report 28 hawkley

8/8/2019 Report 28 Hawkley

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Medieval Pottery Produced at Hawkley,

HampshireBen Jervis Archaeological Report 28

By Ben Jervis MA PIFA.

INTRODUCTION

This report describes an assemblage of pottery collected through surface collection near Hawkley in

Hampshire. The sherds are generally heavily abraded, but some are clearly wasters. All of the

pottery is in a single fabric, described below. A range of vessel forms are present, including bowls,

jars, jugs and curfews. A group of ceramic building material was also present, but is not discussed

here.

THE POTTERY

The pottery is all in a single fabric, a harsh sandy ware which is oxidised throughout with common

sub-rounded, medium sized quartz grains with occasional gritty material. The assemblage consists of

a total of 329 sherds, weighing 4.9kg. The majority are from jars, with other forms being rare (table

1).

Form SC SW Rim%

Bowl 7 135 23

Curfew 4 91 2

Jar 127 2138 606

Jug 3 75Tripod jug 3 80

Unid. 185 2427 12

Total 329 4946 643

Table 1: Quantification by Vessel Form.

Bowls

Amongst the assemblage of bowls there is no consistency in form, with 6 different rim forms being

present amongst the 7 examples present (table 2). There are three examples of hammerhead rims, 2

are rounded, everted forms and 1 is a flat topped, straight edged form, which has thumb

impressions along the top edge. There is one example if a simple, inturned, rounded form and 2thickened forms, one of which has an internal lip. There is also one example of a clubbed form with a

rounded profile. One example has a partial, exterior, clear glaze.

Curfews

There are 4 examples of curfews within the assemblage. One rim sherd is present, a thickened, flat

form. There are 3 curfew handles, one is a strap handle and 2 are rod handles. The strap handle has

stick-end (stabbed) decoration. None of the sherds are glazed.


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Rim Form SC SW Rim%

Clubbed, rounded, everted 1 12 2

Hammerhead, flat upright 1 61 2

Hammerhead, rounded 2 31 7

Simple, straight edged, inturned 1 15 5Thickened, rounded, everted, internallip 1 12 5

Thickened, straight edged 1 4 2

Total 7 135 23

Table 2: Quantification of Bowls by Rim Form.

Jars

The assemblage is dominated by jar fragments and these would appear to be the main product of

the production centre. There are two broad groups of rim forms present (table 3). The first are

simple everted forms, in which both rounded and straight edged profiles are present, with the

rounded form being more common. The second, and most common form, are thickened, everted

forms with an internal lip, again rounded and straight edged forms are present. There are 3

examples of thickened, everted rims with a rounded profile, and one with a straight edged profile,which do not have an internal lip. The only other form present, and only in small quantities, is the

hammerhead rim. Again, both rounded and straight edged versions are present. There appears to be

some standardisation in vessel size, with most vessels having a rim diameter between 220-240mm

(table 4). Vessels are rarely glazed, 2 examples have partial, exterior, clear glazes and 2 have partial,

interior, clear glazes. On sherd possibly had an interior white slip.

Form SC SW Rim%

Hammerhead, rounded, everted rim 4 82 27

Hammerhead, straight edged, everted 8 132 49

Simple, rounded, everted 19 315 77

Simple, straight edged, everted 11 221 73

Thickened, rounded, everted 3 74 26

Thickened, rounded, everted, internal lip 43 695 193Thickened, straight edged everted, internallip 31 459 146

Thickened, straight edged, everted 1 55 15

Shoulder 7 105

Total 127 2138 606

Table 3: Quantification of Jars by Rim Form.

Rim Diameter (mm) 180 200 210 220 240 260 280Total

Rim%

Hammerhead, rounded, everted rim 10 10 5 25

Hammerhead, straight edged, everted 22 10 12 5 49

Simple, rounded, everted 8 21 18 8 55

Simple, straight edged, everted 39 16 10 65

Thickened, rounded, everted 18 8 26

Thickened, rounded, everted, internal lip 29 10 10 47 27 22 10 155Thickened, straight edged everted, internallip 21 46 36 10 7 120

Thickened, straight edged, everted 15 15

Total 39 79 10 188 122 55 17 510

Table 4: Quantification of Jar Rim Diameters by Form (Rim %)


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Jugs

Jugs were only identified by their bases. There are three examples of a flat base with pulled feet, a

further example of a flat base and 2 examples of a slightly sagging base, which has thumb

impressions. Two of these examples have partial, external, clear glazes.

Undiagnostic Sherds (table 5)

A total of 185 sherds could not be confidently assigned to specific vessels forms. These include one

example of a simple, upright, rounded rim and 5 small rim fragments whose form could not be

determined. There are 4 strap handles and 4 rod handles, probably all from jugs, and a further

example of a handle join for a rod handle. A further handle sherd which was too abraded to

determine its form was also present. One of the rod handles has been stabbed and one has been

slashed. Three of the strap handles are stabbed and 1 is slashed. There are 117 body sherds and a

further 8 sherds from the lower parts of vessels. The majority of body sherds are undecorated, but

there are 4 examples with applied pellets, 3 have been combed, 2 have thumbed applied strips and 1

has stabbed applied strips. Two base forms are present. The most common (43 examples) areslightly sagging bases with an obtuse basal angle. These are probably jar and bowl bases. One

example has an exterior white slip. There is also a flat base with a right basal angle. Sherds are rarely

glazed, 12 body sherds have partial, clear, exterior glazes. Five bases have a partial, clear, internal

glaze and 1 has an exterior glaze.

Form Decoration Glaze SC SW

Simple, upright, rim Undecorated Clear, internal, partial 1 7

Unidentifiable Rim Undecorated Unglazed 5 42

Rod handle

Slashed Unglazed 1 23

Stabbed Unglazed 1 28Undecorated Unglazed 2 46

Strap handleSlashed Unglazed 1 9

Stabbed Unglazed 3 54

Unidentifiable Handle Undecorated Unglazed 1 10

Handle join (rod) Undecorated Unglazed 1 28

Misc. Body

Applied pellets Unglazed 4 31

Combed Clear, exterior, partial 3 20Stabbed applied

strip Unglazed 1 3Thumbed applied

strip Unglazed 2 26

UndecoratedClear, exterior, partial 9 162Unglazed 98 1026

Lower bodyUndecorated

Clear, interior, partial 1 6

Unglazed 7 80

Sagging, obtuse base

Exterior white slip Unglazed 1 17

Undecorated

Clear, exterior, partial 1 26

Clear, interior, partial 5 99

Unglazed 36 671

Flat, right angled base Undecorated Unglazed 1 13

Total 185 2427

Table 5: Quantification of Sherds of Unidentified Form.


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SUMMARY

The production centre at Hawkley appears to have produced a range of utilitarian vessels including

bowls, jugs and curfews, although the most common vessel forms are jars. These are sparsely

decorated or glazed. All of the vessels were produced in a single fabric, and there appears to have

been some standardisation in the forms produced, particularly amongst the jars. These wares have

rarely been identified in excavations, so it is difficult to know when the production centre was in

operation. The ware has been identified in Petersfield and in an unstratified assemblage from nearby

Liss. On stylistic grounds, it is likely that the pottery dates from the 13th

-14th

century.

report 28 hawkley

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