Roman Pottery in the Fifth Century AD

Transcription

1 Roman Pottery in the Fifth Century AD A One Day Conference Hosted by the School of Historical Studies, Newcastle University 7 th June 2012 james.gerrard@newcastle.ac.uk

2 Programme Venue: The Research Beehive Time Title Speaker Unorthodox Pots Dr James Gerrard The late, late show: Calcite-gritted Dr Mark Whyman ware and related coarseware in York and Yorkshire Final Roman Pottery in Lincoln Ian Rowlandson Tea / Coffee Pottery in Devon and Cornwall during the late fourth and fifth centuries Paul Bidwell Old traditions and innovation in Dr Imogen Wood pottery production: The expression of identity and social change in 5 th century Cornwall The end of Roman pottery production in southern Britain Dr Malcolm Lyne LUNCH LUNCH Keith Fitz-Patrick Matthews Defining fifth-century ceramics in North Hertfordshire "Latest" Roman pottery in Essex, a look at pottery supply and use c Odd goings-on at Mucking: Roman pottery in Anglo-Saxon features Scott Martin Dr Sam Lucy Discussion

3 Abstracts Unorthodox Pots Dr James Gerrard, Newcastle University The debate surrounding the possible use and production of Romano-British style pottery in the fifth century appeared to be laid well and truly in its grave by the End of Roman Britain Conference held in Durham in Pottery production ceased in the very early fifth century as Roman Britain s cash economy collapsed. However, since 2000 it has become apparent that this orthodoxy is being challenged by new empirical data and new theoretical approaches. This paper looks at some of the arguments surrounding fifth-century pottery production and use and explores some of the issues that await resolution. The late, late show? Calcite-gritted and related coarseware in York, Yorkshire and beyond. Dr Mark Whyman, York Archaeological Trust The tradition of manufacturing calcite-tempered ceramics in eastern Yorkshire extends back at least as far as the Iron Age. By the middle of the 4 th century the distribution of calcitegritted and related coarse-tempered wares from this area extended across the north from the Humber-Mersey line to Hadrian s Wall, notably in the form of the developed Huntclifftype jar. The high-volume production and widespread distribution of this distinctive fabric and form in the later 4 th century make it an obvious starting point for the investigation of possible ceramic manufacture in the 5 th, and some recent commentators have made a case for a 5 th -century attribution for assemblages overwhelmingly dominated by this type. Detailed examination and recording of substantial calcite-gritted assemblages from York (Eboracum), well-stratified in association with large numbers of 4 th -century coins, has sought to isolate distinctive sub-assemblages of the fabric type specific to the latest stratigraphic and chronological phases of Roman sequences in the city, for which a 5 th - century date of manufacture and use might be proposed and substantiated. This paper will outline the approaches and methods employed in this research, present its results, and consider their interpretation and implications.

4 Final Roman pottery in Lincoln: some interpretations Ian Rowlandson Freelance pottery researcher A large number of sites excavated in Lincoln by the City of Lincoln Unit ( ) and a few significant developer funded projects have now been completed and published. A large quantity of late Roman pottery from stratified contexts has now been recorded. This final phase of Roman pottery production evident in the city has been characterised as Very late 4 th century (see Darling 1977, 1999) or Final Roman. A range of fabrics and forms typical of these deposits has been defined and will be published in the forthcoming Roman pottery corpus (Darling and Precious forthcoming). What is more problematic is to place a date on the end of manufacture of these types. This paper seeks to present the range of Final Roman pottery from Lincoln and offer potential interpretations of the evidence for the production and use of Roman pottery into the 5 th century AD. Darling, M.J., 1999 Darling, M J, 1977 Roman Pottery, in C. Colyer, B.J.J. Gilmour & M.J. Jones, The Defences of the Lower City. Excavations at The Park and West Parade , CBA Research Report 114, A Group of late Roman pottery from Lincoln, The archaeology of Lincoln, 16/1. Darling, M.J. and Precious, B.J., forthcoming, Corpus of Roman Pottery from Lincoln, Lincoln Archaeological Studies No. 6, Oxbow Books, Oxford Pottery in Devon and Cornwall in the later fourth and fifth centuries Paul Bidwell, Head of TWM Archaeology/ Senior Manager, Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums South-West England was the main British destination for Late-Roman amphorae and fine wares from the eastern Mediterranean. The earliest importation of this pottery has been dated to c. 475, though the finds at Bantham are perhaps a decade or so earlier. This paper looks at what is known of pottery supply in the South-West in the later fourth century and in the first half of the fifth century and addresses two particular questions. First, whether these later fifth-century imports could represent a continuation and extension of trade with Britain already established in the late Roman period. Secondly, whether these post-roman imports, particularly at Bantham and Tintagel, provide a horizon which can be used to determine how long local production continued into the fifth century

5 Old traditions and innovation in pottery production: The expression of identity and social change in 5 th century Cornwall. Dr Imogen Wood, University of Exeter The 5 th century is of great significance in understanding Cornwall s unique pottery production tradition, as it breaks away from broader trends in the South West of Britain, constructing a new identity in a time of great social change and upheaval. As other regions witness a decline in native production and in some cases cessation, the continued production, consumption and development of native Cornish styles illuminates not only the regions past relationship with Roman society but also its own social structure and identity. The past focus on imported wares in Cornwall which have long established its links beyond the region, have diverted attention away from native wares that contribute far more to our understanding of society in the South West. This paper will demonstrate how the social structure and identity represented by Cornish pottery is of great relevance to our understanding of society in the South West as a whole. The production of pottery in 5 th -6 th century Cornwall was flourishing, which unlike elsewhere, was experimental and innovative and consumed as readily as in previous centuries. Gwithian style pottery emerges in the mid 5th century to the late 7th AD displaying around forms with a new tradition of sanded bases; whilst Grass-marked wares appearing in the 5 th -6 th century demonstrate a retraction in forms limited to platters, dishes, cooking pots and later bar-lug cauldrons which dominate until the 10 th century. This practice represents co-existing yet divergent eating practices into which imported Amphorae, Mediterranean wares and African Red Slip Wares must also have had a role. The relationship of these wares in Romano-British settlements marks a convergence of past and future social ideals which emerge in the 6 th -7 th century in a ware that endures until the 10 th century the ramifications of which resonate far beyond Cornwall. The end of Roman pottery production in southern Britain Dr Malcolm Lyne Freelance This paper seeks to show that Roman style pottery did not cease to be manufactured in Britain during the early years of the 5 th century due to an assumed collapse of the monetary economy after AD.410. The recognition of a few later 5 th c. base metal nummi at Richborough, Verulamium, Wroxeter and other other places indicates that a full monetary economy may have continued to operate in some parts of Britain until the mid-5 th c. and possibly later. The bulk of the coinage in use during the 5 th c. continued to be the Theodosian emissions of the last quarter of the 4 th c. with some earlier material.

6 What this means is that the final Roman occupation on many sites dated by coinage to the the period c.ad should in fact be dated to /50 and the dating of the pottery associated similarly revised. This would go a long way towards solving the mystery as to why hardly any artefacts can be dated to the period c.ad : they have been there all the time but are unrecognised. The area of study covers the south-east of Britain, including Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire, London and Hertfordshire, and draws on information from recent and not so recent excavations. What this shows is that Roman style pottery continued to be produced in the more easterly counties of the area of study into the second quarter of the 5 th c., albeit in decreasing quantities with some loss of technological expertise. There followed a period of salvaging old pots and kiln-wasters in the absence of new pots until the Saxon and Jutish migrations of the mid-late 5 th c. Some pottery production continued for even longer in the British enclave at Pevensey, where exotic wares were also imported in limited quantities from Southern Gaul, North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean. Limited pottery production also continued in at least three places in Hampshire and Berkshire/Oxfordshire in the west of the area of study: these production centres were in the north of the Isle of White, at Alice Holt and around Dorchester-upon-Thames with the same kind of convex-sided dish with solid hemispherical bosses being, produced at all three centres but in different fabrics. Those being supplied to Dorchester-upon-Thames were manufactured for long enough to be copied by the Early Saxon settlers in the town and by the makers of chaff-tempered wares in Gloucestershire: this takes their production well into the late 5 th c. and possibly beyond. The south-west of Britain lies outside the scope of this paper but we now know that Dorset BB1 was also made well into the 5 th century. Defining fifth-century ceramics in North Hertfordshire Keith J Fitzpatrick-Matthews, North Herts County Council During excavations at Baldock in the early 1980s, it was recognised that there were definable fifth-century and later sub-roman sequences. More surprising was the discovery that they were associated with ceramic forms and fabrics not present in earlier deposits. This permitted the identification of a distinctive sub-roman material culture that enabled contemporary features to be recognised in places without deep stratigraphic sequences both within the town and on sites in its hinterland.

7 The forms and fabrics represented clearly derive from Romano-British traditions rather than Anglo-Saxon, which is unsurprising given the relative scarcity of Germanic material in North Hertfordshire. What is less clear is where the material was being produced, by whom, how it was distributed and who the customers were. This pottery was not manufactured on an industrial scale like the late Roman regional potteries it replaced, but there is evidence for craft specialisation in some forms. At the same time, there is an interface between indigenous traditions and Germanic. This is particularly interesting in areas where Anglo-Saxon remains are found close to sub-roman. Is it possible to detect an interchange of ideas or was there, as some have claimed, complete cultural apartheid? This paper will focus on the nature of the ceramics: the types of fabrics represented, the manufacturing techniques, stylistic considerations and the socio-economic milieu of its distribution. A model of consumption in a materially impoverished culture will be proposed, which will explore the possible meanings of ceramic exchange in a technology driven by small scale craft production. "Latest" Roman pottery in Essex, a look at pottery supply and use c Scott Martin, Freelance From c. AD 350 a number of 'new fabrics' appear in Essex, principally in the shape of Oxfordshire red colour-coat and 'late' shell-tempered ware. These fabrics form the main components of a Late Roman Ceramic package, that also appears to be contemporary with a decline in the availability of locally made pottery, especially in the early 5th cent. The data from a number of sites in the county is examined to show that it is possible to investigate the period in some detail that sheds important light on the nature of the final stages of imperial rule over this part of Britannia. Odd goings-on at Mucking: Roman pottery in Anglo-Saxon features Dr Sam Lucy, Cambridge Recent analysis of the Romano-British settlement at Mucking, using computer data rescued from the 1980s Mucking Post-Excavation archives, has revealed some odd patterning within the latest Roman pottery distributions on the site, particularly of Portchester Type D ware. This paper will present those patterns, and explore their possible significance.