A Lead-tank Fragment From Brough WATTS

8/6/2019 A Lead-tank Fragment From Brough WATTS

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A Lead Tank Fragment from Brough, Notts. (Roman 'Crococalana')Author(s): Dorothy J. WattsSource: Britannia, Vol. 26 (1995), pp. 318-322Published by: Society for the Promotion of Roman StudiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/526887Accessed: 02/09/2009 16:33

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3I8I8 NOTESOTES

archaeological material held in museums and elsewhere, something which both museum professionalsand researchers have been seeking for some time.

Using the Excavation ndexThe national database created and maintained by the Index is available in a standard ormat for the wholeof England. It is computerised as part of the NMR's MONARCH system, allowing information retrievalto be tailored to the user's requirements. Queries may use many combinations of criteria to selectinformation from the Index, which may be combined with monument information from the NMR'sNational Archaeological Record.

Enquiries may be made by personal visit, letter, telephone or fax, as detailed below. On-line searchingof the Index is possible in the Public Search Room in the National Monuments Record Centre.Alternatively, catalogues can be generated in answer to specific enqv}iries: charge is made to cover thecost of printing and postage.

Further details of any of these databases or collections are available from:

NMR Customer Services,National Monuments Record Centre,

Kemble Drive,Swindon,SN2 2GZTelephone: oI793 4I4600Fax: o I 793 4 I 4606

A Lead Tank Fragment from Brough, Notts. (Roman Crococalana). orothy J. Watts writes: Sometime in the late I970S, a metal-detector user discovered a large object in a field east of the A46, oppositethe scheduled site of Roman Crococalana (SK 837 584). The object, a sheet of decorated lead (FIG. 6; PL.VI), was subsequently acquired by the Newark Museum, and remains on display there. It was assumedthat the find was part of a lead coffin, since there are other coffins from the district in the museum.68

Until now no study of the piece has been undertaken.On examination, it appears that the sheet of lead was part of a container usually categorised as a

circv}lar ank.69 While the actual find spot is not recordedt t is likely to have been located within or nearthe eastern sector of the small fortified town. The close proximity of the field to a known Roman site andthe similarity of the object to a number of lead tanks found in Britain make it fairly certain that it too wasof Roman date, and probably of the fourth century The decoration on the fragment can readily beinterpreted as Christian. If this is accepted, then the piece is important not only in expanding knowledgeof the extent of Christianity in the fourth century, but also as the first known Christian object from thispart of Roman Britain.

The height of the fragment varies from 370 to 390 mm, with a slight tapering from right to left. Thewidth ranges from 730 to 820 mm, and the thickness of the lead is 3-4 mm. A portion of the sheet whichformed the base of the tank remains, and this is attached to the sides sealed between two strips of lead.The construction seems similar to, but not exactly like, that of the tanks from Burwell70 andKenilworth.71

Around the top of the fragment is a moulded band of lead I5-I7 mm wide, finished with an indentedlower edge. The main decoration comprises two registers. The upper is a continuous frieze of Xs inapplied straps or bands, I6 mm wide, separated by pairs of narrower verticals which appear to have been

68 A. Smith, Trans Thoroton Soc. xlv ( I 94 ), I o6-g; C.M. Wilson, Lincs. Hist. & Arch. vii ( I 972), I 0.69 See C.J. Guy, Britannia Xii ( I 98 I ), 27 I -6.70 C.J. Guy Proc. Camb. Antiq. Soc. Ixviii (I978), 2-4.71 C.J. Guy Trans. Birmingham Warwicks Arch. Soc. xcv (I987-8), I07-9.

archaeological material held in museums and elsewhere, something which both museum professionalsand researchers have been seeking for some time.

Using the Excavation ndexThe national database created and maintained by the Index is available in a standard ormat for the wholeof England. It is computerised as part of the NMR's MONARCH system, allowing information retrievalto be tailored to the user's requirements. Queries may use many combinations of criteria to selectinformation from the Index, which may be combined with monument information from the NMR'sNational Archaeological Record.

Enquiries may be made by personal visit, letter, telephone or fax, as detailed below. On-line searchingof the Index is possible in the Public Search Room in the National Monuments Record Centre.Alternatively, catalogues can be generated in answer to specific enqv}iries: charge is made to cover thecost of printing and postage.

Further details of any of these databases or collections are available from:

NMR Customer Services,National Monuments Record Centre,

Kemble Drive,Swindon,SN2 2GZTelephone: oI793 4I4600Fax: o I 793 4 I 4606

A Lead Tank Fragment from Brough, Notts. (Roman Crococalana). orothy J. Watts writes: Sometime in the late I970S, a metal-detector user discovered a large object in a field east of the A46, oppositethe scheduled site of Roman Crococalana (SK 837 584). The object, a sheet of decorated lead (FIG. 6; PL.VI), was subsequently acquired by the Newark Museum, and remains on display there. It was assumedthat the find was part of a lead coffin, since there are other coffins from the district in the museum.68

Until now no study of the piece has been undertaken.On examination, it appears that the sheet of lead was part of a container usually categorised as a

circv}lar ank.69 While the actual find spot is not recordedt t is likely to have been located within or nearthe eastern sector of the small fortified town. The close proximity of the field to a known Roman site andthe similarity of the object to a number of lead tanks found in Britain make it fairly certain that it too wasof Roman date, and probably of the fourth century The decoration on the fragment can readily beinterpreted as Christian. If this is accepted, then the piece is important not only in expanding knowledgeof the extent of Christianity in the fourth century, but also as the first known Christian object from thispart of Roman Britain.

The height of the fragment varies from 370 to 390 mm, with a slight tapering from right to left. Thewidth ranges from 730 to 820 mm, and the thickness of the lead is 3-4 mm. A portion of the sheet whichformed the base of the tank remains, and this is attached to the sides sealed between two strips of lead.The construction seems similar to, but not exactly like, that of the tanks from Burwell70 andKenilworth.71

Around the top of the fragment is a moulded band of lead I5-I7 mm wide, finished with an indentedlower edge. The main decoration comprises two registers. The upper is a continuous frieze of Xs inapplied straps or bands, I6 mm wide, separated by pairs of narrower verticals which appear to have been

68 A. Smith, Trans Thoroton Soc. xlv ( I 94 ), I o6-g; C.M. Wilson, Lincs. Hist. & Arch. vii ( I 972), I 0.69 See C.J. Guy, Britannia Xii ( I 98 I ), 27 I -6.70 C.J. Guy Proc. Camb. Antiq. Soc. Ixviii (I978), 2-4.71 C.J. Guy Trans. Birmingham Warwicks Arch. Soc. xcv (I987-8), I07-9.


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WIG.. A lead tank fragment from Brough, Notts. (Drawing: City of Lincoln Archaeology Unit).


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3 2 o NOTES

part of the original moulding. The main feature of the lower register is a device consisting of a circleoverlaid by an intersecting X-and-vertical; this is flanked by a pair of Y-shaped motifs with arms at anangle of about 45 degrees and the vertical extending to the same height as the arms. The intersecting X-and-vertical and the arms of the Ys are applied bands; the circle and uprights are moulded.

The decoration appears to have been carried out with care. All applied bands are themselves decoratedwith a scored X-and-vertical design and the narrow verticals with a rope-like pattern. Some of thisdecoration, particularly on the uprights of the Ys, may have been part of the original moulding, butdefinition of the motifs on the other verticals is sharp, suggesting that much of the decoration was doneafter casting. The lower edges of all the applied straps are finished with a V-shaped indentation.

There is no evidence that any violence had been used in breaking up the original vessel. The edgesappear to have been cut with a sharp object, although there is some tearing and bending at the top rightcorner, where the reinforced edge may have made it more difficult to cut.

Eighteen or so whole or partial circular lead tanks are known from Roman Britain.72 The height of thepiece (370-390 mm) compares with the tanks from Bourton-on-the-Water 405 and 355 mm), Icklingham(370 and 330 mm), Ashton (380 mm), and Huntingdon (400 mm).73 f these are any guide, the diameterof the Brough tank was probably n the range of 8Io-g6s mm.

The decoration is also comparable with that found on other tanks. It does, however, have some featureswhich are unique on such vessels, though found elsewhere in Roman Britain and in a Christian context.The X motif with separate verticals is found on seven tanks or fragments: Pulborough, Willingham,Caversham, Bourton-on-the-Water two), Huntingdon, and Ashton.74 The last two of these have circles inthe four triangles formed by the X. The Pulborough and Caversham tanks also have a Chi-rho asdecoration. In an earlier study,75 t was shown that the X was a form of the Christian cross, the cruxdecussata r St Andrew's cross, and that its presence on these tanks, with or without an accompanyingChi-rho, was an indication that the symbol had an association with Christianity.76

The Y-type devices reinforce this interpretation. To date, no similar symbol has been found on a leadtank in Roman Britain, but there has been a non-functional metal object in the shape of a Y found in agrave in the cemetery at Poundbury.77 This object was noted by Sparey Green in Ig82.78 In a moredetailed study by the present author, it was concluded that the object gave further weight to a Christianidentity for the Poundbury cemetery.79 The symbol, as it appears on the Brough tank, resembles that stillfound today on chasubles, with the vertical of the Y extended upwards about the same height as the

diagonals. This then resembles the orans attitude, found in early Christian art and - most significantly forour purpose here - on the walls of the house church at Lullingstone. It was equated with the cross.8() TheY symbol was also seen as representing moral choice, an idea borrowed from the Greeks.81 Such asymbol, with the implication of making a choice for good or evil, would be a singularly appropriatedecoration on a vessel used in Christian baptism, a religious ritual in which the candidate was asked torenounce the devil and all his works.

Although the X and Y symbols point to Christianity and may both be seen, among otherinterpretations, as representing the cross, it is the intersecting X-and-vertical superimposed on a circle

72 See D.J. Watts, Christians and Pagans in Ronla71 ritai71 I99I), t58-75. A further undecorated) ank has since

been found at Riby, Lincs., but its date s uncertain. Information indly upplied y Dr Ben Whitwell, ArchaeologyUnit, Humberside ounty Council.)73 See Guy, o,p. it. (note 7X), able for a summary f sizes of tanks discovered p to t989.74 See Watts, p. cit. (note 72), figs 23 (d), (f), 24 (a-e).75 D.J. Watts, A7ltiq. Jour7l. lxviii (t988), 2Io-22. This paper was subsequently pdated n the t99t publication

(Watts, p. cit. (note 72)).76 Ancient eferences nclude sidore, Orige71 1.3and possibly Justin Martyr, Apologwn 0 and Julian, Misopogo

357A77 D.E. Farwell nd T.I. Molleson, Poundbltr. 2. The Cemeteries (I993), fig. 83.40 in Grave 339.78 L. Keen ed.), Proc. Dorset Nat. Hist. Arch. Soc. Ci ( I 98 I ), I 33.79 See Watts, p. cit. (note 2), I73-8. The grave belonged o a male, not a female, as reported n that publication.80 e.g. Municius elix, Octavius 29.6; and possibly Barnabas, pistle I2.2.81 e.g. Isidore, Et>mologiae 1.3.7. See Watts, p. cit. (note 2), I77 and notes.


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which is clearly the central motif on the fragment. It was presumably also the focal point of the completeveLssel. n Christian symbolism the device represents the initial letters of IHEOYS XPISTOS (JesusChrist). This Iota-chi X combination was probably the earliest Christian monogram, preceding the Chi-rho i ,89 which became widely used after the conversion of Constantine n 3 I2.

At least two inscriptions using the Iota-chi monogram in place of the words 'Jesus Christ' are knownfrom as early as the third century. The first, of about A.D. 270, is from Phrygia, and concludes with thewords ESTAI AYTQ IIPOS TON X ('he will have to account to Jesus Christ').83 The second, fromRome, can be positively dated to 269, and includes the phrase [IN] X DN = (IN) IESU CHRISTODOMINO NOSTRO ('in Jesus Christ our Lord').84 A third example, also from Rome,85 evidentlypredates the Council of Nicaea of 325 (and affirmation of the nature of the Trinity), since it readsAVGVRINE IN DOM ET X ('Augurinus, (may you rest) in (our) Lord and Jesus Christ').

By the early part of the fourth century, the monogram had come to be used as a symbol, rather than asan abbreviation.86 Nevertheless, it continued to be found in various parts of the Empire. Later examplesfrom Egypt87 and Rome88 date from the sixth and seventh century.89

The Iota-chi may, therefore, be set securely within the context of Christian monograms and symbols ofthe third to seventh centuries. Its presence in Roman Britain on various artefacts cannot be seen asunusual. While the Brough fragment is the only known example of the use of the device as decoration ona lead tank, there are other artefacts from Britain which bear the monogram.90 Two of these have knownChristian symbols besides the Iota-chi. One is an important piece in the British Museum, a pewter platefrom Stamford; t has a central motif of Iota-chi, encircled by crosses of the decussata ype, palm leaves,and two simplified Chi-rho symbols.9' The other is a pottery platter from Lankhills cemetery, with anIota-chi on one side and what may be a stylised fish on the reverse.92 The platter was found with burialsin Feature 6, an enclosure which is believed to have contained the graves of Christians.93

On the Brough fragment, he prominence of the Iota-chi s enhanced by the circle, over which the straps oflead forming the monogram were laid. Circles are found on a number of lead tanks from Britain, ncludingthose from Huntingdon, Oxborough, Burwell, Ireby, Wilbraham, and perhaps Cambridge. The device hasbeen variously interpreted s representing ternity, he world, the cosmos, and an everlasting God, as well asa wreath of triumph.94 t is found in Christian contexts, standing alone and in conjunction with anothersymbol. In the latter case, this may be seen as intensifying the religious significance of both symbols.95

It will thus be seen that we have considerable evidence for a Christian identity for the lead fragment,

and parallels from Roman Britain for the complete vessel. The purpose of these tanks has been frequentlydiscussed,96 and the writer has proposed that they were used at Christian baptism for performing a foot-washing ritual. For this paper, however, the importance of the object lies not in its purpose but in its

xn e.g. W.M. Ramsay, Cities azld Bishoprics Jf Phrygia .I (I897), 526-7; O. Marucchi, Christia7l pigraphy(I9IO, reprint I974), 59; M. Sulzberger, Byza71tios1i (I925), 393-7.

xX CIG 9020. This seems to be a variant on the formula estott oevtci) zpo5 tov 0gov ('he will have to account toGod'), which was common in Christian nscriptions in Asia Minor (Ramsay, op. cit. (note 82), SI4-I6).

XAG.B. DeRossi, Is1scriptio7les hristias1cle rbisRost1ae (I86I), I6, no. IO.XS G.B. DeRossi, La Roselbl l)tterras1ea ristias1a 1 (I867), pl. xxxix, no. 30.86 Sulzberger, op. cit. (note 82), 397.X7 e.g. P.Oxy. I.I26 (A.D. 572), I36 (A.D. 583), I37 (A.D. 584), I38 (A.D. 6IO-II). This last document, although

secular in nature, begins with a Christian nvocation.xx e.g. E. Diehl, Is:1scriptios1esatis1ae hristias1ae eteres (I925), no. 84I (A.D. 584).89 The monogram is used only as a symbol in these examples.9() See Watts, op. cit. (note 72), ISI; 245, n. 9.91 Now RIB Vol. 11) 4I7.4I.9' G. Clarke, Pre-RSoznas1lzld oznas1 is:1chesterart II: The RSoena7lemetenx t La7lkhills I979), 430; fig. 82.256.93 Watts, op. cit. (note 72), passisel.94 ibid., I63-6.95 H. Child and D. Colles, Christias1 ymbols I97I), 27.96 See Watts, op. cit. (note 72), I69, for the main theories, and for further details of the argument presented in this

present paper.


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identification as part of a vessel decorated with Christian symbols. It adds to our corpus of similarobjects in Roman Britain, and to finds with a Christian identity. It also extends knowledge of thedistribution of Romano-British Christianity.

Little is known about Roman Crococalana. It was established towards the end of the first century.Coins and pottery to the end of the fourth century have been found on both sides of the Fosse Way.97 Thetown appears to have been fortified in the third century, perhaps because of its position between Leicesterand Lincoln, and is one of only five such fortified small towns on this section of the Roman road.98 Theearliest known excavations were those by Woolley in Ig06,99 in the north-east sector of the enclosure. Itis the area east of the A46 which also yielded the lead fragment.' However, in view of the threat to thescheduled site by proposed road widening, the watching brief in I980 and subsequent geophysicalsurveys in I990 and I99I were concentrated on the area west of the Fosse Way.

Archaeological evidence, such as painted wall-plaster, imported pottery, glass, and bronzework,suggests some wealth in the town; but, in the absence of large-scale excavation at the site, little of theactivities of Roman Brough can be deduced, and even less the religious beliefs of the inhabitants.

Evidence for Christianity in the area generally is sparse. The nearest large centre, and one with aChristian presence, was Lincoln, about I6 km north of Brough. Ancaster, some 20 km to the south east,had a cemetery which appears to have been Christian;'' and recently a fragment of a comma-terminalimplement decorated with a Chi-rho was found there.'02 The lead piece is thus of great importance inestablishing a Christian presence in the Brough area during the Roman period. It is the first suchevidence from Nottinghamshire.

It raises considerable interest in the scheduled site just across the A46 from the field where the objectwas found and even greater interest in the field itself. It is known that the lead coffin discovered duringWorld War II was found east of the area explored by Woolley early this century. A geophysical survey ofthe field might, therefore, be profitably undertaken.

The state of the lead fragment is also of great interest. A number of tanks have been found in afragmentary state only; some appear to have been deliberately damaged, or to have been abandoned inunusual places such as wells or streams. Guy has suggested that such treatment s evidence of the revival ofpaganism in the late fourth century.'03 While the actual provenance of the Brough find is not known, thesheet of lead appears to have been carefully cut. It does not seem to have been subjected to violenttreatment, or to the kind of damage that would be caused if the whole vessel had been broken up for reuse

of the lead. Nevertheless, its condition could also fit the theory of pagan revival. If, as has been proposed,'04Christianity n certain areas was under pressure as a result of the efforts of the pagan emperor, Julian, and ofthe policy of religious toleration of his (Christian) uccessors, the Brough lead fragment might be evidenceof such pressure. Christians, anxious to preserve the sacred monogram on a lead tank which was no longerin use for baptisms, may themselves have cut the piece out and hidden it away from pagan zealots.

Such opinion is, at this stage, only speculative. Further research and excavation may help to solvesome of the problems. In the meantime, we may be fairly confident in adding the lead fragment fromBrough to the list of artefacts with Christian symbols, and thus to our knowledge of Christianity inRoman Britain.'05

Department of Classics and Ancient History, The University of Queensland

97 V.C.H. Notts. I (I970), II-I5.98 B. Burnham nd J. Wacher, he Small Towns' f Roman Britain I990), 35, 3I5.99 T.C.S. Woolley, Tra7ls. horoto7l oc. x (I9IO), 63-72.00 Information indly upplied y Mr V. Radcliffe.01 Watts, p. cit. (note 2), ch. III et passim.

102 This tem s now n the British Museum.03 Guy, op. cit. (note 9), 275.04 Watts, p. cit. (note 2), 22I-7.105My thanks re extended o The University f Queensland nd he Australian esearch Council or funding his

research, o Mr Michael Jones and the City of Lincoln Archaeology Unit for organising nd supplying he drawingand photograph, nd o Newark Museum or permission o publish he object.


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A Lead-tank Fragment From Brough WATTS