One of the great things about FutureLearn is the opportunity to work with partner institutions. For example, we have seem many synergies between our Hadrian’s Wall course and Southampton University’s Archaeology of Portus. We see learners in Hadrian’s Wall discussing and recommending Portus or referring to specific steps and activities, and even continuing dialogue with fellow learners they met through Portus.
Professor Graeme Earle (lead educator on Portus) has added links between steps in the Archaeology of Portus and other MOOCs including Hadrian’s Wall, which we have reciprocated. Learners can more easily see and follow connections between the courses (see links below the two courses below). Currently, users have to be signed up to both courses for this to work. If FutureLearn realise the plan to make individual steps more open (viewable without signing up to the course) this will become even more powerful.
English Heritage have just published a large number of their archaeological monographs online as e-books and available for free as PDF files. Rather brilliantly, these include Tony Wilmott’s Birdoswald: Excavations of a Roman fort on Hadrian’s Wall and its successor settlements, 1987-1992 as discussed in step 6.3!
Thank you for your great questions on our “Known Unknowns” step on in this, the last week of our Hadrian’s Wall journey. Dr Rob Collins chaired our panel which took place this afternoon at around 3.45-4.15pm, when he posed the questions you had asked to:
Lindsay Allason-Jones OBE, Visiting Fellow, Newcastle University
Mike Collins, Inspector of Ancient Monuments: Hadrian’s Wall, English Heritage
Professor Ian Haynes, Newcastle University
Frances McIntosh, Curator of Roman Collections, English Heritage
NB: Lindsay recommends a book during the video – it’s Murus ille famosus (That Famous Wall): Depictions and Descriptions of Hadrian’s Wall Before Camden by William D Shannon.
Master leatherworker Andy Bates visited the School of History, Classics and Archaeology at Newcastle University recently during our first year undergraduate archaeology induction week. He talked about the process and demonstrated how he makes replica Roman shoes, which some of our students filmed on their mobile phones (with Andy’s permission!). We’ve edited some of their footage together, and whilst student mobile phones didn’t give the best sound in the echoey room, we thought you’d be interested to get a glimpse into what an induction session is like. Andy provided shoes for our week five videos filmed in the Commanding Officer’s House at Arbeia in South Shields for Hadrian’s Wall: Life on the Roman Frontier.
John’s makeshift kitchen next to the Summer Dining Room in the Commanding Officer’s House at Arbeia
Professional chef John Crouch joined us at Arbeia in South Shields the day we filmed the 5 videos that make up the fourth century banquet in week 5 of Hadrian’s Wall: Life on the Roman Frontier. John put together a menu inspired by Roman recipes in order to help us visualise what a Roman banquet might have been like in the summer dining room of the Commanding Officer’s House.
We blogged a couple of recipes earlier as a teaser for this week. And now, here are the rest of the recipes which make up the Roman inspired menu which John devised for the event. He very kindly agreed that we could share them with you.
John’s Roman recipe inspired menu
LIVER, CHICKEN, AND ONION
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup white wine
1 cup pork and chicken livers, sliced
3 chicken breasts, sliced
Sauce
dash of pepper
½ teaspoon celery seed (or lovage)
1 cup chicken stock
¼ cup white wine
flour
In a saucepan, soften the onion in the olive oil. Add the sliced livers
and chicken (or meats from small birds). Add the white wine and stock
and cook for about 30 minutes until the liver and chicken are cooked.
When the meats are almost cooked, combine the pepper, celery seed (or
lovage), stock, and white wine for the sauce. Add a little liquid from
the casserole dish and bring the sauce to a boil. Pour the sauce over
the meats. Bring to a boil, thicken with flour if you wish, and serve.
GRATIN OF MUSSELS WITH PESTO
36 large fresh mussels, scrubbed and debearded
7 tablespoons dry white wine
4 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh white breadcrumbs
4 tablespoons olive oil
chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
crusty bread to serve
For the pesto
2 garlic cloves, chopped
½ teaspoon salt
100g (4oz) basil leaves
25g (1oz) pine nuts, chopped
50g (2oz) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
120ml (4floz) olive oil
Put the mussels in a pan with the wine, put on the lid and shake over
high heat for 3-4 minutes until the mussels have opened. Discard any
that remain closed.
As soon as the mussels are cool enough to handle, strain the cooking
liquid and keep it for another recipe. Discard the empty half-shells.
Arrange the mussels in their half-shells in a single layer in four
individual gratin dishes. Cover and set aside.
To make the pesto, put the chopped garlic and salt in a mortar and
pound to a purée with a pestle. Then add the basil leaves and chopped
pine nuts and crush to a thick paste. Work in the Parmesan cheese and,
finely, gradually drip in enough olive oil to make a smooth and creamy
paste. Alternatively use a food processor.
Spoon pesto over the mussels placed in the gratin dishes. Mix the
parsley, garlic and breadcrumbs. Sprinkle over the mussels. Drizzle
with the oil.
Preheat the grill to high . Stand the dishes on a baking tray and grill
for 3 minutes. Garnish with basil and serve with crusty bread.
Use fresh watercress and serve it as a salad in a dressing made by
combining the fish pickle, olive oil, vinegar, pepper and cumin.
Garnish with chopped nuts.
ROMAN FISH SAUCE (GARUM)
400g (13oz) sea salt
700ml (24floz) water
1 jar of salted anchovies (100g (4oz))
a pinch of dried oregano
1 teaspoon sapa *
Dissolve the salt in the water over low heat. Add the anchovies to the
salted water with the oregano and sapa. Simmer for 20 minutes and then
leave to cool. Strain the garum through a fine sieve or muslin cloth
and store in a jar ready for use.
*SAPA
1lt (2pts) red grape juice
Pour the grape juice into a saucepan and boil vigorously whilst
stirring until one third remains. Leave to cool and decant into a
sterilised bottle.
ROAST WILD BOAR WITH CUMIN IN WINE
2-3kg (4-6lb) boar roast
Marinade
1 teaspoon salt
water
1 teaspoon myrtle berries, or juniper berries
2 teaspoons peppercorns
2 teaspoons cumin
Sauce
2 teaspoons honey
125ml (¼pt) pork or chicken stock
65ml (1/8pt) red wine
½ teaspoon ground pepper
roasting pan juices
Wipe the roast dry. Immerse for 24 hours in a marinade of salt, water,
myrtle or juniper berries, peppercorns, and cumin. Roast uncovered in a
180ºC (350ºF/Gas mark 4) oven for 30 minutes per 400g (pound).
To make the sauce, combine pepper, honey, stock, and pan juices. Bring
to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Serve with the slices of meat.
FISH POACHED WITH ANISEED
1kg (2lb) fish fillets
water
1 teaspoon coriander seed
pinch of aniseed
sharp white vinegar
Put the fish fillets in a frying pan. Barely cover with water, and
season with coriander and aniseed. Bring to a boil and simmer for about
10 minutes. Discard the liquid and serve the fillets with a sprinkling
of vinegar.
ROSEMARY-MINT SAUCE FOR POACHED SALMON
1-1½kg (2-3lb) poached salmon
Sauce
½ teaspoon ground pepper
pinch of aniseed
¼ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon fresh of dried mint
pinch of rosemary
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon white wine or cider vinegar
125ml (¼pt) white wine
1 tablespoon olive oil
250ml (½pt) fish stock
flour
In a mortar, grind together pepper, aniseed, cumin, thyme, mint, and
rosemary. Combine with honey, vinegar, white wine, olive oil, and
stock. Bring to a boil and simmer gently to reduce for 25 minutes.
Thicken with flour, if you wish, and serve with the poached fish.
Scrape any stringy bark off the asparagus and tail the ends. Steam the
asparagus until tender. Then heat the olive oil in a frying pan, add
the salt and toss the asparagus briefly before serving with the oil,
salt and the frying juices.
CHICKPEAS WITH CHEESE
The cheese in this recipe sticks the chickpeas together and allows them
to be eaten easily with the fingers. Parmesan and pecorino cheese are
both ideal as they grate finely and impart a robust flavour to the dish.
200g (8oz) chickpeas
100g (4oz) Parmesan or pecorino cheese
salt
Soak the chickpeas overnight, boil them in salted water for 40 minutes
or until tender and then drain. Finely grate the cheese and stir into
the chickpeas. Serve while still warm/ The cheese will coat the
chickpeas and add a glistening effect.
Take the eggs, milk, and butter and combine. With butter, grease a
shallow pan or skillet and then heat. When the melted butter begins to
bubble, pour in the eggs and cook the omelette. Do not fold. Serve with
honey poured on top and a sprinkling of cinnamon.
STUFFED DATES
6 dates per person
shelled almonds, hazelnuts or pine kernels (1 per date)
pepper
salt
3 tablespoons honey
Stone the dates and stuff with the nuts and a little pepper. Roll the
dates in salt, then heat the honey in a frying pan, fry the dates
briskly, and serve.
To whet your appetite for week 4 on Hadrian’s Wall: Life on the Roman Frontier, which is all about ritual and religion on the Roman Wall, Ian talks here about one of his favourite pieces in the Great North Museum, in Newcastle upon Tyne. He he is introducing Sattada an (almost) forgotten goddess on Rome’s British Frontier.
We’ll also be meeting Lindsay Allason-Jones OBE again this week. Here she is talking about one of her favourite pieces, some personal hygiene tools.
This week we’ll meet Dr Andrew Birley again, Director of Excavations from The Vindolanda Trust, and we’ll also meet Frances McIntosh, Curator of Roman Collections, English Heritage. Here they both are talking about some of their favourite objects (click on the picture for the video).
Both little videos really bring to life what is might have been life in Roman times around Hadrian’s Wall. Week 3 of Hadrian’s Wall: Life on the Roman Frontier concentrates on frontier communities.
“In week 3 we will deepen our understanding of the complexities of provincial society. We will look beyond the soldiers to consider the wider communities of which they were a part, we will encounter a range of non-combatants and we will try to seek out some of the ‘native’ populations living in the larger frontier area.”
Professor Ian Haynes, Lead Educator, ‘Hadrian’s Wall: Life on the Roman Frontier’
It isn’t too late to sign up – you could work with us from week 3 and then go back to the previous weeks later…..
We were delighted to chat to David Heslop, the City Archaeologist for Newcastle upon Tyne (known affectionately to it’s residents as “the Toon”). David’s written widely on the archaeology of Newcastle, and the reconstruction picture you see in our week 3 text is taken from his book with Zoe McAuley Digging Deeper: The Origin’s of Newcastle and Gateshead. We chatted about how archaeological evidence is uncovered and preserved during the development of new buildings; what we do and don’t know about the course of the wall through the city centre and about what has changed and what has stayed the same.
For me Newcastle Quayside is never going to seem the same! David explained how this artificially flat area was created through land reclamation in the medieval period. The River Tyne is tidal in city and, of course, safe quayside spots were essential as trade expanded. Once you hear this, of course it becomes obvious – you can begin to see the how the steep descents to quayside bars mirror the drops to the original banks of the river in the Roman town.
We experimented with merging David’s picture with one from the Northumbria University’s Virtual NewcastleGateshead project. You can see the results of our photoshop efforts in the YouTube video above. How do you think we got on?
For those interested in browsing through the region’s records of Roman evidence do pay a visit to Sitelines (Tyne and Wear’s Historic Environment Record).
Meet Dr James Gerrard as he talks about his favourite object in the Great North Museum’s Hadrian Gallery.
Introducing Dr James Gerrard who contributes to week 2 of our free online course Hadrian’s Wall: Life on the Roman Frontier. This video was shot in the Great North Museum: Hancock, Newcastle upon Tyne which is right next door to Newcastle University, and where many of the objects in the Roman collections of both the University and The Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne are housed.
James will be talking about vessels for food and drink in the second week of the course, and here he talks about his favourite piece in the Hadrian Gallery at the Great North Museum – a large olive oil amphora with the letters QMCCCAS stamped on the handle.
Discussion with experts – a special addition. Click on the picture for a special video.
A special discussion featuring Professor Ian Haynes, Lead Educator www.futurelearn.com/courses/hadrians-wall and Professor of Archaeology, Newcastle University, together with leading world experts Professor David Breeze (Visiting Professor, Newcastle University), Dr Sue Stallibrass (English Heritage Regional Science Advisor, NW England) and Dr Nick Hodgson (Principal Keeper of Archaeology: Strategic Project Management, Tyne & Wear Archives and Museums) examining why Hadrian’s Wall might have been built.
As we draw near the end of week one of Hadrian’s Wall: Life on the Roman Frontier we thought you might like to delve a little deeper into why the Wall might have been built, with the views of four eminent experts in this fascinating discussion to help you reflect a little more on this fascinating topic.
Have their ideas changed your own thoughts at all?
