Did Boudicca destroy Silchester?

[Melvadius]

The BBC report on recent evidence from the ongoing excavations at Silchester (Calleva) for an extensive area of the town being destroyed including wells that were filled in at this time and burned buildings sometime between 60AD and 80AD. This was followed by rebuilding after 70AD, Professor Mike Fulford who is leading the excavations, has postulated that this may be evidence for a lost battle from the period of the Boudiccan Revolt.

 

In my view ,burnt buildings could easily have been accidental but the filling in of wells does support the arguement for at least a retreat in the face of an oncoming army and a decison by the locals to create a little bit of scorched earth behind them. Unfortunately I've only just found this item so have missed the opportunity yo hear his talk on the subject, which was held on Tuesday 27th April.

 

Evidence found at the Roman site of Silchester could mean it was the site of one of Boudicca's battles.

 

Professor Michael Fulford said that 13 years of excavations at Calleva had revealed evidence of the first gridded Iron Age town in Britain.

 

The site also bears the scars of possible early Roman military occupation, and evidence of later, widespread burning and destruction.

 

This suggests the site could have been destroyed at the hands of Boudicca.

 

....

 

[Edit - BTW I should have mentioned one of the features of silchester which the arcaheologists ahve been trying to unravel is why there appear to have been two main phases of construction with many of the older building plots being on a different alignment (NW/SE to the later town which is built more east/west). One argument is that the older buildings were aligned towards nearby Iron Age period religous sites which were less important to the lattter inhabitants of the town. The first of the BBC's slideshow images seems to show up this difference.]

Edited April 29, 2010 by Melvadius