It appears that the Romans were a bit like modern Americans. For the latter, Holidays Inns, baseball caps and Macdonalds provide the security blanket, for the Romans it was pottery and allied to pottery, familiar foodstuffs. Dr Robin Symonds of the Museum of London’s Specialist Services division, took us on a fascinating trip through the whole range of Roman pottery – the amphorae which carried the olive oil, wine and fish sauce, the coarse wares used for cooking and preparing food and the fine tablewares such as Terra Sigillata and colour coated wares which graced Roman tables. Robin’s lecture made it clear that the study of Roman pottery tells us much more about the Empire than simply the forms and fabrics used in pottery making. The forms alone can tell us much about where pottery originated. For example, the amphorae produced in Spain to ship olive oil were subtly different from similar products produced in North Africa. In many instances the amphorae were also marked with stamps that allow archaeologists not only to identify a country or even area of origin, but also the actual kiln site at which they were made, the quantity of oil they contained and even the estate the oil came from.

So the study of such pottery can tell us about trading links of the Roman Empire and the sophistication of an economy which could produce, pack and ship vast quantities of olive oil, and other goods, over a period of some 300 years. Similarly the production sites of fine tablewares, particularly Terra Sigillata, or as it is often called Samian, can be identified from the stamps of the potters who produced it. In addition it is possible with Terra Sigillata to date the pottery from these stamps and that is often invaluable to archaeologists trying to date the phases of a Roman site. One of the most interesting aspects of Roman pottery is that it was ubiquitous within the Empire. Pottery used in the Danubian province of Dacia, modern day Romania, looks virtually identical to pottery found in Britain. A Roman officer or administrator would feel equally at home in either place, although some of the decoration did tend to reflect local tastes. The countries bordering the Mediterranean seem for example to have preferred classical scenes on the Terra Sigillata, whereas in the northern provinces hunting scenes were popular.

Not only would a Roman household be dining off familiar pottery, it would also be eating food prepared in the same way, as evidenced by the finds of Mortaria. These were kitchen utensils with a rough inner surface, created by the addition of sand or grit before firing and a pouring lip – the food mixers of the day. Again the widespread finds of Mortaria across the Empire suggest that the native inhabitants of those countries that fell under Roman control were not slow to adopt Romanised habits. Mortaria and other coarse wares, however, tended to be produced more locally. For example, British-produced black burnished ware, often referred to as BB1 and BB2, the Le Creuset of the period, is mainly found within the British Isles, although it was transported from productions sites in the south, all around the country. The study of Roman pottery makes a vital contribution to our understanding of the Roman economy, trading links and cultural domination, as well as to our interpretation of the phases of development at individual sites. Individually pots may be less impressive than the remains of ampitheatres, town walls, bath houses, forts and fora, but their value in building a greater understanding of exactly how the Roman Empire lived and worked and had its being is inestimable.

Andrea Wharton