I think I might be turning into a Pothead!!

Hi Everyone, Sorry about my absence last week, I hope none of you are getting withdrawals... but fear not here is this weeks fix.

POST ROMAN POTTERY WORKSHOP:


Earlier this week I went along to a workshop on Post Roman pottery, held at Eastbourne Town Hall run by Luke Barber. I've always been interested in Bones, Burials and Mummies, and since my many university visits/open days last year, where every one gave a long talk on Samian Pottery and how to identify it, I felt that maybe I had, had enough pottery for one year. But when I saw that there was a pottery workshop happening at the town hall last Wednesday,  I thought why not, whats the worst that can happen.... and all I can say really, is that since the workshop, I think I might be turning into a 'pot'head!!

Two examples of Samian Pottery (so called, I think, because it all looks the same!!)

The day started with Luke Barber, explaining what the sorting process of archaeological pottery finds consisted of, and what we needed to identify. We needed to try and identify the the forms of the vessels, the source of the material used to make the vessels and the date it was made or was in circulation. To do this we were given a 6 step plan: 

STEP 1 - Sort all bags of finds into context order (this helps with spot dating)

STEP 2 -  Learn to sort the items into fabrics (here you will look at what the pottery is tempered with : - flint, sand, chalk, shell etc.)

STEP 3 - Sort into time periods (e.g. early medieval, transitional, late medieval) 

STEP 4 - Split into fabric sequences (relates to both step 2 and 3, there are two different types of sorters, lumpers and splitter. Lumpers group huge amounts of pottery together, where as splitters group into tiny groups depending on strict criteria, over the amount of sand, flint, shell and chalk found within the pottery. 

STEP 5 - Look for vessel forms (rims, externally sooted etc, if your pottery doesn't fall into at least one of these criteria they must be classified as unidentifiable.)

STEP 6 - Quantify for the archive and log. (Sherd count, weight, EVE's <-- estimated number of vessels)

The workshop was very interesting and informative and due to it being on a small scale with just 8 of us, the controlled environment, made it easy to understand and pick up the tips, but also removed a lot of the pressure that might have be present if the workshop was done on a working archaeological site, or/and with a bigger group of people. Although I wrote notes during the morning which will now always be available for me to refer to, only through practise of pottery sorting will I become more efficient and knowledgeable in the identification of pottery. 

Here are some examples of the types of pottery that we were sorting out:

Early Medieval Pottery: 

Some examples of  Early Medieval Pottery 

 

Early medieval Pottery I felt was one of the easiest to notice, and put into its time period (step 3), due to it being the only group of pottery which is consistently unglazed, noticeably coarse and gritty. The best way to tell if a piece of pottery is early medieval is to look at the edges of the piece, here it will be easiest to see the selection of material that was used to make the original vessel. Clippers and a hand lense are very useful in this process.

Transitional Pottery:

An example of Tin Glazed Earthenware. 

Tin Glazed Earthenware, is a great example of pottery throughout the transitional stages. It was first produced in London in the 1630's. It was recognisable for its thick glaze and yellowness of the clay used, however, as time passed and techniques improved, the glaze on the pots became thinner and they lost the yellowness of the original pieces. As the pieces became whiter, it gave potters a way of being able to copy the much loved Chinese ware. Throughout the 17th century, Tin Glazed Earthenware slowly came down the social scale until it can be seen at the beginning of the 18th century, even being used as chamberpots.

Late/Post Medieval Pottery - 1750-1900+

An example of Pearlware

 During the late/post medieval period, pottery became more industrialised, especially in places like Staffordshire and Newcastle Upon Tyne. When Pearlware comes in, it is quite like the Tin Glazed Earthenware above, as it starts out yellow with a thick glaze, but again over time the glaze gets thinner and the clay becomes whiter, but unlike the Tin Glaze, the producers start to add a cobalt to the glaze, again to try and mimick the Chinese Pottery, as well as White and Blue, the Pearlyware can also be green. 

Other pottery types to look out for include, yellow ware, English Stone Ware, Borderware, Porcelain, and the Staffordshire White Salt Glaze, which has a 'orange peel' like pattern covering its outside walls. 

Since doing the Post Roman Pottery Workshop, I am really excited about what I have learnt, and can't wait until I have the opportunity to put my new skills into pratice. I am also looking for a good book (again) on the subject of pottery indentification, so if anyone has any ideas, or recommendations, feel free to comment below!!

Thank you for reading.. until our paths cross again, FAREWELL!!

 Maisie 

Other exciting stuff:

 

On BBC 2 starting Monday 22nd October at 9pm is a new series called Prehistoric Autopsy with Professor Alice Roberts and Dr George McGavin. 

Follow the link to find out more ---> http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00xfdmt