Durham E-Theses The crafts of Roman Britain Peel, R. A. How to cite: Peel, R. A. (1965) The crafts of Roman Britain, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/10296/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk THE CRAFTS OF ROMAN BRITAIN A Thesis presented for the Degree of Master of Arts by R.A. PEEL, B.A. (Dunelm) April, 1965 • oOo- The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. I INDEX Page Introduction 1 INDUSTRIAL, CRAFTS BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Evolution of Houses 4 . Walls 6 Tiles,brieks, water pipes 7 Use of concrete 9 Vaults and arches 10 External decoration 10 Internal decoration 11 CIVIL ENGINEERING Roads 14 Bridges 16 Water supply 17 CERAMICS; KILNS Introduction 20 Kiln types Zl Works-Depot, Twentieth Legion 24 Colchester Red-gloss Ware kiln 26 Temperatures attained 27 CERAMICS: POTTERY Historical 29 Scope of Survey 31 The Nene Valley 32 . The New Forest 37 Crambeck 39 Colchester 41 Holt 42 The Aldgate Potter 45 •'. :n-1 :->i. y; Page GLASS MAKING Historical 47 • Furnaces 48 METALS: PREPARATION Iron: Sites 52 Furnaces 55 Lead: Sites 61 Furnaces 65 Casting of ingots 67 Desilverisation 70 Copper: Sites 71 Furnaces 72 Tin 73 Gold 75 Silver Refining . 77 MINING ' Mine Construction 79 Mine Working 83 Treatment of Ores 84 COAL 86 DOMESTIC CRAFTS THE COUNTRYSIDE Corn: Drying; Milling; Baking 91 The Farrier 93 FURNITURE Couches and Beds 94 Tables 95 Chairs and Stools 97 Chests and Caskets 99 Lamps 100 iii Page LEATHERWORKING Tanning 102 Leather articles 102 METALWORKING Iron 104 Lead 106 Other metals 107 Jet 111 TEXTILES Spinning, and Weaving 113 Finishing: Fulling and Cropping 114 Finishing: Dyeing 116 WOODWORKING 118 APPENDICES I Some notes on Terra Sigillata 121 II Romano-British Rustic Ware 125 III The Distribution of Crambeck Ware 126 1 THE CRAFTS OF ROMAN BRITAIN Introduc tion It is known that several reasons existed for the invasion of A.D. hj. Apart from the idea of inaugurating his reign with a military success which would consolidate the northern frontier of the Empire,.the consideration uppermost in his mind, (1) the Emperor Claudius must have decided that the possession of Britain would be advantageous to the economy.(2) His advisers would know something of the trade carried on between Britain and the continent, and of course, Caesar's record of the island and its inhabitants could be quoted to support the accounts of earlier writers. Diodorus Siculus, writing about k% B.C., mentions the Cornish tin mines and the tin trade with Gaul.(3) The observations of the geographer Strabo, writing in the second or third decade of the first century, show that metalworking was of real importance in the chiefly agricultural economy. (**•) "Exports comprised corn cattle, gold, silver, iron ... and also hides, slaves, and very good hounds."' He also pointed out that the tribute that the Romans would gain from annexation would have to be set off against the cost of maintaining a garrison plus the loss of customs dues on trade between Britain and Gaul. Nevertheless, the opportunity of exploiting the mineral deposits, possibly quite rich, must have appealed to Claudius, and Tacitus' description of Britain at the time of the con^ quest emphasises the value of the metals: "Britain produces gold and silver and other metals; conquest is worth while. "(5) Once occupied, Britain would no doubt become wealthier as trade increased, and this, in fact, did happen. Strabo says that jewellery and glassware, among other manufactured articles, were imported, and we find that not only did these increase, but a demand grew for the pottery and metal goods of Gaul, works of art, wine and oil. At the time of the conquest we are able to form a picture of an agricultural population occupying mainly the southern, or lowland, half of Britain and living away from the heavily (1) C.A.H., X, 797, 676. (2) C.A.H., XI, 516. (3) H.C. Darby, "Historical Geography of England before 1800", page 27. (k) Strabo IV, 199, from C.A.H., X, ho6, (5) Tacitus, Agricola, 191 (Loeb). 2 forested regions. The number of inhabitants has been estimated at between a million and a million and a half. They were not purely British; their civilisation was continental rather than insular in origin, and due to its descent from that of the Celtic races it has been called late Celtic. The primitive abundance of gold and tin in the island had fostered an exceptional excellence in metalwork, and the supreme achievement of the native craftsman was his beautifully enamelled metal ware, the objects ranging from jewellery to articles of everyday use. The conquest caused the decline of native art, Roman influence prevailed, and in surveying the crafts of Roman Britain we are in the main reviewing the crafts of the Roman Empire. At first.sight the task would seem to be a difficult one. In Britain we have no Herculaneum or Pompeii, nor- apart from a few which depict furniture - have we the sepulchral sculptures illustrating the daily life and crafts of the people which are found on the Continent. Nevertheless, below our soil there is a mass of evidence which the devoted work of archaeologists is steadily uncovering, and in the literature of Romano-British archaeology there is now a . wealth of information which, if collated, would enable practically every section of this thesis to be expanded into a dissertation in its own right. All that we can attempt, within the limits of the present account, is a glance at each of the crafts of Roman Britain, trying as far as possible to achieve a balanced survey. We have also to bear in mind the fact that such a survey can illumine but one aspect of a continually changing picture. Only one Romano-British town, Silchester, has been at all completely excavated, and as this was done in the early part of the present century the finds were not as well identified as they would be today. Nineteenth century excavation has been described as a "trail of evidence destroyed and questions unanswered (and now often unanswerable)",.but to some extent this is hindsight; the early excavators lacked the experience and the knowledge which has since been acquired. Fox and Hope, for example, excavating at Silchester came across what would now at once be recognised as a T-shaped com dryer, but to them it was simply the site for "a long boiler or vat for dye ing s tuffs". CD The famous Chedworth fullery is now believed to be part of a bath suite; and, as we discuss (l) Arch., 1905, LIX, 335. )MA 0 lnchtuth.il LVGWALIVM (C 15. Little Woodbury I. PETRIANA (S 16. Iwerni; Carpow 3. BANNA (Carvoran) 17. Lockleys 4. AESICA (Greatchesters) 18. CitflvHti 5. VINDOLANDA 19. Ditchley [Cficstcrholm) 20. New Fishbournc 6. Houseitead 21. Li.jll.ng-,tone 7. BROCOUTIA (Carrawburj 22. Eait Coke •LVRNVM (ChesterO 23. Withinfitof 9. CORSTOPTIVM (Corbrldfie) 24. II 10. CONDERCVM (Benwell) 25. Somerdalc I. ARBElA (South Shields.) 26. Uanymynech 12. liiUnBMtt Major 17. Maiden Castla Woden 13. Woodcheitcr 28. Lydn«/ Law.« 4. Chcdworch 29. Horkitow BREMENIVM (High Rochester] BLATOBVLGIVM LONGOVICIVM (Lanchester; x ALAVNA QLENACVM Castle' * Old Durham VINOVIA VERTERAE0 (Bmchester) —(Brough) -WwT^ V awchorr ISVRIVI" Flamborough Heac (Aldborough] DERVENTIC (Malton) EBVRACVI" PARJSI V (York) PETVARIA (Brough on Humber] BREMETEN ,\r J, NACVI* (Ribchester) LINDVM (Lincoln) NAVIO O MONA INS DEVA (Brough on Noe] (Anglesey) (Chester) LEG XX • 2i Great Cascerton VRICONIVM S RATAE cester) (Wroxeter) CAMVLODVNVM (Colchester^ DOSvj(, Dolaucocfi ARICONIVM (TV ,-, (Weston underO. GLEVVHJ 17. Penyard) f f^Gloucest TRINOVANTES ^ct^ <—*W 'HORINIVH (Neath) O (Caerleon; irencesterWr/ERVLAMIVM ^ ! _ < 'X LEG 11 . VENTA Dorchester ^(St. Albans] ^^-'(Caerwent) LOND!NIVM\l/ . (London] / names CALLEVA(Silchester] AQUAE SVLIS ATE DVROVERNVM (Bath] VENTA / (Canterbury) (Winchester) [ KEGNENSES CLAVSENTVM.C NOVIOMAGVS » g (Bitterne ^(Chichester) n g I i s Plymouth Hoe Fig. i i. 3 later in the present account, the verdict on the alleged Silchester dyeworks must be "Not proven". Even so eminent a metallurgist as Gowland fell into the trap of assuming what he might easily have enlightened by actual experiment, when he confidently asserted that the layered appearance of Roman pigs of lead "can only have been produced by pouring the lead into the mould in successive portions with a sufficient interval of time between each to allow of one solidifying before the next was added ".(1) It was left to the brilliant Whittick-Smythe experiments, some forty years later, to prove that the Romans did not ladle the lead from their furnaces in this manner. We have therefore,to beware even today of taking any statement .or. any evidence as being final. Verulamium and Wroxeter are still under investigation, and other sites await proper excayation.