Urbanism in Roman Wales: A New Look at Roman Carmarthen
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This is an accepted article with a DOI pre-assigned that is not yet published.Moridunum, which lies under modern Carmarthen, is one of only two Roman towns known in Wales, the other being Caerwent. Excavations undertaken by Archaeology Wales in 2018 afforded a rare opportunity to excavate within the Roman town and add to our knowledge of Roman urbanism in Wales. The results of the excavations combined with previous evidence have shown that it is likely that the origins of Moridunum lie in the Trajanic period, earlier than previously thought. The town then developed organically, with little evidence of a planned settlement until the middle of the 2nd century AD. Occupation across the site continued into the 4th century, with the remains of a number of buildings and street surfaces being recorded. Although located close to the western edge of the Empire, the evidence suggests Moridunum was little different to other Romano-British towns. Products from across the Empire were bought and sold, new styles of dress were adopted along with new ways of eating. As part of this new food products were introduced, including beet and fennel, their discovery here being a first for Roman Wales. This paper will explore the results of the excavation and put them into their wider context.
DOI: 10.16995/traj.20215
Author: Siân Alyce Thomas
Language: English
Topic: Classical Antiquity Studies
Subfield: Anthropology
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4413528482