What’s on : Lectures

The Parisi: Britons and Romans in the landscape of Eastern Yorkshire

Lectures
Date
7 May 2013
Start time
7:30 PM
Venue
Tempest Anderson Hall
Speaker
Dr Peter Halkon
The Parisi: Britons and Romans in the landscape of Eastern Yorkshire

Event Information

Joint lecture with The Yorkshire Archaeology Society, Roman Antiquities Section

The Parisi: Britons and Romans in the landscape of Eastern Yorkshire
Dr Peter Halkon FSA, University of Hull

According to the ancient geographer Ptolemy. the Parisi were the people who occupied Eastern Yorkshire during the Roman period.  They may equate with the Iron Age Arras culture, named after the Iron Age cemetery excavated 1815-17 which contained chariot burials, finds from which are housed in the Yorkshire Museum, York.

This fully illustrated presentation will explore the rich and distinctive archaeology of Iron Age and Roman Eastern Yorkshire within its landscape setting and assess the extent of Roman impact on the region.

Report

The Parisi were a Celtic tribe who occupied areas of eastern Yorkshire. The boundaries of their territory have not hitherto been clear, but, as recent flood events have shown, old river-tributary routes linked many settlements and archaeological finds and suggest occupation patterns from Scarborough to Brough, the probable site of Petuaria their capital, mentioned in Ptolemy’s Geographica. Situated on a tidal inlet from the Humber, from it they could reach as far as Market Weighton (and nearby Arras) by boat, and through other river systems well into the region.

Funerary traditions, such as chariot burial, burials with swords and spearheads, pigs and horses, and burial within square enclosures, appear to link their “Arras culture” to, for example, the La Tène culture in Europe. In particular there is a link with the Parisii of Gaul. Spectacular metalwork finds suggest an advanced culture and the involvement of high-ranking individuals.

The Romans brought a new culture, including literacy. Parisi settlements near water sources and on trade routes attracted them, and Roman towns and farms appear in the landscape alongside and overlying Parisi sites. Agriculture was always important, but iron smelting,and goldsmithing also appear in the archaeological record.

It is not clear what form the end of the Romano-British era took, though evidence of burning, which may be a survival of an old custom, may also mark the coming of the Anglo-Saxons.

Carole Smith

Reference

For publication in October 2013.

Halkon, Peter The Parisi: Britons and Romans in Eastern Yorkshire. The History Press. ISBN 9780752448411