Internet Archaeol. 17. Willis. Summary/discussion

11.7 Summary and discussion

Marsh noted that in the 19th century riveting was a specialist task, 'often combined with the sale of second-hand goods' (1981, 227). There may have been specialist repairers at work in the Roman era, and repaired vessels may have been traded. It is possible that vessels broken at the production sites were mended at source, although it is clear that systems of quality control were in place at La Graufesenque and elsewhere during certain periods at least (Dannell 2002), rendering a 'repair system' improbable in principal; the nature and economics of production at these centres also suggest that repairs were unlikely. There is, as yet, no evidence for any organisation in repair work or of a 'repair industry' in Britain, though one may have existed, potentially, for instance, in London. There are no conspicuous clusters of repaired vessels indicating the existence of a repair workshop or trade. On the other hand, what is striking is how widespread these repaired vessels are, both geographically and socially dispersed. While it is unclear whether repaired vessels were defined differently from undamaged goods what is apparent is how acceptable they must have been within a diversity of social milieux. Evidently there was a habit of repair across the province using similar knowledge and methods: a 'community of practice' perhaps rather than a specialised role, which involved sharing definitions about what was worth repairing.

It is revealing that samian is the most frequently repaired pottery of the Roman era, and by far, underscoring how significantly it was regarded within contrasting communities living at differing types of site at this time. The present survey suggests that repaired samian vessels are likely to occur within assemblages from any excavated site and hence will have been a widespread aspect of life and practice in the Roman era. Some sites in remote locations/the upland zone have higher proportions of repaired samian, presumably because of difficulties in obtaining new vessels, and in some cases perhaps for reasons of economy. Further, there are significant variations in the frequency of repaired samian at different site types (cf. above), and decorated vessels (essentially bowls) were clearly mended more regularly than other forms, which must be an index of their monetary value and their importance in social practices across the province.