations at Brandon House 1: Late Prehistoric to Saxo-Norman, Pre-Construct Archaeology Ltd Monograph, LondonGoogle Scholar
Hudak, E. 2012: Rethinking Mortaria from the Frontiers: Form, Function, and Interpretation, unpub. BA(Hons) dissertation, Newcastle UniversityGoogle Scholar
Hudak, E. forthcoming: ‘The Romano-British pottery’, in Haslam, R., Land-Use and Liminality on the Fringe of Ancient Southwark: Excavations at Brandon House 1: Late Prehistoric to Saxo-Norman, Pre-Construct Archaeology Ltd Monograph, LondonGoogle Scholar
Killock, D. 2015: Temples and Suburbs: Excavations at Tabard Square, Southwark, Pre-Construct Archaeology Ltd Monograph 18, LondonGoogle Scholar
Mawer, C.F. 1995: Evidence for Christianity in Roman Britain: The Small-Finds, British Archaeological Reports British Series 243, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Petts, D. 2003: Christianity in Roman Britain, StroudGoogle Scholar
Ridgeway, V., Leary, K., and Sudds, B. 2013: Excavations at 52–56 Lant Street and 56 Southwark Bridge Road, London SE1, Pre-Construct Archaeology Ltd Monograph 17, LondonGoogle Scholar
Symonds, R.P. 2012: ‘A brief history of the ceramic mortarium in antiquity’, Journal of Roman Pottery Studies 15, 169214Google Scholar
Wait, G.A. 1985: Ritual and Religion in Iron Age Britain, British Archaeological Reports British Series 149, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Wilson, D.R., Wright, R.P., Hassall, M.W.C., and Tomlin, R.S.O. 1975: ‘Roman Britain in 1974’, Britannia 6, 220–94CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Young, C. 1977: The Roman Pottery Industry of the Oxford Region, British Archaeological Reports British Series 43, OxfordGoogle Scholar