Keith John Fitzpatrick-Matthews

North Hertfordshire Museum · Archaeological Service

The Historia Brittonum remains a textual puzzle because of its variant recensions; printed editions generally present conflated versions of the text. The Harleian Recension is usually thought to represent the version closest to the original. The present approach to its textual history uses cladistics to recognise characteristics shared between rece...

The dates and purposes of Offa’s Dyke and Wat’s Dyke have long been a subject of debate among historians and archaeologists. This paper examines and critiques several of the more unusual claims made over the past century. Prominence is given to the use of ancient literature and widespread misunderstandings of scientific dating techniques, both of w...

During large scale excavations at Baldock in the 1980s, a series of fifth-century and later deposits was identified. Analysis of the pottery showed new forms and fabrics appeared at this time. Similar fabrics were also identified on sites outside the town. This paper explores the implications of the material for understanding the Late Roman/early m...

An unusually complex fourth-century infant grave excavated in Baldock in 1988 produced a complete Dea Nutrix figurine. Whilst not uncommon as site finds, Deae Nutrices are less frequently encountered as grave gifts in Britain than in Gaul. The reasons for its inclusion as a grave gift are explored, as are wider questions of Romano-British burial pr...

If' archaeology ought to be about digging up people', as Wheeler (1956, 13) believed, the profession has largely failed to do so. It has concentrated on the material culture of humanity, and even when dealing with cemeteries, it has generally been the grave goods and the pathology of the human remains which have attracted more attention than the de...