Cataractonium was a fort and settlement in Roman Britain. The settlement evolved into Catterick, located in North Yorkshire, England.
Cataractonium is likely to have taken its name from the Latin word cataracta (ultimately derived from Greek cataràcta, καταρράκτης), meaning either "waterfall" or "portcullis". Some linguists have suggested that this was a misinterpretation of an original Brittonic placename meaning "[place of] battle ramparts". The name is attested as Cataractonium in two 2nd-century Vindolanda tablets. The British section of the 2nd-century Antonine Itinerary mentions Catterick three times, but declines it variously as Cataractoni and Cataractone, implying the scribe considered it a 3rd-declension name. It is spelled Caturactonium (Ancient Greek: Κατουρακτόνιον, Katouraktónion) in Ptolemy's Geography and misspelled Cactabactonion in the Ravenna Cosmography. The name was spelled Cetrecht, Cetrehtan, and Cetrettun by Bede in the 7th century and Catrice in the Domesday Book compiled around 1086.
There is considerable evidence for pre-Roman activity in the environs of the eventual Roman settlement. Evidence on both sides of the Swale suggests both Bronze Age and Iron Age activity. The Bronze Age remains take the form of a chambered cairn some 500 m south-east of Cataractonium, a ceramic vessel 200 m north and a bronze rapier 150 m north-east. The cairn has associated domestic occupation which continues into the Iron Age in the form of a multi-period roundhouse.
Though there is no definitive date for the building of the fort, it is likely to have been around AD 70 during the governorship of Q. Petillius Cerialis to support the campaign of Agricola in Scotland. It is also likely to have been in use during the Brigantes revolt in 155 under the governorship of Gn. Julius Verus. The first site appeared to be little more than a timber hill fort, but the later and bigger settlement was constructed in stone and had a civilian population too.
No direct evidence exists of which military units may have been stationed at the fort, but it is likely that an auxiliary unit from Bremetenacum Veteranorum (Ribchester) would have been posted here. Tiles found nearby were stamped "BSAR". This would suggest that over the years of occupation, soldiers from the Ala II Asturum, Numerus Equitatum Sarmatarum and Cuneus Sarmatarum units were used as detachments for the fort.
Among the artifacts excavated at the site was a theatrical mask, suggesting there may have been a theatre or small amphitheatre.
In one of the large cemetery groups, a unique group of 'fist-and-phallus' pendants, dating to AD 160–200 were discovered in the grave of an infant.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Cataractonium was a fort and settlement in Roman Britain. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a city wall site from the Roman period in Britain.
Cataractonium is classified as a Roman city wall — a military site in the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer. Roman Britain's archaeology encompasses thousands of sites ranging from legionary fortresses and marching camps to villas, temples and towns.
Several Roman sites lie within a short distance, including Cataractonium Roman forts and town (0.2 km), Bainesse Roman roadside settlement and Anglian cemetery (2.5 km), Romano-British enclosed settlement 340m north east of East Applegarth at Whitcliffe Scar (9.3 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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