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Artefacts & Environmental Evidence: The Period 2 Pottery

Alan Vince

The assessment of the Roman pottery from the FAS excavations at Blue Bridge Lane, York, argued that the large quantity of small, abraded sherds found in deposits of post-Roman date added little to the site history, except to show that some of this pottery is contemporary with that found in stratified deposits on the site, while other sherds are of types which do not occur in those deposits, indicating that some activity probably took place on the site in the later Roman period (probably into the later 4th century, since sherds of calcite-tempered ware were present).

This report, therefore, concentrates on the few securely stratified assemblages of Roman pottery found. The report is divided into two sections. In the first, the pottery is described and summarised by ware, and form, where possible using Monaghan's corpus (1993). In the second section, the assemblages are described feature by feature. Finally, a reconstruction is attempted of pottery use and deposition on the Blue Bridge Lane site. It is suggested here that there is possible evidence for manuring (and therefore agriculture) in the early 2nd century, pre c.120. A single cremation burial, datable to the mid-2nd to early 3rd century, followed by a change in site use in the early 3rd century, during which several ditches and other features were backfilled. Later Roman activity is only represented by residual potsherds but again indicates agricultural manuring (although of course this later Roman pottery could have been brought onto the site in the post-Roman period).

The Roman pottery from the neighbouring site of Fishergate House is mainly of similar date to that from this site, but is almost entirely derived from cremations, either intact or disturbed and redeposited in Anglo-Saxon or later contexts. These all pre-date the one Blue Bridge Lane cremation, suggesting that burial started to the south of the site and spread northwards. There is no evidence there for the early 3rd century change of land use, but that site too includes a small scatter of residual later Roman sherds.

Wares

Table 1 lists the various wares identified in the stratified Roman pottery collection from Blue Bridge Lane, together with a single sherd, a handmade "Native" ware, found only in a residual context. All of these wares are described in detail in Monaghan 1993, although the two almond rimmed amphora sherds in Campanian black sand fabric cannot be assigned to a YAT code, since they are a type which was only recognised after the publication of 1986, which was used as the basis of the YAT amphora classification.

Table 1
Broad cname	Broad source	Narrow cname	Source area	YAT code1	NoSH	Wt
AMPH	Imported	Amphorae	Imported	AA	2	132
AMPH	Imported	Amphorae	Western mediterranean	AP25	27	854
AMPH	imported	Amphorae	Western mediterranean	AP27	2	15
BURNISHED	Regional industries	BB1	Dorset	B1	12	83
BURNISHED	Local	Grey B.	Yorkshire	B3	84	1484
BURNISHED	Regional industries	BB2	South Yorkshire	B7	13	163
BURNISHED	Regional industries	Crambeck	Crambeck	B11	5	47
COLOUR-COATED	Regional industries	NVCC	Lower Nene	C1	6	13
COLOUR-COATED	Imported	CCW	Imported	C12	2	1
COLOUR-COATED	York	CCW	York	C18	2	5
COLOUR-COATED	Imported	CCW	Rhineland	C27	1	4
EBOR	York	Ebor	York	E1	188	1394
GREY	Unknown British?	Fine Grey	Unknown British?	F1	4	19
GREY	York	Grey	York	G1	59	631
SHELLY	Regional industries	Dales	Lincolnshire	H1	13	96
MORTARIA	York	Mortaria	York	M3	1	22
MORTARIA	York	Mortaria	York	M4	1	40
MORTARIA	Regional industries	Mortaria	Mancetter	M14?	2	57
MORTARIA	Regional industries	Mortaria	Mancetter	M14?	2	57
MORTARIA	Regional industries	Mortaria	Verulamium region	M15	23	841
NATIVE	Unknown British?	Native	Unknown British?	N1	1	19
OXID	Unknown British?	Misc. oxid	Unknown British?	O0	1	1
RUSTIC	York	Rustic	York?	R2	6	54
SAMIAN	Imported	SGS	South Gaul	S1	28	97
SAMIAN	Imported	CGS	Central Gaul	S2	6	7

It should be noted that several wares are actually defined by their surface treatment and actually have similar or identical fabrics; these include E1, B3, G1 and R2. The thirty-four sherds of Samian ware are mostly spalled fragments, which makes identification of their form problematic and without this it is difficult to assign any of the sherds to a specific source (they are likely to include vessels from La Graufesenque, Montans, Las Martres-de-Veyres and Lezoux).

Forms

Table 2 shows the identified forms present in the stratified Roman pottery collection. The collection is too small for detailed comparison with other sites, in York or elsewhere. The only points of note are that the number of sherds for certain vessel types is well in excess of the number of vessels represented, due to the presence not only of a deliberately buried jar, from cremation F394, but also the presence of smashed vessels in several other deposits. The forms affected are mortaria, flanged bowls and, in particular, head pots, where all of the sherds found might come from one or two vessels.

Table 2
Code	Name	NoSH	NoV	Wt
UNID	Unidentifiable	32	32	87
AMPH	Amphora	32	25	1046
BEAK	Beaker	8	6	21
BOWL	Bowl	8	8	195
BOWL/DISH	Bowl or dish	1	1	6
BOWL/PLATTER	Bowl or platter	1	1	10
CLSD	Unidentified closed form	61	60	331
DISH	Dish	7	7	59
DR38	Samian Dr38 bowl	1	1	4
FB	Flanged bowl	14	3	145
FLAG	Flagon	16	16	110
FLAG/JAR	Flagon or jar	52	52	299
HEAD POT	Head pot	42	2	216
JAR	Jar	181	114	2442
LID	Lid	4	3	84
MORT	Mortaria	30	8	1101
PIE DISH	Pie dish	2	2	25
PLATTER	Platter	7	6	123

Assemblages

The following contexts produced small, abraded groups of Roman pottery and no later sherds, but were considered to be probably residual in Anglo-Saxon or later features:

C1280, C1458, C1474, C1511, C1535, C1602, C1637, C1789, C1803, C1816, C1863, C1906, C1911, C1961, C2072, C2138, C2217 and C2229. All contained sherds of Ebor 1 or others of likely later 1st century or later date apart from context 2229 which produced a sherd of late 3rd century or later date.

Similarly small, probably residual assemblages were recovered from C1089, C1233, C1305, C1479, C1704, C1895, C2118, C2143, and C2199. Again, most of these produced sherds of Ebor 1 or wares of similar date and the size of the sherds suggests that they are residual. However, in some cases the stratigraphic context suggested a possible early date and the sherds were therefore recorded fully. With the exception of the cremation burials, the remaining contexts all produced two or three sherds of Roman pottery, and where later pottery was also present it has been interpreted as being intrusive.

Cremation 1 F267

Single fragmentary primary greyware jar of late 1st to early 2nd century date (Figure 1).

Figure 1

Cremation 2 F319

A fragmentary primary greyware rustic ware jar (R2) and a secondary Ebor 1 flagon (E1) of late 1st to early 2nd century date (Figure 2).

Figure 2

Cremation 3 F320

A complete primary greyware rustic ware jar (R2) and a complete secondary Ebor 1 flagon (E1) of late 1st to early 2nd century date (Figure 3).

Figure 3

Cremation 4 F321

A primary Ebor 1 jar (E1) and conjoining sherds from an unusual greyware jay (G0), a local greyware jar and a whiteware vessel (P0) of late 1st to early 2nd century date (Figure 4).

Figure 4

Cremation 5 F394

A near-complete greyware jar with acute lattice burnished decoration was recovered from this cremation (Table 3). In addition, sherds of a white-slipped Ebor 1 ware flagon and a possible local roughcast beaker were present (C18). These are presumed to be residual and included in the backfill of the feature rather than evidence for the presence of further accompanying vessels. The decoration on the jar dates it to the early 2nd to early 3rd century.

Table 3
cname	Sum of Nosh	Sum of weight	Average of Mean weight
E1	1	17	17
B3	48	1221	25.44
C18	2	5	2.5

Buried soil C2040

A small group of Roman sherds, together with one Anglo-Scandinavian sherd. The group contains a reeded rim bowl of late 1st to early 2nd century date (G1) and a sherd of Central Gaulish Samian ware (S2), probably dating to the period after c.120 (Table 4).

Table 4
cname	Sum of Nosh	Sum of Weight	Average of Mean weight
YORKA	1	3	3
E1	1	25	25
G1	1	9	9
S2	1	1	1

Buried soil C2205

The pottery from layer C2205 consists of moderate-sized sherds with no obvious abrasion (Table 5). However, all the sherds appear to be from different vessels and the material therefore is probably a secondary rubbish deposit (moved from its initial place of disposal). There are no sherds present which could only date to the later 1st century and it is therefore likely that the assemblage does not contain any pottery earlier than c.100AD. There are a handful of later 2nd century sherds (a greyware pie dish rim, a featureless sherd of Dorset BB1, two sherds of Central Gaulish samian and a body sherd from a Nene Valley colour-coated beaker), but in general the assemblage appears to pre-date the widespread use of BB1 and its copies. No definitely 3rd or 4th century material is present. The range of forms represented (excluding the later sherds listed above) includes jars, flagons and platters, all types present in the late 1st- to early 2nd-century cremations on this site and Fishergate House, as well as a Mancetter-Hartshill mortarium and South Gaulish samian sherds, mostly spalled into unidentifiable pieces, but including a sherd from a decorated bowl with a rivet hole.

Table 5
cname	Sum of Nosh	Sum of weight	Average Mean of weight
E1	51	376	15.23
B1	1	19	19
C1	1	3	3
G1	15	140	11.28
M14	1	38	38
R2	4	36	9
S1	13	28	3.4
S2	3	4	1.33
M4	1	40	40

Buried soil C2211

A small assemblage of late 1st to early 2nd century pottery, including large, relatively-fresh sherds (Table 6).

Table 6
cname	Sum of Nosh	Sum of Weight	Average of Mean weight
E1	6	72	15.67
G1	4	79	37.17
S1	2	14	7

Ploughsoil C2133

Sixteen very small abraded sherds of Roman pottery were recovered from the ploughsoil, C2133 (Table 7). A small sherd of Central Gaulish Samian ware and a local burnished 'pie dish' of c.120 or later are the latest datable pieces in the group.

Table 7
cname	Sum of Nosh	Sum of Weight	Average of Mean weight
E1	9	19	2.14
B3	1	10	10
G1	4	7	1.75
S1	1	1	1
S2	1	1	1

Roadside Ditch F43

One hundred and seventy-six sherds of Roman pottery were recovered from the backfill of the roadside ditch, C1163 (Table 8). The assemblage seems to mostly consist of later 1st to 2nd-century wares but with some early 3rd-century material (Monaghan's Ceramic Period 3a), namely, a Mid Roman Campanian amphora with an almond-shaped rim (Williams in 1993, 973) and sherds of Dales Shelly ware jars (H1).

Table 8
cname	Sum of Nosh	Sum of weight	Average Mean of weight
E1	42	368	15.68
A0	2	132	66
AP25	25	620	50.54
AP27-30	2	15	7.5
B1	11	64	5.63
B11	5	47	7
B3	27	151	5.46
B7	1	13	13
C1	3	2	0.67
C12	2	1	0.5
C27	1	4	4
F1	4	19	4.75
G1	26	178	7.11
H1	13	96	7.38
M14	1	19	19
O0	1	1	1
R2	2	18	9
S1	7	26	2.94
S2	1	1	1

Trackway ditch F110

Five sherds of Roman pottery and one medieval (late 12th century and interpreted as intrusive) came from ditch F110 (Table 9). A later 1st to early 2nd century date is likely.

Table 9
Context	cname	Sum of Nosh	Sum of weight	Average of \|Mean weight
1258	E1	3	10	3.33
1921	AP25	1	91	91
1921	G1	1	64	64
2088	YORK	1	9	9

Trackway Ditch F203

Five sherds of Roman pottery and one sherd of Northern Maxey-type ware were recovered from the backfill of ditch F203 (Table 10). A late 1st to early 2nd century date is likely for the Roman sherds.

Table 10
cname	Sum of Nosh	Sum of weight	Average of Mean weight
MAX	1	6	6
E1	4	41	10.25
AP25	1	143	143

Roadside Ditch F389

Sixty-five sherds of Roman pottery were recovered from the backfill of ditch F389 (C1782, Table 11). The assemblage consists of two components: the first is of late 1st to early 2nd century date and consists of vessels represented by single, relatively small; the second consists of smashed vessels, such as a South Yorkshire burnished greyware flanged bowl (B7), sherds from a handled jug in red-slipped Ebor 1 ware (E1) and sherds forming the complete profile of a mortarium with a collared rim. The form of this vessel is typical of vessels produced in Colchester and in Gaul but the fabric is more similar to Verulamium Region Whiteware. The trituration grits include some well-rounded water polished grains derived from lower Cretaceous or later strata (M15). Sherds from jars with acute burnished lattice decoration are present (B3). The flanged bowl is a later 3rd or 4th century form whereas the remaining smashed vessels are probably of early 3rd century date. If all three vessels represent a single period deposit then it probably dates to the early to mid-3rd century.

Table 11
cname	Sum of Nosh	Sum of weight	Average of Mean weight
B3	7	99	14.14
B7	12	150	10
C1	2	8	4
C3	1	1	1
E1	15	165	14.84
G1	1	49	49
M15	23	841	36.57
S1	4	12	3

Field boundary ditch F438

Thirty-eight sherds of Roman pottery were recovered from the backfill of ditch F438 (Table 12). Most of these sherds come from a single head pot, other sherds from which were found in scoop F392. They provide an early 3rd century or later date for the ditch backfill.

Table 12
cname	Sum of Nosh	Sum of weight	Average of Mean weight
E1	36	167	4.8
G1	2	9	4.5

Trackway ditch F519

A single sherd of Roman pottery, weighing 1gm, was recovered from the backfill of ditch F519, a red-slipped Ebor 1 ware closed vessel, of later 1st century or later date.

Ditch F537

C2159 produced a small assemblage of late 1st to early 2nd century sherds, including a local greyware lid. C2160 produced a small assemblage, the latest sherd in which was a greyware jar bodysherd with burnished acute lattice decoration, datable to c.120AD or later. C2158, secondary ploughsoil, produced sherds of a local mortarium and a South Gaulish Samian ware vessel (Table 13).

Table 13
Context	cname	Sum of Nosh	Sum of weight	Average of Mean weight
2159	E1	2	12	6
2159	G1	1	53	53
2160	E1	4	17	4.25
2160	B3	1	3	3
2158	S1	1	16	16
2158	M3	1	22	22

Roman pottery use and deposition

In most cases the stratified Roman pottery from Blue Bridge Lane merely gives a terminus post quem for the backfilling of the feature in which the sherds were found. The exceptions are the cremation, F394, which must be later than c.120 and earlier than c.225, when obtuse lattice decoration replaced the earlier style and the various features which contain groups of sherds from smashed vessels, including one or more head pots. These all appear to date to the early 3rd century and suggest that there was a change in site layout at this time, as a result of which a number of ditches and other features, which might have been present from a much earlier period, were backfilled.

There was clearly activity on the site in the period before 120, and much of the pottery found probably dates to that early 2nd century period (Monaghan's CP2a). Particularly distinctive type fossils of this phase are rusticated jars (R2), which were rapidly replaced by vessels with burnished lattice decoration in the early 2nd century. However, few sealed deposits of this date were found and most of the sherds of these types are small and represent different vessels. This suggests that this early Roman activity might have been agricultural, involving the spreading of rubbish onto fields as manure. Although contemporary with the cremation burials found at Fishergate House, to the south, there is no concentration of vessel types (flagons and greyware jars some of which are rusticated) which might have held cremations, or (in the case of lids) been buried alongside them, although these types are present.

There is no stratified pottery of later 3rd or 4th century date and only a small quantity of pottery of this period was present in post-Roman deposits. Therefore, it is likely that the site went into decline in the period after the early 3rd century, or at any rate that its land use did not lead to the deposition of pottery.