Medieval and later ceramic production and distribution in South East England : a study in ceramic archaeology and historical geography

Streeten, Anthony David Friend (1985) Medieval and later ceramic production and distribution in South East England : a study in ceramic archaeology and historical geography. University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.

Record type: Thesis (Doctoral)

Abstract

This regional study in ceramic archaeology and historical geography draws upon both archaeological evidence and written sources to relate changes in the organisation of medieval and later ceramic production and distribution to wider themes of social, economic and settlement history. The contributions of documentary and material evidence are contrasted, and methodologies developed for evaluating the evidence, illustrated by examples from South-East England. Searches of publications and museum collections yielded information about 11th- to 17th-century pottery from over 1800 sites here listed in county gazetteers. Ceramic research strategies for the historic counties of Kent, Surrey and Sussex are based on systematic data recording. Characterisation of pottery fabrics using a modified technique for thin-section analysis enables identification products from different workshops in an area where locally produced ceramics lack diagnostic mineral inclusions. Description and testing of the method are followed by assessment of its potential for characterising sand-tempered pottery fabrics in general. A gazetteer presenting evidence for medieval and later pottery manufacture includes a survey of occupational surnames and place-names and is used to assess how the scale and location of ceramic production was related to resources and demand in conjunction with chronological and geographical changes. Distribution methods and marketing patterns inferred from the archaeological record are related to settlement patterns, communications and a hierarchy of market centres illustrated by maps with a tabulated synthesis of known settlements and markets. Demand for pottery is contrasted with the production and distribution of ceramic building materials and four case studies illustrate the definition of ceramic chronology. (D67270/86)

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