Table Of Content

Longman Archaeology Series Pottery in the Roman World Longman Archaeology Series Advisory editor: Barry Cunliffe R. J. Bradley Prehistoric Britain: the social basis D. R. Brothwell Early British mat1: a bioarchaeology from the Palaeolithic to the Middle Ages R. W. Chapman Death, culture and society in prehistoric Europe: theory and applications D. P. S. Peacock Pottery in t.he Roman world: an ethnoarchaeolo~ical approach D. P. S. Peacock, J. A. Riley and D. F. Williams Amphoras and the Roman ecouomy R. F. Tylecote The pre-history ofm etallurgy in Europe D. P. S. Peacock Pottery in the Roman world: an ethnoarchaeological approach ••• ••• ••• LONGM AN London and New York Longman Group Limited Longman House Burnt Mill, Harlow, Essex, UK Published in tile U11ited States ofA merica by Lo11gman ltu., New York © Longman Group Limited 1982 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the Copyright owner. First publislltd 1982 Library of Congress-Cataloging in Publication Data Peacock, D. P. S. Pottery in the Roman world. (Longman archaeology series) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Pottery, Roman. 2. Rome - Antiquities. I. Title. 11. Series. TP802.95.P4 666'.3937 81-12356 ISBN 0-582-49127-4 AACR2 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Peacock, D. P. S. Pottery in the Roman world. 1. Pottery, Roman I. Title 338.7'6663'0937 HD9618 ISBN 0-582-49127-4 Printed in Singapore by Singapore National Printers (Pte) Ltd. 30 Contents List ofp lates v111 List offigrms 1x Preface xi Ackt1owledgemems xiii 1 Introduction: the study of Roman pottery 1 2 Towards a model for Roman pottery studies 6 3 The ethnography of pottery production in Europe and the Mediterranean area 12 4 Ceramic technology in the Roman world 52 5 The role of the household in Roman pottery production 75 6 Workshop industries in the Roman world 90 7 The giant fme-ware producers 114 8 The role of the estate in Roman brick and pottery production 129 9 Ceramic production by official organisations 136 10 Pottery and the Roman economy 152 11 The study of Roman pottery: methods and approaches 160 12 Concluding remarks 173 Bibliography 175 Index 185 List of plates 1 Berber painted dish 14 2 Brick clamp at Bijelo Polje, Yugoslavia 15 3 Brick clamp on the island ofThasos, Greece 16 4 Corsican woman peddling pots in the nineteenth century 18 5 Turntable used until recently at Rakalj, !stria 22 6 Black two-handled cooking pots from Rakalj 22 7 Small pottery worked by two men on the island of Thasos 35 8 Sieving the dried clay 36 9 Removing moistened clay from the pit 36 10 Potter at the kick wheel, Thasos 37 11 A pottery on the Tunis road, Nabeul 39 12 Firing casseroles at Vallauris, near Cannes, southern France 40 13 Casserole from Nabeul, Tunisia 41 14 Djerba, Tunisia. A consignment ofj ars awaiting purchase 42 15 Hand-moulding bricks at Kairouan, Tunisia 44 16 Category 1 black-burnished cooking pot 57 17 Imitation samian mould 59 18 Small black-gloss beaker 60 19 Samian ware decorated in the 'cut-glass' technique 61 20 Botijas from Salvatierra de Ios Barros 63 21 Beaker with green glaze from London 65 22 Experimental kiln 70 23 Costa della Favara, Pantelleria, Italy 77 24 A restored Dales ware jar 87 25 Grey-ware bowl 91 26 Black-burnished ware category 2 94 27 Oxford red colour-coat bowl 108 28 Alice Holt grey-ware jar 111 29 Sarnian bowl from King William Street, London 115 30 Graffito from La Graufesenque 125 31 Fragment of relief pattern flue tile 132 List of figures 1 Berber pottery-making tools 13 2 The Maghrcb showing the main areas ofBerber painted pottery production 15 3 Pots being taken out of a smoke kiln, Jutland 19 4 Turntable from Pererucla (Zamora) 19 5 Homo alto (high kiln}, with iron horqtlilla, Pereruela 20 6 Auxiliary instruments associated with the household industries of north-western Iberia 21 7 Yugoslavia, showing land use and the distribution of turntables 24 8 Turntable, Karia-ba-Mohammed, Morocco 27 9 Potters' wheels 29 10 Auxiliary instruments from Vallauris, near Cannes, France 29 11 Workshop plans 30 12 Some modern pottery kilns 32 13 Kiln typd in southern Italy and Sicily 34 14 Schematic plan of a Djerba workshop 43 15 Plan of the Nantgarw pottery 45 16 A view of the Nantgarw pottery 46 17 Plan of the Ashburnham estate brickyard 47 18 Brick kilns 48 19 Plan of excavated pits, ditches and kilns at Highgate Wood 53 20 Levigation or clay moistening tanks 54 21 Horse-driven pug-mill, Asseiceira 55 22 Black-burnished ware 56 23 Parts of Roman potter's wheels 58 24 Indian pivoted and socketed wheels 58 25 Pottery poinfons 60 26 Roman potters' tools 62 27 Reconstruction showing the use of saggars for producing glazed pottery at Holt 64 28 Pottery drying facilities 66 29 Diagram showing the frequency of different kiln types in Roman Gaul 68 30 Some of the principal types of Roman kiln 69 31 Suggested reconstruction of the Roman brick kiln excavated at Speicher 71 32 Samian kiln from Heiligenberg 72 33 Workshop, kiln and clay pit, Stibbington 73 34 A selection of white or cream wares decorated with brown paint from Carthage 76 35 The distribution of pottery made from Pantellerian clay 78 36 Pantellerian pottery from Carthage 80 37 The distribution of Roman hand-made Malvemian pottery 82 38 Characteristic forms of hand-made Malvemian pottery 83 39 The distribution of category 1 black-burnished ware in Britain 84 X List of figures 40 A typical pre-Roman countersunk-handle cooking pot used by the Durotriges 86 41 Wessex grog-tempered pottery from Portchester Castle 88 42 The distribution ofWessex grog-tempered ware 88 43 The predicted market area of Chichester and the distribution of pottery made in the kilns at Rowlands Castle 93 44 The Thames estuary showing the distribution of kilns producing category 2 black-burnished ware 95 45 The distribution of category 2 black-burnished ware 96 46 The distribution of Severn Valley kilns and ware in the second century 97 47 Severn Valley ware 98 48 The distribution of Roman pottery kilns at Cologne 100 49 The scatter of kilns and probable workshops along the Ermine Street outside Durobrivae 101 50 Brick and tile kilns along the Watling Street south ofVerulamium 101 51 The distribution of stamped mortaria made at Colchester within the period A.D. 140-200 102 52 The distribution of major kiln groups in late fust-and second-century Britain 104 53 The distribution of major kiln groups in late third-and fourth-century Britain 105 54 A New Forest kiln displaying a sequence of repairs 106 55 The distribution of New Forest grey-wares 107 56 The distribution of Oxford colour-coat form C51 109 57 The Alice Holt kilns and their relationship to surviving elements of the contemporary landscape 110 58 The distribution in Britain of Alice Holt grey-ware 112 59 Crater of the form Dragendorff 11 116 60 Production centres for Arretine and samian pottery in northern Italy, Gaul and Germany 117 61 Arretine stamps 121 62 Samian stamps 123 63 Installations belonging to the workshop of Comitialis at Rheinzabern 124 64 The brick kiln at Miirlenbach, near Trier, Germany 130 65 Relief pattern Oue tile 131 66 Brick stamp, probably from Rome 133 67 Part of the ager eretanus, showing the kiln and brick stap1p distribution of Q. Sulpicus Sabinus 135 68 General plan of the military works at Holt 137 69 The kiln complex at Holt 138 70 Military kiln·s and probable drying shed at Dormagen 140 71 The kiln complex at Holdeum, Holland 141 72 The workshop complex at Holdeurn 142 73 Brick stamp from Gellep near Krefeld, Germany 143 74 Military kiln and brick stamps around Vetera 144 75 Distribution of bricks and tiles stamped with the insignia of the Class is Britannica 145 76 Typical stamps of the Classis Britannica 146 77 Mould of the lamp-maker Fortis from Brigetio, Hungary 147 - 78 Pottery moulds for making ceramic imitations of metal prototypes. From Brigetio 148 79 Tegula from London bearing the stamp PP BR LON 150 80 Distribution of Dressel1 amphorae bearing the stamp of Sestius 155 81 Restored calendar of markets 157 82 Quantities by weight of African amphorae recovered from part of the Avenue Habib Bourguiba site, Carthage 163 83 Quantities by weight of the main types of amphora current in fifth- and sixth-century Carthage 164 84 The distribution of southern Gaulish wine amphorae of the type Pelichet 47 167 85 Best-fit linear regression line for the decrease in Oxford pottery with increasing distance from the kilns 168 86 Regression residuals for the distribution of Oxford pottery 168 87 The decrease in Oxford pottery away from the kilns 168 88 The decrease in Oxford and New Forest pottery in the area between the two kilns 169 89 The pottery processing scheme used by the British team at Carthage 170 Preface This somewhat unorthodox book was conceived in a the catalogue or corpus is an end in itself rather than a fairly conventional manner. Roman pottery ranks means of further enlightenment. It is hardly among the more common archaeological artifacts of surprising, therefore, that as archaeology has Europe and the Mediterranean region and it is developed into a vital and vibrant discipline, the virtually impossible to excavate without finding at central issue is increasingly becoming one of least a few sherds. lt follows that some acquaintance explaining why certain developments or changes took with Roman pottery should be an essential part of an place. The study of Roman pottery is no exception, archaeological education. However, herein lies a for workers are now evaluating topics which a few difficulty, for much of the relevant information is to years ago might have been dismissed as 'speculation', be found in specialised ceramic reports published in fit for discussion at excavation tea-breaks rather than many different languages, often in obscure journals. for serious publication. Of course, unfettered and Clearly what is required is a broad synthesis and undisciplined surmises arc valueless and publication evaluation of both the basic principles and of the on the pretext of simply stimulating discussion is more common material. This was attempted in 1905 indefensible. by H. B. Waiters as part of his two-volume work on Nevertheless, the question 'why' can be brought the History of Ancient Pottery and more recently in within respectable academic bounds by adopting an 1955 by Robert Charleston in his brief but useful approach involving the generation of hypotheses or sketch entitled Roman Pottery. Since then the subject models which are then tested against the evidence. has been treated on a regional basis with the This deductive method of reasoning has publication of important surveys of material from revolutionised the study of prehistory and is being Spain, Britain and France, in particular (e.g. Beltran increasingly employed in Classical archaeology. The Lloris, 1978; Vegas, 1973; Swan, 1978; M.-H. and]. present book is a first attempt to apply such an Sant rot, 1979). At the same time certain types of approach to the production and marketing of Roman well-travelled pottery such as amphorae or the pottery as a whole. Working from the premise that red-slip wares have been the subject of a the present is the key to the past, an attempt is made broader-based international approach (e.g. Panella, to understand pottery production in the complex 1973; Beltran Lloris, 1970; Hayes, 1972). market economics of present-day Europe and the This book is an attempt to present a more general Mediterranean region. If we cannot understand how picture, but it cannot be regarded as the successor to and why the contemporary system works, what hope the works of Waiters and Charleston, because in the have we ofunraveiJing the Roman situation? The last few decades the aims and nature of archaeology ethnographic evidence is then compared with the have changed radically. In the 1950s it was customary Roman. In some cases the correspondence is good, in to assert that archaeologists could be properly others less so, but both congruences and contrasts are concerned with the how, when and where of the past equally valuable in assessing Roman practice. Thus it but that the question 'why' generally lay beyond the is not a question of forcing the modem interpretation limits of archaeological inference. However, a upon an ancient situation, but of using ethnography subject relegated to a mere descriptive role will as a yardstick to distinguish probable from less rapidly become sterile, practised by those to whom plausible explanations. xii Preface The quotation at the beginning of this book is diachronic studies must await future improvement of particularly apt, for the idea of using ethnographical the data-base. If this book does something to evidence as a means of understanding classical stimulate more acute observatiol! in the field, it will ceramics arose while processing many tons of pottery have served a useful purpose. from the recent British excavations at Carthage. A Any new approach inevitably leads to the visit to the 'local pottery souk at El Kram was a introduction of unfamiliar terms and concepts. Since stimulating experience, for it seemed that if the this book occupies middle ground between a number material on sale was to be broken up and placed in of different disciplines I have aimed to communicate boxes, it would differ little from the boxes of widely by avoiding new jargon as far as possible. l material we were studying. Of course the red-slipped am conscious that many of the ideas might have been wares are now replaced by glazed vessels, but there expressed differently in specialist papers, but modern in the pottery shop were similar proportions of table learning has erected enough barriers to mutual wares, kitchen wares, hand-made vessels, water jars, comprehension without multiplying them. lamps and exotica. Some came from Nabeul on the Nevertheless it is impossible to be all things to all Cap Bon peninsula, some from Sedjenane in the men and the use of some specialised terms is Krouminie mountains, others from Moknine in inevitable. central Tunisia, while Tunis itself supplied some By selecting Roman pottery as my subject, I have curious hand-made cooking vessels. It seemed that an chosen to evaluate a small part of the archaeological understanding of how collections such as these were ceramic spectrum. However, even within this limited produced and brought together could furnish ideas of compass it is often hard to do justice to all the considerable value in understanding ancient evidence in the space of a relatively short book. I assemblages. Thus began a study of modern pottery have endeavoured to make amends for superficiality production, and after several years of concentrated and selectivity by adopting a fairly full system of reading, field visits to potteries in Spain, France, referencing so that the reader can expand the Italy, Greece and Tunisia, I feel able to offer a discussion and dispute or concur with the claims I preliminary and tentative synthesis of the main make. parameters, which I believe are crucial to the Roman However, although the scope is limited, the period also. principles, lessons and discussions should have wide It is not the aim of this book to describe Roman relevance in the study of ceramic production in early pottery in its multifarious forms, and the reader will complex societies. In my view the real interest of search in vain for typological sequences and Roman pottery will only be fully revealed when chronologies. This does not mean that I am similar work has been done in other developed unappreciative of the great strides made by ceramic cultures so that broad comparisons are feasible. For scholarship or that I do not recognise the the present my canvas is more limited. If I have fundamental importance of classification and dating. shown that the Jiving but rapidly dying tradition of It is simply that my objective is different: it is to pottery-making is as vitally relevant to the historical understand the processes operating in the Roman archaeologist as to the prehistorian, I shall be content. ceramic industry. Of course these changed with time and place and even here it is easy to reassert the prime importance of chronology. In practice however, the evidence is so poor and patchy that at present it is Southampto~1 D. P. S. Peacock hard to discern more than the barest outlines and December 1980