Potsherd: Atlas of Roman Pottery
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`E' ware
Jars, bowls and jugs in hard granular grey wares, probably produced in
western or central France and distributed across Western Britain
(including Wales, Ireland and Scotland) during the 6th and 7th
centuries AD.
| Fabric and technology | ||||||||||||||||||
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A hard, high-fired granular ware with prominent quartz sand inclusions;
varying in colour from dirty white through yellow to dark-red
or grey. Wheel-thrown, with prominent wheel-marks on the inner
surface and a whorl on the underside of the base, caused by the
use of a string or wire to detach the vessels from the wheel. |
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| Forms | ||||||||||||||||||
A very limited range of forms:
Table 1. Classification of E ware forms (after Thomas) |
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| Chronology | ||||||||||||||||||
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Associated with 6th cent. AD Eastern Mediterranean imports on
some sites -- perhaps commencing as early as c. AD 500 -- but
importation evidently continues much later than the Mediterranean
material, into the 7th cent. AD. |
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| Source | ||||||||||||||||||
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No kilns are known, but the evidence points towards a source in
western France, probably somewhere accessible from the Loire or
Gironde. |
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| Distribution | ||||||||||||||||||
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South-west England, Wales, western Scotland and Ireland; a few
specimens from the Channel Island and Britanny. There are reports
of possible prototypes for E ware of late Roman date from the
Bordeaux region. |
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| Aliases | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Bibliography | ||||||||||||||||||
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For typology and description: Thomas 1959; the petrology is described
in Peacock and Thomas 1967; Campbell 1984; for distribution: Thomas
1981. Thomas 1990 discusses the relationship of E ware to the
historically attested trading contacts between western Britain,
Ireland and Atlantic France. |
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| References | ||||||||||||||||||
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Campbell 1984. Campbell, E., 'E ware and Aquitaine: a reappraisal of the petrological evidence', ScottArchRev, 3, 1, (1984), pp. 38-41. Peacock and Thomas 1967. Peacock, D. P. S. and Thomas, C., 'Class E imported post-Roman pottery; a suggested origin', CornishArch, 6, (1967), pp. 35-46. Thomas 1959. Thomas, C., 'Imported pottery in Dark-Age Western Britain', MedArch, 3, (1959), pp. 89-111. Thomas 1981. Thomas, C., A provisional list of imported pottery in Post-Roman Britain and Ireland, Special report, 7, Institute of Cornish Studies, Redruth, (1981). Thomas 1990. Thomas, C., 'Gallici Nautae de Galliarum Provinciis', MedArch, 34, (1990), pp. 1-26. |
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Distribution of `E' ware in Britain
Roman Pottery in Britain
(Tyers 1996)
- Fabric code: EWARE (p.145)
`E' ware
URL: http://potsherd.net/atlas/Ware/EWARE •
© Text 1996, Layout 2012. Some images may be linked to other web sites.