The Hungate Archaeological Project: Exploratory Excavations, Phase 1 (YAT Report No 27)

abstract | introduction | results | conclusions | implications | references | appendices

pottery | ceramic building material | finds | architectural stone | environmental

York Archaeological Trust

Pottery Report

Pottery Key

The following abbreviations have been used throughout this pottery report.

BLK = Black ware

BRAND = Brandsby-type ware

BRN = Brown wares

CIST = Cistercian ware

CMW = Coal measures ware

ESTN = English stoneware

GW = Gritty ware

HAMB= Hambleton ware

HUM = Humber ware

IMP = unidentified import

LCRW = Low Countries red ware

M = Modern

PING = Pingsdorf ware

PMEW = post-medieval earthenware

PMRW = Post medieval red ware

PORC = Porcelain

PURP = Purple-glazed ware

R = Roman

ROUEN = Rouen ware

RYE = Ryedale

SH = Shelly ware

SLIP = Slip wares

SPL = Splashed ware

SRW = Sandy red ware

STAM = Stamford ware

STN = German stoneware

TGEW = Tin glazed earthenware

TW = Torksey-type ware

WALM = Walmgate-type ware

WILL = Willow pattern

YGW = York Glazed ware

YRED = Yorkshire red ware

YW = York ware

Trench 1

A single undiagnostic, unidentified sherd was recovered from this trench.

Trench 8

The sequence begins with a few small sherds of Roman pottery. Of interest amongst these is a sherd which has been made into a counter (sf23 from context 8036). This is only the third example recognised in York of a type of Roman glazed ware imported possibly from the Rhineland (Monaghan 1997, 882 (Fig 325-6)) in the late 2nd or early 3rd century. The remaining Roman material is typical of the 2nd and 3rd centuries.

There is no material of the Anglian period but a good sequence, starting c.850, of Anglo-Scandinavian wares. These include York ware, Shelly ware, Torksey- type ware and Stamford ware. The sequence continues into the Norman period with splashed and Gritty wares. Beyond the late 12th century the ceramic sequence is less clear cut but most of the major types of York's medieval pottery is represented.

Trench 11

The pottery from this trench is dominated by material dated to the second half of the 10th and 11th centuries with a sequence extending into the 13th century in a few contexts. There are a few sherds of Roman grey wares and a single Samian sherd.

The most common pottery is Torksey-type ware which first appeared in York c.900AD but which dominated the ceramic market in York from the middle of the 10th century to the mid 11th century. The range of forms represented are, as is typical, of a domestic character and include cooking pots and bowls. The absence of rouletted decoration on vessel shoulders and rims indicates a date in the later 10th or early 11th century when decorated sherds are less common. This is consistent with the repeated association of the Torksey-type ware with Stamford ware in some contexts, which is usually ascribed to the early 11th century. In the mid 11th century Gritty wares make their first appearance and subsequently replace the Torksey-type wares. Splashed wares of the later 11th and 12th century found in some contexts in Trench 11 indicate Norman period activity which continues throughout the rest of the sequence into the 13th century. The latest sherd is of a Walmgate ware drinking jug in context 11002. These long-lived types were produced from the late 13th to the 16th century with their main period of production in the 14th and 15th century. This sherd might be intrusive otherwise it is indicative of 14th century activity in the upper parts of the trench.

This trench has a small but very good sequence of Anglo-Scandinavian or Viking Age domestic vessels covering the period from c.950 - c.1250/1275 or possibly beyond.

Trench 12

The pottery from Trench 12 is mainly of medieval date with no residual Roman sherds and only small amounts of residual Anglo-Scandinavian pottery (Torksey-type wares and Stamford wares) occurring with sherds of a later date. The sequence begins sometime in the 12th century and continues into the 15th century with some later material in the higher contexts.

The main pottery types in the earliest contexts are Gritty and Splashed wares of the later 11th and 12th century. York Glazed ware (which begins in the later 12th century) appears in a number of these same contexts suggesting that the sequence as excavated begins no earlier than the second half of the 12th century. There is further York Glazed ware, small amounts of Brandsby-type ware, Walmgate ware and Humber wares which carry the sequence through the 13th and 14th centuries and into the 15th century. The later 15th and 16th centuries are represented by Purple Glazed wares and Cistercian wares. Imported material includes Low Countries red wares and German stonewares, common finds on medieval sites in York. Post-medieval pottery types, notably slipwares, were found in the upper levels.

The forms represented are all of a domestic character and the assemblage probably represents centuries of rubbish accumulation.

Trench 13

The pottery from this trench comprised mostly medieval, post-medieval and modern types. The medieval pottery is usually found residually with later material. There is a small amount of Roman pottery also redeposited in later levels. There is nothing of the Anglian period but the presence of Anglo-Scandinavian deposits in the area is indicated by a single sherd of Stamford ware. All the types and form represented are well known in York and this assemblage is typical of domestic refuse assemblages.

Trench 14

This small assemblage is mainly post-medieval in date with a few redeposited medieval sherds. The types and forms represented are all typical of York at this period.

Trench 15

The sequence begins in the 14th century with a little residual Roman, Anglo-Scandinavian (Torksey-type ware and Stamford ware) and Norman period (Splashed and Gritty ware) pottery occurring with later types. The sequence continues through the 15th and 16th century and into the post-medieval period.

The material of the 15th and 16th centuries includes both cooking vessels (e.g. a substantial part of a Humber ware skillet was recovered in context 15017) and table wares. The latter includes a Hambleton ware lobed bowl (contexts 15017 and 15019) and a number of Walmgate ware drinking jugs.

Imported material includes German stoneware drinking jugs and Low Countries redware cooking vessels. Both are common finds in medieval York.

Trench 16

This trench produced late post-medieval and modern wares with only a single sherd (Gritty ware) of earlier material.

Trench 18

This trench produced only a few sherds of late medieval and post-medieval domestic wares.

Trench 19

Most of the pottery from this trench was of very late post-medieval and modern date. Only three contexts (19047, 19052 and 19056) produced sherds of domestic rubbish (six in total) of 10th -14th century wares.

Trench 20

The sequence begins in the Roman period with obviously rolled and abraded sherds of 2nd and 3rd century date. There are no sherds of obvious 4th -10th century date; the sequence re-starts in the 10th century with Torksey-type wares, Shelly and Stamford wares. There is then a continuous sequence through the Norman, medieval and post-medieval periods.

The types of pottery represented include all the major wares found in York during these periods and the usual range of imports. The latter comprise only occasional sherds from Rouen (13th century), the Low Countries and Germany (14th and 15th century types).

The range of vessel forms are those typical of domestic rubbish including the range of cooking vessels (cooking pots, cisterns etc) and table ware. The latter include, for example, a complete Walmgate drinking jug and fragments of a Siegburg drinking jug from context 20033, and a substantial part of a Hambleton-type ware lobed bowl from 20018. Garden furniture in the form of part of a Humber ware garden urn was recovered from 20002. The only evidence for industrial activity is a sherd of a Stamford ware crucible(10th or 11th century in date) from context 20025 where it is presumably residual.

Trench 24

This trench contained very little Roman material but there was clearly activity on this part of the trench from the second half of the 9th century onwards. Context 24064 is particularly interesting as this represents a good contemporary group not later than c.900. There is pottery from this period through to the Norman period but little material which correlates to the medieval period. The late medieval and post medieval period is also represented by a few sherds.

The material is all typical domestic refuse with no imported material present.

Trench 25

The small amount of pottery from this trench makes conclusions other than marking the presence of pottery from the Roman, Anglo-Scandinavian, Norman and later medieval periods unnecessary.

Trench 33

All the pottery recovered from this trench was late post-medieval and modern in date. There was no residual earlier material

Report Text: Ailsa Mainman, 2000. HTML Markup: Guy Hopkinson, May 2002.

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