Petuaria
PETUARIA [PARISI]
On the N bank of the Humber 56 km N of Lindum at a point probably serviced by a ferry. It is mentioned by Ptolemy (Geog. 2.3.17). The Antonine Itinerary refers to it as Pretorium (464.1; 466.4), and the Ravenna Cosmography to Decuaria. In the Notitia Dignitatum (occ. 40.31) a unit takes its name from the site. Further evidence for the name is provided by an inscription (RIB 707) dated to A.D. 140-144.
A fort of ca. 1.8 ha and a supply base were established here ca. A.D. 70, and the latter was maintained after the fort was evacuated some 10 years later. The fort was briefly reoccupied ca. A.D. 125. On its abandonment, new earthwork fortifications were erected on different alignments to enclose a much larger area, and were probably connected with a naval base. The harbor was in the adjacent Brough Haven. It is not known if the vicus of the inscription, referred to above, was also included within this area. The vicus was probably the civitas capital of the Parisi, and the same inscription records the presence of a theater there. No public building has been identified, however, and those buildings which have been excavated are not typical of town houses. Furthermore, the later history of the site suggests a continuation of naval or military occupation. Consequently the vicus, although its 2d c. existence cannot be doubted, remains an enigma.
No later than the early 3d c. the fortifications were rebuilt on yet another alignment; turf was used for the rampart, and the gates were of timber. Much rebuilding also took place within the enclosure. About A.D. 270 work began on a stone wall, 2.4 m thick, intended to reinforce the front of the rampart. An interruption occurred before it was completed, and when work was resumed the plans were modified to include external bastions and gate-towers; this new scheme was completed by the early 4th c. It seems likely that the garrison then included the numerus supervenientium Petuerensium. A rise in sea level soon after A.D. 350 not only silted up the harbor but also destroyed the SW defenses, and the naval base was given up. The numerus was then transferred to Derventium (Malton). Only an ephemeral occupation, probably of civilian character, remained.
Nothing of the site is now visible. In 1933-37 the E defenses, the NE corner, and the E gate were uncovered, also a number of internal buildings, and the theater inscription. In 1958-61 the N and W gates, the SE corner and the N and W defenses were identified. The position of the early fort was revealed. Many finds from the early excavations were destroyed during WW II; the remainder are in Hull Museum, Yorkshire.
BIBLIOGRAPHYP. Corder & I. A. Richmond, Journal of the British Archaeological Association 3 ser., 7 (1942) 5.34MPI; J. S. Wacher, Excavations at Brough-on-Humber, 1958-61 (1969) MPI; id., in R. M. Butler, ed., Soldier and Civilian in Roman Yorkshire (1971) 166-67P; id., The Towns of Roman Britain (1974) 393.97MPI.
J. S. WACHER