Finds on Your Doorstep – 6000 Years of Life in Owston Ferry
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1 Finds on your Doorstep – 6000 years of life in Owston Ferry - finds recorded on the Portable Antiquities Scheme Database (search for finds.org.uk) – by Martin Foreman, Finds Liaison Officer for North Lincolnshire. Prehistory, from the Neolithic to the Iron Age (4000 BC-AD 43) 4 records Pre-Roman finds are rare from the parish, but hint at a settlement established to the west of today’s village by later Iron Age times (300 BC-AD 43). This was over a kilometre from the River Trent. This might suggest that a river crossing was only to be established here later, and that the first people of Owston looked west, towards Haxey, as a central place of local life. Alternatively, evidence for earlier times may be masked by deposits laid down by riverside flood or later farming - warping promoted deep accumulations of silt where it was practiced, hiding earlier finds. Unspectacular bits of flint and pot still point to pre-Roman communities. By the late Iron Age, they lay in the territory of the Corieltauvi tribe, and one of their sword-bearing aristocracy may have lived nearby. Neolithic flint tool Iron Age potsherd Coin of the Corieltauvi Stud from a scabbard NLM-FCCBBE NLM-630B44 CCI-97159 NLM-5EA3E1 The Roman period (AD 43-410) 40 records From the Roman period, the Trent became a major route by which goods reached Owston Ferry. Pots came from riverside factories or the East Midlands, with imported oil or wine from much further afield. Early brooches may have come with the Roman Army, but later types include styles favoured by the Corieltauvi. Though earlier Roman coins are found near Owston, most from a small hoard of the late 2nd century, many are later. Some date from the 260s, with more ascribed to the regimes of Constantine and his successors. The Humber was then a departure point for convoys taking British grain to feed garrisons on the Rhine. Roman pottery made in Trentside kilns dominated the local crockery market. These kilns may have been established to supply the Army, but mass-production soon meant that anyone could dine a la Roman mode. Pottery sherds from Lea, Knaith or Wildsworth, where mass-production took place beside the Trent NLM-6260F1 NLM-6257C7 NLM-624C43 NLM-624297 NLM-623A42 NLM-622E75 NLM-622324 2 Colour-coated pottery was a tableware made in the Nene Valley of the East Midlands. But an amphora fragment shows wine, oil or sauces from the Mediterranean world made a much longer journey to get here. Ancholme/Market Rasen ware Nene Valley and colour-coated wares An amphora handle fragment NLM-FCBF3D NLM-FCA48A NLM-FC9C8F NLM-49D224 The Roman period (AD 43-410) continued Late Roman coins advertised a regime which we would see as a military dictatorship. Idealised images of the emperor or his family were backed by cartoons featuring soldiers, standards and battles. This emphasis might hint that coins meant more to the uniformed official than to the common man. The importance of the Humber region to a broader scheme of imperial defence required it to be patrolled and defended. Some finds may point to the presence of a locally-raised militia, home guard or police force. A noted writer on Roman Britain has even suggested there was a Roman fort at Owston. Brooches with silver plating were made to meet the taste of soldiers in the Army which occupied Britain from AD 43. Later fantailed or enamelled brooches are especially common in the Corieltauvi heartland. Strip and plate brooches, two with silver plating Brooches: the first two of Corieltauvian types NLM-265C5E NLM-10E879 NLM-E14E9C NLM-1010E4 LIN-E28EC3 NLM-101D9D Most late Roman coins were low value issues putting the corporate imagery of military dictatorship before everybody’s eyes. The empire maintained a central field army, but local troops or militia were also raised. Copper alloy coins dating from between AD 275 and AD 378 Paramilitary buckle fragment NLM-E10A67 NLM-E1173D NLM-FD04BD NLM-1107E2 NLM-106078 NLM-15A121 The Early Medieval Period (AD 410-1066) 7 records The recruitment of mercenaries from outside the empire brought barbarian fighters across its borders. The imperial example was followed by local rulers. After Roman troops were withdrawn from Britain, power devolved to regional tyrants. They hired Anglo-Saxons to serve as bully-boys over a population which had lost the habit of bearing arms under Roman rule: Anglo-Saxons termed the Britons Welsh, meaning slaves. In decades, control slipped from paymaster to hireling, and Anglo-Saxon custom was followed by native and incomer alike. The Middle Saxon period saw a Christian England whose prosperity proved fatally attractive to Vikings who used rivers as their highways. 3 Brooches indicate the graves of adult women dressed formally for burial in the garb of tribal matrons. They date to the later 500s, and were of either British or Germanic ancestry, but now bound by Anglian custom. Early Anglo-Saxon brooch fragments Middle Saxon weight, potsherd and tag NLM-15C1D7 NLM-007F83 NLM-E0E801 NLM-8D4C97 NLM-8EAB14 NLM-103A92 What’s in a name…. The first part of the place-name Owston comes from the Scandinavian word Ost, for East. It is suggested this is because it was named by Viking settlers who had taken control of Haxey, Owston lying to the east of Haxey. Finds from Haxey confirm a powerful Viking presence there. These include fittings from swords and their equipment, and lead weights used to carry out transactions in a society which preferred the use of looted silver bullion over coinage struck by English kings. The Medieval period (1066-1500) (29 records) A medieval motte and bailey castle suggests that Owston Ferry was a strategic location in the later 1100s. Medieval finds come as a thin scatter from north of the modern village. They include pottery from North Lincolnshire and the Humber region, but coming particularly from near Rotherham in later medieval times. The rivers Don, Ouse and Trent provided a circuitous route by which this got to Owston. Some metalwork hints at a persistent Anglo-Scandinavian heritage. This was probably expressed in the speech, preferences and custom of daily life long after the struggles of English and Dane had been forgotten. Coal Measures pottery is identified by dark flecks in its fabric, showing where pots were made. Potsherds also suggest the routes by which other bulk goods, that have not survived, may have reached Owston Ferry. Earlier coarse wares Humberware Glazed Coal Measures sherds, dated up to 1600 NLM-FC7292 NLM-4F78F0 NLM-629070 NLM-FCD4AB NLM-FCAD9E NLM-626A35 A taste for zoomorphic styles of metalwork, deploying strange creatures as decorative motifs, may reflect a persistent hangover of Scandinavian influence in the daily lives and habits of people in the Isle of Axholme. Beast motifs on a buckle, fitting and bronze pot leg ‘paw’ Key handle Brooch with glass stones NLM-5E69F6 NLM-B6D252 NLM-E101A5 NLM-00CEA7 NLM-15D743 4 A seal matrix names an ordinary person engaged in a documented transaction, probably a property deal, while a lead stylus points to some use of letters or numbers. A halfpenny came all the way from Scotland. Seal of Albred son of Galfrid Lead stylus and Scots coin Lead fishing line weights NLM-D35618 NLM-8419FA NLM-10FA2C NLM-10A3DB NLM-108281 A decorative stud is perhaps off a book or casket from the church. A lead ampulla appears to advertise the shrine of Mary at Walsingham, Norfolk, and was perhaps a souvenir of a medieval pilgrimage – or holiday. Gilded glass stud Ampulla with a crowned lily Fragments of metal cauldrons used till they fell to bits NLM-D2C1D8 NLM-8D6583 NLM-D4B3B7 NLM-FCF7FA NLM-25B15D The Post-Medieval period (1500-1900) (62 records including 114 objects) Later finds from Owston Ferry date mostly from the 17th to 19th centuries; many are fragmentary from repeated battering by the plough. Most complete objects are buttons, probably lost, or discarded with soiled or worn-out clothing. The relative rarity of finds from Owston Ferry may arise from later farming. Most are from fields with straight boundaries, suggesting an Enclosure layout. The Trent region saw extensive warping, a controlled process by which river water flooded land to leave enriching silt behind. This was practiced in Yorkshire in the 1650s and locally by 1750; silts may seal older soils and many older finds. Most post-medieval finds from Owston Ferry are from personal dress or property. They include splendidly eccentric home-made pieces, as well as fasteners brought in on shoes or clothing manufactured in towns. Lover’s knife handle A very odd mount Breast-feeding figure? Silhouetted faces on a lock plate NLM-5E45AC NLM-D29D3C NLM-8D3BF4 NLM-D28E19 17th-century Buckle fragments Clasp fragment and cuff link Weight with king’s head from a coin NLM-92FD2E NLM-E2E541 NLM-10DB2E NLM-258095 NLM-D2CA57 5 Later metal finds are mostly buttons. Some are themed: one depicting George II (1727-1760) may express loyalty to the Hanoverian dynasty. Mass-produced types are standardised, in simple flat die-stamped forms. Simple cast buttons Georgian sentiment in Owston? Common flat 19th-century buttons NLM-E27FBE NLM-2646D6 NLM-B6C3DE NLM-D339C7 NLM-E2910B NLM-25A089 Pottery has been retrieved in quantity by fieldwalking, and includes various fabrics dated to before the Industrial Revolution. There was a preference for plain glazed crockery, or perhaps this was just affordable. There is only one example of an English Slipware, and only a single sherd from an imported Stoneware jug. Slipware and German Stoneware Glazed Earthenwares and Blackwares, all severely functional NLM-FC83E3 NLM-FC94A4 NLM-FC6A4C NLM-FC616B NLM-FC5812 .