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THE WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY MAGAZINE 



Table 3: Pottery recovered from environmental 

 samples 



Context 



Sample No 



Date 



Wt 



No 



39 



4 



LIA-early RO 



4 



1 



93 



11 



M-LIA 



1 



1 



100 



8 



M-LIA 



27 



5 



108 



12 



M-LIA 



25 



8 



161 



7 



M-LIA 



31 



9 



199 



9 



M-LIA 



305 



44 



227 



10 



M-LIA 



6 



2 



515 



5 



MED 



128 



4 



702 



6 



PMED 



4 



5 



Total 







531 



79 



Boscombe Down West (Richardson 1951) and 

 Casterley Camp (Cunnington and Cunnington 

 1913) may be the result of pre-or early post- 

 conquest trade or contact from the Hengistbury 

 Head - Poole Harbour coastal sites where imports 

 are relatively common. 



Ceramic phase 4: Roman 



Roman wares proper only account for 6.5% of the 

 assemblage, some 59 sherds. These appear to fall 

 into two chronological groups: 2nd century and 

 later 3rd-4th century. With such a small collection 

 it is impossible to say whether there is continuity of 

 use of the site throughout the Roman period. Sherds 

 of local south-west white-slipped ware and oxidised 

 ware along with Central Gaulish samian could 

 suggest later 2nd to 3rd century activity. Most of 

 the 2nd century wares, some 38 sherds, are 

 associated with the Area 1 trackway. Sherds include 

 local Wiltshire type grey and oxidised sandy wares, 

 a Dorset black-burnished jar, two small pieces of 

 samian and Savernake ware. A layer (40) that filled 

 the hollowed trackway contained the base of a New 

 Forest colour-coated beaker dating to the later 

 Roman period. Other late Roman wares, including 

 several products of the Oxfordshire industry, were 

 recovered from pit 134, one of the trackway ditches 

 and the trackway fill. Some of the late Roman 

 sherds, including an Oxfordshire red-slipped 

 mortaria, are redeposited in Saxon contexts. This 

 is a recurrent phenomenon, possibly suggesting 

 deliberate curation or continued use of Roman 

 specialist wares in the immediate post-Roman 

 period (see Young 1977). 



Ceramic phase 4: Saxon 



The assemblage contains 59 sherds (6.5% by count) 



of organic-tempered ware typical of the Saxon 



period. At least three fabric variants are present; 

 SXORG1-3. Featured sherds are sparse but include 

 two rimsherds from unstratified material (Figure 

 7. 10-11). There are no decorated wares. Organic- 

 tempered Saxon wares are traditionally dated to 

 the early Saxon period (5/6fh-7/8th) but recent work 

 from a settlement at Collingbourne Ducis, 

 Wiltshire, supported by radiocarbon dates, suggests 

 the tradition is perhaps quite long-lived, lasting well 

 into the middle Saxon period (8th/9th century) 

 (Timby in prep) . The group here is too small for 

 detailed work and in the absence of independent 

 dating the wares could date anywhere from 5th- 

 9th centuries. 



Ceramic phase 5: Medieval 



At least 10 sherds of medieval pottery were 

 recovered, mainly from handmade, plain jars and 

 at least one handled glazed jug/pitcher. Six of the 

 sherds are rims, five from sharply everted jars from 

 layer 501/515 and ditch/gully 505 (Figure 7.12-15). 

 The style of these vessels suggests these could be 

 quite early in the medieval sequence. The sixth rim 

 (Figure 7.16) came from a ditch in Area 4 and the 

 jug handle came from the Area 4 ploughsoil. Most 

 of the fabrics appear to be types local to East 

 Wiltshire with postulated sources along the Kennet 

 Valley. Fabric MED 1 equates with Mellcr (1994, 

 100 ff) fabric OXAQ, which is thought to come 

 from the Savernake/Braydon Forest area. It was a 

 long-lived industry, first documented from the early 

 12th century and continuing into the 15th century. 



Ceramic phase 6: Post-medieval/modern 

 Sixteen sherds of post-medieval material are 

 present, mainly recovered from the ploughsoil and 

 sub-soil layers. Sherds include glazed red 

 earthenwares, black iron glazed kitchenware, 

 industrial white earthenware, and a single sherd of 

 imported German stoneware. 



Catalogue of illustrated sherds (Fig. 7) 

 Late Neolithic 



1 . Decorated bowl, Peterborough style. Fabric EP1 . 

 (pit 19, fill 21) 



Iron Age 



2. Saucepan pot decorated with a burnished lattice. 

 Fabric SI. (pit 98, fill 100) 



