"1. Gravel similar to Thames ballast at a depth of 17 feet towards
the north, inclining to 22 feet towards the south end.
"2. Above this, peat of unequal thickness, varying from 7 to 9 feet.
"3. Modern remains of London earth composed of the accumulated
rubbish of the city."
Between the bottom of the peat and the highest spring tide water-mark,
as at present existing, there is a margin of 5 feet; but, of course,
this might have been different in Roman times.
Regarding the remains of piles in this locality the author makes the
following observations:--
"Upon looking over the ground, my attention was at once attracted
by a number of piles, the decayed tops of which appeared above the
unexcavated portions of the peat, dotted here and there over the whole
of the space cleared. I noted down the positions of all that were
above ground at the time; and as the excavations continued during the
last two months, I have marked from time to time the positions of all
the others as they became exposed to view.
"Commencing on the south, a row of them ran north and south on the
west side, to the right of these a curved row, as if forming part of
a ring. Higher up and running obliquely across the ground was a row
of piles, having a plank about an inch and a half thick and a foot
broad placed along the south face, as if binding the piles together.
To the left of these another row of piles ran east and west; to the
north-east again were several circular clusters of piles; these were
not in rings but grouped in clusters, and the piles were from eight to
sixteen inches apart. To the left of this another row of piles and a
plank two inches thick ran north and south. There were two other rows
north of this and several detached piles, but no doubt several towards
the north end had been removed before I arrived.
"The piles averaged 6 to 8 inches square; others of smaller size
measured 4 inches by 3; and one or two were as much as a foot square.
They appeared to be roughly cut, as if with an axe, and pointed
square; there was no trace of iron-shoeing on any of them, nor was
there any appearance of metal fastenings in its planks; they may
have been tied to the piles, but if so, the binding material had
decayed.[120] The grain of the wood was still visible in some of them,
and they appear to be of oak. The planks averaged from one to two
inches thick. The points of the piles were inserted from one to two
feet in the gravel, and were, for the most part, well preserved, but
all the tops had rotted off at about two feet above the gravel, which
I conclude must have been the surface of the ground, or of the water,
at the time these structures were in existence."
These relics were exclusively found in the peat or middle stratum
(which varied from 7 to 9 feet in thickness), and "interspersed at
different levels from top to bottom throughout it."
"Amongst the articles of human workmanship found in the peat the vast
majority are undoubtedly of the Roman era. Amongst them are quantities
of broken red Samian pottery, mostly plain, but some of it depicting
men and animals in relief; one specimen is stamped with the name of
Macrinus. All this pottery, in the opinion of Mr. Franks, to whom I
showed it, is of foreign manufacture. Other samples are of the kind
supposed to have been manufactured in the Upchurch Marshes in Kent,
and upon the site of St. Paul's Churchyard. Bronze and copper pins,
iron knives, iron and bronze stylus, tweezers, iron shears, a piece of
polished metal mirror so bright that you may see your face in it (this
Dr. Percy has pronounced to be of iron pyrites, white sulphuret of
iron without alloy), an iron double-edged hatchet, an iron implement,
apparently for dressing leather, a piece of bronze vessel, and other
bronze and iron implements, which, thanks to the preserving properties
of the peat, are all in excellent preservation. Amongst these were
also a quantity of leather soles of shoes or sandals, some apparently
much worn, and others, being thickly studded with hob-nails, may be
recognised as the caliga of the Roman legions; also a piece of tile
with the letters P. PR. BR. stamped upon it. Specimens of these are
on the table. The coins found are those of Nerva, Vespasian, Trajan,
Adrian, and Antoninus Pius....
"In addition to the Roman relics above mentioned, others of ruder
construction remain to be described. They consist of what, in the
absence of any evidence respecting their uses, may be called handles
and points of bone. The former are composed of the metacarpal bones
of the red-deer and _Bos longifrons_ cut through in the middle, and
roughly squared at the small end; the others, which are called by the
workmen spear-heads, are pointed at one end and hollowed out at the
other, as if to receive a shaft. Both Professor Owen and Mr. Blake
concur in thinking these implements may possibly have been formed
with flint, but I cannot ascertain that they were found at a lower
level than the Roman remains, nor have any flint implements, to my
knowledge, been found in the place. With them were also found the two
bone skates on the table; they are of the metacarpal bone of a small
horse or ass, one of which has been much used on the ice. Exactly
similar skates also of the metacarpal of the horse or ass have been
found in a tumulus of the Stone Period at Oosterend in Friesland; a
drawing of them is given in Lindenschmit's Catalogue of the Museum
at Mayence, etc. Others have also been found in Zeeland, at Utrecht,
and in Guelderland, and there is a specimen in the Museum at Hanover.
Professor Lindenschmit attributes all these to the Stone Period,
but the specimens on the table are evidently of the Iron Age, the
holes in the back having been formed for the insertion of an iron
staple. Similar skates have been found in the Thames, but they have
not hitherto been considered to date so early in England as in Roman
times."
Throughout the peat were several kitchen-middens. One, deposited a
foot and a half above the gravel, is thus described:--"A layer of
oyster and mussel shells about a foot thick, with a filtration of
carbonate of lime permeating through the moss. In this kitchen-midden,
Roman pottery and a Roman caliga were found. Close by, the point of a
pile, part of which is exhibited, was found upright in the peat; it
had been driven in in such a manner that the point descends to the
level of the kitchen-midden and no farther. Now, as a pile, in order
to obtain a holding, must have been driven at least two feet in the
ground, it is evident the peat must have grown at least one foot above
the summit of the kitchen-midden before this pile was driven in."
A second kitchen-midden is noted at a height of 3½ feet above
the gravel, "composed of oyster, cockle, and mussel shells, and
periwinkles, with Roman pottery and bones of the goat and _Bos
longifrons_, etc., split lengthwise as if to extract the marrow, with
the skulls broken and the horns cut off. It is about a foot and a
half thick in the centre, thinning out towards the ends as a heap of
refuse would naturally do, and from 12 to 14 feet long; above this is
peat for about a foot or a foot and a half, and above the peat another
kitchen-midden of the same kind as the preceding. Lastly, the soles
of shoes and Roman pottery of the same kind as that found lower down
have been taken out at the very top of the peat."
The distinguished investigator, being anxious to obtain further
evidence as to the thickness of the stratum in which the Roman remains
were found, states that he determined to watch the workmen for four
or five hours together during several successive days, while they
dug from top to bottom, commencing with the superficial earth, and
passing through the peat to the gravel below. The result was as
follows:--"Roman red Samian ware is found as high as 13 feet from the
surface, but very rarely, and in small quantities. At 15 feet it is
frequently found, and from that depth it increases in quantity till
the gravel is reached at 18 to 21 feet. The chief region of Roman
remains is within two or three feet of the gravel."
Amongst the animal remains were, according to Professor Owen, those
"of the horse or ass, the red deer, the wild boar, the wild goat
(_bouquetin_), the dog, the _Bos longifrons_, and the roebuck. The
horns of the roebuck, I afterwards ascertained, were all found at
a higher level. These, and also the horse and goat, entered the
superficial earth, in which glazed pottery was also found; but the
remainder, including the red deer, wild boar, and _Bos longifrons_,
appeared, so far as my observations enabled me to judge, to be
confined to the peat."
Subsequently Mr. Carter Blake identified amongst these osseous
remains no less than four different kinds of the genus _Bos_--viz.
_primigenius_, _trochoceros_, _longifrons_, and _frontosus_; as also a
specimen of the ibex of the Pyrenees.
Some human skulls were found in the lowest formation of the peat, or
immediately over the gravel. Along with these skulls only three other
human bones were found; but this, according to the author, might not
be the result of an oversight, as both the Celts and the Romans were
known to have practised decapitation.
The piles at the south end were identified as elm, the remainder were
oak (_Quercus robur_).
From the above carefully observed and recorded facts it will be
observed that in addition to the primary piles which were inserted
into the gravel there were others which did not penetrate so deeply,
one having been carefully noted which terminated in the peat a foot
and a half above the gravel. Facts precisely similar have been
observed in almost all pile-dwellings whether on land or in water,
showing that the elevations on which the platforms and huts were
reared were successively renewed. Another conclusion which we are
entitled to draw from the character of the relics and the conditions
in which they were found is that in the low-lying districts of London
the system of pile-dwellings was known in Britain in post-Roman
times. Nor can it be said that this was a solitary instance, for
similar remains were found in New Southwark Street, in regard to which
the author writes as follows:--
"The piles are of the same scantling, also of oak, but somewhat longer
than those of London Wall; the points are driven into the gravel; the
peat is three to four feet thick; large beams of the same size as the
piles have been laid across them horizontally, and Roman pottery is
found at all depths in the peat. Judging from the extent over which
these piles have been discovered, there can be little doubt that in
digging for the foundations of the many large warehouses and other
buildings that are now being built within this district the remains of
early habitations are constantly turning up and are destroyed without
receiving attention."
As to the relics from these London pile-dwellings let me finally
observe, that, to a certain extent, both in character and surrounding
conditions they correspond with those from the Terp mounds in Holland
and North Germany, from which it is probable the earliest Anglo-Saxon
invaders hailed.