SAMIAN WARE : DECORATED
PERIOD: ROMAN LOCATION: LINCOLNSHIRE, UK MATERIAL: CLAY
A day that fulfilled an all time digging dream. We are very lucky to have this special field on our permission, The Roman Field, a field whose surface is covered in a wide scattering of Roman pottery. Providing a very rewarding hunt in between the signals. It’s not always about the metal artefacts out on a dig, in fact pottery is an incredibly valued archaeological resource as it provides invaluable data when it comes to the dating of a site. Predominantly we tend to find shards of Roman Greyware, the most common form of domestic tableware, but we have always dreamed about a piece of decorated Samian ware, the highest quality pottery that would have been available.
It just so happens that out in what was the worst digging conditions we have ever experienced in the field, in between the torrential downpours that were so harsh at one point it hailed, our dream came true. It was a sight that had Lucie stopped dead in her tracks spying that distinctive glossy red glistening amongst the slippery plough. Surely not, but plucking it from its watery grave, it is. It’s a huge shard of decorated Samian ware displaying a distinctive fan and scroll decoration.
It just so happens that out in what was the worst digging conditions we have ever experienced in the field, in between the torrential downpours that were so harsh at one point it hailed, our dream came true.
This fragment is not just idolised by us, but also by the Romans for whom this piece would have been a treasured part of their tableware. Samian Ware products were so valued by Roman society that they are one of the few forms of pottery types whose vessels are found repaired for reuse instead of simply being discarded once broken. If you haven’t heard of Samian Ware before, this is simply the term used to describe this distinctive glossy, red coated tableware, a Roman specialty that was imported into Britain from large manufacturing regions such as Gaul. Its distinctive red colour was achieved by using a clay containing a large iron oxide content which was fired in an oxidising atmosphere to further emphasise the colour. It’s quite a unique pottery and also an incredibly important archaeological tool that can date an entire site just by its presence. It's also common to find stamps impressed into the vessel by the potters, which were used like their signature, and can trace a pot right back to its origin of manufacture and even to the name of the potter themselves.
Samian Ware was incredibly popular and used extensively in both civilian and military sites, found in a wide range of items that represent refined and high class dining. The market here in Britain was dominated by the huge potteries in Gaul and in particular by the potteries of La Graufesenque in South Gaul who not only monopolised the market here, but also in Gaul itself, Germany, Spain and North Africa. However by the third century the Gaulish samian industries had collapsed, but such was the demand for this type of pottery here in Roman Britain that at least two attempts were made to manufacture the ware in Britain itself. Yet local clays proved to be unsuitable to produce the same level of quality as in Gaul and these locally produced products don’t seem to have strayed very far from their points of origin suggesting that they didn’t become very popular.
This fragment is not just idolised by us, but also by the Romans for whom this piece would have been a treasured part of their tableware.
Decorated Samian Ware is the pinnacle of all Samian Ware, the vast majority of Samian Ware was actually undecorated as the distinctive relief decorations were very expensive, requiring the high skill of an experienced potter. This makes decorated Samian Ware incredibly sought after, in the Roman period, and today. To produce these decorations, first a mould had to be made, one that was carefully carved out, largely by eye with the aid of decorated punches for the more commonly found border motifs and decorative details. Subject matter could vary from foliage, to animals, gods, gladiators or even the depiction of mythical scenes. This piece displays a fan and scroll decoration incorporating many stylistic elements of foliage and vegetation, and the presence of such a highly decorated piece here is the strongest form of evidence we have gathered that is beginning to reveal the story of the Roman site that existed here. One that we have now learnt contained a bit more wealth than just your average Roman farmstead.
