Morning world

well a new morning - back to amphora hunting at ADS

 http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/archive/amphora_ahrb_2005/

a resource which I'm growing to like a bit more, although some of the searches don't really work

and I ought to write the introduction to the Hayton report

Well thats the drafts done for the two papers I'm meant to be giving on the 7th. The read through of the cbm one is still a bit jumpy, so have to smooth it up still - probablyfriday on the way to cambridge. I didn't have the heart to go through the pot one just yet. The trouble with 30 minute papers is tha the read through takes so long - up until the point when I actually give them and then time just eveaporates.

By way of distraction I finally broke myself imposed exile on bajr as one thread was getting particularly annoying - including the incrdible asinine spectacle of someone complaining about somthingsomeone didnt say at an event they didnt attend. The shear lack of seriousness of these people continues to irritate - Why bother to try to do anythin when you can have a go at the people who do, whlist propagadizing for the rival group you are setting up ( in something which has an unspeakable cthulu like ending assigned to it if I'm any judge of these things.

Bah! something is not right in the early second century - not meant to be getting a dip until 190. ho hum off to make some pancakes I think

Well I think thats most of the Italian pots typed. I hope there arn't too many embarrising mistakes...

One thought experiment I keepmeaning to develop is parrallel tracking for the Roman Period and modern Uk Britain V Britannia if you will. The basic frame work is - JC invades 55BC, Claudius AD45, Boudiccan revolt 60-1; Hadrians wall 122, Antonine wall 142-162, big pottery industries 266+ 'barbarian crisis' 367

'look to your own defence '410.

so if we take 2009 as 409 - we allegedly get abandoned next year ( I don't believe it - bu bear with me.) 

so invasion was initailly 464 years ago ( 1545) 'proper' invasion in 1645, Boudican revolyt in 1660-1, Hadrians wall 1722, antonine wall 1742-62, big pottery industries 1866, barbarian crisis 1967, collapse of samian 1790, rise of nene valley 1790. 

that sort of thing. bearing in mind comparitive levels of literacy and how history would be expereience in a very differnt way!

Thoughts? depressing parralles between modeern capatilistic industrial society and collase of roman ciovilisation inthe west are encouraged....

And on the archaeological fromt. Well I'm trying to finish off an Italian fieldwalking site I did the pottery for last year. I now have a consistent paper and digital record - the drawings I made relate to their codes in the database. Just some tweaking to make sure that I have taken into consioderation all the pottery from each pick up area ( the pre roman and the medeival and later) and that the field names were transcribed properly, and then I can relate the field names to the designated sites ( where the nuumbers of finds get into usable numbers and then we can see if we can charecterise site types. 

I have managed a fair few dated parrallels so far. My date distributon follows the same pattern everyone else gets for Etruria - reasonable stable growth, with short wobbles because of civil wars etc followed by steady rise tillthe end of the second century then collapse.

All the villa excavations I could find have the same pattern 0 villas are abandoned at the end of the second century. SOme are resettled say 100 years later or are just never reoccupied.

What is going on? is this the beginning of the C3 'crises or change' ? or is there something about villa economies that don't last beyond 3 or 4 generations? Is that the same for stately homes - often a model for how the highest status villas worked? I keep trying to revisit Brideshead revisted (sorry) Castle then new house then barracks  in WW2. what happens then? the sything of the aristocracy by income tax and irrelevence?

discuss

Ok I think I need to make this into a habit. The main things I'm working on at the moment are archaeological, although the whole about to become a dad thing is also something occupying my time a lot!

So yesturday we were at S&Ms new house (they have just moved reasonably close 15mins by car I reckon 30mins by bike) and their sprog is now 7 months - moving to solids but being fed every two months, with entertaining, napping and keeping an eye on all part of the deal in betwen those two hours. I was tired having just visted them and eaten! Mind you some of that was probably that Sunday Pm feeling but it is all defining the responsibility that U and I are taking on. Gulp!!

ouch, I hate being 41!