Penny Coombe
I am currently Graduate Intern in the Provenance Index team at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles, California, contributing to the remodel of the Index to Linked Open Data and undertaking research into the 19th/20th century art market especially in the USA. Before this, I was Teaching Associate in Roman Archaeology at the University of Sheffield, responsible for developing and delivering modules on the archaeology of the Roman world and contributing to team-taught modules on the Classical Mediterranean, landscape archaeology and the history of archaeological theory. I enjoy sharing knowledge, collaborating on research, and enthusing the wider public. I was delighted recently to contribute to a discussion of the finds of Roman sculpture at Stoke Mandeville in the course of HS2 excavations on Radio 4 Woman's Hour: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m00114sz
In 2021, I completed my DPhil at Wolfson College, Oxford, which examined the similarities and differences between the sculpture of Roman Britain and art on the continent, especially in Roman Germany, exploring cultural associations and transmission and seeking to explain change and transformation. In 2018, I received a scholarship to study for a semester at Üniversität zu Köln, and loved examining sculpture from the Rhineland close up, and was thrilled to win the BAA Ochs Scholarship in 2019.
Alongside my work and research, I enjoy cycling and have a plan to cycle the limits of the Roman empire. So far, I have cycled along Hadrian's Wall and from the coast of the Netherlands to Bratislava: details and articles are on my blog https://cyclingarchaeologist.wordpress.com
I was visiting tutor in Roman Archaeology at Royal Holloway, University of London 2019-2020 and have taught tutorials at Oxford in Roman Art. A member of the University Engagement Programme at the Ashmolean Museum 2019-2020, I worked to widen use of the unparalleled University collections in the Oxford curriculum, and have in the past worked at the Museum of London and the London Archaeological Archive and Research Centre.
Supervisors: Dr Peter Stewart
Address: Oxford, England, United Kingdom
In 2021, I completed my DPhil at Wolfson College, Oxford, which examined the similarities and differences between the sculpture of Roman Britain and art on the continent, especially in Roman Germany, exploring cultural associations and transmission and seeking to explain change and transformation. In 2018, I received a scholarship to study for a semester at Üniversität zu Köln, and loved examining sculpture from the Rhineland close up, and was thrilled to win the BAA Ochs Scholarship in 2019.
Alongside my work and research, I enjoy cycling and have a plan to cycle the limits of the Roman empire. So far, I have cycled along Hadrian's Wall and from the coast of the Netherlands to Bratislava: details and articles are on my blog https://cyclingarchaeologist.wordpress.com
I was visiting tutor in Roman Archaeology at Royal Holloway, University of London 2019-2020 and have taught tutorials at Oxford in Roman Art. A member of the University Engagement Programme at the Ashmolean Museum 2019-2020, I worked to widen use of the unparalleled University collections in the Oxford curriculum, and have in the past worked at the Museum of London and the London Archaeological Archive and Research Centre.
Supervisors: Dr Peter Stewart
Address: Oxford, England, United Kingdom
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Books
Edited by Penny Coombe and Ying Ting Fung
In contrast to the rest of Britain, this region has yielded a substantial collection of marble and bronze statuary. The sculptures from the Temple of Mithras in London are notable highlights, as are the busts probably of the emperor Pertinax and his father from the villa at Lullingstone. The famous head of Hadrian from the Thames is one of only three bronze statues of that emperor from the entire Roman world. Scarcely less impressive is the limestone sculpture, which includes important funerary monuments and sarcophagi, alongside depictions of Classical and Romano-British deities. In the last of these categories, a Matronae relief with four rather than the usual three matrons, and several representations of a Hunter God are particularly intriguing.
A substantial part of the book concerns architectural sculpture, in particular fragments of three major monuments: the quadrifrons arch at Richborough, and a small arch and screen from London. The figural and floral motifs on the London monuments are analysed in detail, revealing close links with contemporary sculpture in the Rhineland.
For the first time in the British CSIR series, this fascicule contains a comprehensive study of the types and sources of the stone. Nearly every item was examined visually by an archaeological petrologist, Dr Kevin Haywood, and approaching half in thin-section. It emerges that in the early Roman period sculptors in Kent used stone quarried in northern France rather than Britain, so demonstrating the importance of cross-Channel connections in the formative years of the province of Britannia.
Articles
Excavated between 1984 and 1992, the site of a large Roman villa complex at Stanwick, Northamptonshire produced a significant quantity of sculpted and architectural worked stone. This paper assesses the various aspects of that material, including the petrological sources, and offers a new interpretation. Many items were discovered as post packing or were otherwise reused within the fabric of the enlarged fourth century villa, but originally derived from what were probably two earlier monumental structures dated on stylistic grounds to the third century. The sculpture was initially examined in 1994-5 by Dr Martin Henig and by the late Dr Thomas Blagg, whose work, especially on the large number of architectural pieces, has been subsumed into this paper and to whom we owe a debt of gratitude.
A cache of Roman copper-alloy fragments was discovered, apparently carefully layered in a pit, in a field in Gloucestershire by metal detectorists in 2017. The assemblage comprises around 5kg of metal pieces, predominantly box fittings, but also smaller items of personal use such as a fourth century belt buckle, a 3-strand bracelet, a spoon, and a coin (a nummus of Crispus). Most remarkable are the sculptural fragments, including several pieces of life-size statuary and the complete statuette of a dog with fine incised decoration, and part of an incised bronze inscription panel. This article considers the original form of the statuary, and the use and deposition of the cache. It is proposed that these fragments represent the remains of the accoutrements of a temple or shrine, in the local area, perhaps dedicated to Diana Venatrix, and that they were removed and deposited together in the late fourth century.
A mithraeum built of wood was excavated in 2010 outside the Roman fort at Inveresk, East Lothian, near Edinburgh. The fort was constructed in association with the short-lived Antonine Wall, for which it acted as a supply base, and both fort and mithraeum can be dated to AD 140–165. This is thus the earliest attested mithraeum in the province of Britannia. The most significant finds were two altars, one dedicated to Sol and the other to Daeo Invicto Mythrae. Both altars are of local stone and of great iconographic and technical interest: attributes of Sol, Mithras and Apollo are combined on the stones, and the forms and style may be paralleled by other stonework of Legio XX. The Sol altar includes perhaps the earliest example in the north-western provinces of ‘pierced through’ open work, allowing illumination of parts of the motif, and movement of forms and technique are considered. The conception of the combined deities and cult of Mithras in second-century Britannia are also discussed.
Conference Presentations and Talks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kt_p_2SIFU
Edited by Penny Coombe and Ying Ting Fung
In contrast to the rest of Britain, this region has yielded a substantial collection of marble and bronze statuary. The sculptures from the Temple of Mithras in London are notable highlights, as are the busts probably of the emperor Pertinax and his father from the villa at Lullingstone. The famous head of Hadrian from the Thames is one of only three bronze statues of that emperor from the entire Roman world. Scarcely less impressive is the limestone sculpture, which includes important funerary monuments and sarcophagi, alongside depictions of Classical and Romano-British deities. In the last of these categories, a Matronae relief with four rather than the usual three matrons, and several representations of a Hunter God are particularly intriguing.
A substantial part of the book concerns architectural sculpture, in particular fragments of three major monuments: the quadrifrons arch at Richborough, and a small arch and screen from London. The figural and floral motifs on the London monuments are analysed in detail, revealing close links with contemporary sculpture in the Rhineland.
For the first time in the British CSIR series, this fascicule contains a comprehensive study of the types and sources of the stone. Nearly every item was examined visually by an archaeological petrologist, Dr Kevin Haywood, and approaching half in thin-section. It emerges that in the early Roman period sculptors in Kent used stone quarried in northern France rather than Britain, so demonstrating the importance of cross-Channel connections in the formative years of the province of Britannia.
Excavated between 1984 and 1992, the site of a large Roman villa complex at Stanwick, Northamptonshire produced a significant quantity of sculpted and architectural worked stone. This paper assesses the various aspects of that material, including the petrological sources, and offers a new interpretation. Many items were discovered as post packing or were otherwise reused within the fabric of the enlarged fourth century villa, but originally derived from what were probably two earlier monumental structures dated on stylistic grounds to the third century. The sculpture was initially examined in 1994-5 by Dr Martin Henig and by the late Dr Thomas Blagg, whose work, especially on the large number of architectural pieces, has been subsumed into this paper and to whom we owe a debt of gratitude.
A cache of Roman copper-alloy fragments was discovered, apparently carefully layered in a pit, in a field in Gloucestershire by metal detectorists in 2017. The assemblage comprises around 5kg of metal pieces, predominantly box fittings, but also smaller items of personal use such as a fourth century belt buckle, a 3-strand bracelet, a spoon, and a coin (a nummus of Crispus). Most remarkable are the sculptural fragments, including several pieces of life-size statuary and the complete statuette of a dog with fine incised decoration, and part of an incised bronze inscription panel. This article considers the original form of the statuary, and the use and deposition of the cache. It is proposed that these fragments represent the remains of the accoutrements of a temple or shrine, in the local area, perhaps dedicated to Diana Venatrix, and that they were removed and deposited together in the late fourth century.
A mithraeum built of wood was excavated in 2010 outside the Roman fort at Inveresk, East Lothian, near Edinburgh. The fort was constructed in association with the short-lived Antonine Wall, for which it acted as a supply base, and both fort and mithraeum can be dated to AD 140–165. This is thus the earliest attested mithraeum in the province of Britannia. The most significant finds were two altars, one dedicated to Sol and the other to Daeo Invicto Mythrae. Both altars are of local stone and of great iconographic and technical interest: attributes of Sol, Mithras and Apollo are combined on the stones, and the forms and style may be paralleled by other stonework of Legio XX. The Sol altar includes perhaps the earliest example in the north-western provinces of ‘pierced through’ open work, allowing illumination of parts of the motif, and movement of forms and technique are considered. The conception of the combined deities and cult of Mithras in second-century Britannia are also discussed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kt_p_2SIFU
Presented at the conference on the Archaeology of Mithraism, at Alba Iulia, Romania, October 2017. Accepted for publication in the proceedings.
This paper considers the chronology, iconography and archaeological contexts of Roman cavalry rider relief tombstones from Britain and Germany
While the external towers predominately incorporated funerary monuments, the recycled elements used in the riverside wall came from two major structures: a monumental arch and a screen decorated with figures of deities. This indicates the deliberate demolition of public structures to provide material for the wall’s construction, representing a drastic intervention in the urban fabric. The wall functioned not only as security but also as a very powerful symbol of urban prestige. We see this process as deliberate and careful recycling, which did not result from a lack of funds. In light of the scale and character of the demolition we need to think about why and how materials were chosen for re-use. Some re-used pieces retained meaning and received special treatment of deposition. Could there be an element of iconoclasm in the dismantling of the London monumental arch and screen of gods for use in the riverside wall? However, iconoclasm does not explain the reverential treatment of an officialis tomb statue, found with head carefully placed beneath his feet, mimicking contemporary burial practices, in one of the bastions of the late Roman defences in London. Furthermore, were systems of salvage at work? For example, parts of the same monument have been identified in two different bastions of the city-wall (B8 and B10). Since the bastions are some distance apart the implication is that the blocks were stockpiled before re-use.
The paper will thus investigate the ways in which earlier material was recycled: was the re-use carried out with a high technical effort and careful execution? What was the role played by central or imperial administration in the use of second-hand material as well as the shaping of the city-space? Overall, the evidence of recycling in London’s city wall will be examined alongside recent archaeological evidence for the transformation of the cityscape, and more broadly, against the backdrop of the growing research on recycling in late Roman city-walls (De Staebler 2008; Dey 2011; Witschel 2013). Much of this research has demonstrated that the building of and recycling in city-walls cannot be explained by crisis and invasion. Instead, recycling in city-walls can be seen as the result of political, ideological, and military factors and interactions.
The paper will also explore how the recycling in London city-walls compares to other parts of the South-East. In some cases, stonework may have been deliberately redisplayed, perhaps because of its apparent Romanitas. At Richborough, for instance, an earlier sculpture of a lion was set prominently into the defensive wall of the Saxon Shore Fort as a talisman and earlier mythological carvings were used to build the luxurious 4th century villa at Stanwick, near Peterborough. The latter case is particularly interesting given the proximity of the site to fresh stone from the Lincolnshire limestone outcrop, and is the subject of new research.
Lastly, we will also consider “non-Roman” spolia contexts. Roman stone spolia are preserved, and left visible, in later churches and Christian sites in the south-east. An imbricated column was used in the chapel of the Holy Innocents in the crypt of Canterbury Cathedral as a Christussaule; Valerius Amandinus’ Westminster sarcophagus with Latin inscription was recut with an early Medieval splayed cross; and a relief panel, newly identified as Roman, was displayed in the Transept at Peterborough Cathedral, perhaps reinterpreted by later audiences. Overall this paper seeks to provide new insights into recycling in London and the South-East and a new perspective on Roman recycling.
to the fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London, with Dr Kevin Hayward and Revd Prof Martin Henig
The recent discovery of the tombstone of Bodicacia in Cirencester has a richly carved pediment with its central motif, the head of Oceanus, which reminds us that the dead as much as the living inhabited a world populated by the divine. Oceanus appears elsewhere in tomb sculpture, reminding the viewer of the voyage of the soul after death over the sea to the Blessed Isles. The dead frequently sought immortality in the heavens, hence the modestly carved lunulae on other Cirencester tombstones and on a tombstone from Alchester, Oxfordshire which echo those so often found employed as amulets in jewellery. A more earth-bound conception of the afterlife, perhaps ultimately derived from Etruscan precedent, is the funerary banquet which appears on tomb sculptures from Gloucester and London, or the deceased were shown dressed as they were in daily life, as soldiers wearing military dress, in London and Colchester or as civilians wearing, in some cases, local dress like Philus at Cirencester clad in his Gallic cape. The dead might be envisaged as heroes, and heroic scenes were sometimes depicted on tombs as appears to have been the case with the tower tomb from Stanwick, where the subjects of the relief carving include Perseus rescuing Andromeda. An especially interesting and widespread use of heroic imagery is encountered in the Cavalry tombstones from Cirencester, Bath, Gloucester and Colchester. This talk will examine the range of evidence for funerary sculpture from southern Britain with a focus on the depiction of Gods, heroes and humans, and include a summary of the sources of stone and petrology of key carvings.
Traditionally qualitative approaches have been used to understand associations amongst these sculptures, but this is a topic ripe for new consideration of networks and application of network theory. This poster will consider the central question: how did networks influence the transmission of form and styles between the Rhineland and Britain in the early- to mid-Roman period? Building on the work of Collar (2013) on movement of religion, and on models of economic circulation of stone and art by Russell (2013) and Harris (2015), case studies of auxiliary cavalry tombstones and mother goddess dedications will be examined to see how network theory can combine with qualitative research to understand the connections.