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Popular Archaeology Excavation near Britain's ancient Maryport Roman fortress has revealed a large timber structure. Archaeologists return to seek answers. 
A team of archaeologists, students and volunteers led by Newcastle University's Professor Ian Haynes and Tony Wilmott has returned to continue excavations at the site of a massive ancient timber complex associated with the 2nd century Roman military fort complex in Maryport near the coast of northwestern Britain.Part of the groundplan of the timber structure (or structures) was unearthed in 2011, raising questions and providing new clues related to the discovery of Roman altar stones uncovered there over 140 years ago. Said Haynes: "Until last year's excavation it was accepted by Roman scholars worldwide that the 17 Maryport altar stones excavated in 1870 at the site - Britain's largest cache of Roman altars - had been buried as part of a religious ceremony. It turns out they were re-used in the foundations of a large Roman timber building or buildings." The altar stones represent Britain's largest cache of Roman altars. As a popular tourist attraction, they have been exhibited in the Senhouse Roman Museum at Maryport since 1990. The town of Maryport was first established as the Roman fort Alauna in about 122 AD. It was a command and supply base for the Roman coastal defencework of Hadrian's Wall at its western end. Last in a series of forts that stretched south from Hadrian's Wall on the coast, its remains are substantial. Recent surveys have shown a large Roman settlement likely associated with the fort, and excavations have revealed evidence of a second, earlier and larger fort next to and partially under the current remains. "This year we're excavating over a larger area than last year - about 400 square metres - and for twice as long, which means we can involve more local volunteers, and learn more about the number of timber structures, their size and date", added Haynes. "We need to find out what the buildings were used for and whether they and the curved ditch we discovered in 2011 have any relation to each other." The objective of the 2012 excavation will be to shed more light on the circumstances of the burial of the group of altars, answer questions about the re-use of the altars as part of the timber foundations, and learn more about the timber structure or structures which the altar stones apparently supported. The excavation is expected to run 10 weeks, closing on August 14. But the excavation is only part of a larger research effort related to developing greater understanding of ancient Roman/British settlements in the region. Said Nigel Mills, director of world heritage and access for the Hadrian's Wall Trust (the funding organization): "More research is needed on Romano-British civilian settlements, and the geophysical surveys for Maryport commissioned by the Senhouse Museum Trust show that the settlement outside the Maryport fort was extremely complex, of considerable size and is well preserved." Research at multiple sites thus far suggests that there were multicultural settlements consisting of people from across the Roman Empire who made their living by managing supplies and services for the Roman army and acting as "middlemen" in trading activities throughout the Roman Empire.
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