Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-7nlkj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-08-03T08:11:32.389Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Long-lived Samian?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2010

Colin Wallace
Colin Wallace
Affiliation:
1 Warriston Terrace, Edinburgh EH3 5LZ, c.r.wallace@liv.ac.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In order to study the possibility that some samian (terra sigillata) vessels remained available and/or in circulation for quite some time, a review has been made of closed groups (especially grave-assemblages), as a useful starting point. This paper argues that it is reasonable to expect some complete first-century samian vessels to have survived into the second century; also that some second-century vessels had survived into the fourth century at least throughout Roman Britain.

Keywords

Roman BritainRoman potterysamianburialsCorbridge pottery shop
Type
Articles
Information
Britannia , Volume 37 , November 2006 , pp. 259 - 272
Copyright
Copyright © Colin Wallace 2006. Exclusive Licence to Publish: The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Alcock, L., and Alcock, E.A. 1988: ‘Reconnaissance excavations on early historic fortifcations and other royal sites in Scotland, 1974–4: 2, excavations at Dunollie Castle, Oban, Argyll, 1978’, Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot. 116, 119–7Google Scholar
Alcock, L., and Alcock, E.A. 1991: ‘Reconnaissance excavations on early historic fortifcations and other royal sites in Scotland, 1974–4: 4, excavations at Alt Clut, Clyde Rock, Strathclyde, 1974–5’, Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot. 120, 95–49Google Scholar
Allen, A.F. 1955: ‘Roman and other remains from Chalk, near Gravesend’, Arch. Cant. 68, 144–58Google Scholar
Allen, D. 1992: ‘A third century Roman burial from Manor Farm, Hurstbourne Priors’, Proc. Hants. Field Club Arch. Soc. 47, 253–7Google Scholar
Barber, B., and Bowsher, D. 2000: The Eastern Cemetery of Roman London Excavations 1983-1990, MoLAS Monograph 4, LondonGoogle Scholar
Bayard, D. 2001: ‘La céramique dans le bassin de la Somme du milieu du IIe siècle au milieu du IIIe siècle apr. J.-C. Bilan de 20 ans d'études’, SFÉCAG Actes du Congrès de Lille-Bavay, 2001, 159–82Google Scholar
Bennett, P. 1987: ‘Cranmer House, London Road’, in Frere, S.S., Bennett, P., Rady, J. and Stow, S., Canterbury Excavations: Intra- and Extra-mural Sites, 1949–55 and 1980–84, The Archaeology of Canterbury 8, Maidstone, 56–73Google Scholar
Bet, P., Fenet, A., and Montineri, D. 1989: ‘La typologie de la sigillée lisse de Lezoux, Ier-IIIe siècles: considérations générales et formes inédites’, SFÉCAG Actes du Congrès de Lezoux, 1989, 37–54Google Scholar
Biddulph, E. 2005: ‘Last orders: choosing pottery for funerals in Roman Essex’, Oxford Journ. Arch. 24.1, 23–45CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bidwell, P. 1998: ‘A decorated samian bowl from the Plaza site at Tynemouth’, Arch. Ael. 5 26, 161–3Google Scholar
Bird, J. 1986: ‘Samian wares’, in Miller et al. 1986, 139–85Google Scholar
Bird, J. 1993: ‘Samian ware’, in Oliver 1993, 86–7Google Scholar
Bird, J. 1995: ‘3rd-century samian ware in Britain’, Journ. Roman Pottery Stud. 6, 1–14Google Scholar
Bird, J. 2002: ‘Samian wares’, in Lakin, D., The Roman Tower at Shadwell, London: a Reappraisal, MoLAS Archaeology Studies 8, London, 31–49Google Scholar
Birley, R.E. 1961: ‘Housesteads civil settlement, 1960’, Arch. Ael. 4 39, 301–19Google Scholar
Brassington, M. 1975: ‘A reappraisal of the western enclave and environs, Corstopitum’, Britannia 6, 62–75CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brigham, T. 1990: ‘The late Roman waterfront in London’, Britannia 21, 99–183CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caruana, I.D. 1997: ‘Maryport and the Flavian conquest of North Britain’, in Wilson, R.J.A. (ed.), Roman Maryport and its Setting. Essays in Memory of Michael G. Jarrett, Carlisle, 40–51Google Scholar
Clark, G.M. 1939: ‘The Roman cemetery at Chichester’, Sussex Arch. Coll. 80, 170–92Google Scholar
Clarke, G. 1979: The Roman Cemetery at Lankhills, Winchester Studies 3.II, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Clemens, L. 1998: ‘Ein frühmittelalterlicher Graffto auf einer Terra-Sigillata-Scherbe aus Trier’, Trierer Zeitschrift 61, 241–7Google Scholar
Cool, H.E.M. 2000: ‘The parts left over: material culture into the ffth century’, in Wilmott, T. and Wilson, P. (eds), The Late Roman Transition in the North, BAR 299, Oxford, 47–65Google Scholar
Cool, H.E.M. 2004: The Roman Cemetery at Brougham, Cumbria Excavations 1966–67, Britannia Monograph 21, LondonGoogle Scholar
Cotton, J. 1996: ‘Excavations and observations of a Bronze Age cemetery and Roman site in Avenue Gardens, Acton, Middlesex, 1882 and 1981–85’, Trans. London Middlesex Arch. Soc. 44, 1–22Google Scholar
Cracknell, S. (ed.) 1996: Roman Alcester: Defences and Defended Area, CBA Res. Rep. 106, LondonGoogle Scholar
Crummy, N., Crummy, P., and Crossan, C. 1993: Excavations of Roman and Later Cemeteries, Churches and Monastic Sites in Colchester, 1971-88, Colchester Arch. Rep. 9, ColchesterGoogle Scholar
Delage, R. 1998: ‘Première approche de la diffusion des céramiques sigillées du centre de la Gaule en Occident romain’, SFÉCAG Actes du Congrès d'Istres, 1998, 271–314Google Scholar
Delage, R. 2003: ‘Les sigillées du centre de la Gaule peuvent-elles contribuer à la datation des niveaux du IIIe s.?’, SFÉCAG Actes du Congrès de Saint-Romain-en-Gal, 2003, 183–90Google Scholar
Delage, R., and Guillier, G. 1997: ‘La céramique confrontée au problème de la datation des niveaux du IIIe siècle: quatre examples manceaux (Sarthe)’, SFÉCAG Actes du Congrès du Mans, 1997, 255–78Google Scholar
Dickinson, B. 1996: ‘Samian ware’, in Esmonde Cleary and Ferris 1996, 73–95Google Scholar
Down, A., and Rule, M. 1971: Chichester Excavations I, ChichesterGoogle Scholar
Drury, P.J. 1978: Excavations at Little Waltham 1970-71, CBA Res. Rep. 26, LondonGoogle Scholar
Eckardt, H. 2004: ‘Remembering and forgetting in the Roman provinces’, in Croxford, B., Eckardt, H., Meade, J. and Weekes, J. (eds), TRAC 2003 Proceedings of the Thirteenth Annual Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference, Oxford, 36–50Google Scholar
Eckardt, H., and Williams, H. 2003: ‘Objects without a past? The use of Roman objects in early Anglo-Saxon graves’, in Williams, H. (ed.), Archaeologies of Remembrance, Death and Memory in Past Societies, New York, 141–70CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eschbaumer, P., and Faber, A. 1988: ‘Die Südgallische Relief-sigillata. Kritische Bemerkungen zur Chronologie und Untersuchungmethoden (Eine Stellungsnahm zu dem Aufsatz von B Pferdehirt…)’, Fundberichte aus Baden-Württemberg 13, 223–47Google Scholar
Esmonde Cleary, A.S., and Ferris, I.M. 1996: ‘Excavations at the New Cemetery, Rocester, Staffordshire, 1985–1987’, Trans. Staffs. Arch. Soc. 35 [whole volume]Google Scholar
Evans, J. 1988: ‘Graffti and the evidence of literacy and pottery use in Roman Britain’, Arch. Journ. 144, 191–204Google Scholar
Evans, J. 1996: ‘[Gas House Lane] Roman pottery’, in Cracknell 1996, 58–97Google Scholar
Forster, R.H. (ed.) 1908: ‘Corstopitum. Report of the excavations in 1907’, Arch. Ael. 3 4, 205–303Google Scholar
Fulford, M.G. 1975: New Forest Roman Pottery, BAR 17, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Gabler, D. 1985: ‘The dating of terra sigillata: a survey of results, perspectives and limits’, Mitt. Archäol. Inst. Ungarisch. Akad. Wissenschaften 14, 81–92Google Scholar
Going, C.J. 1993: ‘[Grave goods] Pottery vessels’, in Crummy et al. 1993, 44–9Google Scholar
Hartley, B.R. 1972: ‘The Roman occupations of Scotland: the evidence of samian ware’, Britannia 3, 1–55CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hassall, T.G., Halpin, C.E., and Mellor, M. 1985: ‘Excavations in St Ebbe's, Oxford, 1967–1976: Part II: post-medieval domestic tenements and the post-Dissolution site of the Greyfriars’, Oxoniensia 49, 153–275Google Scholar
Hattatt, R. 1987: Brooches of Antiquity. A Third Selection of Brooches from the Author's Collection, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Haverfeld, F. 1910: ‘The Corbridge “Pottery Shop” and other notes on samian ware’, Proc. Soc. Antiq. London 2 23, 112–21Google Scholar
Havis, R., and Brooks, H. 2004: ‘Excavations at Stansted Airport, 1986–91. Volume 1: Prehistoric and Romano-British’, East Anglian Arch. 107 [whole volume]Google Scholar
Helander, A. 1997: ‘Ett Terra Sigillata-kärl i Linköping - det hittills nordligaste fyndet’, Fornvännen 92, 49–56Google Scholar
Hume, I. Noël 1991: Martin's Hundred, Charlottesville, VirginiaGoogle Scholar
Hunter, F. 2001: ‘Roman and native in Scotland: new approaches’, Journ. Roman Arch. 14, 289–309CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jardel, K. 2002: ‘Le mobilier céramique du IIIe siècle issu du site “Les Préaux” à Vieux (Calvados)’, SFÉCAG Actes de Bayeux, 2002, 141–58Google Scholar
King, A. 1984: ‘The decline of Central Gaulish sigillata manufacture in the early third century’, Acta Rei Cretariae Romanae Fautores XXIII/XXIV, 51–9Google Scholar
King, A.C. 1985: The Decline of Samian Ware Manufacture in the North-West Provinces of the Roman Empire, unpub. PhD thesis, University of LondonGoogle Scholar
King, A.C. 1991: ‘Discussion of the decorated samian ware’, in Evans, J., Jones, R.F.J. and Turnbull, P., ‘Excavations at Chester-le Street, Co. Durham, 1978–1979’, Durham Arch. Journ. 7, 5–48, at 42–5Google Scholar
King, A., and Millett, M. 1993: ‘Samian’, in Casey, P.J. and Davies, J.L., Excavations at Segontium (Caernarfon) Roman Fort, 1975–1979, CBA Res. Rep. 90, London, 234–49Google Scholar
Lyne, M.A.B. 1994: ‘The Hassocks cemetery’, Sussex Arch. Coll. 132, 53–85Google Scholar
Lyne, M.A.B., and Jefferies, R.S. 1979: The Alice Holt/Farnham Roman Pottery Industry, CBA Res. Rep. 30, LondonGoogle Scholar
MacPherson-Grant, N. (ed.) 1982: ‘The pottery’, in Bennett, P., Frere, S.S. and Stow, S., Excavations at Canterbury Castle, The Archaeology of Canterbury 1, Maidstone, 89–168Google Scholar
Marsh, G. 1981: ‘London's samian supply and its relationship to the development of the Gallic samian industry’, in Anderson, A.C. and Anderson, A.S. (eds), Roman Pottery Research in Britain and North-West Europe, BAR S123, Oxford, 173–238Google Scholar
Mason, D.J.P. 1980: Excavations at Chester 11–15 Castle Street and Neighbouring Sites 1974–8. A Possible Roman Posting House (mansio), Grosvenor Museum Arch. Rep. 2, ChesterGoogle Scholar
Mawer, C.F. 1995: Evidence of Christianity in Roman Britain. The Small Finds, BAR 243, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Miller, L., Schofeld, J., and Rhodes, M. 1986: The Roman Quay at St Magnus House, London Excavations at New Fresh Wharf, Lower Thames Street, London 1974–78, LAMAS Spec. Pap. 8, LondonGoogle Scholar
Millett, M. 1987a: ‘A question of time? Aspects of the future of pottery studies’, Bull. Inst. Arch. 24, 99–108Google Scholar
Millett, M. 1987b: ‘Boudicca, the frst Colchester potter's shop, and the dating of Neronian samian’, Britannia 18, 93–123CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Millett, M. 1993: ‘A cemetery in an age of transition: King Harry Lane reconsidered’, in Struck, M. (ed.), Römerzeitliche Gräber als Quellen zu Religion, Bevölkerungsstruktur und Sozialgeschichte, Archäologische Schriften des Instituts für Vor- und Frühgeschichte der Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz Band 3, 255–82Google Scholar
Moireau, F. 1992: ‘Le dépotoir des “Murées” à Tavers (Loiret): étude de la céramique’, Revue Archéologique du Centre de France 31, 177–88CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Monaghan, J. 1987: Upchurch and Thameside Roman Pottery. A Ceramic Typology for Northern Kent, First to Third Centuries AD, BAR 173, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Monteil, G. 1999: New Fresh Wharf and St Magnus: An Assessment of Part of the Publication and Archive of an Important Waterfront Site in London and Suggestions for a Review of the Evidence, unpub. MA dissertation, University of LeicesterGoogle Scholar
Morris, J. 1975: ‘The samian’, in Cunliffe, B., Excavations at Portchester Castle Volume I: Roman, Rep. Res. Comm. Soc. Antiq. London 32, London, 276–8Google Scholar
Navarre, N. 1995: ‘Le matériel sigillé du niveau d'abandon de la rue des Farges à Lyon (Rhône): 200–230 après J.-C.’, SFÉCAG Actes du Congrès de Rouen, 1995, 323–39Google Scholar
Niblett, R. 1987: ‘Evidence for the Antonine fre at Verulamium from the Wheelers’ excavations’, Herts. Arch. 9, 29–78Google Scholar
Oliver, M. 1993: ‘Excavation of an Iron Age and Romano-British settlement site at Oakridge, Basingstoke, Hampshire, 1965–6’, Proc. Hants. Field Club Arch. Soc. 48, 55–94Google Scholar
Orton, C. 1978: ‘Statistical dating of the sequence from Trench 2 [93–95 Borough High St]’, in Bird, J., Graham, A.H., Sheldon, H. and Townend, P. (eds), Southwark Excavations 1972–1974, LAMAS/Surrey Arch. Soc. Joint Publ. 1, London, 460–1Google Scholar
Orton, C.R., and Orton, J.L. 1975: ‘It's later than you think: a statistical look at an archaeological problem’, London Arch. 2.11, 285–7Google Scholar
Ottaway, P. 2001: ‘Excavations on the site of the Roman signal station at Carr Naze, Filey, 1993–94’, Arch. Journ. 157, 79–199Google Scholar
Page, R.I. 2004: ‘Runic inscription’, in Dalwood, H. and Edwards, R., Excavations at Deansway Worcester 1988–89. Romano-British Small Town to Late Medieval City, CBA Res. Rep. 139, York, 461–2Google Scholar
Parry, J. 1994: ‘The Roman quay at Thames Exchange, London’, London Arch. 7.10, 263–7Google Scholar
Partridge, C. 1981: Skeleton Green. A Late Iron Age and Romano-British Site, Britannia Monograph 2, LondonGoogle Scholar
Pferdehirt, B. 1986: ‘Die römische Okkupation Germaniens und Rätiens von der Zeit des Tiberius bis zum Tode Trajans – Untersuchungen zur Chronologie südgallischer Reliefsigillata’, Jahrb. R-G Zentralmuseums Mainz 33, 221–320Google Scholar
Piggott, C.M. 1950: ‘The excavations at Hownam Rings, Roxburghshire, 1948’, Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot. 82, 193–225Google Scholar
Pollard, R.J. 1988: The Roman Pottery of Kent, Kent Arch. Soc. Monograph 5, MaidstoneGoogle Scholar
Quinnell, H. 2004: Trethurgy. Excavations at Trethurgy Round, St Austell: Community and Status in Roman and Post-Roman Cornwall, TruroGoogle Scholar
Rhodes, M. 1989: ‘Roman pottery lost en route from the kiln site to the user – a gazetteer’, Journ. Roman Pottery Stud. 2, 44–58Google Scholar
Richardson, B. 1986: ‘Pottery’, in Miller et al. 1986, 96–138CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richmond, I. 1943: ‘Roman legionaries at Corbridge, their supply-base, temples and religious cults’, Arch. Ael. 4 21, 127–224Google Scholar
Richmond, I.A., and Gillam, J.P. 1951: ‘The temple of Mithras at Carrawburgh’, Arch. Ael. 4 29, 1–92Google Scholar
Richmond, I.A., Hodgson, K.S., and St Joseph, J.K. 1938: ‘The Roman fort at Bewcastle’, Trans. Cumberland Westmorland Antiq. Arch. Soc. new ser 38, 195–237Google Scholar
Robertson, A.S. (ed. R. Hobbs and T.V. Buttrey) 2000: An Inventory of Romano-British Coin Hoards, Royal Numis. Soc. Spec. Publ. 20, LondonGoogle Scholar
Rodwell, W.J. 1988: ‘Samian ware’, in N.P. Wickenden, ‘Excavations at Great Dunmow, Essex: a Romano-British small town in the Trinovantian civitas’, East Anglian Arch. 41, 76–9Google Scholar
Shaw, R.C. 1926: ‘Excavations at Willowford’, Trans. Cumberland Westmorland Antiq. Soc. new ser 26, 429–506Google Scholar
Stead, I.M., and Rigby, V. 1986: Baldock. The Excavation of a Roman and Pre-Roman Settlement, 1968–72, Britannia Monograph 7, LondonGoogle Scholar
Swan, V.G., and McBride, R.M. 2002: ‘A Rhineland potter at the legionary fortress of York’, in Aldhouse-Green, M. and Webster, P. (eds), Artefacts and Archaeology. Aspects of the Celtic and Roman World, Cardiff, 190–234Google Scholar
Thomas, C. 1981: Christianity in Roman Britain to AD500, LondonGoogle Scholar
Timby, J.R. 2000: ‘The pottery’, in Fulford, M. and Timby, J., Late Iron Age and Roman Silchester. Excavations on the Site of the Forum-Basilica 1977, 1980–86, Britannia Monograph 15, London, 180–312Google Scholar
Todd, M. 1993: ‘An Arretine vessel from Hembury’, Proc. Devon Arch. Soc. 51, 208–9Google Scholar
Tuffreau-Libre, M., and Jacques, A. 1985: ‘La céramique gallo-romaine du 1er siècle dans le sud de l'Atrébatie’, Gallia 43, 127–45CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Turner, R. 1999: ‘Excavations of an Iron Age settlement and Roman religious complex at Ivy Chimneys, Witham, Essex, 1978–83’, East Anglian Arch. 88 [whole volume]Google Scholar
Wallace, C. in prep.: ‘Refections on Roman pottery in North-West Essex: the Stansted Project ten years on’Google Scholar
Ward, M. 1995: ‘A summary of the samian ware from excavations at Piercebridge’, Journ. Roman Pottery Stud. 6, 15–22Google Scholar
Wheeler, R.E.M. (ed.) 1932: ‘Romano-British Kent’, VCH Kent III, Oxford, 1–176Google Scholar
Wheeler, R.E.M. 1935: London and the Saxons, London Museum Catalogue 6, LondonGoogle Scholar
White, R.H. 1988: Roman and Celtic Objects from Anglo-Saxon Graves. A Catalogue and an Interpretation of their Use, BAR 191, OxfordCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whiting, W., Hawley, W., and May, T. 1931: Report on the Excavation of the Roman Cemetery at Ospringe, Kent, Rep. Res. Comm. Soc. Antiq. London 8, OxfordCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whittaker, C.R. 1994: Frontiers of the Roman Empire. A Social and Economic Study, BaltimoreGoogle Scholar
Williams, H. 2004: ‘Potted histories — cremation, ceramics and social memory in early Roman Britain’, Oxford Journ. Arch. 23.4, 417–27CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Willis, S. 1997: ‘Samian: beyond dating’, in Meadows, K., Lemke, C. and Heron, J. (eds), TRAC 96. Proceedings of the Sixth Annual Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference, Oxford, 38–54Google Scholar
Willis, S. 1999: ‘Samian pottery in Britain: exploring its distribution and archaeological potential’, Arch. Journ. 155, 82–133Google Scholar
Wilson, A.E. 1957: ‘Roman Chichester’, Sussex Arch. Coll. 95, 116–45Google Scholar
Woolley, L. 1953: Spadework, LondonGoogle Scholar
Young, C.J. 1977: The Roman Pottery Industry of the Oxford Region, BAR 43, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Young, C. 1980: ‘The pottery’, in B. Cunliffe, ‘Excavations at the Roman fort at Lympne, Kent 1976–78’, Britannia 11, 227–88, at 274-83Google Scholar