Decline, collapse, or transformation? : Hadrian's Wall in the 4th-5th centuries AD
The collapse and end of Roman Britain remains a topic of interest and debate, related to conceptual issues found in the disciplines ofboth archaeology and history. The collapse of Hadrian's Wall and the frontier ofnorthern England as a region also have yet to be adequately explained. Excavations on Hadrian's Wall over the past 25 years have revealed excellent evidence for late Roman military occupation as well as sub-Roman occupation at a number of sites (e.g. South Shields, Newcastle, Vindolanda, Birdoswald, and Carlisle). While each site has been considered individually, there has been limited comprehensive treatment. When all ofthese sites have been examined together, scholars have presented models oflimited use, due to their reliance on historical frameworks. A review ofthe organization ofthe late Roman military and the concept of frontiers suggests that a theoretically based perspective would generate more useful models for understanding the decline and collapse ofRoman frontiers. Community studies, with particular emphasis on military communities, are applied to the limitanei and late Roman frontier archaeology. A synthetic evaluation ofoccupation and activity along Hadrian's Wall from the 4th to 5th
Collins, Robert Michael
Decline, collapse, or transformation? : Hadrian's Wall in the 4th-5th centuries AD. The collapse and end of Roman Britain remains a topic of interest and debate, related to conceptual issues found in the disciplines ofboth archaeology and history. The collapse of Hadrian's Wall and the frontier ofnorthern England as a region also have yet to be adequately explained. Excavations on Hadrian's Wall over the past 25 years have revealed excellent evidence for late Roman military occupation as well as sub-Roman occupation at a number of sites (e.g. South Shields, Newcastle, Vindolanda, Birdoswald, and Carlisle). While each site has been considered individually, there has been limited comprehensive treatment. When all ofthese sites have been examined together, scholars have presented models oflimited use, due to their reliance on historical frameworks. A review ofthe organization ofthe late Roman military and the concept of frontiers suggests that a theoretically based perspective would generate more useful models for understanding the decline and collapse ofRoman frontiers. Community studies, with particular emphasis on military communities, are applied to the limitanei and late Roman frontier archaeology. A synthetic evaluation ofoccupation and activity along Hadrian's Wall from the 4th to 5th
decline collapse transformation hadrian_wall collapse end roman_britain remain topic interest debate related conceptual issue find discipline archaeology history collapse hadrian_wall frontier england region also yet adequately explain excavations hadrian_wall past reveal excellent evidence late_roman military occupation well sub roman occupation number site south newcastle carlisle site consider individually limited comprehensive treatment site examine together scholar present model use due reliance historical framework review ofthe organization ofthe late_roman military concept frontier suggest theoretically base perspective would generate useful model decline collapse frontier community study particular_emphasis military community apply late_roman frontier archaeology synthetic evaluation activity along hadrian_wall