Walsh, David (2018) Reconsidering the Butt Road "Church," Colchester: Another Mithraeum? Journal of Late Antiquity, 11 (2). pp. 339-374. ISSN 1939-6716. E-ISSN 1942-1273. (doi:10.1353/jla.2018.0021) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:71655)
The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided. (Contact us about this Publication) | |
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/jla.2018.0021 |
Abstract
In recent decades, archaeologists in regions such as Germany, Italy, and France have developed an increasingly robust approach to the identification of early churches and thus dismissed a number of formerly misidentified examples in the process. In Britain, however, various supposed "churches" discovered in the twentieth century continue to be referred to as such despite a lack of strong evidence to substantiate this. One such example is a structure found at Butt Road, Colchester. In this article, the issues surrounding the interpretation of this building as a church are revisited and enhanced, while it is illustrated why other interpretations, such as a "pagan funerary banqueting hall," are also unlikely. Following this, the possibility that the building served as a mithraeum is put forward, for mithraea offer stronger parallels that account for the building's size and structure, as well as its faunal and small-find assemblages. As such, it will highlight the need to revisit other previously identified "churches" from Roman Britain and to apply a more rigorous analysis, which may yield alternative conclusions.
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
DOI/Identification number: | 10.1353/jla.2018.0021 |
Subjects: |
B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BL Religion B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BR Christianity D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D51 Ancient History |
Divisions: | Divisions > Division of Arts and Humanities > School of Culture and Languages |
Depositing User: | David Walsh |
Date Deposited: | 28 Feb 2019 10:27 UTC |
Last Modified: | 04 Mar 2024 17:09 UTC |
Resource URI: | https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/71655 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes) |
- Export to:
- RefWorks
- EPrints3 XML
- BibTeX
- CSV
- Depositors only (login required):