Reconstructing Regional Identities in Britain 1st BCE-4th CE through Metal Artefacts: The case of the Cornovii

The research will explore important issues of regional identity in South West Britain under Roman rule and try to define the fundamental differences between the people of Devon/southern Somerset (Dumnonii) and the people of Cornwall (Cornovii) through a large-scale study of Iron Age and Roman coins and metalwork. The conventional academic view of this region is that it was all part of the territory of a people called the Dumnonii, but Professor David Mattingly has proposed that they differed from the Cornovii, to the west of the River Tamar, and that this divergence pre-dated the Roman period. Cornwall is also notable for its lack of urban settlements and Roman villas, making it look more like the military zones of the province. In fact, over the last 20 years, Roman forts have been located close to diachronic mining landscapes, supporting the idea of the Cornovii and their mineral-rich territory being more closely supervised by Rome than the Dumnonii.
I intend to focus on locally made and consumed metalwork with unique markers and designs, such as the Cornish Type 31 Roman brooches, in order to discern the cultural distinctiveness of the indigenous peoples of Cornwall and their control of its mineral wealth. I want to interrogate the source materials for the production of these artefacts and the provenance of these minerals. Analysis of the metallurgical composition of these artefacts and coins is therefore key, particularly the Roman radiate hoards which were being produced at the height of tin trade in the 3rd century AD, and when no longer legal tender, traded for their metal content and re-used and possibly re-minted using local metals such as silver for the surface. I will try to understand the socio-economic behaviour of the hoarders by examining the placement, content and context of these coin hoards. Using spatial analysis to look at the distribution pattern of findspots of Iron Age and Roman coins and their proximity to tin sources of cassiterite and tin streams and their location in relation to contemporary sites and the coast, I hope to establish an idea of how the tin trade may have operated during this time and how the Cornovii developed a reputation for quality and accessibility to the rest of Europe.
The project will address nationally important research questions about the varied nature of the impacts of the colonial rule of Roman Britannia and the discrepant identities that this gave rise to. By addressing issues of regional identities, it will also demonstrate a much greater time depth of Cornish and Devonian regionalism than orthodox models currently recognise. It will also mobilise the research potential of the huge volume of data continuing to be assembled by the Portable Antiquities Scheme, which I will use as my main resource, while incorporating locally produced catalogues which document lost finds. The Scheme is managed by the British Museum where I hope to secure my main placement during the third year, along with two other placements at regional museums, as part of the schedule.