Evergreen plants in Roman Britain and beyond: movement, meaning and materiality

Lodwick, L. A. (2017) Evergreen plants in Roman Britain and beyond: movement, meaning and materiality. Britannia, 48. pp. 135-173. ISSN 1753-5352 doi: 10.1017/S0068113X17000101

Abstract/Summary

In tandem with the large-scale translocation of food plants in the Roman world, ornamental evergreen plants and plant items were also introduced to new areas for ritual and ornamental purposes. The extent to which these new plants, primarily box and stone-pine, were grown in Britain has yet to be established. This paper presents a synthesis of archaeobotanical records of box, stone-pine and norway spruce in Roman Britain, highlighting chronological and spatial patterns. Archaeobotanical evidence is used alongside material culture to evaluate the movement of these plants and plant items into Roman Britain, their meaning and materiality in the context of human-plant relations in ornamental gardens and ritual activities. Archaeobotanical evidence for ornamental evergreen plants elsewhere in the Roman world is presented.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/68336
Identification Number/DOI	10.1017/S0068113X17000101
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Science > School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science > Department of Archaeology
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
Publisher Statement	The published article will be available on Cambridge Journals Online.
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