Episode 4 - D for Dendrochronology, Roman Baths Site Visit, and Archaeology News

Into the Dust Archaeology

Episode 4 – D for Dendrochronology, Roman Baths Site Visit, and Archaeology News

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OPlUxgTUHo&list=PLcH4-BWqVM6KHP2Ih6UEq4_G1qRq8MgSn&index=2
ABCs of Archaeology – D is for Dendrochronology

Dendrochronology is a technique first developed as a method for dating in the early 1900’s. Each year, trees produce a “ring” because they stop growing during the winter, producing a noticeable ring. These rings differ depending on climatic conditions, leaving similar patterns across trees in a given area. If we’re able to produce a catalogue of tree rings going way back (and some of them go back more than 10,000 years!), then we can date wood with total precision. This makes it the most accurate form of archaeological dating, but it does have its limits…

Living Archaeology Site Visit – Jason takes you to one of the most well-known sites in Roman Britain – the Roman baths in…Bath. Built on the site of pagan Iron Age temple, the Romans started building this place up almost as soon as they came to stay in Britain. Though it fell into disrepair and was pillaged for stones after the Romans left, before too long it was used again as a healing bath under royal patronage. It stayed in use until late Victorian times, when excavations found all the old Roman stuff. Now it’s one of the most comprehensive archaeological sites you can visit anywhere…if you’re okay to pay a hefty sum and brave the crowds!

References:

https://archaeology.co.uk/articles/features/the-end-of-roman-bath.htm

https://www.romanbaths.co.uk/

https://canvas-story.bbcrewind.co.uk/sites/rise-and-fall-of-roman-baths/

https://www.jstor.org/stable/525760

Archaeology News – Sometimes archaeology headlines are very sexy, promising history-changing implications when in reality the evidence is flimsy or it’s just not that groundbreaking – all hat and no cattle as they say in Texas. This is story kind of an example of that…a Roman-era dildo found in England! Jason is going to take you through and debunk the story, or at least show you how to take it with a grain of salt.

References

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/touch-wood-luck-protection-power-or-pleasure-a-wooden-phallus-from-vindolanda-roman-fort/53F4B0838D23DB65F6A244695624102E

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/feb/20/its-not-a-darning-tool-its-a-very-naughty-toy-roman-dildo-found

https://www.vice.com/en/article/ake5d8/ancient-roman-phallus-vindolanda

https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/03/remember-that-ancient-roman-dildo-it-might-just-be-an-old-roman-drop-spindle/

https://theconversation.com/roman-dildo-could-have-been-made-by-shoemakers-an-expert-in-ancient-prosthetics-explains-200387

https://www.sciencealert.com/this-ancient-roman-dick-drawing-suggests-phallic-graffiti-was