The Corieltauvi Celtic Tribe
The Corieltauvi or Coritani were the Celtic Tribe that lived in this area before the Roman invasion and went on to live and trade alongside them
Iron Age Britain
The iron age in Britain was the period between around 800BC and 43AD, before the Roman invasion. At this time Lincolnshire was part of the Corieltauvi tribe (formerly believed to have been called the Coritani), whose territory covered much of the East Midlands and part of South Yorkshire. These ancient Britons, or Celts had a thriving and advanced culture: early to adopt the potter’s wheel and striking their own coinage, some of the earliest in Europe.
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Though we don’t know of a permanent Corieltauvi settlement in Saltfleetby itself, many finds have been made in the wider region indicating that there was a thriving Corietlauvi community throughout the area. Much evidence has been found of their life including coins, pottery kilns, iron works and coastal saltmaking sites.
Map of the British Isles in AD 43 showing the regions of the Celtic Tribes
Corieltauvi Life
Much of the population lived in humble farmsteads surrounded by enclosing ditches and field systems, coming together for cultural, economic and religious activities from time to time. Dwellings would have been wattle and daub round houses: a wooden frame woven with pliable lengths of wood (the wattle) and daubed with mud. Lincolnshire’s extensive marsh areas would have provided an abundance of reed for roofing material.
A reconstruction of an iron age roundhouse at Butser Ancient Farm, Hampshire
Some Notable Nearby Corietlauvi Settlements
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South Ferriby
Would have been an important port where a ferry operated across the Humber to Petuaria (Brough on Humber) the tribal capital of the neighbouring Parisii tribe on the north bank. A large hoard of 135 coins were discovered there between 1904 and 1908.
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Old Sleaford
Excavations on the banks of the River Slea, uncovered middle iron age (450-100 BC) artifacts, evidence of roundhouse settlements and a mint, where Corieltauvi coins would have been stuck. Enormous quantities of coin mould trays were found during excavations that were used to make coins in three sizes, denoting three denominations; Gold, Silver and Bronze.
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Mablethorpe was believed to have been a small fishing village.
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Coastal regions of Ingoldmells and Skegness were centres of salt production by the evaporation of sea water, an important industry, which was particularly useful for food preservation and may have taken place at numerous sites along the coast in our region.
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Grimsby was a port town on the Humber Estuary.
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Scunthorpe was an iron-working district with potteries.
Gold coin found in South Ferriby in 1906, minted in Lincolnshire in approx 40BC-20. 19.5mm, Abstract design derived from head of Apollo, horse and star.
Map of probable major settlements of the Corieltauvi
A Celtic gold and silver-alloy torc, discovered near Newark, Nottinghamshire, in Corieltavi territory, and probably worn by a Corieltavi prince or king between 100-50 BC
Coins
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The intricate patterns on their coins often depict stylised horses and hunting dogs, which would have been highly prized animals at the time. An interesting feature of Corieltavi coinage in the first century AD is that it was regularly struck by two rulers at once, and at one time by three, all of whom were apparently colleagues. This suggests that the 'joined tribes' which formed the Corieltavi confederation still had their own kings who worked together for the good of their combined peoples.
Bronze coin, 16mm. South Ferriby type. Struck circa 45-10 BC. depicting a boar and horse
Marshland Landscape
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Before the field drainage systems that prevent flooding today, vast area around the Wash, and perhaps also the middle reaches of the river Humber, consisted of marshes, creeks, low islands or even open sea. The marsh, swamp, fens and rivers extended into much of Lincolnshire, where wooden causeways provided a stable surface to cross the marshy patches. One example of which was discovered in 1981 at Fiskerton, a village on the banks of the River Witham east of Lincoln. Iron Age weaponry and timber stakes along with a well-preserved 7 metre (23ft) long log boat, carved from a single oak tree trunk, still bearing axe marks. It’s believed that this was a Corieltauvi votive deposit, where valuable objects had been placed into the waters as religious offerings. Estimated dating from 457/6–300 BC, the log boat and associated finds are now on display in Lincoln Museum (formerly called The Collection).
Another well preserved iron age log boat was found in the Humber near Hasholm in 1984. The techniques of dendrochronology, examining the tree rings to identify the year they grew, give a date for the boat as 750-390 BC.
The Iron Age Log Boat found at Fiskerton, in Lincoln Museum, carved from a single oak tree trunk.
The 7 metre long Fiskerton Log Boat at Lincoln Museum, made in 457-300 BC, found in 1981
The Hasholme Logboat, found in the Humber in 1984, in Hull Museum
Drawing of the Corieltauvi tile found near Leicester in 1965, which revealed the true name of the tribe
Corieltauvi or Coitani: Why the change of name?
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The old textbooks refer to this tribe as the “Coritani”. This name was taken from the medieval manuscripts of the Greek astronomer Ptolomy. He compiled a geographical dictionary of the known world from earlier written sources in the mid-second century A.D. Some of the names he ascribed to the Celtic tribes have been shown to be inaccurate by later archaeological finding which bear inscriptions showing the names actually written in the period.
In 1965 a roof tile marked with lettering into the clay when it was damp, was found during the excavation of a Roman settlement of Tripontium, Warwickshire, about 15 miles from their capital Ratae (Leicester).
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In 1982 Dr Roger Tomlin deciphered the inscription to read “Of the civitas of the Corieltauvi” (Civitas likely meaning “tribal capital”). Amazingly a later finds at the cite in the 1970s reunited fragments of the same tile to give more confirming the civitas as Ratae. Following the discovery of a similar inscription in Leicester that helped to confirm this interpretation, the tribe with Ratae (Roman Leicester) as its civitas (capital) is now known as the Corieltauvi.
The Roman invasion of Britain in 43AD, marked the end of the Iron Age, but the Corieltauvi tribe’s way of life continued, working alongside, rather than resisting the Romans. Many of the tribal settlements became important military centres for the Romans in their territory, such as Lindvm (Lincoln), Ratae (Leicester) and Banovallum (Horncastle).
References
Picture Credits
Map of the British Isles in AD 43 by P L Kessler, 2019 The History Files
Map of Corieltauvi settlements Jeffrey May, Coinage and Settlements of the Corieltauvi in East Midlands Britain, British Numistatic Journal, Volume 64 1995
Reproduction Iron Age roundhouse at Buster Farm: https://www.visitsoutheastengland.com/things-to-do/butser-ancient-farm-p1090751
Gold Celtic torc: The History Files, Corieltavi: www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsBritain/BritainCoritani.htm
Gold coin from South Ferriby in collection of the British Museum
Bronze coin Classical Numismatic Group
Fiskerton log boat: Lincoln Museum https://www.lincolnmuseum.com/visiting-us/exhibit/fiskerton-log-boat
Hasholme log boat: Hull Museums collection
References
Malcolm Todd, The Peoples of Roman Britain: The Coritani, Duckworth and Co, 1973
R. D. Van Arsdell, Celtic Coinage in Britain, Third Edition 2017 https://vanarsdellcelticcoinageofbritain.com/plates-catalog-listings_ccb3/plate_37_ccb3.html
R.S.O. Tomlin, Roman Leicester, a corrigendum: for 'Coritani' should we now read 'Corieltauvi'? Transactions LVIII 1982-83
Dr Irene Glendinning, The Corieltauvi tile, Rugby Museum and Art Gallery, https://www.ragm.co.uk/the-corieltauvi-tile2
Coritani Celtic Tribe, Roman Britian. https://www.roman-britain.co.uk/tribes/coritani/
Central Lincolnshire Iron Age Settlement Sites with Archaeological Project Services, Heritage Lincolnshire https://www.heritagelincolnshire.org/projects/aps-iron-age-sites
CORIELTAUVI, British Num Soc https://www.britnumsoc.org/index.php/gallery/pre-1066/category/60-corieltauvi
Fiskerton log boat, The Collection, https://www.lincolnmuseum.com/visiting-us/exhibit/fiskerton-log-boat
Jeffrey May, Coinage and Settlements of the Corieltauvi in East Midlands Britian, British Numistatic Journal, Volume 64 1995
Roman Britian: Coritani Tribe, https://www.roman-britain.co.uk/tribes/coritani/