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Appendix 1: Keywords and Definitions
Appendix 2: Physical Layout of Sherds Housed in the NRFRC
Single sample
The type is commonly known as Peacock & Williams Class 55 or Gauloise 12 (Laubenheimer 1992).
Our sherd is red (10R 6/8) with pale brown to buff (7.5YR 8/2–7/2) surfaces, although other examples may be red-yellow (Peacock & Williams 1986, 211). It is hard with powdery surfaces, possibly due to abrasion, and an irregular fracture.
In general this is fine, sandy fabric (<0.2mm, but grains to 1.2mm) set in a sparsely micaceous clay containing silver mica. All the remaining inclusions are sparse. Ill-sorted red, red-brown or white clay pellets, sometimes quartz rich and appearing as elongated streaks, measure between c 0.3–1.5mm, rarely to c 5.5mm. Also present are red and red-brown iron-rich inclusions (<0.4mm) and limestone (2.5mm).
A well-sorted groundmass of abundant angular quartz, frequently measuring c 0.05–0.15mm, set in a sparsely micaceous (muscovite) matrix with larger inclusions to c 0.3mm visible in thin section. Large matrix-coloured and darker clay pellets (0.5–2.0mm, usually not exceeding 1.0mm) are diagnostic of the fabric. Opaques are common to sparse and normally occur in the same size range as quartz. The remaining inclusions are rare and comprise voids with redeposited carbonate, chert, feldspar, glauconitic pellets and ferromagnesian accessory minerals. Sparse larger grains up to c 0.5mm, including polycrystalline quartz, are also present.
An increasing number of production sites have recently confirmed Normandy as a source for this vessel type (Barat et al 1994, Dufournier & Marin 1987).
Arbeia Roman Fort and Museum, South Shields
Canterbury Museums; Guernsey Museums and Art Galleries; God’s House Tower Museum, Southampton
Barat, Y, Raux, S, & Dufay, B, 1994 La production de l’atelier céramique du IIIe siècle de la Boissière-Ecole (Yvelines), in La céramique du Bas Empire en Gaule Belgique et dans les regions voisines. Actes de la table ronde de céramologie gallo-romaine Arras, 8–10 octobre 1991 (eds M Tuffreau-Libre & A Jacques), Hors Série, Collection Archéologie 4, 183–95, Lille
Blaszkiewicz, P, 1994 La céramique commune du Haut Empire en Normandie: diffusion et datation, in La céramique du Haut Empire en Gaule Belgique et dans les régions voisines: faciès régionaux et courants commerciaux. Actes de la table ronde d’Arras (12 au 14 octobre 1993) (eds M Tuffreau-Libre & A Jacques), Nord-Ouest Archéologie 6, 181–94, Berck-sur-Mer
Deniaux, E, 1982 Nouveaux fragments d’amphores découverts dans les environs de Caen, Annales de Normandie, Numèro Special, 171–90
Deniaux, E, 1989 La Normandie productrice d’amphores?, in Amphores romaines et histoire économique: dix ans de recherche, Collection de l’Ecole Française de Rome 114, 586–87, Rome
Dufournier, D, & Marin, J-Y, 1987 Une production d’amphores du IIe siècle dans le Calvados, SFECAG. Actes du Congrès de Caen, 23–27
Formenti, F, 1992b Annexe: Analyse de traces de résine dans trois amphores gauloise 12, in Les amphores Gauloise 12 de Normandie. Le matériel de la nécropole de Vatteville-la Rue (F Laubenheimer & M-C Lequoy), in Les amphores en Gaule: production et circulation (ed F Laubenheimer), Centre de Recherches d’Histoire Ancienne 116, 91–2, Paris
Laubenheimer, F, & Lequoy, M-C, 1992 Les amphores Gauloise 12 de Normandie. Le matériel de la nécropole de Vatteville-la Rue, in Les amphores en Gaule: production et circulation (ed F Laubenheimer), Centre de Recherches d’Histoire Ancienne 116, 75–92, Paris
Sellès, H, & Couvin, F, 1993 Les officines céramiques de Chartres et les amphores produites localement, SFECAG. Actes du Congrès de Versailles, 53–67
See the related record on the Atlas of Roman Pottery on the Potsherd website
Plate 75: Fresh sherd break of NOM AM (width of field 24 mm)
Plate 75.1: Photomicrograph of NOM AM (XPL) (width of field 1.74 mm)
Plate 75.2: Photomicrograph of NOM AM (PPL) (width of field 1.74 mm)
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