Charles Ede Ltd (London), Antiquities 130 (1984) no. 46 (ill.)

1984.01

Iron Adze

Purchased. Said to be from Lulworth, Dorset. Length 15.9cm.

Small woodworker’s adze. The surface is corroded and flaking. It is cast and has an ovoid socket and down-curved blade; it is predominantly rectangular in section.

Romano-British, probably of the first century BC or first century AD.

For a useful publication of comparable material, see W.H. Manning, Catalogue of the Romano-British Iron Tools, Fittings and Weapons in the British Museum (London 1985) 16-17 nos. B7-B13, with pl. 8. On techniques and tools, see J. Liversidge, “Woodwork”, in: D. Strong and D. Brown (eds), Roman Crafts (London 1976) 155-165, with further references; and the article by W. Gaitzsch, “Werkzeuge und Geräte in der römischen Kaiserzeit”, H. Temporini (ed.), Aufstieg und Niedergang der Römischen Welt (1972-) II.12, 3, 170-204..

R.B. Ulrich, Roman Woodworking (New Haven 2007) is a good wide-ranging introduction which also takes into consideration the nature of the timber available in different areas. In writing his book for architects, Vitruvius book II, chapters 9-10, showed a lively concern for the qualities of different timbers. More recently one admires R. Meiggs, Trees and Timber in the Ancient Mediterranean World (Oxford 1982). F. Diosono, Il legno. Produzione e commercio (Rome 2008) contains brief discussions of the uses of timber in the ancient world, its production and marketing. Perhaps more relevant to this Romano-British piece is P. Pugsley, Roman Domestic Wood: Analysis of the Morphology, Manufacture and Use of Selected Categories of Domestic Wooden Artefacts with Particular Reference to the Material from Roman Britain (BAR Int. Series 1118, Oxford 2003). There is a range of interesting articles on the exploitation of timber in parts of the Roman world in T. Kaszab-Olschewski and I. Tamerl (eds), Wald- und Holznutzung in der römischen Antike: Festgabe für Jutta Meurers-Balke zum 65. Geburtstag (Archäologische Berichte, Band 27, Heidelberg 2017) https://doi.org/10.11588/propylaeum.274.360. Other articles on timber and its supply include W.V. Harris, “Defining and Detecting Mediterranean Deforestation,  800 BCE to 700 CE”, in: W.V. Harris (ed.),  The Ancient Mediterranean between Science and History (Leiden 2013) 173-194; id., “The Indispensable Commodity: Notes on the Economy of Wood in the Roman Mediterranean”, in: A. Wilson and A. Bowman (eds), Trade, Commerce, and the State in the Roman World (Oxford 2017) 211-236; R. Veal, “The Politics and Economics of Ancient Forests. Timber and fuel as levers of Greco-Roman Control”, in: P. Derron (ed.), Economie et inégalité: Ressources,  échanges et pouvoir dans l'Antiquité classique (Entr. Hardt 63, Vandœuvres 2017) 317-367; E. Jansen et al., “Fuel for debating ancient economies. Calculating wood consumption at urban scale in Roman Imperial times”, JArchScience: Reports 11, 2017, 592-599.

Ulrich has also written an introductory article, “Woodworking”, in: J.P. Oleson (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Engineering and Technology in the Classical World (Oxford 2008) 439-464. For a recent publication of wooden finds from a Roman site, see R. Fellmann, Römische Kleinfunde aus Holz aus dem Legionslager Vindonissa (Veröffentlichungen der Gesellschaft Pro Vindonissa, 19, Brugg 2009).

See also D. Sim, The Roman Iron Industry in Britain (Stroud 2012).

Charles Ede Ltd (London), Antiquities 130 (1984) no. 46 (ill.)