Temple precinct in Tabard Square

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Inscription of Tiberinius Celerianus
Cream jar
Base of a bronze statue from the temple precinct

The Roman temple district in Tabard Square was uncovered during excavations in 2002/2003 about 600 meters south of the Thames in the London borough of Southwark .

In total there are nine other finds of structures in London that could have served as temples, but their interpretation as a temple is not always certain. The remains in Tabard Square are the best documented. The deities worshiped here are not known. Here a suburb to the north of the river Londinium with some remarkable buildings developed early .

Settlement and usage history

A few remains of the settlement in the area around Tabard Square date back to the Bronze Age . From the time after the Roman conquest in 43 AD, there is initially only a little evidence of building in this area. It was not until around 80 AD that some wooden buildings were erected, which also demonstrate how quickly the suburb expanded southwards. A little later, more wooden structures were built and the presence of a street can be proven. The buildings were partly decorated with wall paintings and show a high standard of living. The small finds also point in the same direction. Numerous pieces of jewelry were found, including a gold chain. The fragment of a glass vessel with a cut decoration testifies to the presence of other luxury objects.

Around 120 AD, a temple district then appears to have been founded. A large area was surrounded by a moat. It seems that a sacred precinct was established here. A notable find from this period comes from a ditch. It is a small, round tin made of pewter. It was found locked and after opening still contained a cream and the fingerprints of the last user. A chemical investigation showed that it is a fatty substance of animal origin (sheep or cow), starch and tin. A medical benefit is not recognizable, so it is presumably cosmetics. However, no traces of perfume could be found.

Around 160 AD, two stone temples in the style of Gallo-Roman commons were built in the north-west of the district . The northern temple was about 10.45 square meters. Unfortunately, this part of the excavated area is particularly poorly preserved. From the ground plan, only about half of the walls were still detectable. The southern temple was even worse preserved and only the remains of a wall were found. The size of the temple was reconstructed analogous to the northern temple. The temple precinct was in operation until the 4th century. Here was the inscription of Tiberinius Celerianus , the dedicatory inscription of a trader from Gaul . Another inscription was only found in a fragment on marble. The few well-preserved, neatly cut letters suggest dating to the second century and an imperial client. Other finds show that statues made of stone and bronze were erected in the temple precincts. However, their remains are all very humble. There are still extensive remains of wall paintings from the northern temple. The walls were decorated with black fields, which in turn were separated by red, wide stripes. Candelabra were painted in red on the red fields .

The district was rebuilt in the 4th century. To the south-east of the two temples, a large house was built, which is more reminiscent of a Roman villa. However, the excavators suspect that it was also a temple. Above all, there were no hypocausts that one would expect in a residential building of this size. The temple precinct was apparently abandoned in the early 5th century.

literature

  • Douglas Killock: Temples and Suburbs. Excavations at Tabard Square (= PreConstruct Archeology Limited Monograph. Number 18). Pre-Construct Archeology, London 2015, ISBN 978-0-9926672-5-2 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Douglas Killock: Temples and Suburbs: Excavations at Tabard Square, Southwark . Pre-construct archeology Limited, London 2015, ISBN 978-0-9926672-5-2 , pp. 250-251.
  2. ↑ Douglas Killock: Temples and Suburbs: Excavations at Tabard Square, Southwark . Pre-construct archeology Limited, London 2015, ISBN 978-0-9926672-5-2 , p. 240.
  3. ↑ Douglas Killock: Temples and Suburbs: Excavations at Tabard Square, Southwark . Pre-construct archeology Limited, London 2015, ISBN 978-0-9926672-5-2 , p. 31.
  4. ↑ L. Barham, RP Evershed, R. Berstan, F. Grew, NS Copley, AJH Charmant, HR Mottram, G. Brown: Formulation of a Roman cosmetic. In: Nature . Volume 432 (2004), p. 35 f.
  5. ↑ Douglas Killock: Temples and Suburbs: Excavations at Tabard Square, Southwark . Pre-construct archeology Limited, London 2015, ISBN 978-0-9926672-5-2 , p. 37.
  6. ^ Roger Tomlin: Inscriptions. In: Douglas Killock: Temples and Suburbs: Excavations at Tabard Square, Southwark . Pre-construct archeology Limited, London 2015, ISBN 978-0-9926672-5-2 , pp. 192-194.
  7. ↑ Berni Sudds: Painted Wall Plaster. In: Douglas Killock: Temples and Suburbs: Excavations at Tabard Square, Southwark . Pre-construct archeology Limited, London 2015, ISBN 978-0-9926672-5-2 , pp. 199–205, here pp. 203–204.
  8. ↑ Douglas Killock: Temples and Suburbs: Excavations at Tabard Square, Southwark . Pre-construct archeology Limited, London 2015, ISBN 978-0-9926672-5-2 , pp. 263-264.

Coordinates: 51 ° 30 ′ 3.1 ″  N , 0 ° 5 ′ 27.6 ″  W.