Roman and Prehistoric pottery

Analysis of pottery assemblages can help address many aspects of past activity on a site. Through a combination of the classification of the clay paste used, the vessel form and any decoration, we can establish when and where the vessel was made. From this basic information, research questions such as trade, spatial patterning, site function and social patterning can start to be addressed.

Archaeology South-East can provide the assessment and analysis of pottery assemblages from the Neolithic period to the end of the Roman period, including mixed assemblages from multiple periods. The in-house specialists have extensive experience of working on assemblages from the south of Britain, and are available for work at all stages of the project, from a site visit to broadly assess the pottery as it is dug, to production of evaluation reports and contributing to Updated Project Designs (UPDs) for the site, through to analysis and publication texts. As well as work on individual site assemblages, we also work on synthetic projects, such as the West London Landscapes project being produced by the Museum of London Archaeological Service (MoLAS).

We also take a limited number of university placement students where working alongside the specialists they can gain a basic grounding in pottery techniques. At the moment we are working on creating a fabric reference collection for pottery from Sussex, which will be available for consultation for other pottery specialists working in this area.

Contact: Louise Rayner or Charlotte Thompson