Research on Roman Purbeck

The natural resources of Purbeck, the south-eastern portion of Dorset in England, have been exploited at least since the Bronze Age, and while the quarrying of Purbeck limestone and the production of ornaments and furniture from the Kimmeridge shale were important industries in the Roman period, we are still sadly ill-informed about their importance in the economy of Roman Britain.
The purpose of these pages is to display the state of my research on the subject, in the hope that other students will comment, criticise and guide me, and maybe develop their own work as a result of reading my small contribution.

The following material is at present on the Web:

My first paper on Purbeck mineral industries in the Roman period
A database of Purbeck limestone artefacts of the Roman period, under construction and development. An early version of it was on the Web about February 2000, but it has grown greatly since then and I am still adding to it.
An account of the computing techniques (XML, HTML, Perl, TeX, etc.) that I have used in presenting my Purbeck Stone data

I intend to develop these documents (1) by improving the crossreferencing to help myself and others to appreciate the interrelationships of the information presented, and (2) by collecting more data to help build a clearer impression of the extent and importance of the Purbeck limestone industry in Roman times and its significance in the economy of Roman Britain and adjacent provinces of the Roman empire.

See also my recent papers in Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society

Please use this link to send me comments and suggestions. Please cite this page as http://www.palmyra.me.uk/archaeology.html, and other pages similarly