Some of the Rack Street tenements owned by institutions can be identified. The Dean and Chapter of the cathedral had two tenements at the north-eastern end of the street, where Rack Lane turned north-west to join Preston Street, which they held until the 1860s (D&C 123,046), and the Vicars Choral had three messuages with three cellars projecting into the street on its north-west side (D&C 123,046). The City Chamber also held three properties there; one of them had been owned prior to the Reformation by St John's Hospital. It consisted of a pair of tenements on the south side of Rack Street, known jointly in the 15th century as 'the Ottery tenement' (*tenementum Otyry –* perhaps named after an early tenant).

The late Harold Fox has researched the history of these last two properties, tracing their tenurial history over a period of 700 years (Fox 1986). He showed that this was 'our tenement on the south side of Teyghtstrete', given by the wealthy citizens Gilbert and John Long to St John's Hospital in 1224 × 1235 (for the date of the gift see Orme and Webster 1995, 233). By 1284, when it was leased by Philip of Zelebregge, it formed one of at least three adjacent holdings, with two further properties to the rear. Later, perhaps *c.* 1300, it was divided into two tenements, held by John and Geoffrey Tyghttere; as Fox points out, this was an example of the process of splitting up properties at a time of growing population to accommodate two co-heirs (Fox 1986, 167). The St John's Cartulary, written *c*. 1420, records the subsequent downfall (*casum*) of the houses, whose probable cause was the Black Death. References

*Fig. 8.19 Map in the St John's Cartulary,* c. *1420, showing five racks, with the names of their owners to the right and Rack Street to the left (photo: Todd Gray; © Devon Heritage Centre)*

to vacant properties, mentioned in other late 14th-century deeds relating to this area, may have the same explanation (*e.g.* ED/M/503, S&J 3499 dated 1384, which describes the lease of a vacant property between Preston Street and Rack Street; the neighbouring property was also vacant).

The cartulary states that after the downfall of the houses the plot was divided into four equal selions of land, on each of which tenter-frames (racks for drying cloth) were built (Fox 1986, 166). Most unusually, the document includes a plan or view of these structures, annotated to the right with the names of the occupiers of the racks at the time of writing (Fig. 8.19). From top to bottom they were John Talbot, W. Wonard, John Lapflod and Thomas Noreys, with Richard Haukeford below the double rack at the foot. The first two at least were wealthy citizens: John Talbot had served as mayor, William Wonard [*alias* Wynard] held property in High Street (MCR 5–6 Hen V, m. 37d) and founded the almshouses which still bear his name in Magdalene Street. Tenter frames of the same sort were a common sight in post-medieval Exeter (Fig. 8.20a) and were still in use elsewhere in Britain in the 20th century (Fig. 8.20b)

Following the dissolution of monastic houses, which included hospitals such as St John's, the property was acquired in 1555 by the City Chamber. Fox has traced its later history through rentals and surveys of Chamber lands, showing that the city retained ownership until 1842. In the 1550s the leases on the racks were still being taken out by prominent Exeter people but by 1611 the site was described as a garden, and in 1671 'one garden, sometyme 4 sulions' – the four strips shown on the medieval map. The first post-medieval reference to a building on the site was in 1691, when the property was described as a house. This, or its successor, was pulled down in the 1930s (Fox 1986, 166).

Precisely where was this holding? The Map Book of the Chamber of the City of 1756–60 is a key source in this regard. It records only one city property on the south-east side of Rack Street (Fig. 8.21(a); ECA 5/3/37, Map 10, property 21; Ravenhill and Rowe 2000, 187); it was not planned in detail but its frontage is indicated by a number, showing that it was not then in the ownership of the city but that they charged a chief rent. The position of this property on the 1876 map is shown in Fig. 8.21(b). It will be apparent that the site includes the area excavated in 1977, whilst the sites excavated in1975 lay in the adjacent property to the south-west.

The archaeological evidence adds a number of points to Fox's account. First, it provides information about the period prior to the survival of documentary evidence.

*Fig. 8.20 (a) Tenter frames on the floodplain of the River Exe,* c. *1770 (© Bodleian Library, Gough Maps 5, fol. 3B, Exeter,* c. 1772*). (b) Tuckers taking down a stockfull of fabric from the Witney Blanket Mill's tenter frames in the early 20th century (courtesy of the Witney Blanket Story)*

Although small amounts of Late Saxon pottery were present in the robber trenches of the site's Late Roman town houses, no Late Saxon pits were found here, and only limited evidence of 12th-century occupation. Hardly any other Late Saxon pottery was found in the nearby excavations in Mermaid Yard, and there too only a few 12th-century pits were found. Our impression, then, is that this steeply-sloping part of Exeter was thinly inhabited in the Saxo-Norman period. This impression is reinforced by a consideration of the locations of the city's 30 or so early chapels; none were in this quarter, and the fact that this part of the walled area became an outlying part of the

*Fig. 8.21 (a) Extract from the Map Book of the Chamber of the City, Map 10, showing city properties in Rack Street (photo: Gary Young, © Devon Heritage Centre. (b) Extract from the Ordnance Survey 1:500 map of 1876, with the outlines of the excavations of 1975 and 1977 (© Devon and Exeter Institution)*

parish of Mary Major has been interpreted as evidence that it was the rump of the old minster parish after the process of chapel creation came to an end (Allan *et al.* 1984, 399–400)

The evidence for occupation becomes more plentiful from the early 13th century, when a room (Me1) was built on the frontage. It is likely that this is just the corner of a larger structure on the street frontage. The building which replaced Me1 in the late 13th century (Me2) is of greater interest, since much more of its plan can be discerned. It is interpreted as a building 5 m wide and in excess of 12 m long, consisting of three rooms, all dug into the slope of the hill, with their long axis at right angles to the street. The room on the frontage was apparently heated and was plastered at the feet of the walls; each of the two rooms behind were unheated and

had a narrow passage running along their south-western wall. No direct evidence survived for the form of their walls, and at the time of excavation it was suggested that they would have been of cob. One piece of evidence suggests a different interpretation: the backfilling of the room terraces contained slates and ridge tiles, and (more unexpectedly) substantial fragments of a quite elaborate ceramic roof louver. This last find would have been used with a slate rather than a thatch roof. Since cob buildings were normally thatched, whilst stone-walled buildings usually had slate roofs (Cox and Thorp 2001, 85–6, 124, where the occasional use of slate verges on thatched roofs is, however, noted), this seems significant evidence of stone building. Although very fragmentary, the other building remains add to the impression that late 13th or 14th-century buildings of similar character occupied the adjacent site to the north-east. This area, excavated in 1977, was part of the pair of properties studied by Fox, which were owned by St John's Hospital and abandoned after the calamity of the Black Death. The numerous late medieval postholes found in the 1977 excavation are therefore likely to represent the most southerly of the four rows of racks shown on the 15th-century map. It is probable that the many similar holes in Area 1 of 1975/6 represent further tenter frames behind the houses on the adjacent plot.

The plot owned by St John's Hospital remained a rack field at least as late as the 1550s, becoming a garden by the early 17th century, and was built on only in the late 17th century. The archaeological evidence fits this picture well: there are hardly any 16th or early 17th-century finds (about 15 sherds) from the site but a series of deposits including pit groups containing much domestic rubbish spanning the period of *c.* 1690–1800 (including RS 703, *c.* 1690–1720; RS 1420, *c.* 1760: EAR3, 204, 214).

The same evidence for the abandonment of houses around the mid 14th century was also found in the plot excavated in 1975/6, and the rear of this tenement also showed the clusters of postholes which probably represent late medieval cloth racks. Domestic occupation had evidently resumed on this site by the early 16th century, however, as pits of this date were found in the rear of the property. They included two interesting pit groups, the first (RS 36) containing stonewares from Raeren, Langewehe, Cologne and Beauvais (EAR3, 158–9, nos. 1705–10), the second (RS 115) a decorated drinking jug from Beauvais and a rare tin-glazed dish from Seville (EAR3, 165–6, nos. 1821–2). They provide clear evidence that a wide range of imported goods was to be seen, even in the poorer households of Tudor Exeter.

## The Faunal Remains from Exeter, 1976–1990

## *Malene Lauritsen*

## **Introduction**

Exeter saw one of the seminal early studies of faunal remains from an urban settlement in Britain (Maltby 1979), but such was the pace of excavation within the city that many of the assemblages recovered over the following 15 years remained unpublished. This chapter summarises a more detailed study (Lauritsen 2019) of the animal bones from ten sites in Exeter excavated between 1976 and 1990, and covers material dating from the Roman, medieval and post-medieval periods (up until the 18th century). The findings confirm the results of previous studies of faunal material from the city – most notably Mark Maltby's (1979) analysis of the animal bones from excavations carried out between 1917 and 1975, and Bruce Levitan's (1987; 1989) study of selected medieval sites – while a new understanding has been gained of butchery practices and, most notably, fracture patterns that result from the extraction of bone marrow as well as spatial variation in patterns of animal product consumption within higher and lower-status areas, and between secular and monastic communities. A total of 40,066 bones were examined with 12,725 identified to species level. Of these 3,331 were from Roman contexts, 5,718 from medieval contexts, and 2,796 from post-medieval contexts (with a small number of the identifiable specimens from undated contexts). Almost all specimens were hand collected though a couple of contexts were wet sieved. The primary focus of this study has been on cattle, caprines (sheep/goat) and pigs while other species, such as game, have been used to draw further interpretations about the social contexts of the material. Site Numbers refer to Chapter 2 in this volume.

## **Methods**

## *Recording methodology*

The choice of methods was primarily guided by those used in the previous analyses of Exeter material as well as other studies of English urban faunal assemblages (Maltby 1979; Levitan 1989; Dobney *et al*. 1995; Bond and O'Connor 1999; Coles forthcoming a; b). All the mammal and bird bones were recorded in Microsoft Access and later transferred to Microsoft Excel for data analysis. Fish bones were only recorded as total numbers for each assemblage. Each specimen was listed in an Access database with the following detail: provenance of the bone; species; element; zone (Dobney and Rielly 1988); side; fusion; butchery; modification (burning, gnawing, root etching, acid damage); fracture type (Outram 2002); Fracture Freshness Index (FFI) score (Outram 2002); fracture history profile (Johnson *et al*. 2016); dental age; sex; weathering score (McKinley 2004); pathology; metrics; and other relevant notes such as photographs or observations that did not fit in any of the other database categories. Horncore bases were counted when more than 50% complete and only the articular ends of ribs were recorded. Vertebra and rib fragments were identified to medium or large mammal size as this was useful for the study of butchery, though all other specimens that could not be identified to a specific species were included in the category 'unidentifiable'. The 'minimal number of animal units' (MAU) were calculated for the main domesticates to take fragmentation and variations in the number of elements in skeletons into account (*e.g.* Crabtree 1990). The MAU was obtained using Binford's (1984) method, siding of individual elements, and Dobney and Rielly's (1988) zones to ensure the most accurate number. Similarly, assessment of skeletal part abundances was used here to determine the frequencies of individual portions of the animals to aid our understanding of issues such as dietary habits, activity areas in the city, and site status. The skeletal part abundances were achieved by using zone MAU specific to proximal and distal ends and shafts (Lauritsen 2019). All references to proportions and

*Table 9.1 List of phases with their corresponding time periods and date ranges*

frequencies of domesticates were based on MAU rather than 'minimum number of individuals' (MNI). Fusion data for age-at-death analysis were obtained for cattle, caprines and pigs using Silver (1969). Measurements were taken following guidelines set out by von den Driesch (1976) and analysed using Meadow's (1999) log-ratio method. The figures presented in this chapter are of breadth measurements; increases in the mean values indicate greater measurements from the given phase, and smaller mean values indicate lesser measurements suggesting smaller animals. The log-ratio standards are presented in Lauritsen (2019). Additionally, fracture analysis was undertaken using Johnson *et al.* (2016) and Outram (2001) to assess the frequency of marrow fracturing.

## *Phasing*

The phasing system used in this study is presented in Table 9.1. There is, at present, no data from Phase 4 (early medieval) as there is very little evidence for occupation within Exeter between the early 5th and late 9th centuries (see EAPIT 1, Chapter 7).

## *Site groupings*

The data from each individual excavation were combined in a series of period-based groups in order to gain an understanding of how the different phases and areas ('quarters') of Exeter compare (Table 9.2). The groups are described below and the quarters as used in this study are marked on Fig. 9.1.

not know where in the town or with which buildings it was originally associated). The vast majority of the faunal material was excavated from Mermaid Yard (MY) and Friernhay Street (FH).

	- The North Quarter site group includes the material from Paul Street (PS) and Queen Street (QS) and is an area considered to have been of relatively high status based on its close proximity to the castle, street names, and other evidence from the archaeological investigations (Exeter City Council 1984).
	- The East Quarter did not produce any medieval or post-medieval assemblages analysed as part of this project, although the Princesshay excavations (Coles forthcoming b) have produced material.
	- In the South Quarter only Mermaid Yard (MY) has material from these periods, although it should be noted that this single site may not be representative of the whole district.
	- The West Quarter group contains the data from Bartholomew Street East (BSE), Bartholomew Street West (BSW) and Friernhay Street (FH). The Phases 6 and 7 (1050–1300) assemblages from BSE and BSW were from within monastic precincts, while FH is regarded as having been of high status from Phase 8 (*c*. 1300–1500) onwards (Exeter City Council 1974; 1981).

## **The Roman fortress and town**

## *Major domesticates*

On the sites examined in this study there is some evidence of differences in meat consumption between Exeter's Roman military phase (Phase 1) and the civilian town (Phase 2) (Fig. 9.2). In terms of the proportions of species by MAU based on this study alone, cattle were present in greater numbers in the Roman period than in any of the following phases, with their greatest frequency being during the Roman town (Phase 2) (Fig. 9.2) which is consistent with trends across Roman Britain (King 1999, tab. 3; Rippon 2012, 263). As cattle increased in frequency from Phase 1 to Phase 2, pigs decreased in numbers, while the proportion of caprines remained the same throughout these two Roman phases. Based on metrical analysis undertaken for this study (Figs 9.5–9.7), there is no evidence for the development or import of new 'breeds' during this period. There are also some shifts in what portions of the animals

*Fig. 9.1 Map of Exeter showing the Roman legionary fortress, the Roman and medieval city wall, and the four 'quarters' as used in this study. Highlighted areas represent excavations, with the colours refl ecting who has studied the faunal remains (drawn by David Gould)*

were favoured, with cattle shoulders being particularly numerous in Phase 2 even though they are not found in Phase 1. Cattle and caprines were equally exploited for marrow extraction during the military phase, though more data are needed to understand the use of marrow at that

time (Fig. 9.3). In the Roman town (Phase 2), as cattle increased as a proportion of the overall livestock they became the primary species exploited for marrow, while equal proportions of caprine and pig bones were broken for marrow. While the proportions and preferred portions

*Table 9.2 Assemblage overview with site code, site numbers on Fig. 9.1 (and see Chapter 2), presence of faunal material by phase, and total NISP by site*

AC Acorn Roundabout

BSE Bartholomew Street East

BSW Bartholomew Street West

EDST The Deanery

FH Friernhay Street

GSH Good Shepherd Hospital

HB Haven Banks

MY Mermaid Yard

PS Paul Street

QS Queen Street

*Fig. 9.2 Overview of MAU of major livestock species by absolute numbers and percent*

*Fig. 9.3 Overview of fracture history profiles for cattle, caprines, and pig. X-axis: phase (phase 10 for pig has too little data to be included here). F: fresh fracture; FD: fresh + dry fracture; FDM: fresh + dry + mineralised fracture; D: dry fracture; DM: dry + mineralised fracture; M: mineralised fracture*

and parts of these species changed, the herd management styles remained unaffected by the shifts in the popularity of cattle, caprines and pig. Similarly, procurement of the animals appears to be the same across all time periods with all animals being transported to Exeter 'on the hoof', although some or all pigs may have been reared in town, based on the representation of all skeletal elements (Lauritsen 2019, chap. 5) which was also noted by Maltby (1979). Before being slaughtered for meat, all cattle were used as working animals and kept into full adulthood while pigs were reared specifically for meat and the caprines consumed were the product of more mixed management strategies (Fig. 9.4). All major livestock were butchered in a very systematic manner consistent with trends across the Roman Empire, and particularly noteworthy are two sagittally split vertebrae from Phase 2 (Roman town): these are an unusual find in Roman Britain which provides good evidence of the presence of professional butchers in this phase of Exeter's history.

For the military material, the consistency with other Roman military sites in Britain reflects a highly organised approach towards the supply of provisions. According to Tacitus, each Roman fort was provided with enough supplies to last a full year and the basic diet during peacetime would consist of these grains, bacon and cheese probably alongside vegetables (Tacitus, *Agricola* 22,2). This diet could be supplemented in various ways such as purchasing goods from shops, gifts from family, or by hunting, the latter of which is well documented in the archaeological record (Davies 1971, tab. 1). The faunal remains from Exeter, along with a range of other studies, have also highlighted just how far from the supposed basic military diet the reality was. While pork was indeed consumed in a greater quantity in the military phase than at any other time apart from Phase 5 (900–1050), and the shift from legionary fortress to civilian town did see a drop in the significance of pig in Exeter, it was far from the main source of meat and other animal products (Figs 9.2 and 9.3).

## *Game consumption*

As indicated by documentary evidence, the Roman military diet was supplemented with game species and in Exeter's legionary fortress 5% of all specimens are from

*Fig. 9.4 Overview of age profiles. X-axis – fusion stage: 1: neonatal; 2: juvenile; 3: young adult; 4: adult. Y-axis – percent survival. Green: cattle; blue: caprine; yellow: pig*

*Fig. 9.5 Overview of cattle log-ratios*

game, which is much greater than in any later phase. The number of game species increases from three in Phase 1 to eight in Phase 2 (Table 9.3), with the species represented showing more diverse hunting strategies, and the presence of waterfowl suggesting that the wetlands around the Exe Estuary were being exploited. There are some indications that deer, and probably hare and wild boar, hunting was linked to high-status Roman society (Maltby 2014), and all of these species have been identified in Exeter, although

the wild boar identification is only a probable one (Maltby 1979). It should be noted that the deposits analysed for this study had not been sieved, and so the absence of small animals like passerines is to be expected, meaning that the full extent of hunting in the Roman or any of the later periods will remain unknown; we can only say for certain that they were, as a minimum, hunting large mammals. The proportion of game specimens in the assemblages studied here decreased from 5% in the Roman military

*Fig. 9.6 Overview of caprine log-ratios*

period to 1% in the civil phase. This probably reflects the relatively low status of urban populations at this time and their lack of access to the countryside resources.

## *Late Roman town*

In the Late Roman town (Phase 3) there was only a small amount of new faunal material (NISP 150) available for this study. The livestock proportions seen in these assemblages (Fig. 9.2) may not be particularly reliable due to the small sample size, although cattle appear to still dominate. The skeletal part abundances show continuation of the patterns seen in the previous centuries, though with additional deposits of skull and jaw fragments which are assumed to be signs of slaughter and primary butchery occurring within the town walls. The meatier parts of the cattle carcasses are now absent while humeri from both caprines and pigs occur in higher proportions than previously. The marrow exploitation also shows

*Fig. 9.7 Overview of pig log-ratios*

*Table 9.3 Numbers and proportions of game species in the Roman period*

a decreasing reliance on cattle marrow, while fracture evidence suggests that pig marrow may have been up to twice as frequent in Phase 3 compared to Phase 2 (Fig. 9.3). The reliance on caprines and pigs for meat and marrow – despite cattle being the most frequent species – can indicate a variety of exploitation patterns. It can suggest that different fractions of the Roman population had differential access to products from these species, or alternatively, that cattle were being processed in Exeter but the products were transported elsewhere. A larger faunal sample from across the Roman town is needed to determine what interpretation is the most likely.

## **The medieval city**

## *Major domesticates*

From the end of the Roman period until the beginning of the 10th century there is a gap in our knowledge about what was happening in Exeter, although by Phase 5 (900–1050) pigs were relatively frequent, matching their proportion of the major domesticates seen in the Roman military phase. Pigs are easy to rear, grow fast, and can be kept within towns – in a pen living off scraps – so ensuring a reliable meat supply. Pigs then reduced in numbers after the Norman Conquest and continued to decline until the end of the 18th century. When looking at the North and West Quarters separately, there are some differences in the proportions of pigs. In the North Quarter, where pigs were generally more frequent, the decline in their numbers starts after Phase 5 but evens out after Phase 8, while in the West Quarter the continuous decline does not start until after Phase 8.

As a proportion of the major domesticates, cattle generally remain steady throughout the medieval phases but are more frequent in the West Quarter than the North Quarter. Unfortunately, the medieval sample sizes from the South Quarter are very small, and therefore may not be accurate, though they do suggest that cattle were much more frequent during Phase 7 (*c.* 1150–1300) than anywhere else in Exeter. Caprines in general increased slowly in frequency over the medieval period (Fig. 9.2), yet once again there are differences between the North and West Quarters, with caprines in the North Quarter being the most numerous livestock species from the Norman Conquest onwards, whereas in the West Quarter there is little change in proportions from Phases 6 to 8 (*c*. 1050–1500) with cattle and caprines occurring in equal numbers based on MAU throughout the medieval period. It should, however, be kept in mind that cattle are the largest of the three species, so a carcass contains a larger quantity of meat compared to a caprine or pig, and they are therefore highly likely to have supplied the majority of the meat to medieval Exeter even though caprines are more numerous in some parts of the city.

Material from extra-mural sites suggest that the livestock species occurred in noticeably different proportions compared to sites within the city wall. In the Phase 7 (*c*. 1150–1300) assemblage from the extra-mural Acorn Roundabout site, cattle represented 60% of the total livestock MAU and caprines 26%. This pattern is similar to the Roman town (Phase 2) and contemporary material from the South Quarter, but rather different to medieval phases in the North and West Quarters, although there is no immediate explanation for this difference. While the game species identified amongst the faunal remains suggests that the Acorn Roundabout area may have been home to a relatively high-status household, social status is unlikely to be the cause of this very high proportion of cattle as it is so much higher than the clearly wealthy North Quarter and similar to the South Quarter that was mostly a low-status district. The discrepancy may therefore simply be a result of the preference of the individual household, or different social factors influencing the choice of meat on either side of the city wall.

In terms of the kill-off patterns for cattle and caprines, there are some differences compared to the Roman period (pigs having always been reared primarily for meat: Fig. 9.4). During Phases 6 and 7 people living in the North Quarter consumed meat from young caprines as opposed to the West and South Quarters and in all other medieval phases where the meat came from old animals. Similarly, in all phases and Quarters, beef was acquired from old cattle except for in the West Quarter during Phase 8 where it came from younger cattle. This suggests that different herds supplied different parts of the city, with animals primarily reared for wool, or traction, being the norm, but the younger animals turning up in the North and West Quarters having been reared primarily for meat reflecting demand for more tender meat amongst the high-status citizens.

The presence of different herds and demands of the high-status citizens may also be reflected in the metric analyses of cattle and caprines (Figs 9.5 and 9.6). The mean value of cattle and caprines increase from Phase 7 to Phase 8, more so for the former than the latter, suggesting that existing stock was developed to increase the size of the animals or that new stock was introduced. Unfortunately, there is too little data from pig to determine if this species saw size developments or import of new stock.

Butchery patterns show a dramatic change from the highly systematic techniques seen in the Roman period. The medieval butchers focussed on separating a carcass by striking above, below, or through joints with a heavy blade, but there is no apparent system in how the joints were separated making the patterns appear haphazard. There is evidence for sagittal splitting being reintroduced in the second half of the 12th century (Phase 7) in the North Quarter and becoming more frequent in the West Quarter throughout Phase 8 indicating that this butchery technique is associated with the high-status households.

Fracture patterns vary both between species and areas of the city. In all phases in the North Quarter, cattle were the most heavily exploited for marrow, and caprines and pig had similar frequencies in Phases 6, 7 and 8 with a steady increase in frequencies over time. In the West Quarter, the patterns are completely different. In Phases 6 and 7, caprines and cattle have similar proportions of freshly fractured specimens, but the proportion decreases for cattle in Phase 8 while it remains the same for caprines. In Phases 6 and 7 only very small amounts of pig specimens have been broken for marrow but this increases to approximately 25% in Phase 8. Moving to Phase 7 in the South Quarter, cattle are once again the most frequently exploited. The medieval fragmentation patterns show that marrow extraction is specific to species and rather heavily influenced by social context. Assuming that the North Quarter sets a baseline for high-status living in medieval Exeter, it underlines a big difference between the high-status diets and that of the ecclesiastic areas in the Phases 6 and 7 of the West Quarter. The North Quarter population consumed marrow, particularly from cattle, in much larger quantities than in the West Quarter, which shows more of a preference for caprines and almost entirely avoids pig.

## *Game consumption*

As with the Roman period, the presence of non-livestock species is useful when looking at the social groups represented within medieval Exeter. While game never contributed large quantities of meat to the diet, its consumption appears to have had social implications as one of the sumptuary laws restricted access to game species, meaning that only the nobility or the very wealthy consumed these meats. Tables 9.3 and 9.4 give an overview of the presence of game species in Exeter, and as the total NISP of a phase and quarter will affect the number of identified status-indicator species the proportion of game species out of the total number of identified species is listed. Based on this information, in the medieval, and probably post-medieval, periods an area is highly likely to primarily have had high-status households if the game species proportion is above 20%, though it is still important to look at the individual species to determine the nature of the households. With this in mind it becomes clear that the high-status population of Exeter primarily lived in the North Quarter from *c.* 1050 to the first half of the post-medieval period (from Phases 6–9), as there is a much higher number of game species and other high-status species indicators such as woodcock, hawk and grey heron. The material from Phase 7 (*c*. 1150–1300) in the West Quarter also appears to be from a high-status tenement, and the presence of five of these species confirms the interpretation of the household as belonging to the upper echelons of society. The find of 23 hawk bones (MNI: 3)

*9. The Faunal Remains from Exeter, 1976–1990* 281

*Table 9.4 Numbers and proportions of game species in the medieval and post-medieval periods*

is particularly interesting as hunting with birds of prey was limited to the elite. Finding them, and roe deer, is a very strong indicator that, at least for a while during the Late Middle Ages, a high-status household occupied a tenement on modern day Friernhay Street.

The South Quarter of Exeter is traditionally regarded as a relatively low-status area, although the excavations at Mermaid Yard lay close to a bell foundry (a high-status occupation). The presence of red deer (a complete humerus) and fallow deer (a partial metatarsal) in a single context from Phase 7 (*c*. 1150–1300) could indicate a household that was not entirely low status. There is no evidence that meat on the humerus was consumed or that the metatarsal was used for craft purposes, so we cannot determine why these specimens were located in the area, but as they were found in the same context it seems possible that a household had access to game on at least one occasion.

The skeletal part abundances at Mermaid Yard – and in particular the relatively high numbers of low utility elements – suggests that primary butchery was going on in that area, though this activity was not confined to the South Quarter but occurred in almost all areas and phases. The skeletal part abundances and presence of game species underline that the different parts of Exeter never had a single function or social status. One example is Levitan's (1989) analysis of the Exe Bridge material with its large deposits of horncores likely to have come from a nearby horn worker (Levitan 1989, tab. 2; 2019). These deposits are, rightly so, interpreted as industrial waste, yet they are still mixed with high meat utility elements showing the mixed nature of the deposits.

## *The monastic diet*

In contrast to high-status phases and areas – notably the North Quarter – the Phase 6 and 7 material from the West Quarter, which was excavated from contexts within monastic precincts (Bartholomew Street East (site 73) and Bartholomew Street West (site 47)), has only two game species in Phase 6 and none in Phase 7, as opposed to respectively 2 and 9 in the North Quarter, showing the scarcity of game in the diet within ecclesiastical areas (Tables 9.3 and 9.4). It is important to note that lay servants may have lived within the precincts so the faunal patterns may represent multiple fractions within medieval society, although as servants were very unlikely to have

had access to game these particular species are most likely to be waste from the ecclesiastical diet. Monks were prohibited from eating meat unless ill, but over the course of the 12th century meat was first allowed for those dining with the abbot in private, next, in a designated separate room for those in poor health, and finally, though still in a separate room, to all monks during certain periods of 'recreation' over the course of the year (Knowles 1963, 462; Burton 1994, 166; Harvey 2006, 220). The bending of the dietary rules may be evident in Exeter if game meat, in small quantities, was indeed consumed alongside that of livestock though we cannot determine for certain whether the livestock remains are associated with laymen or ecclesiastics. The minimal differences in the proportions of domestic livestock between the material from monastic and high-status areas indicates that the general diets were fairly similar, though within the ecclesiastical areas more cattle and less caprines were eaten than the secular North Quarter population. Furthermore, fracture patterns show that marrow consumption was different with the monastic precinct diet containing more caprine marrow and very little pig marrow. There is also some evidence for the monastic precincts receiving less 'meaty' parts of the carcass, such as the tibia and the radius, compared to the North Quarter which could suggest that these parts were eaten by poorer servants rather than monks.

## **The post-medieval period**

## *Major domesticates*

The transition from Phase 8 (*c*. 1300–1500) to the post-medieval period heralds some clear changes in the exploitation of livestock, with caprines becoming more frequent while cattle decline in representation across both the North and West Quarters (Fig. 9.2). Other changes are reflected in the metrical analysis (Figs 9.5–7) with log-ratios showing a marked increase in caprine breadth measurements suggesting a shape change, likely towards a stockier build, rather than overall increase in size or height in the animals. This shows a development of existing caprine types or importation of new ones along with a shift in herd structure consistent with management for wool (Fig. 9.4). This development is in line with our knowledge of the importance of the cloth industry in Exeter which had been growing since the 14th century (see EAPIT 1, Chapter 4) and when the MAUs show caprines to be increasing in numbers (Fig. 9.2): the 16th-century (Phase 9) changes are likely to reflect further growth in the woollen industry (Gray 2001).

Worthy of note is the relative scarcity of post-medieval faunal material compared to Phase 8 (*c*. 1300–1500) especially when taking the larger population into consideration, a trend which has also been observed elsewhere in Britain. In Exeter, the relative scarcity of postmedieval material is primarily evident in the South and West Quarters, whereas in the North Quarter, where the vast majority of Maltby's (1979) material similarly was recovered from, this is less noticeable. Furthermore, in this study, there are no signs of any intra-mural industrial or craft activity such as primary butchery or horn and leather working within the post-medieval faunal assemblages examined. Historical evidence, however, shows post-medieval industrial works related to tanning, horn working and wool processing in Exeter being located in close proximity to the River Exe and the Quay, and excavations at Shooting Marsh Stile (Site 80) revealed large post-medieval deposits of cattle horncores suggestive of nearby horn working. This evidence may suggest that industrial work moved outside of the city walls in later periods. The scarcity of post-medieval faunal remains outside of the North Quarter, despite the number of archaeological excavations having taken place, could be explained partly by disposal techniques similar to the industrial works and partly by truncation of the deposits by Victorian and later construction phases which has been noted in the majority of excavation reports from Exeter.

## *Game consumption*

In the North Quarter 11 game species have been identified in Phase 9 (Table 9.4), making it the highest number identified at any point in Exeter's history, accounting for 3% of the total NISP for this area. The material from St. Nicholas' Priory, a Tudor manor house in the West Quarter, provides a contemporary comparison for the material from the North Quarter. Here six game species are represented, making up 1.2% of the total faunal and avian NISP and 30% of the total number of identified species (Levitan 1989, tab. 7) which, following Tables 9.3 and 9.4, confirms that it was a high-status household on par with those in the North Quarter.

The most substantial evidence for wealth and connections of an individual household in Exeter is the presence of three turkey bones in a context from a tenement on Paul Street (Site 76) in the North Quarter dated to 1520–1550 on the basis of its ceramics. Currently, these are the only turkey remains to overlap with the documented 1524/1526 introduction of the species to England, and it is notable that the associated contexts at Paul Street also contained the remains of imported glass and ceramics from the Netherlands, Spain, Northern Europe and Venice (EAPIT 1, Chapter 8, Fig. 30), reflecting its high status and the numerous international connections Exeter had during the expansion of the woollen industry (Lauritsen *et al*. 2018; EAPIT 1, Chapter 4).

## **Conclusions**

The excavated sites and their associated artefacts and faunal assemblages show that the North, West and South Quarters of Exeter were occupied by different parts of urban society such as high-status households, monastic communities, and the lower status artisans. This study has shed new light on meat consumption and use of other animal products amongst these social groups, and longer-term changes over the Roman, medieval and post-medieval periods. Metrical analysis showed shape changes and size increase over larger time scales consistent with national agricultural developments. Butchery practices similarly showed broad changes over time. Roman butchery was highly systematic, whereas medieval butchery was haphazard but with systematic use of sagittal splitting becoming more and more common from Phase 8 (*c*. 1300–1500) onwards (although there were no contemporary differences within the urban setting indicating that butchery practices were not related to social standing other than the reintroduction of sagittal splitting by high-status households). The proportions of the livestock species in the diet do not appear to be related to specific social groups in contemporary material, although differences are apparent within the various settlement phases such as the high proportion of pigs in the Roman military period which decreases in favour of beef in the Roman civil phase. Pigs are also relatively frequent in pre-Norman Exeter but cattle and caprines were at all times the most frequently exploited animals, with caprines dominating from Phase 8 (*c*. 1300–1500) onwards as a result of the prospering woollen industry.

This study is the first to have examined fracture patterns in Exeter. Prior to this no detailed quantitative analysis of fractures had been undertaken on material from any of the historic periods in Britain, and likely further afield, and indeed our understanding of the importance of marrow and bone fats in the past two millennia as a whole is still in its infancy. If we want to understand the full use of animal products in the past, and how those uses varied throughout society, fracture studies are a key part of building that knowledge. In prehistoric material this type of analysis has identified periods of dietary stress that drove people towards heavy exploitation of bone grease (Outram 2001) as well as identifying the transition to milk/dairy product consumption in the Neolithic (Johnson *et al*. 2018). These same analytical techniques have the potential to identify similar dietary trends in the historic periods which may not otherwise be apparent through other faunal analyses. The results of the analysis of fracture patterns presented here – and discussed in greater depth in Lauritsen 2019 – have shown differences between monastic communities, with their almost complete avoidance of pig marrow, while

the wider population only consumed it slightly less than that of cattle and caprines. As a general rule cattle and caprines bones were fractured in almost equal frequencies for marrow, although cattle varied in frequency between consecutive phases while caprines saw a steady increase in exploitation from the Norman Conquest onwards which may be linked to the overall increase of caprines in the diet.

Similar to the metrical analyses, this study shows that the herd management practices were also consistent with national trends. Cattle were at all times managed primarily for traction, and caprines for wool, before the relatively elderly animals were driven to Exeter on the hoof and slaughtered in the city. Pigs were managed solely for meat and likely to have been reared within or in close proximity to the town. There were, however, a few differences within the city itself with cattle and caprines occasionally being managed for meat to supply the high-status population in Phase 8 (*c*. 1300–1500) with more tender cuts of veal and lamb.

This study means that the assemblages from all major excavations in Exeter carried out between 1971 and 1990 have now been studied (and see Maltby 1979; Levitan 1987; and Maltby's summaries in EAPIT 1, Chapters 5–8), which means that it is important to look to the future and where research priorities now lie. While high-status secular assemblages are quite well-represented, it would be extremely useful to have more material from ecclesiastical and low status communities, notably in Exeter's South Quarter. There is also a need for a detailed study of the fish remains. As mentioned previously, fracture studies have not been undertaken on historic material prior to this analysis. It has, however, been shown that bone marrow was a valuable source of fat which was exploited by social groups in different quantities and ways in the various periods. There is now a need for comparative studies on other settlement types and within different social groups to determine how this food source has been exploited more widely in historic periods.

To support the metrical data, geometric morphometric analysis also needs to be undertaken, particularly of sheep, to gain further understanding of the development of existing types in the region and the introduction of new ones. In particular, it would be useful for testing the potential introduction of new caprine stock during the early post-medieval period to determine if there were indeed two different groups of caprines being consumed in Exeter at one time, with the group in the North Quarter disappearing or at least increasing to a similar size as the animals in the West and South Quarters by Phase 10. Furthermore, if different groups were present it would be interesting to see if they are morphometrically similar to animals elsewhere in Britain or Europe so we can determine where new stock was introduced from, and this metrical data could be compared to isotopic data.

## **Acknowledgements**

I would like to express my gratitude towards Alan Outram and Stephen Rippon for supervising the PhD project on the faunal remains of Exeter: your guidance and advice have helped shape and improve the project from start to finish. I also wish to thank the University of Exeter College of Humanities Graduate School Doctoral Award for funding the project. I am particularly grateful to the Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Thomas Cadbury for providing access to the faunal collections.

## Archaeometallurgy: An Assessment of Roman and Medieval Crucibles and Other Possible Metalworking Debris

## *Carlotta Gardner and David Dungworth*

A number of excavations within Exeter have produced evidence for metalworking, including those associated with the early post-War work by Lady Fox (1952a) in South Street Area 1 (Site 15), and the redevelopment of Exeter's city centre in the 1970s and 80s (Site 42: Trichay Street, 1972–4; Sites 52 and 64: Rack Street, 1974–5 and 1977–8; Site 63: Mermaid Yard, 1977–8; Site 75: Friernhay Street, 1981): Site Numbers refer to Chapter 2 above. The South Street crucibles and slag were published by Fox (1952a, 64, 93), while unpublished Ancient Monuments Laboratory Reports (AML) were produced for the Trichay Street, Rack Street, Mermaid Yard and Friernhay Street crucibles (Bayley 1989a; 1989b), with some of the Friernhay material published in Bayley 2001. Small amounts of iron smithing slag and hearth bottoms from Trichay Street, Rack Street, Friernhay Street and Mermaid Yard were assessed by Wilthew (1986).

As this evidence for metalworking was not published in *Roman Finds from Exeter* (Holbrook and Bidwell 1991), EAPIT provided the opportunity for a re-examination of this material using modern scientific techniques, the majority of the work being carried out by Carlotta Gardner at University College London as part of her PhD on *Metalworking Crucibles in Roman Britain* (Gardner 2018). In addition, David Dungworth, formerly of Historic England, carried out an assessment of crucibles from medieval contexts.

## **Assessment of the Roman crucibles**  *by Carlotta Gardner*

## *Introduction*

Metalworking remains from sites across Roman-period Exeter have previously been examined and published in books, papers and unpublished AML reports, as detailed in the introduction to this chapter and in more detail in Table 10.1, although little of this material has been investigated using scientific techniques. As part of the EAPIT project, material was therefore assessed from five sites – Friernhay Street (FH), Rack Street (RS), South Street (SS), Trichay Street (TS) and Mermaid Yard (MY) – and a selection, mainly crucibles, were analysed using a range of scientific techniques. The aims of this re-examination were to reveal the types of non-ferrous metallurgical processes that were taking place during this period in Exeter, to assess the types of materials that were being employed in the production of metallurgical ceramics, and to compare the results with our understanding of Roman period metalworking and crucibles elsewhere in Britain.

## *Abbreviations used*

	- pXRF: portable X-ray Fluorescence
	- RS: Rack Street

## *Material*

## *Rack Street (RS)*

Bayley (1989a) and Wilthew (1986) have previously assessed the metalworking debris from the Roman legionary and civilian phases at Rack Street. Most of the crucibles were from a dump of material relating to the demolition of the Roman legionary fortress in *c*. AD 75–80, although a fragment of melting hearth or furnace with a relined rim used for working gunmetal (an alloy of copper, tin and zinc) came from a late 2nd-century AD deposit (context 363–14), and a fragment of dense, lead-copper rich slag that could be from litharge (a by-product of the cupellation of silver) came from a late 4th-century AD context (Bayley 1989a, 6). A total of five crucible fragments (RS 1180, 1181, 1183c, and 1185 Nos. 1–2) from the Roman legionary phase, a piece of hearth/furnace lining (RS 363-14[a]) from the late 2nd-century AD dump, and pieces of slag and/or corroded metal (RS 1183c, 1215, 363-14[b]) were re-examined as part of this project.

## *Friernhay Street (FH)*

An assemblage previously examined by Bayley (1989b; 2001) included material from late military dumps against the back of the legionary fortress rampart with two crucible fragments used for copper-alloy smelting (FH 778 and 882) and two shallow hemispherical crucibles (FH 883 and 1535) used for cupellation (the separation of silver from base metals). Crucibles from a 2nd-century AD roadside ditch (FH 805) appear to have been used for 'parting' (the process of separating silver from gold): four sherds were found from thick-walled, possibly hemispherical handmade vessels that appear to have had diameters of 120–150 mm. The fabrics were oxidised-fired (whereas metal-melting crucibles are reduced-fired) and have a pale olive-green or deep bottle-green vitrified outer surface that looks like a glaze. Two (FH 778 and 822) of these 12 crucible fragments were re-analysed as part of this study, as well as one piece of slag (FH 837).

## *South Street (SS)*

Two crucible fragments (SS 62/1949.SF3a and SF3b) were sent for analysis that have previously been assessed, illustrated and published by Fox (1952a). They came from what at the time was interpreted as a 'kitchen workshop floor' (Fox 1952a, 64) but as this dated to *c*. AD 50–75 it was clearly associated with the Roman legionary fortress.

## *Mermaid Yard (MY)*

The material submitted from Mermaid Yard was made up of fragments of vitrified ceramic, pieces of slag, and corroded copper-alloy spills. The material was analysed using surface portable X-ray Fluorescence (pXRF), but apart from the metal spills, the material was fragmentary and undiagnostic and so no further analysis was completed.

## *Trichay Street (TS)*

Bayley (1989a) and Wilthew (1986) have previously assessed the metalworking debris from the Roman legionary *fabrica* at Trichay Street, and this material was not sent for assessment as part of this report. It mostly consisted of copper-alloy scraps and waste, mostly from brass armour fittings, along with iron smithing slag. There were a small number of handmade crucible fragments with an organic-tempered fabric that are probably derived from two or three vessels that had been used to melt brass. One had a globular form with an added layer of less refractory clay (EOL: extra outer layer), while the other was a thick-walled hemispherical form with the suggestion of a pinched-out pouring lip and a maximum diameter of *c.* 10 cm. Other material comprised corroded copper-alloy (that pXRF shows to be gunmetal in composition), and altogether this evidence appears to suggest the repair of Roman military armour within the legionary *fabrica*. Other material identified at the site includes a small ball of Egyptian blue and some undiagnostic material.

## *Methodology*

All the material was examined macroscopically, with a focus on recording and describing any key features. For the crucibles the form, whether an extra outer layer of clay (EOL) was applied, likely forming technique, fabric characterisation, and any slaggy residues adhering were recorded. Through this study crucibles were identified from three of the five sites (SS, RS and FH), as well as some smaller pieces of slag and corroded metal spills. The material was analysed using pXRF to determine the types of processes that they are evidence of.

There are a number of limitations in using pXRF for analysing corroded metal, slag and crucibles (Dungworth 2000; 2001; Dungworth and Starley 2009; Kearns *et al*. 2010) and therefore the data was used qualitatively. The key limitations are that pXRF is a surface technique. When analysing corroded metal this can cause a number of issues as various corrosion processes can enrich or deplete surfaces of particular elements. A specific issue for porous ceramics used in metalworking is that zinc, a metal commonly alloyed with copper from the Roman period onwards (Dungworth 2001), vaporises at the temperatures required to melt the metals it is frequently alloyed with. This results in high levels of zinc being identified in XRF spectra as it is readily absorbed by the ceramic. The results of pXRF analysis have been reported to reflect the qualitative nature of the data. Tables listing the samples and the 'level' of the alloying elements are included in the results section on a simple qualitative scale: ? possible detection, + low levels, ++ medium levels, +++ high levels detected, and blank where an element was not detected.

Nine of the crucible fragments and one metal spill were sampled for further analysis using scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectrometry (SEM-EDS). The fabrics were described and the vitrification level (Table 10.2) was recorded using the method developed by Maniatis and Tite (1981) and used by Freestone and Tite (1986). The same methodology for the analysis of crucible bodies outlined in Freestone and Tite (1986) and Martinón-Torres and Rehren (2009) was followed. With this method the 'bulk' and 'matrix' were analysed separately. The bulk analyses were performed at low magnification (x50 magnification) and assessed the chemical composition of the ceramic material generally, including

clay and inclusions. The 'matrix' was analysed at much higher magnification (x800) and is the 'relatively continuous phase made up by the vitrified clay' (Martinón-Torres 2005). SEM-EDS was also used to analyse the chemical composition of the slaggy residues and the phases within them.

## *Results and discussion*

## *Slag, metal spills and crucible residues*

The majority of the Roman crucibles from Exeter have visible residues adhering to the inner and outer surfaces. The results of pXRF of these residues, and the inner surfaces of the crucibles, shows that they were used to melt a variety of alloys, with brass and gunmetal – and sometimes those alloys with added lead – dominant (results summarised in Table 10.3). SEM-EDS analysis of the adhering residues confirm the pXRF results.

*Table 10.2 Abbreviations used to describe the vitrification stage of ceramics and their meaning*

Precious metal working is also evident. The reexamination of the material showed the presence of silver working/refining at both Rack Street and South Street. Sometimes, due to the very low concentration of silver in the residues, slag and metal spills, pXRF was unable to detect its presence but SEM-EDS was able to. At Rack Street a piece of slag and a metal spill show the presence of silver in low concentrations and at South Street slag adhering to a crucible and a piece of slag also show the presence of silver (Table 10.4).

Other potential evidence for silver working/refining may be present at South Street. Six crucible fragments analysed by Mr. Baker (Fox 1952a), which can no longer be located, apparently had an 'opaque glassy paste adhering' to them in which Mr. Baker identified high lead concentrations giving rise to his suggestion that they were probably associated with 'enamelling or lead preparation'. Though these crucible fragments could not be reanalysed it is possible that they are actually associated with silver refining or assaying (the determination of the quantity of a given metal, normally silver or gold, in an ore or alloy). Similar lead-rich glassy slag has been identified on a number of Roman crucibles from Exeter (Friernhay Street: Bayley 1989a; 2001), London (Gardner and Marshall in prep), the Roman fort at Brough (Bainbridge cited in Gardner 2009), and further afield in Germany (Rehren and Kraus, 1999), and where this glass has been analysed (Rehren and Kraus 1999; Gardner and Marshall forthcoming) it is thought to be associated with silver refining/assaying. As mentioned in the introduction to Friernhay Street, Bayley (1989b; 2001) found evidence for silver and gold working.

*Table 10.3 Qualitative results of pXRF analysis of crucibles from Exeter (?: possible detection;* + *low levels;* ++ *to* +++ *medium levels;* ++++ *high levels detected; where blank this element was not detected)*

*Table 10.4 Normalised composition (in weight percent) of four prills analysed within sample RS 1215 which came from a context dated to the later 4th century AD (nd = not detected)*

The evidence for copper-alloy working is unsurprising, with all site types often showing evidence for it. The precious metalworking, however, appears to be relatively abundant in Roman Exeter with evidence at three of the five sites investigated and with only a limited sample analysed, it is expected more evidence is present. Whilst the majority of the evidence appears to represent the refining/assaying of precious metals on a small scale, further investigation into the scale of the industry in Exeter may well be warranted due to the silver rich deposits nearby in the Tamar Valley (Smart 2014) and Combe Martin, in North Devon (Rippon *et al*. 2009).

## *Crucible characterisation*

A total of nine crucible fragments were identified within the assemblage of material from Roman Exeter. The crucibles from the three sites, with the exception of RS 1183c[a], are all handmade and appear to be shallow hemispherical forms, some with pouring lips moulded into the rim (*e.g.* Fig. 10.1). RS 1183c[a] is the only example of a wheel-thrown crucible seen in this study, and it is probably from a narrow-necked, flat-bottomed, wheel-thrown beaker. RS 363-14[a] is an oxidised (OXID) piece of ceramic which has been involved in, or exposed to, metalworking processes as it has a thick slag layer adhering to it with visible prills trapped within. The sample also appears to have had a second layer of clay applied: Bayley (1989a) has described it as a relined crucible or piece of hearth/furnace lining (H/FL). Macroscopically the fabrics of the crucibles appear quite consistent (Table 10.5). The majority are relatively fine-grained fabrics, with mineral inclusions (SAND) and the majority have voids characteristic of burnt out organic material (ORG), like straw or chaff. All are reduced fired (RED), with the exception of RS 343- 14[a] which is oxidised (OXID). Sample RS 363-14[b] is so heavily vitrified that it is no longer possible to identify the original fabric. There are two EOLs remaining on RS 1185[b] and RS 1180, with possible evidence that one was once attached to the wheel-thrown crucible RS 1183c[a]. The EOLs are typically heavily vitrified and bloated, and like sample RS 363-14[b], it is not possible to characterise the original fabric macroscopically.

*Fig. 10.1 Illustration of reconstructed crucible (SS.62/1949. SF3[a]) from South Street (drawing by R. Howard-Jones in Fox 1952a, fig. 8)*

*Table 10.5 Summary of crucible macroscopic fabrics*

## *Fabric characterisation*

Microscopic examination of the crucible fabrics, with SEM BSE imaging, revealed four fabrics (Table 10.6 and Fig, 10.2). The majority of the crucibles fall within Fabric 1 the most distinguishing feature of which is the voids left from the burning-out of organic inclusions and the presence of argillaceous inclusions. Crucibles are often tempered with organic material. The addition of this type of material improves the desired thermal properties (Hein *et al*. 2008) and improves the reducing environment, which when strong enough produces carbon monoxide which promotes the reduction of iron oxides in the ceramic to iron metal (Martinón-Torres and Verrocchio 2008) resulting in the presence of metallic iron droplets in the fabric (Fig. 10.3). This removes the majority of the iron oxides, which act as a flux, from the ceramic matrix resulting in a more refractory material (Freestone and Tite 1986). At higher magnifications these droplets are visible (white in colour, and circular in profile). This has happened in a number of the examples of Fabric 1 from Exeter, some crucibles showing higher

*Table 10.6 Fabric groups and their descriptions*

*Fig. 10.2 BSE images illustrating the four fabrics identified with the Exeter crucible assemblage. 1: RS 1181; 2: FH 778; 3: FH 822; 4:RS 1183c[a]*

*Fig. 10.3 BSE images demonstrating the presence of metallic iron droplets in the Fabric 1 crucibles. Left: iron droplets shown by white arrows; right: high magnification of rounded iron droplets within a glassy matrix (sample: RS 1180)*

concentrations than others. The argillaceous inclusions do not appear to be grog but are more likely argillaceous rock fragments (ARF) or clay pellets, both suggesting poor and inconsistent clay processing as they are not always present.

Fabrics 2 and 3 are similar but differ because of the bimodality of the quartz inclusions in Fabric 2. Fabric 4 is quite distinct from the others and is represented by the only wheel-thrown sample. The quartz inclusions and elongated voids are orientated parallel to the vessel walls and there are a number of voids which run around the quartz grains. The elongate voids are likely caused by the over-firing of the fabric during use as a crucible though they may also be caused by the shrinkage of the matrix during the drying phase of production (Herz and Garrison 1998).

All the crucibles which were examined with BSE imaging show that the quartz grains have a series of cracks within them. This is due to the α→β quartz transformation at *c*. 573 °C during firing, use and cooling (Martín-Márquez *et al*. 2008). The voids around a number of the quartz inclusions is due to their thermal expansion and subsequent shrinkage on cooling. Other thermal alterations of the fabrics include the vitrification of the ceramic matrix: in most cases there is a gradient from complete vitrification and medium to coarse bloating on the exterior to no vitrification in the middle of the crucible body. There is also evidence for the partial melting of feldspars, which occurs at temperatures exceeding 1,100–1,200 °C in oxidising environments (Rice 1987; Reedy 2008). Though this likely occurs at lower temperatures in reducing environments, it indicates that the charged crucibles were heated to around

1,100 °C to enable this partial melting, and consequently the correct temperature range required to for melting most copper-alloys.

Bulk chemical analysis (with SEM-EDS) indicates variation in the composition of the fabrics, most of which is influenced by the silica content. Although all the crucibles are abundant in quartz (silica) inclusions, there is variation in the amount of quartz in each sample and this can cause a 'dilution' effect, masking variations in the elemental composition of the ceramics. To reduce this influence the ceramic matrix was analysed. The results have been plotted in a biplot of alumina and the sum of the fluxing elements (Na2 O+MgO+K2 O+CaO+FeO) and coloured by fabric. The results show that there is one major compositional group (circled in Fig. 10.4) and three outliers. The major group comprises crucibles from all three sites and they have a medium alumina content (*c*. 13–18 wt.%) and relatively high fluxing elements (*c*. 8–11 wt.%). One outlier, RS 363-14[b], is characterised by its high silica content (82.4 wt.%) and low alumina (10.5 wt.%) and fluxing elements (3.3 wt.%). The second outlier, the only wheel-thrown crucible RS 1183c[a], is characterised by its high alumina content (22.3 wt.%) and the third, FH 822, by its high fluxing elements (14.0 wt.%) which is a result of particularly high sodium (3.4 wt.%) and potassium (7.5 wt.%) in comparison to the other material at Exeter (average sodium: 0.9 wt.%; and potassium: 2.9 wt.%).

There is some correlation between the fabric and chemical groupings with the main chemical group made up of Fabrics 1 and 2 and the outliers of Fabrics 3 and 4. The exception is RS 363-14b, which has been assigned to Fabric 1, but falls outside the main compositional group.

*Fig. 10.4 Biplot of alumina against the sum of the fluxes (Na2O+Mg+K2O+CaO+FeO), coloured by fabric (matrix analyses)*

This piece of ceramic is highly vitrified and bloated making it difficult to assign it accurately to a fabric group. Elemental analysis shows that it is likely made of different raw materials, although it is difficult to say any more about provenance due to the method of analysis and the lack of trace elemental data.

The refractoriness of ceramic materials used in metallurgical processes is an important consideration. Refractory materials are those able to withstand high temperatures without decomposition and resist various thermal and physical stresses. Clays rich in silica and/ or alumina are best suited as they tend to be low in iron and alkali earth elements which act as fluxes. The use of refractory clays for crucible production really begins in the Roman period in Britain (Freestone and Tite 1986), though of course there are exceptions. However, low refractory clays are still used for their production during this period but are often adapted with the addition of sand (rich in silica (quartz)) and/or organic material. Previous work suggests that metalworkers were aware of the suitability of different clays and clay paste recipes for use as crucibles, and whilst in modern terms they may not be classed as refractory, they were fit for purpose. The material from Exeter is technically not highly refractory, with relatively low alumina and high fluxing elements (Na2 O+MgO+K2 O+CaO+FeO), although due to the large volume of quartz inclusions and in most examples also organic matter present, whether intentional or not, the ceramics appear to have been suitable for use at high temperatures.

## *Summary and conclusion*

The assessment and analysis of metallurgical debris, both past and present, has shown that a range of small-scale metallurgical processes took place across Exeter during the Roman military and civilian phases of occupation. During the Roman legionary phase iron smithing and copper-alloy working occurred within the Trichay Street *fabrica*, copper-alloy was worked at South Street, while dumps of material against the fortress defences at Friernhay Street and Rack Street produced evidence for silver and copper-alloy working. The Early Roman town probably saw gold working at Friernhay Street, while copper-alloy was worked at Rack Street in the early Roman period, and silver cupellation is also evident there in the Roman period. The range of processes identified in Exeter is typical of the Roman period where a large increase in the use of metals sees evidence appear at most sites in the province. The significant variation in copper-alloy compositions is consistent with Roman copper-alloys (Dungworth 1996) and our understanding of the prolific recycling of metals during the period (Craddock 2009, 110).

The crucibles assessed in this study appear to be fairly consistent in form, all but one being small, shallow, hemispherical bowls with pouring spouts moulded into the rim. This is a typical handmade form of the Roman period with examples found at sites such as Doncaster and Colchester (Bayley 1992). The abundant quartz and organic matter in the fabrics used to make these handmade forms is also consistent with evidence from across the country. There is one wheel-thrown crucible which is made of a distinctive fabric and also falls away from the main group chemically. This indicates that, though handmade forms predominate, wheel-thrown forms were in use within the town, though to what extent is unclear with such a small assemblage of material. Evidence for the application and use of EOLs in Exeter is limited, with only two crucibles showing clear evidence and one potential other example. EOLs were used across the Roman empire but are largely associated with wheelthrown forms, and Gardner (2018) has shown that this is a technology which predominates in high-status and well-connected Roman settlements such as provincial capitals and *coloniae*.

Overall, this material is representative for a site of this size and status in the Roman period. There is potential for further research into the precious metals industry in the area, which should include not only the metallurgical ceramics but also a study of the other metallurgical debris. As the analysis of a metal spill from Rack Street shows, there is potential for other materials to provide supporting evidence. Equally, a wider study including surrounding sites and a consideration of the silver rich deposits in the Tamar Valley and Combe Martin, in North Devon, may be beneficial.

## **Assessment of the medieval crucibles and other archaeometalurgical debris**  *by David Dungworth*

Each crucible fragment was examined in turn (following Historic England 2015) and a full catalogue can be found in Appendix 10.1. Although the catalogue contains 34 entries, 15 of these are probably not crucibles and in most cases the other vessels are simply sooted rather than vitrified. In addition, three of the catalogue entries are fragments of vitrified hearth lining. This leaves just 14 catalogued crucibles and one 'heating tray'. Given the limited number of crucibles from medieval contexts, the limited dating of these contexts, and the possibility that some or all of them could be residual, the potential of these crucibles to provide information on the manufacture and use of crucibles in medieval

Exeter is restricted. As a result it was decided not to proceed with the detailed SEM-EDS analysis of the crucibles.

One of the items assessed does warrant more detailed reporting (Catalogue No. 9; Fig. 10.5). This large medieval ceramic object was recovered during the 2005 excavations at Princesshay (Site 156, context 1555, sf 2425). The artefact was identified during excavation as a fragment of a crucible, although the curve suggests that it had a diameter of about 300 mm (much larger than any previously identified medieval crucibles). In addition, the fabric is mostly oxidised fired, where crucibles are usually reduced fired, in order to protect the contents from oxidation. There is an opening close to the 'rim' which displays more vitrification than the other parts of the object. While there appear to be no exact parallels for this object, it is proposed that this is a portable hearth. The 'rim' would have actually been the base and rested on the ground, and the opening would have been a bellows hole.

*Fig. 10.5 Fragment of large ceramic object, possibly a portable hearth, from Princesshay*

## Appendix 10.1

## Catalogue of medieval crucibles and other archaeometallurgical debris (for Site Numbers see Chapter 2)

*Appendix 10.1. Catalogue of medieval crucibles and other archaeometallurgical debris* 295

## Dendrochronology: The Roman and Medieval Timbers from Exeter

## *Cathy Tyers*

## **Introduction**

This chapter briefly summarises a re-evaluation of dendrochronological analyses undertaken on archaeological material from Exeter in the 1970s and 1980s. Those sites are placed within a more general context of dendrochronology in Exeter, and its wider environs, as well as addressing questions relating to the source of timber utilised in Devon.

## **Setting the scene**

Dendrochronology is an independent and precise scientific dating technique that is now well established and widely used on archaeological sites and historic buildings. The information obtained is a valuable component underpinning the discovery, identification and understanding of assets in the historic environment, aiding decisions relating to protection, management and conservation, and enhancing appreciation and enjoyment of our buried archaeology and standing buildings at both national and local levels. However, whilst there is now a robust network of oak (*Quercus* spp) data in existence across much of England with the last millennium being particularly well-replicated, the situation was very different four decades ago. The potential of dendrochronology in relation to (pre)historic assets was only just beginning to be fully realised and more widely investigated, these investigations initially centring on archaeological excavations being undertaken in major urban areas. The dendrochronological work undertaken on excavated timbers from a small number of sites in Exeter during the 1970s and early 1980s was therefore at the forefront of the development of dendrochronology as a dating tool in England.

It was John Collis who initiated dendrochronological studies in Exeter, collecting samples from waterlogged medieval deposits at Goldsmith Street in 1971/2 (Sites 37 and 39; Chapter 6 above) and submitting them to his Sheffield University colleague Ruth Morgan shortly afterwards. This early initiative showed that some of the excavated material was producing long tree-ring sequences, although no dating was achieved in this earliest round of work. Collis' lead was followed in 1972/3 when a further valuable series of Late Saxon and later medieval samples was recovered from Trichay Street (Site 42; Chapter 5 above). This material formed the basis of the earliest dendrochronological work in the South-West Peninsula, undertaken by Morgan and Hillam in 1976–8 and published some years later (Hillam 1984a; Morgan 1984). At that time the network of oak reference data (chronologies) in England was only starting to be established (*e.g.* Fletcher *et al.* 1974; Barefoot 1975; Morgan 1976; Fletcher 1977; Siebenlist-Kerner 1978) and thus the successful dating of sites in the wider South-West was reliant on reference chronologies from London and the South-East, as well as from Germany and Ireland (Baillie 1977a; 1977b; Hollstein 1980). This comparative data was added to throughout the 1980s as the result of archaeological excavation and the increasing analysis of historic buildings. This resulted in the network of dated chronologies steadily becoming more widespread and better replicated, although it continued to be dominated by the South-East (including London) and Midland regions with some exceptions, notably the urban centres of York and Carlisle.

From the early 1970s the Exeter Museums Archaeological Field Unit (EMAFU) had also collected samples from historic buildings in the city, especially those in the course of demolition or alteration. Here the initial results were often disappointing as it became apparent that much of the timber was fast-grown (*e.g.* comments in Hillam 1984a). There were, however, some successes such as the dating of 41–2 High Street (Mills 1988; and see Bedford and Salvatore 1993a) and Exeter Guildhall (Bridge 1986; Mills 1988). Some material collected in those early years, such as that from 38 North Street (demolished in 1972: EAPIT 1, Fig. 1.6; Thorp 2012) has proved datable as more reference material has accumulated in recent years (Tyers 2012) and some buildings have been subsequently revisited (*e.g.* Howard *et al*. 1999; 2004).

By the early 1980s the excavations had yielded a good series of samples with felling dates ranging from the late 10th/early 11th to early 13th centuries, along with a smaller amount of later material, mainly from historic buildings, dating to the 15th century and later, but with a large gap between the two. With this in mind John Allan drew up a proposal for a partnership between the EMAFU and Sheffield University which would bridge this chronological gap by sampling the series of well-preserved medieval roofs at Exeter Cathedral, where there were very large numbers of timbers of late 13th and 14th-century date. The early work, which sampled about 180 timbers, was presented in Mills' PhD thesis (Mills 1988), and in 1999 the programme resumed with Historic England (then English Heritage) support, and it is still ongoing (Howard *et al.* 2001a; 2001b; Arnold *et al.* 2003; 2006a; 2006b; forthcoming; Hurford *et al.* 2009). With well over 300 samples examined, the cathedral is one of the most fully dendrochronologically investigated buildings in the country.

Nevertheless, Exeter and the South-West Peninsula remained somewhat isolated dendrochronologically, and by the late 1980s remarkably little progress had been made in the wider region, particularly bearing in mind its wealth of extant historic buildings. The network of dated sites across Devon and the wider South-West region in general was very sparse and the overall success rate (the number of dated timbers as a percentage of the number of timbers considered suitable for analysis) was far lower (*c*. 30–35%) than across the better represented areas of the country, where on average approximately 70–80% of timbers deemed suitable for analysis were successfully dated by dendrochronology, at least for the last millennium. It was suggested at the time that the problems encountered with respect to successful dendrochronological analysis in Exeter, and the county of Devon as a whole, were potentially related to the apparent preponderance of timbers derived from young trees with complacent growth (*i.e.* lack of variation in ring width which theoretically indicates that the growth of a particular tree is relatively unaffected by variation in climate). Other potential issues considered included the reuse of timbers resulting in multiple woodland sources being represented in a single structure, the varied topography producing differences in tree growth over quite small areas, and the possibility of importation of timber from further afield in England or elsewhere in Europe.

The 1990s saw a rapid rise in the use of dendrochronology, particularly in relation to historic buildings, and hence a substantial improvement to the network of reference chronologies across mainland Britain. This network of reference chronologies now extends back over 7,000 years but the geographical and temporal coverage remains variable and it is still, not surprisingly, dominated by material from the last millennium. Historic England (English Heritage) were exploiting the potential of dendrochronology with respect to the understanding of the historic environment and were undertaking increasing amounts of dendrochronology. This included a significant amount of work undertaken in Devon, partly through work on sites (*e.g.* Groves and Hillam 1993; Groves 1998) undertaken in support of the strategic objectives of the then English Heritage and partly through the Devon Dendrochronology Project (Groves 2005; Tyers *et al.* forthcoming). The Devon Dendrochronology Project was jointly funded by Historic England (then English Heritage) and Devon County Council with Keystone Historic Buildings Consultants being commissioned to undertake the initial selection of candidate buildings and the recording of buildings selected for dendrochronological analysis. The primary aims of the project were to address and elucidate the problematic nature of dendrochronology in Devon. It was hoped that a targeted approach through this project, in combination with casework, would enhance the network of reference chronologies in Devon, thereby increasing the success rate of dendrochronology within the county and refining typological understanding of the development of traditional building techniques.

The Devon Dendrochronology Project demonstrated, as had previously been suspected, that there is indeed a preponderance of timbers derived from young trees, certainly with respect to historic buildings dating to the 14th to 17th centuries, resulting in far more sites being considered unsuitable for dendrochronological analysis than in many other areas of England. The extensive assessments undertaken of historic buildings, or phases within, for the Devon Dendrochronology Project showed that around 30–35% were deemed unsuitable for analysis as they were constructed using timbers with too few rings (<40–50) for reliable dating purposes (*i.e.* timbers that had been derived from young trees still in their formative growth period), although recent technical advances now mean that some of these buildings would be considered suitable for analysis. This is in stark contrast to, for example, Herefordshire where fewer than 5% of buildings are rejected at assessment stage but similar to, for example, Kent. However, the work undertaken in the 1990s and subsequent decades demonstrated that in Devon, and other areas considered problematic, significantly enhancing the density of site chronologies in these peripheral/ problematic areas, thereby forming a well-replicated local network of chronologies, results in a significant rise in success rates.

## **Re-evaluation**

The archaeological sites highlighted for re-evaluation were those originally analysed in the 1970s and 1980s. The sites are listed below (with the Site Numbers referring to Chapter 2 in this volume):

With the possible exception of a very limited amount of remeasuring on some of the staves from Goldsmith Street held in the Royal Albert Memorial Museum (RAMM), this project was reliant on the availability of the original ring width measurements, the majority of which were at a resolution of 0.1 mm rather than the 0.01 mm resolution now standardly used. It is worth noting that long-term storage of waterlogged samples in a waterlogged state in anything other than strictly controlled conditions results in severe degradation and thus, broadly speaking, where samples had been retained they were no longer in a state of preservation that allowed remeasurement anyway. Long-term storage of such samples remains a national issue.

A series of samples present in the RAMM stores were identifi ed for rapid assessment but, following careful re-examination of the samples initially selected during the rapid assessment as possibly worth further investigation, only a small number of additional samples were incorporated into this project. Details of the reanalysis of each site and the newly analysed samples from Exe Bridge, Friernhay Street and Paul Street are provided in Tyers forthcoming and summarised in Figs 11.1 and

11.2 in which felling dates are given using the relevant sapwood estimates (Baillie 1995; English Heritage 1998). While the series of newly analysed barrel staves from Paul Street were proven to be coeval, they unfortunately remain undated by dendrochronology (Tyers forthcoming).

The four timbers from Paul Street remain the only ones dated from Roman Exeter. Two of the Trichay Street timbers and one of the Exe Bridge timbers are potentially the earliest dated medieval timbers from these excavations with *terminus post quem* dates for felling of AD 931, AD 944, and AD 951 respectively. A group of Goldsmith Street timbers were felled towards the mid 11th century and appear to potentially just pre-date a group from Trichay Street. A further series of timbers from Trichay Street date to just over a century later in the late 12th century, whilst a few, along with the Friernhay Street timber, date to the early or mid 13th century. A second timber from Exe Bridge probably just pre-dates the mid 16th-century 198 High Street timber, which in turn is likely to just pre-date several timbers from Goldsmith Street that were probably felled in the latter half of the 16th century. The dated timbers from the Quay represent several different felling periods ranging from the mid 16th to early 17th centuries.

In addition to the sites indicated above, samples from standing buildings, excluding the main structural material from the Cathedral which is outside of the scope of this project, also analysed in the 1970s or 1980s were re-evaluated, but apart from confi rming the dates obtained for the Guildhall, 41/42 High Street and Bishop's Throne in the Cathedral (Bridge 1986; Mills 1988), no additional samples from either these or other buildings were dated.

## **The current state of dendrochronology in Exeter and Devon**

Devon now has a well-replicated robust continuous chronology produced from the 90+ dated historic buildings

*Fig. 11.1 Bar diagram showing the dated Roman timbers from Paul Street with individual felling dates/date ranges. White bars: measured heartwood rings; red bars: measured sapwood rings (© Historic England)*

300 *Cathy Tyers*

*Fig. 11.2 Bar diagram showing the dated medieval timbers from Trichay Street, Goldsmith Street, Exe Bridge, Quay, 198 High Street, and Friernhay Street with individual felling dates/date ranges. White bars: measured heartwood rings (native oak); grey bars: measured heartwood rings (Irish oak); red bars: measured sapwood rings; narrow bars: unmeasured rings (© Historic England)*

*Fig. 11.3 Map showing the network of sites across Devon from which there are dated reference chronologies. Green: living or recently felled trees; red: medieval/post-medieval; blue: Roman (© Historic England)*

(including Exeter Cathedral and various other multiphase buildings) and a small number of archaeological sites (see for example the Historic England Research Report Series reports http://research.historicengland.org.uk/ and the Vernacular Architecture Group Dendrochronology Database http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archives/ view/vag\_dendro/). This continuous chronology spans the 12th to early 21st centuries and incorporates the majority of dated individual site chronologies, thought to represent local timber resources, plus the small number of woodland sites where living trees or recently felled trees were analysed to produce known local site chronologies (Fig. 11.3). There remain discrete areas within Devon that, for this period, require further targeted coverage, probably due to the varied geographical nature of the county, but Devon and the wider South-West region in general remains very poorly represented before the 12th

century. Thus, whilst dendrochronology has clearly made signifi cant advances with respect to sites dating to much of the last millennium in Devon, it has basically not advanced with respect to sites dating to the early 12th century or earlier, with the Paul Street Roman data still being the only dated chronology for the Roman period in the South-West Peninsula.

The number of dated timbers in Devon from the last millennium is approaching 1,500 and the success rate is now far closer to the national average. Approximately 40% of these dated timbers are from Exeter and 60% from the rest of the county. Within Exeter approximately 60% of the dated samples are from the Cathedral and only 40% from other sites, the latter including high status buildings with clear ecclesiastical connections such as the Bishop's Palace, the Archdeacon of Exeter's House and The Deanery. The felling periods identifi ed for the

*Fig. 11.4 Diagram summarising the felling periods identifi ed from sites in Exeter for the last millennium. Note that most entries represent a series of dated timbers and that some entries represent either multiple or extended felling periods. Black: English oak timbers; red: Irish oak timbers; blue: Baltic oak timbers; green: Scandinavian conifer timbers (© Historic England)*

dated sites in Exeter are illustrated in Fig. 11.4. The vast majority of the dated buildings, excluding the Cathedral, date from the early 15th century through to the late 16th century. The bulk of the dated timbers from the Cathedral date from the very late 13th century through to the mid/late 14th century and it is noticeable that the only other building with late 13th/early 14th-century timbers identifi ed is the gatehouse to the Bishop's Palace. There are, however, timbers from the Cathedral dating to the mid 16th through to the early 20th century, while timbers dating to the mid 13th century and earlier are all from archaeological excavations.

## **Timber source**

Documentary sources suggest that much of the timber utilised in Exeter Cathedral and civic buildings within the city was from woodland resources in Devon, generally not too far removed from Exeter (Erskine 1981; 1983; Juddery and Staniforth 1986; Mills 1988). The dendrochronological evidence, in general, accords with the documentary evidence and with the overall assumption of the predominant use of relatively local timber sources in Exeter and across the county (see below and Tyers forthcoming), although it should be noted that dendroprovenancing is a tool that is limited to distinguishing between broadly regional sources (*e.g.* Bridge 2012; Bridge and Fowler 2019). Two buildings, the Grade I listed Leigh Barton which lies approximately 1.3 km north-east of Churchstow in the South Hams (Groves 1998; 2006), and the Grade II\* listed Broomham which lies approximately 3.1 km north-east of King's Nympton in North Devon (Groves 2005), are used to illustrate the likelihood of use of relatively local timber sources through the level of similarity of their site chronologies

with reference chronologies produced from other individual sites (Figs 11.5 and 11.6). The level of similarity is affected by various factors including replication (sample depth) and chronology length, whilst the distribution of reference chronologies with which signifi cant levels of similarity is shown depends on the overall distribution of contemporary reference chronologies. For illustrative purposes, the buildings chosen therefore have broadly coeval chronologies spanning 1345–1484 (Leigh Barton) and 1370–1464 (Broomham). These two examples are both thought to indicate the use of relatively local timber sources with the distribution of reference chronologies being what is considered typical of such material. Leigh Barton shows the highest levels of similarity with other sites from the South-West Peninsula but also shows a trend up the west of England and into Wales. This is more pronounced for Broomham and it is of note that both show some signifi cant, although at a lower level, similarity with southern Ireland (and Leigh Barton with west Scotland) but no signifi cant levels of similarity with chronologies from France, Belgium, Germany or beyond.

*Fig. 11.5 Dendroprovenancing of the 140-year, 15-timber, site chronology, LBC-A, from Leigh Barton, in Churchstow, spanning the period 1345–1484. Light blue square: location of Leigh Barton; red circles: site chronologies derived from oak timbers of likely mainland Britain origin showing signifi cant similarity; dark blue circles: site chronologies derived from oak timbers of non-mainland Britain origin showing signifi cant similarity (© Historic England)*

*Fig. 11.6 Dendroprovenancing of the 95-year, 9-timber, site chronology, KNBH-T9, from Broomham, in King's Nympton, spanning the period 1370–1464. Light blue square: location of Broomham; red circles: site chronologies derived from oak timbers of likely mainland Britain origin showing signifi cant similarity; dark blue circles: site chronologies derived from oak timbers of non-mainland Britain origin showing signifi cant similarity (© Historic England)*

A series of dated timbers from 46 High Street, in Exeter (Arnold and Howard 2009), the site chronology from which spans 1309–1491, show a similar trend in chronology distribution up western England and Wales, as well as some lower levels of similarity with both Ireland and right up into the west of Scotland (Fig. 11.7). This chronology is both better replicated and slightly longer than the chronologies from Broomham and Leigh Barton and it is noticeable that it shows more extensive similarity to chronologies over towards the east of England. The overall conclusion is that the dated timbers from 46 High Street, in Exeter, are likely to have been derived from relatively local sources.

Documentary evidence makes it clear that as early as the 12th century there was signifi cant trade in European timber, operated through organised routes (*e.g.* Salzman 1952; Dollinger 1970; Kent 1973; Fedorowicz 1980; Clarke 1992; Bowett 2012). Initially this trade was predominantly timber brought in for specialist purposes, such as oak planking or deal (softwood) boards, and formed only part of the cargo, although during the mid 17th century there was a signifi cant rise in the importation of baulks, dominated by pine (*Pinus sylvestris* L.), that is maintained throughout the latter centuries of the last millennium. By the mid 18th century a number of Baltic ports were sending cargoes consisting solely of timber to England, these being dominated by material suitable for general construction purposes. Dendrochronology has provided supporting evidence through the identifi cation of imported timbers (Bonde *et al*. 1997; Wazny 2002; Daly 2007; Tyers 2010). In England, Irish timbers have been identifi ed in, for example, Salisbury Cathedral (Miles 2002a; 2002b), German timbers in, for example, Peterborough Cathedral (Tyers and Tyers 2015), and numerous instances of Baltic timbers have been identifi ed (*e.g.* Groves 1992; Tyers 1998; Tyers 2003; 2014; Miles *et al.* 2004). In Exeter the 14th-century vertical oak boards from the Cathedral Song School door and the *c*. 1500 oak ceiling boards at Bowhill have been identifi ed as of Baltic origin (Hurford *et al*. 2009; Groves 2004), whilst the mid 18th-century pine timbers in the Cathedral nave south aisle roof have been identifi ed as Scandinavian in origin (Arnold *et al*. forthcoming).

*Fig. 11.7 Dendroprovenancing of the 183-year, 25-timber, site chronology, EXTHSQ01, from 46 High Street, in Exeter, spanning the period 1309–1491. Light blue square: location of 46 High Street; red circles: site chronologies derived from oak timbers of likely mainland Britain origin showing signifi cant similarity; dark blue circles: site chronologies derived from oak timbers of non-mainland Britain origin showing signifi cant similarity (© Historic England)*

Hillam (1978a; 1984a) had originally raised the possibility that some of the Trichay Street timbers were of Irish origin but it was concluded at that time that this was relatively unlikely. It has been noted through documentary evidence, however, that there are strong links between the South-West Peninsula and Ireland and that the Exeter Cathedral accounts indicate the use of boards from Ireland and Wales in the early 14th century (Erskine 1981, 87, 89, 138). The possibility of the presence of Irish timber at Trichay Street was therefore considered worthy of reinvestigation, bearing in mind the development of the network of Irish data in the intervening decades, and this clearly demonstrates that at least some of these timbers – those dating to the late 12th and 13th centuries (Fig. 11.2) – are likely to be of Irish origin. They show the highest levels of similarity with reference chronologies from the south and east of Ireland, as well as chronologies from Salisbury Cathedral identifi ed as representing Irish origin timber (Figs 11.8 and 11.9). These seven timbers from Trichay Street identifi ed as likely Irish origin can therefore be added to the handful

of other sites now identifi ed in England as potentially having timber from Ireland.

The provenancing of other timbers from Trichay Street is, however, not so clear and highlights some of the problems with dendroprovenancing. The chronology from the earliest group of Trichay Street timbers, dating to the early/mid 11th century (Fig. 11.2), shows a high level (*t*-value = 8.0) of similarity with the chronology formed from the group of 11 timbers of similar date from Goldsmith Street (Fig. 11.2). The combined sequence from these two groups of timbers has been successfully dated but relevant reference chronologies are very sparse in the South-West Peninsula and north into Wales and the dating is therefore reliant on well-replicated long reference chronologies from further afi eld (Fig. 11.10). The lack of high levels of similarity with either Irish or French/Belgium/German chronologies, compared to the similarity demonstrated with southern English chronologies, albeit somewhat more distant from Exeter, is taken to suggest that this material may well be English and potentially from relatively local sources. However,

*Fig. 11.8 Dendroprovenancing of the 288-year, 2-timber, site chronology, EXTS-t2c, from Trichay Street, in Exeter, spanning the period 929–1216. Light blue square: location of Trichay Street; red circles: site chronologies derived from oak timbers of likely mainland Britain origin showing signifi cant similarity; dark blue circles: site chronologies derived from oak timbers of non-mainland Britain origin showing signifi cant similarity (© Historic England)*

due to the lack of a strong local, or even regional, network of chronologies for the relevant period, the source remains uncertain, as it also does for the group of fi ve late 12th-century timbers from Trichay Street (Fig. 11.2) that are again thought likely to be of English origin (Tyers forthcoming).

This early/mid 11th-century probably English material and the late 12th/13th-century Irish material is predominantly radially split planks, whilst the late 12th-century probably English material is, with one exception, baulks (Hillam 1978a; Morgan 1980). The early/mid 11th-century probably English material from both Goldsmith Street and Trichay Street has a tendency to be derived from generally slower-grown and longer-lived trees than the late 12th/13th-century Irish material (Tyers forthcoming). This latter is very different from the late 12th-century material, probably of English origin, which is derived from faster-grown, younger, trees (*ibid*.). These observations are clearly based on very limited amounts of material but both the early probable English timbers and the Irish timbers are broadly similar in general characteristics to oak timbers subsequently widely imported from Germany and the Baltic region. This, combined with those apparently local timbers felled in the order of a century later used in the Cathedral *(ibid*.), suggests that the local environs did contain trees that could produce timber of a similar quality to imported material, which raises questions as to the accessibility of local resources.

A broadly comparable picture is apparent in Bristol where archaeological material dating to the mid 12th to early 13th centuries, and thus equivalent to that of the Exeter material investigated, shows similarities with respect to source and characteristics to that of Exeter. The majority of archaeological material from Bristol, at present, appears more likely to be of English origin (Tyers forthcoming) probably derived from sources in the surrounding hinterland in the South-West and West Midlands but, although this is highly probable for some material from Dundas Wharf and 1–2 Redcliff Street (Nicholson and Hillam 1987; Arnold and Howard 2016), it is less clear cut for other material from Dundas Wharf and Cabot Circus (Nicholson and Hillam 1987; Tyers 2013) and is again with the proviso noted above regarding the geographical coverage of the network of chronologies

*Fig. 11.9 Dendroprovenancing of the 149-year, 5-timber, site chronology, EXTS-t5b, from Trichay Street, in Exeter, spanning the period 1030–1178. Light blue square: location of Trichay Street; red circles: site chronologies derived from oak timbers of likely mainland Britain origin showing signifi cant similarity; dark blue circles: site chronologies derived from oak timbers of non-mainland Britain origin showing signifi cant similarity (© Historic England)*

for the relevant period. However, the presence of a small amount of probable Irish origin material, dating to the mid 12th century, has now been identifi ed at Dundas Wharf, this appearing to be derived from similar sources to the Exeter material in the south and east of Ireland (Tyers forthcoming).

## **Concluding remarks**

The robust nature of dendrochronology has been clearly demonstrated by the validation of the original analyses undertaken on material from various sites in Exeter in the 1970s and 1980s. Dendrochronology has since progressed signifi cantly in Devon, with numerous sites having been successfully dated from the last millennium, producing a strong local network of reference data for the 12th to early 21st centuries. This re-evaluation has also highlighted the now apparently secure provenance of some of the Trichay Street timbers as of Irish origin. These Irish timbers, along with other material in Exeter of Baltic and Scandivanian origin, do, however, appear to be the exceptions with the vast majority of dated timbers from Exeter, and the rest of the county, appearing to be from relatively local sources. It is, however, important to bear in mind that dendroprovenancing is an area of investigation under constant development with the ever-increasing network of reference chronologies and as further statistical tools are developed (Bridge and Fowler 2019). One of the key factors in relation to dendroprovenancing remains its reliance on the availability of reference data composed of local timber, as opposed to heavily replicated regional chronologies, and that this varies tremendously both geographically and temporally. This is clearly an issue with the early to mid 11th-century material from Trichay Street and Goldsmith Street whose provenance, although considered likely to be southern English, is unproven. The very importance of Exeter as a historic regional centre and its proximity to the English Channel actually increases the potential issues relating to the use of non-local timber and means that dendroprovenancing will be an ongoing part of the understanding of historic timber supply in Exeter, in spite of the apparent predominance of timber derived from relatively local sources.

*Fig. 11.10 Dendroprovenancing of the 272-year, 18-timber, site chronology, EXTS7GS1, from Trichay Street and Goldsmith Street, in Exeter, spanning the period 775–1046. Light blue square: location of Trichay Street/Goldsmith Street; red circles: site chronologies derived from oak timbers of likely mainland Britain origin showing signifi cant similarity; dark blue circles: site chronologies derived from oak timbers of non-mainland Britain origin showing signifi cant similarity (© Historic England)*

## **Acknowledgements**

John Allan, Ian Tyers and Martin Bridge are thanked for invaluable discussions during the writing of this chapter. Sharon Soutar (HE Graphics Offi cer) is thanked for her patience over the production of all of the map-based fi gures.

## Pottery Supply in Roman Exeter and the South-West

## *Paul Bidwell*

*with contributions by Kamal Badreshany and Roger T. Taylor*

## **Introduction**

The most striking feature of pottery supply at Roman Exeter is the huge imbalance between the range and volume of imports in the military period and the much greater reliance on local and regional sources in the later town. The contrast is very evident in the publications of pottery from excavations in 1971–9 and from the following decade (Holbrook and Bidwell 1991; 1992). The first of these publications includes type series of the local and regional coarse wares, and also an important study by Kay Hartley (1991) of the British and imported mortaria. During the last 20 years there have been fewer excavations, but several informative pottery assemblages have been recovered. Their publications are pending; the most extensive reports will be on the pottery from Princesshay (Site 156) and St Loye's College (Bidwell forthcoming a and b).

Substantial advances in understanding pottery supply at Exeter have been made possible by studies published since the beginning of the 1990s of other pre- and early Flavian fortresses and forts, as at Usk and Lincoln, and of towns such as Dorchester. Clear differences can be seen, but varying methods of quantification often give rise to problems in making detailed comparisons. In some instances this is because the reports were prepared in the 1980s or even earlier, when there was no common approach to quantification, and then appeared in print many years later. At Exeter much of the pottery was catalogued in the later 1970s when only weights and minimum numbers were recorded, and after 1980 estimated rim equivalents (EREs) were used instead of minimum numbers; only amphorae, mortaria and fine ware sherds were counted, a method not applied to other coarse wares

because of the different degrees to which their various fabrics fragmented.

The fortress at Usk is the obvious site for comparison with Exeter because both were established in the early Neronian period and have the largest amounts of published pottery amongst all the 1st-century AD military sites in western Britain. Work began on the pottery from the fortress in 1967 and was completed in 1981, but a further 12 years elapsed before the results were published (Greene 1993). Quantification of the coarse wares from selected groups was mainly by minimum numbers which prevents direct comparisons with Exeter. Fortunately, there is another way of assessing the assemblages at the two sites and determining the relative importance of various wares. From the excavations at Usk in 1965–76 there were 125 legible samian stamps on South Gaulish and early Lezoux wares (Hartley and Dickinson 1993); the equivalent figure from all sites dug at Exeter in 1971–90 but including stamps from Montans was 106. There is no reason to think that there would have been any great difference in the numbers of samian vessels in relation to those of other classes that were used at the two fortresses, and these figures might be taken to indicate in broad terms that the overall assemblage at Usk was probably only about a quarter as large again as that from the specified sites at Exeter. The demand for amphora-borne products would also have been similar. From Exeter there were 8–10 amphora stamps of 1st-century AD date (Holbrook and Bidwell 1991, 219; Williams 1992, 61–2) and 15 from Usk (Brook 1993), suggesting that the difference in the size of the two overall assemblages was perhaps a little larger than the numbers of samian stamps suggest. The nine stamps on north Gaulish mortaria at Exeter (Hartley 1991, 221–3), as opposed to the four from Usk (Hartley 1993, 420–3), could be seen as a contrary indication, but as noted below, Exeter relied much more on imported mortaria than Usk.

There will always be reservations about these sorts of comparisons: the full legionary occupation at Exeter lasted longer than at Usk, and some of the 1st-century AD pottery at both sites is associated with later civilian occupation. Small differences in the presence of certain wares in overall assemblages can only be regarded as significant if they have been quantified using the same methods; this is almost never the case at major military sites and towns in Britain or indeed elsewhere in the north-west provinces. If, however, the differences are very large, involving factors in whole numbers rather than fractions, they can be regarded as meaningful. London has produced amounts of 1st-century AD pottery many times larger than at Exeter and Usk. More precise figures are unknown, but in simple terms if from Exeter there are the same numbers of a certain class of import as at London, at Exeter such imports can be seen to be have played a much greater part in the supply of pottery than at London. The same considerations apply of course to the pottery from the town at Exeter, though comparisons are even more difficult. Dorchester, a town of much the same size as Exeter and drawing on many of the same sources of pottery, is particularly relevant, but the only major quantified assemblage is from Greyhound Yard (Seager Smith and Davies 1993). Comparisons with Silchester and London, where there are many detailed quantifications of the pottery, are often instructive, but those towns depended on supply systems that were different from those that served the South-West.

A central theme of what follows is comparisons between sites, and the difficulties that have been outlined explain why they are necessarily laborious and unsystematic. The result, it is hoped, will be a clearer picture of pottery supply to Exeter and the general economy of the fortress and later town. There is much more that could be done with the data, already published or soon to appear, particularly in establishing the full extent to which pottery use varied at the different types of site which were dependent on the Exeter fortress. This is a field of research that depends very much on detailed quantifications, and past practices are as much a problem at Exeter as elsewhere (Rippon 2017, 337–40). Despite the repeated issue of standards and guidance since the 1980s, the latest published four years ago (Barclay *et al.* 2016), for many reasons these problems are likely to endure, not least because of slender resources and conflicting priorities in post-excavation programmes.

Note that the term 'military period' in the South-West spans the period from *c*. AD 55 to *c*. AD 80/85, applying to the area traditionally regarded as the territory of the Dumnonii. Fabric codes refer to Tomber and Dore 1998 unless otherwise stated.

## **The Iron Age background**

Until recently no sites were known in the vicinity of Exeter where Iron Age occupation had continued into the earlier 1st century AD, and it was thus uncertain whether pottery was produced locally in the decades before the Roman conquest (Holbrook and Bidwell 1991, 15). The existence in this period of a local tradition – Late Iron Age Plain Ware (LIAPW) – has now been established following excavations at St Loye's College (Quinnell forthcoming) and Aller Cross (Quinnell 2015a, 121; and see EAPIT 1, Chapter 3). The fabric of these vessels is of Ludwell Valley type, and they were apparently from the same source as some examples of the earlier South-Western Decorated Ware. Fabric 3 in the Exeter series (Holbrook and Bidwell 1991, 181) might include examples of LIAPW and needs to be reassessed, but the fabric is very scarce in fortress and later levels.

In the Late Iron Age, regions to the east and west of Exeter produced pottery which was much more technically accomplished. Fine gabbroic ware from western Cornwall was probably traded as far east as Mount Batten, beside Plymouth Sound, where sherds of what appears to be cordoned ware have been found in pre-Roman levels (Cunliffe 1988, 24, 40). Whether gabbroic ware was distributed further along the south coast remains uncertain, but this is a question which the recently completed excavations at Mount Folly, in South Devon, might answer. The ware reached north Devon in the Late Iron Age and occurs in Early Roman contexts at Fremington, Shebbear and the fortlet at Martinhoe (Quinnell 2018b, 131–2). In the Late Iron Age, Durotrigian black-burnished ware presumably from the area of Poole Harbour (its production continuing into the Roman period as DOR BB1) is represented at Seaton by a large group (Holbrook and Bidwell 1991, 15) and at Blackhorse, 5 km west of Exeter, by a few sherds (Laidlaw and Mepham 1999, 182–3). A sherd of this ware was also recorded from the earlier of two enclosure ditches at St Loye's College which preceded the Roman settlement (Quinnell forthcoming), and it now seems that its distribution extended at least as far west as the Exe.

BB1 from South-East Dorset contributed to the supply of the fortress at Exeter and presumably arrived by the same routes as formerly, though in much larger quantities. Likewise the gabbroic ware industry served the forts in Cornwall, including Calstock; the small amounts from the Exeter fortress represented a modest extension of the Late Iron Age markets for this ware.

## **The supply of coarse wares in the military period**

Supply to the fortress was reviewed in *Roman Finds from Exeter* (Holbrook and Bidwell 1991, 16–18), which also included type series for the four main fabric groups current in the military period: South-Western BB1 (SOW BB1: Fig. 12.2), South-East Dorset BB1 (DOR BB1: Fig. 12.2),

*Fig. 12.1 The Upper Greensand facies in eastern Devon and the Blackdown Hills in relation to Roman major settlements and roads (drawn by David Gould)*

Fortress Wares and Sandy Grey Wares. There is now more to say about South-Western BB1 and the Fortress Wares, but little that is new has been learnt about the other fabrics.

## **South-Western BB1 (SOW BB1)**

The source of this type of black-burnished ware, formerly thought to have been in western Dorset or southern Somerset (Holbrook and Bidwell 1991, 90, 114, 135), has now been identified as the western Blackdown facies of the Upper Greensand in the Blackdown Hills, on the eastern border of Devon (Fig. 12.1; Appendix 12.1). In the fort at Waddon Hill, South-Western BB1 supplied most of the cooking wares, and was more than twice as common as BB1 from South-East Dorset (Holbrook and Bidwell 1991, 91). The fort was established in the Claudian period, and although its occupation continued for a few years after building of the fortress began at Exeter, all the South-Western BB1 could hardly have arrived during this short period of overlap. The industry was clearly established before *c*. AD 55. It lay at least 16 km west of Waddon Hill, presumably near the border of the area under direct Roman control in the Claudian period. Durotrigian pottery from Seaton (see EAPIT 1, Chapter 3), a site on the south coast *c*. 12 km south-east of the Blackdown facies, has been mentioned above. Its fabric is macroscopically indistinguishable from South-East Dorset BB1, and the absence of the South-Western version might be taken to indicate that the latter industry was not established until the beginning of the Roman period.

The amounts of the two fabrics at military sites in eastern Devon vary considerably. At Exeter South-Western BB1 is from two to four times more common than South-East Dorset BB1 (Fig. 12.5), but at Bolham in Tiverton it is six times more common (Holbrook 1991, tab. 7, 46.4% by weight as opposed to 7.4% of all the pottery with a total weight of 18.04 kg excluding amphorae and mortaria). This might be because Bolham is much closer to the Blackdown facies which lie about 10 km to the south-east, but at Pomeroy Wood, in Honiton, which is even closer to the facies, South-East Dorset BB1 is more common (Seager Smith 1999, tab. 81, phases 2 and 3, 22.4% as opposed to South-Western BB1 at 15.5%, in an assemblage weighing 20.46 kg excluding amphorae). The disparity in supply to the two forts might have arisen if the industry was located around the north-western limit of the facies, perhaps in the vicinity of Hemyock in the Culm Valley where there was pottery production in the

*Fig. 12.2 Examples of later 1st and 2nd-century AD BB1 vessels from Exeter sites; back row, left and right, in South-East Dorset fabric, the other three in South-Western fabric (© RAMM)*

medieval period (see Chapter 17 below); Pomeroy Wood is on the road that runs east from Exeter to Dorchester and would have had easier access to supplies of South-East Dorset BB1. One advantage of a more northerly location for the South-Western BB1 industry would have been proximity to the road which, it has been suggested, ran north-east from Exeter through Cullompton (EAPIT 1, Chapter 3).

## **The Fortress Wares**

The Exeter Fortress Wares were made in four fabrics (A–D), ranging from a fi ne oxdised version to others, reduced and oxidised, which were heavily gritted to varying degrees (Holbrook and Bidwell 1991, 144–54). Some of the wide range of types seem to be derived from the pottery of South-East England while others have continental parallels (*ibid*., 144–5). The late Vivien Swan (2009, 35–6), who had an unrivalled knowledge of coarse wares in the north-western provinces, was able to be more specifi c. Some of the Exeter types, most notably the tripod bowls, resembled 'vessels indigenous to the area south-east of Paris, in north-west Burgundy, the Yonne and upper Loire valleys', and Swan considered that these Fortress Wares were made by 'potters craft-trained in that general region, … [who were] expected to make vessel-types which conformed to Roman military requirements as well as pots with Gaulish affi nities.' Another strand in the origins of the potters was established by the presence at St Loye's College of a face pot in Fortress Ware B decorated with phalluses, a type otherwise confi ned to the Rhineland, apart from single examples from Kingsholm and *Novae*, a legionary fortress in *Moesia*  (Bulgaria) (Fig. 12.3; Bidwell forthcoming b, nos. 8–9; Braithwaite 2007, 380–1).

*Fig. 12.3 Face pot from St Loye's College: sherds decorated with a phallus (drawing by Jane Read)*

Until the studies undertaken by Taylor and Badreshany (Appendices 12.1 and 12.2), it was always assumed that the industry had been established in the vicinity of the fortress (Holbrook and Bidwell 1991, 144). At other fortresses and major military bases, the kilns were nearby, as in the 1st century AD at Colchester, Gloucester, Lake Farm and Longthorpe (Swan 1984, *passim*), and, on the Rhine in the Tiberio-Claudian period, at Neuss (Filtzinger 1972, 50, Abb. 2). To fi nd that at Exeter the source of the clays used for the Fortress Wares lay in the Bovey Formation, some 20 km to the south-west, was thus unexpected (Fig. 12.4). However, the kilns were not necessarily located in the Bovey Formation. Major industries in Roman Britain are known sometimes to have relied on clay deposits as far as 10 km distant from the kilns (Swan 1984, 43). Nearer to Exeter in scale were the tile and pottery works at Holt, established in the Trajanic period to serve the fortress at Chester which lay some 12 km further down the River Dee. Rather than the local boulder clays, the potters used alluvial deposits occurring 11 km to the south of Holt, and for the eggshell wares an even more distant source (Grimes 1930, 10, 163). The clay deposits at Exeter were suitable for potting, and the mortaria and fl agons made at Bartholomew Street West just to the north-west of the Exeter fortress at the very end of the military period were presumably made from the local clays. However, these deposits are ironrich, and the pale to mid-grey fi nishes of the vessels in Fortress Wares A and B were presumably easier to achieve with the iron-poor clays of the Bovey Formation. Their potters were very skilled, apparently requiring clays of

*Fig. 12.4 The Bovey Formation near Bovey Tracey in relation to selected Roman settlements and roads (drawn by David Gould)*

*Fig. 12.5 Chart showing the relative quantities by weight of Fortress Wares, BB1 and Sandy Grey Wares at fortress and extra-mural sites. Columns 1–3: fortress baths (Bidwell 1979, tab. 9); column 4: Friernhay Street, all fortress deposits (Site 75); column 5: Lower Coombe Street, fortress period deposits (Site 97); columns 6–7: St Loye's A, upper filling of Iron Age enclosure ditch, and B, later fortress period deposits (Bidwell forthcoming b) (originated by author)*

a specific character to produce vessels with the desired colours and textures.

Only traces of manufacture will determine beyond doubt whether the Fortress Wares were actually made on or near the Bovey Formation. The possibility that the clays were brought to Exeter is mainly suggested by the proximity of kilns to fortresses which has been observed elsewhere and the wider evidence for the transportation of clays. Another consideration is the frequent association of tile kilns with potteries, as seen for example at Gloucester and Holt. There have been no indications in the extensive study of ceramic building materials in Devon of production in the 1st century AD on the Bovey Formation (EAPIT 2, Chapters 13.2 and 13.3).

In the fortress at Exeter BB1 outnumbers the Fortress Wares by factors of three to four (Fig. 12.5). At St Loye's College, in sharp contrast, the Fortress Wares are much more common than BB1: in the filling of the Enclosure B ditches there is by weight almost six times more of the Fortress Wares (but the quantity is skewed by sherds from a large storage jar in Fortress Ware C), and in the later deposits twice as much. At Lower Coombe Street there are also many more Fortress Wares, relative to their occurrences in the fortress. The relevant assemblages are large enough for it to be stated with some confidence that the principal market for these wares was not the legion but rather the civilian communities in the *canabae* and in the settlement at St Loye's College. More than anything else, this is vivid testimony to the early success of BB1 potters in securing a major share in the supply of pottery to the army, a relationship which was to expand and flourish until almost the end of the Roman period. The much larger contributions which the Fortress Wares made to civilian supply surely means that their potters were also civilians.

Considering the modest contribution which Fortress Wares made to the supply of the fortress at Exeter, the wide range of types which they represented might seem remarkable, especially when compared with the limited range of locally produced wares at Usk (Greene 1993). The difference is that, even though the Usk potters met most of the legion's local need for coarse wares, their pottery apparently travelled no further afield (that at least is the implication of a statement in Webster 1992, 111). The Exeter Fortress Wares, however, were distributed throughout the South-West (Holbrook and Bidwell 1991, 16): they have now been identified at sites in an area extending from Dorchester in Dorset to Carvossa in Cornwall, which are 180 km apart (Fig. 12.6). At the military sites they occur in significant quantities but never in the amounts seen in the *canabae* at Exeter and at St Loye's College. Some finds are from civilian sites. There were five sherds of Fortress Ware B from Penns Mount, in Kingsteignton, a double-ditched enclosure 20 km south-east of Exeter which has no obvious military connections (archive report; for the site, see Pears and Smith 2016). The site lies on the Bovey Formation, but the Fortress Ware was found with samian, imported mortaria and BB1, all of the military period. Its presence does not necessarily indicate local production and might equally show that Fortress Wares were amongst the wide range of pottery used by the army that in parts of Devon also reached rural sites in small quantities during the later 1st century AD, as also at nearby Aller Cross, in Kingskerswell (Bidwell and Croom 2015, 146, tab. 5). The Fortress Wares at Dorchester were also from civilian contexts, but urban rather than rural.

The only contemporary parallels to the reach of the Exeter Fortress Wares amongst industries that were mainly supplying the army with coarse wares are the mortaria made at Kingsholm which arrived at Usk in considerable quantities and are found at Cirencester and a few other military sites in South-West England (Hartley 1993, 396–7).

At the very end of the military period in the South-West, there was another episode in the history of the Fortress Wares, when their distribution was much enlarged and included military sites in northern Britain; this is discussed further below.

## **Other locally made wares in the military period**

There seems to have been some local manufacture of mortaria and flagons, though more of the latter were imported than once seemed likely (Holbrook and Bidwell 1991, 139–44, fabrics 401, 405, 406, 435, 440 and 451). Kilns in northern Gaul have now been recognised as major sources for Exeter, and at St Loye's College their products outnumbered other types of flagon (Bidwell forthcoming b; cf. Holbrook and Bidwell 1992, 66–7). Imported mortaria were many times more common than local products, at least until the final stage of the military occupation (Holbrook and Bidwell 1991, tab. 13; cf. 1992, tab. 1). Exeter and the South-West were exceptional in this respect. In the fortress at Usk the majority of mortaria were local products (Hartley 1993, 396), while at the military base of Kingsholm there were roughly equal numbers of local and imported mortaria (Hurst 1985, tab. 6).

## **Imports from Gaul in the 1st century AD**

Six stamps on *terra nigra* are recorded from Exeter, all but one from sites in the fortress, and there are three from Topsham (finds from Britain up until 2006 are catalogued in Timby and Rigby 2007). There are two each from Usk and Cirencester, but none from Kingsholm and Gloucester, including the nearby site at Barnwood (Holbrook 2018, 171) which surely had military associations; there are also no stamps from Wroxeter. The general impression is that the ware is scarce on military sites in western Britain apart from those in the South-West Peninsula. This is borne out by more detailed comparisons. From the excavations in 1971–79 at Exeter there were 53 examples of *Cam.* 16 platters and 11 *Cam.* 58 cups (Rigby 1991, 77) which were by far the commonest types, as opposed to 23 of Type 10 (mainly examples of *Cam.* 16) and four of Type 8 (including examples of *Cam.* 58) at Usk (Greene 1979, 122). Kingsholm produced only five sherds of the ware (Hurst 1985, 71) and the Webster excavations in the fortress at Wroxeter only one definite *Cam.* 16 and two sherds of eggshell *terra nigra* (Darling 2002, 179–80).

*Terra nigra* is also common at forts in the South-West Peninsula, with 13 vessels at Calstock (Timby 2014, 45), seven vessels including two stamps at Nanstallon and five vessels including a stamp at Bolham in Tiverton. It occurs with comparable frequency at sites to the east of Exeter along the coast or a little distance inland, as at Dorchester, Chickerell, Jordan Hill in Weymouth, and Lake Farm (all in Dorset).