A ROMAN FOUND GUIDE TO FIELDWALKING

DIGGING GUIDE

16 Jan

How the Eye’s Only can Bring the Good Finds Only.

Fieldwalking. Defined as the systematic recovery of artefacts and detritus left scattered on the surface of a ploughed field. Might sound like a strange pastime but so does walking randomly around a field with a stick hunting for metal objects so we aren’t in a position to make such claims.

The plough soil is a strange and mysterious place, a jumble of objects from all eras rattling around like a kind of lottery never knowing which ones will get lucky by that turn of the plough, launched up onto the surface just waiting to be found.

But the plough can do a lot more than just bring objects up to the surface as with every turnover, artefacts can get broken and damaged. Pot sherds broken into several pieces, becoming increasingly smaller as time goes on. It can also scatter objects a large distance from their original location as seen in the recovery of scattered hoards and in the distribution of pottery or rubble on the surface of a field.

This is where fieldwalking and metal detecting can go hand in hand to recover these artefacts from the lottery of the plough and start to build up a picture of what laid on the land before the various crop rotations it goes through now. You would be shocked just what can be found lying around in our fields. We often engage in fieldwalking alongside our metal detecting, always keeping our wits about us ready to spot those ‘eyes only’ finds. Both practices help us to better understand our land and really get a picture of what it is we are finding.

It's all about that information and data. Often the eye’s only finds can literally lead the way to exciting metal finds and artefacts. We’ve experienced this happening both on our own permission and on group digs where the finders pulling up roman coins had been following a trail of roman greyware first. It’s important to keep a note of your important find spots and have them plotted onto a map to help you find patterns and understand the areas that produce the exciting finds.

So just what can you find with only your eyes as your tools?

POTTERY

One of our most common eye’s only finds would have to be pottery and there’s plenty out there to find from all eras! Pot finds are just as important as metal artefacts revealing plenty of information about your location and trade hidden within their fabric, as well as the time periods with the most activity across the land.

Pottery was introduced into Britain around 4000BC but pre Roman Britain, prehistoric pottery was mainly available to limited local markets where pottery was being made and to the more wealthy individuals of the time.

Now there are a few things to look out for when identifying this prehistoric pottery. Most of the fabric of this era are flint / shell / grog tempered meaning they will include a lot of other material into the clay mix which leaves a rough speckly texture. Uneven firing is common as well so the sherds could vary in colour and almost look smoky with dark black or grey patches. They will mostly be a red / brown / sandy colour and can display some decoration that mainly presents as incised geometric lines or corded relief much like a coiled rope.

With the introduction of the Roman Empire, much like its effect on the cuisine of the period as we explored in a previous article on Roman Cooking, came a flood of culture brought in from all stretches of the Empire and pottery started to weave its way into the very fabric of everyday people's lives. Pottery was imported to Britain on a massive scale with pots coming in from Gaul, Lyon and North Africa to name a few, they even brought in potters from the continent who had the skills to produce their pottery in Britain.

The most common Roman Pottery that is found here in British plough soil would be greyware, generally the most basic of Roman pottery that was widespread in its use and largely distributed and made. But if you have a very active Roman Site on your hands then you could be lucky enough to find the finer and less common wares such as Samian Ware, Colour Coated Ware, Mortaria and Amphora Sherds. There are hundreds of types of Roman Pottery that are associated with different regions of production and pot sherds can be an important tool to help date a site of interest.

With the introduction of the Roman Empire, much like its effect on the cuisine of the period as we explored in a previous article on Roman Cooking, came a flood of culture brought in from all stretches of the Empire and pottery started to weave its way into the very fabric of everyday people's lives.

When the Romans left they took their potters and skill with them. Therefore pots made during the Saxon and Medieval period tend to not be as fine or highly skilled as the previous Roman era but can be easily identified by their iconic green glaze. The first glazed pottery in England was made during the late Saxon period around 850 AD and had a pale green glaze on a grey coloured fabric. This green glaze was used throughout the Medieval Period and up to around 1600 in the Tudor Period where it developed into quite a striking bright green.

Other common examples of Medieval pottery are shell tempered wares and grimston ware which is a grey coloured ware with a light coloured or orange interior. Pottery was mostly for storing and cooking or preparing food at this time with large thick vessels made for the transport of goods. It is believed that the common medieval person would have eaten their food off wooden bowls and cups with the more wealthy having metal versions. As pottery was a cheap and versatile material it has been speculated that pots could have had short shelf lives and often discarded if broken, perhaps why we find so much at locations of medieval villages and settlements.

Moving through the tudor period and closer to more modern times various slipwares are developed (most famously the iconic yellow and black Staffordshire Slipware!) and different coloured glazes start appearing allowing for more elaborate designs and patterns to be produced. The 17th Century saw various types of pottery such as Harlow Slipware, Staffordshire Slipware and Tin Glazed Earthenware which had painted decoration in cobalt.

One type of pottery that can be a very common find across the fields of England is decorated blue and white Victorian sherds. This is simply due to people discarding broken plates and bowls in the countryside which was common practice at this time. If you’re finding lots and lots of Victorian sherds coming up then you could have a Victorian dump or midden on your hands which is where they would bury all of their rubbish and household waste which mainly consisted of pottery and glass bottles. Keep an eye out for some complete gems that could pop up!

FLINT

Flint is one particular eye’s only find that forms part of Roman Found’s new years resolution of finding. We have been developing our abilities at identifying the natural flint from that which has been worked by hand and top of our bucket list is a proper confirmed flint tool! Lucie recently found our most promising piece yet that could be a broken point so we are off to a good start.

Depending on where you are in the country there could be an abundance or not of flint. For the hunting of flint tools during fieldwalking it is best to have the latter, the less common flint is in your field the more likely that when you do find it, it has been put there by a human.

Before metal was discovered all tools were made from stone and flint, we have been using flint to make tools for at least 2 million years. Flint was found in river beds and even mined out of the ground to be shaped into various tools that ranged from arrowheads to axes and scrapers. The more distinctive tools like the arrowheads and axes can be identified fairly easily from their shapes but there’s a whole world of scrapers and blades that can be a lot more tricky to identify.

When trying to identity the human touch to a flint that you have found there are a few things to look out for such as the bulb of percussion which is like a blister formed from the striking of that flint off the raw flint nodule in the flint knapping process. But sometimes this can be caused by the plough as well so there’s a few more things to check off the flint checklist before getting too excited! Retouch can normally be found around the edge of the ‘blade’ side which presents as little nibbling around the edge from finer shaping and refining of the blade. You can also look out for negative flake scars which can be identified as ripples across the surface, these are left by the knapping off of flakes to shape the tool. There’s plenty more to look out for as well and it is always best to get your flint confirmed by an expert!

Flint did also continue to be used after the Iron Age for several specialised purposes such as strike a lights and gun flints which are normally distinctively square. Looking out for flint nodules is also a good thing to keep an eye out for, last year at one of the large metal detecting weekenders an Iron Age Hoard of Celtic Staters was found hidden inside a flint nodule stashed there thousands of years ago. We will certainly be checking any nodules coming our way!

AREAS OF STONE AND RUBBLE

You might think that stone is a pretty common find in a field, but discovering high concentrations of rubble and stone in one particular patch of field could mean that there was once a building or settlement there. This rubble could contain lots of fieldwalking finds within it such as pottery and even small metal artefacts and coins if you have a sharp enough eye!

In Britain there are thousands of deserted Medieval villages and plenty that are not known about as their earthworks and any visible trace of their existence gets eroded by years and years of ploughing. Many villages were abandoned through tragedy such as the Black Death or purposely depopulated to create more land for pasture, this was quite commonplace in the late Medieval period when the wool trade was booming and landowners were seizing all the opportunities to have sheep.

Nowadays most of these pasture fields have again been converted but this time into arable land to suit modern farming. In many cases all that is left of these abandoned villages are rubble, pottery and other lost artefacts tumbling around in the plough soil.

FOSSILS AND SHELLS

If you’re looking to recover some of the oldest artefacts possible from a field then you musn’t leave any stone unturned! Years of ploughing lifts fossils fight to the surface of the field and they can be hiding anywhere, in any rock, before you know it you could be finding artefacts that are millions of years old.

As we mostly fieldwalk and metal detect in Lincolnshire our most common fossil finds are fossilized shells and sea creatures such as ammonites (dramatic coiled shells of long lost snail like creatures), bellamites (pointy tube like fossils which were like small squids), bivalves (which are like fossilised mussel and oyster shells) and crinoids and corals (often looking like honeycomb structures or round flowers / tubes). This is largely due to the fact that vast areas of Lincolnshire would have been underwater millions of years ago.

The art of spotting fossils can be one that will take time to tune your eye’s into, but once you’ve found that first gem you will be more in tune with the types of rock in your field that house these ancient remains and start spotting fossil after fossil. Some good rock types to look out for can be limestones and sandstones as well as clay and shale types. But it really is down to the geology in your area so do some local research to give your eyes a head start! You can also keep an eye out for shells such as oyster shells and mussel shells as these are often found on old village sites as leftover food waste from the Roman and Medieval periods.

TEETH AND BONES

You will be surprised just how many old teeth and bones are lying about in plough soil and if you have found the site of an abandoned village there is every chance that some of those bones may be human … Thankfully we haven’t made any types of those finds. But one thing that we do find a lot of are large animals teeth from long long bygone animal herds, these are mostly cattle teeth. Cattle and horse teeth can normally be distinguished apart from the incredible roots that horse teeth contain, the longer your tooth the more likely its from a horse, horse teeth often have very square profiles as well. So if scary teeth finds are your thing keep an eye out

Animal bones found can be quite different to what we are used to seeing today as there can be quite the scale difference between modern and ancient breeds. For example the difference between the average height of modern and Iron Age cattle can be as much as 40cm! So that large animal bone that looks like its the scale of a dinosaur could actually be from an ancient cow. When finding bones if you are certain that they are the remains of an animal then you are free to do what you please with them but if there is any uncertainty on if they may be human then it’s best to notify the local authorities.

There are also many artefacts as well that can be made from bone such as bone dice, counters and gaming pieces.

COINS AND OTHER ARTEFACTS

*William III Halfpenny and Queen Victoria Threepence*

For the most eagle eye’d out there, there is a good chance of finding some ‘sunbathers’ as we call them in the metal detecting world. Coins and metal artefacts that have been brought right to the surface and are just lying there waiting for you to find them.

They are a lot more common finds than you may think and are especially prevelant after a good rain that has nicely washed the surface of the field down. So keep your wits about you and your eyes sharp! You could be lucky enough to find anything from a Roman coin to a Victorian Penny, depth really doesn’t mean anything in the strange little world that is a ploughed field and some of our best historic finds are often no more than a few cm deep.

With most fieldwalking we have found that it takes a little bit of time to ‘get your eyes in’ and start developing that technique of scanning and recognizing shapes and colours immediately. We have found personally that once you have found one type of object your eyes start to recognise it more instantly and you’ll suddenly start plucking out lots and lots, noticing way more than previously.

So go slow and have a good wander training your eyes to spot the slightest inconsistencies that could be artefacts just waiting to be uncovered. Good luck! We can't wait to see what you find and if you do uncover something of historic interest then all fieldwalking finds can be recorded onto the Portable Antiquities Scheme Database, adding to the public and archaeological knowledge of your area and of course like metal detecting fieldwalking also requires permission from the landowner before setting foot or removing any objects from a field. Happy hunting!

GET THE DIRT

Lucilla Gray