Timber structures, sometimes associated with industrial activity, also altered the organisation of space within public buildings whilst indicating their continued use. Other traces of activity within the public buildings are also examined here, including spreads of pottery sherds, coins, and animal bones. These remains, however, are usually considered to relate to a period after the buildings had ceased to be maintained or had been abandoned. Along with the timber structures, they have been regarded as representing the 'slum conditions’ of town centres (Wheeler and Wheeler 1936: 30), squatters amongst the ruins (Collingwood and Myres 1936: 206), and a 'degenerate’ situation of 'shanty towns of huts and shelters’ (Faulkner 1996: 94; 2000a: 124) at a period when Roman civilisation and order had decayed and vanished. This interpretation is used to support notions of decline because it contradicts perceptions of economic vitality and Golden Age images of urbanism.
Ward-Perkins (2005: 94-5) considered timber structures to represent 'the disappearance of comfort’ and the end of civilisation. His excavations on a small area of the forum at Luni in northern Italy, which uncovered traces of two timber buildings cutting into the robbed forum floor, became a well-known type-site to support his argument for the decline of towns (1978,1981); however, Cameron (1993a: 198) sees this as applying 'inappropriate classical norms’ to the evidence. An approach that avoids more negative interpretations is more helpful. Mattingly (2006a: 534) has drawn attention to the fact that the latest activity evidenced within villas is often labelled 'squatter occupation’ by the excavators because of the poor survival of the remains and because it does not correlate with expected images of Roman civilisation. Instead ofreoccupation within a ruined or derelict structure, however, he argues that the evidence is more likely to relate to final adaptations to the buildings. This positive approach to the material can also be taken for public buildings in towns, emphasising the continued use of the buildings. There is generally less evidence of material culture in late Roman layers, which has been a contributing factor in interpretations of the decline of towns. Fulford et al. (2006: 280), however, have questioned the assumption that a developed material culture is a necessary indicator of urbanism in the archaeological record, suggesting that such an approach hinders studies of late Roman towns where there was continuing vitality. Any surviving evidence is also likely to reflect more information that has not been preserved; thus analysis of this evidence can indicate more about activities taking place within buildings before they were eventually abandoned or demolished.
Timber structures and stalls were always a common accompaniment to fora and temples - the evidence of their presence in the late Roman period would therefore suggest continuing activity rather than decline (cf. Potter 1995). Potter’s (1995) excavations of the
Forum at Cherchel (lol Caesarea) in Algeria identified what appear to have been timber stalls constructed in the fourth century, clearly indicating activity still taking place here and use of this public area. In some cases the structures indicate additional uses to which the buildings were being put (Wickham 2005). It must, of course, be borne in mind here that excavation conditions can affect analysis. The five forum-basilica complexes with traces of timber structures in Britain, for example, were all excavated after i960 (Cirencester, Lincoln, London, Silchester, and Winchester). Of the complexes where no timber structures have been found, including at Wroxeter, Verulamium, and Caistor-by-Norwich, excavations were not undertaken to what would be considered modern standards. Traces of timber structures may have been lost or not recognised. Positive evidence that late public buildings did not have traces of timber structures is also important, however, because it implies that the building spaces continued to be kept clear for other uses. Examining the nature of the timber constructions also provides useful information regarding the state of the public building structures themselves at this time.
World History
