Romano-British Coarse Pottery: A Students Guide
The third edition of this guide was published in 1976 by the Council for British Archaeology, edited by Graham Webster, and attempted to establish a consistent method of describing and illustrating Romano-British coarse pottery for which there have been and still are many different terms used for the same thing. The main features are: glossaries, list of stratified groups, instructions for drawing pottery and examples of types of vessel and decoration.
Members of the Study Group are working on an updated version of this guide.
The guide has long been out of print, but is now available for download in PDF format from the ADS website. Just click on this link and it will take you to the Students Guide. If you are not registered with the ADS, a page will appear first asking if you agree to abide by the terms and conditions. Click on “Accept” and you should be taken to the Guide page, from which the pdf file can be loaded.
An introduction to the study of terra sigillata treated from a chronological standpoint
This is the 1920 classic text by Felix Oswald and T. Davies Pryce. Their introduction starts –
“The importance of a careful study of the pottery which occurs in such profusion on all Roman sites is now fully recognised by British and Continental students of the Imperial period, and no investigator can afford to neglect this branch of his subject.
“Next to datable inscriptions, there is, perhaps, no relic of Roman occupation which yields such valuable chronological evidence as Terra Sigillata— the red-glazed fabric of Gaul and other provinces—commonly known as “Samian” ware.”
This book is available in several formats from the Cornell University Library section of the Internet Archive here.
Roman Samian Ware Pottery in Britain
A handbook by Peter Webster (CBA Practical Handbooks in Archaeology No. 13). Click here to download the book
The Roman Pottery Manufacturing Site in Highgate Wood: Excavations 1966-78
The report by Tony Brown and Harvey Sheldon on the excavations at the Roman pottery production site at Highgate Wood in north London has been published by Archaeopress. The report contains a comprehensive analysis of the industry’s forms and fabrics, and places the site in its cultural and environmental context. The book is available from Archaeopress both as a printed volume and a free, open access, eBook. The form typology is also accessible as a online resource.
- Click here for information on the printed book
- Click here to download the eBook
- Click here to access the typology
Status or What? Aspects of Broad Characterisation of Roman Pottery Assemblages in the Oxford Region
This review of nearly one hundred pottery assemblages from sites across the Oxford region considers aspects of evolution in their character through three broad periods, late Iron Age/early Roman, middle Roman and late Roman. Subjects examined are the proportion of each assemblage consisting of non-essential ‘fine and specialist’ wares and changes in assemblage composition in terms of three major groupings of vessel classes. (Published in Oxoniensia 85 (2020) and reproduced courtesy of the Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society.)
Click here to download the paper
Upchurch and North Kent Pottery
A ceramic typology for northern Kent, first to third centuries AD by Jason Monaghan, originally published as BAR British Series 173 in 1987. Click here to explore the volume
Grog-tempered ‘Belgic’ Pottery of South-eastern England
A typology and study of grog-tempered pottery by Isobel Thompson, originally published as BAR British Series 108 in 1982. Click here to view the volume
Tiddington: Iron Age, Roman and Anglo-Saxon Pottery
This document presents a report on Iron Age, Roman and early Anglo-Saxon pottery from Warwickshire Museum excavations at Tiddington, near Stratford-upon-Avon carried out from 1980-1988, as well as on material from excavations carried out there by F C Wellstood in the 1920s and 1930s.
Click here to read an introductory note by Paul Booth
Click here to download the report
Romano-British Gabbroic Pottery
A summary of the available evidence in 1985 by P M Carlyon. Click here to download the report