Internet Archaeology 5. West Heslerton Assessment. 3.7.1

3.7.1 Ceramics

The excavation has produced c.43,000 sherds of pottery which were initially classified in the primary record generated in the field. The lack of any established typological framework or fabric sequence for the Anglo-Saxon pottery meant that groups were identified and defined as the excavation proceeded, following an initial fabric sequence identified during the excavation of the cemetery. The developing nature of the fabric sequence meant that many sherds that would now be identified as belonging to the Early-Saxon phase were assigned no period code during initial recording, and thus introduce a bias in the chart of ceramics by period below. A second problem not resolved until very late in the excavation was the identification of some of the Middle Saxon ceramics which have a virtually identical form and fabric to the Middle Bronze Age and other prehistoric sherds. Once final recording and analysis takes place it is clear that a substantial body of the undated material will be assigned to the Early and Middle Saxon phases.

Fig. 3.21 Kiln cut into the chalk bedrock

The ceramic assemblage from West Heslerton offers important opportunities for establishing a regional ceramic type series for the Early Anglo-Saxon period and for the examination of local and regional trade. The high resolution of the record makes it possible to undertake detailed analysis of fragmentation and disposal practices, whilst the assemblages derived from the Late Roman, Early and Middle Anglo-Saxon periods offer the opportunity to examine through petrological analysis any continuity in the hand-made ceramic production. The crude handmade nature of many of the ceramics is a feature of the Roman as much as the Saxon period, with local wares dominating the assemblage. The large quantities of material recovered during 1995 included ceramics of Anglo-Saxon form but in what would normally be seen as Roman fabric, and a group of late Roman and most likely 5th century ceramics in essentially Roman form, but of exceptional crudity.

A number of raised furnace bases were identified in the southern half of the site, which are presumed to relate to metalworking. Two features would appear to have been pottery kilns; both were small and relatively crude, one cut into the chalk bedrock and the other into sand. In neither case was there much in the way of ceramic waste in the fills of the features, although in one case an adjacent pit contained large quantities of ash and waste material, indicating that the very crude ceramics identified in the post-destruction phase of the large shrine were made on site. No Anglo-Saxon kilns were identified, and it remains most probable that this material was fired in crude clamp kilns which have left no evidence.

Fig. 3.22 Ceramics by period (no entry = unassigned)