Thread Rating:
  • 4 Vote(s) - 5 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica's Last Stand.
Hmm, but what else do we have to go on?

The big topographic principals.

There is a "narrow defile" and "plain" clearly major topographic features that are going to be recognisable for generations or millenia and had a significant impact on the choice of site and course of the battle. So that effectively knocks out Paulerspury, High Cross and Arbury Banks as there is really nothing that can be described as a narrow defile in the vicinity, certainly nothing of sufficient significance to impact the course of a battle.

So far Mancetter, Church Stowe, Virginia Water and Dunstable are the only sites offering the narrow defile and plain.

Then there is ommission of major site factors, the Anker at Mancetter and Thames at Virgina Water would have been major factors on any action but don't rate a comment, so their likelihood drops several notches but still cannot be discounted entirely on the basis that they have a defile. So of the current candidates topography leads to 2 lead candidates, CS and Dunstable. To date I haven't seen any site identified west of London that can compare with these two, but I think Steve has one up his sleeve and I really, really want to see it named and detailed. :-P

So for each strong candidate site one builds a narrative that plausibly fits the text with some wiggle room allowed, both CS and Dunstable do this but do not fit other models (eg Steve's work), so either the sites are wrong or the models are wrong. I'm not contending either CS or Dunstable is correct only that they are currently the best candidates and the texts can be molded to fit them. Molding the sites to fit the texts, or making cast iron assumptions about the campaign and military practice (marching distances/times) has led to the identification of sites that don't get past square one on the more critical topographic identity tests.

So I don't believe we are dumping the texts but using topography to shed light on the texts, if CS or Dunstable throw up incontrovertible archaeological evidence of a major battle in 61AD (I am listening) then the texts will fit but never completely, thereby openning up entire new avenues of exploration. The texts are accepted but the interpretation is put to one side as the topographic tests and (hopefully one day) archaeological tests take on the dominant role of assessing the sites.

Ideally the topographic line of investigation will throw up a further dozen or so potential sites that match or outstrip the current candidates, each will compel a slightly different interpretation of the text but that will make the whole exploration richer. We're seeing this already through this thread, can you interpret in or out field fortifications? can you assess the strength of a site on it's access to water?

The text evidence just isn't strong enough to say north or west of London but to date the best candidates we have are north of London and can fit both the text and the broader strategic situation in a way the western option cannot yet.

Get the topography close first and don't sweat the small stuff.

OK that should of got a few people going, heading back to the shelter now.
Reply


Messages In This Thread
Re: Calling all armchair generals! - by Ensifer - 03-11-2010, 03:13 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-18-2012, 06:26 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 12:02 AM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 02:50 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 05:40 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 11:26 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-24-2012, 05:11 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-24-2012, 09:42 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-24-2012, 10:10 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-25-2012, 03:11 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-25-2012, 03:25 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-25-2012, 08:36 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-26-2012, 02:57 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-27-2012, 01:50 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by John1 - 08-05-2012, 02:12 AM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 08-05-2012, 02:24 PM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-07-2014, 02:18 PM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-08-2014, 01:50 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-11-2014, 02:03 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-18-2014, 07:54 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-20-2014, 02:37 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-25-2014, 08:29 AM

Possibly Related Threads…
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  Armchair Wall walking mcbishop 3 3,479 01-11-2012, 03:22 AM
Last Post: Vindex

Forum Jump: