Pottery Party!

Did you know that we don't just have Roman objects in our collection? We have a wide array of objects, from sedan chairs, stone coffins and even mammoth teeth. But perhaps one of the most important finds we have is pottery. Pottery is a great tool for archaeologists as it gives an approximate time period for their excavation. But how do we know this? To figure it out, we employ the help of our trusty pottery flow chart.

The aim of this pottery game is to follow the questions on the flow chart to work out which time period your piece is from. If you are unsure about what a word means, scroll to the bottom of this article for our 'fun pottery words'. Let’s have a go together with this piece of pottery:

 

Do you think it is coated?

 

Coating is a shiny glaze which is put on the pottery for either decorative or waterproofing purposes - sometimes both! This sherd does have coating, as you can see the shiny green colour. Great! You answered the first question! Follow the flow chart to see where you end up next...

 

Is it coated only on the inside, only on the outside, or all over?

 

This piece is coated all over, as you can see the shiny green colour everywhere. It even has some lovely decorative addition on one side, with a motif that suggests nature and perhaps a recurring pattern. This takes us down to either Late Georgian period or the Victorian period. Congratulations! You narrowed it down to a much smaller time period. This piece is Victorian, and we can tell because of the fantastic colour and the decoration style.

 

Its intense green colour and the decoration tells us it is part of a 'Majolica' ware - a type of brightly coloured serving platter or plate that had recurring motifs with foliage or nature imagery on the top side. It would have been quite common in Victorian England.  You can see that this is a rim piece, showing a beautiful amount of detail in the patterning. 

This sherd came from an excavation in the Lower Borough Walls in Bath. Historically, the majolica ware's glaze was made from tin oxide which gave it the fantastically bright colour. Modern day majolica is still made today, but the tin has been replaced with something safer.

 

These are the kind of questions we ask ourselves as curators, archaeologists, and specialists to figure out the approximate time period of a pottery fragment, and now you've done it too. Consider yourself a pottery expert!

 

Fun Pottery Words

 

Ceramic or pottery – Pots, plates, cups and more that have been made from clay and heated to harden into a permanent shape.

 

Glaze – a glassy, shiny coating on the pottery used for both decoration and for protection, for example to make it waterproof.

 

Slip – a mixture normally made from clay and water that is put on the pottery before firing it. This slip can be colourful and decorative, and pottery with decorative slip is called ‘slipware’.

 

Kiln – a special oven made for firing pottery.

 

Firing – the process of putting the pottery in a kiln or fire at a high heat to harden the clay and make the pot usable. The exact process is different depending on what type of clay you are using, and what type of pottery you are making.

 

Handmade pottery – this is the oldest pottery technique. Handmade pottery involves shaping the pottery with your hands, such as pushing the clay into a curve with your fingers.

 

Wheel made or wheel thrown pottery – pottery that has been made on a spinning wheel to make it round. The spinning wheel has a flat, spinning surface that you can shape the pot on. This can also be called wheel thrown pottery, as you ‘throw’ the clay on the spinning wheel. Wheel made pottery is easier and quicker to make than handmade pottery.

Georgie

Collections placement student

An Alphabet of Objects: C is for Clay

In the Sun Lounge next to the Pump Room is a display called ‘A-Z’ showing objects from the Roman Baths’ vast collections. Now the display has changed from B for bottles to C… for clay!

Katarina installing the new display in the Sun Lounge

The theme ‘clay’ covers many millennia and areas, as its use has developed over time dependent on peoples’ changing needs. As I found out when creating the display, clay objects can be used as a gateway to many different stories about human progress!

Roman cheese press

The object on the second highest step, is a Roman cheese press. It is possible that cheese was first discovered by accident, when milk transported in sheep, goat or cow stomachs, curdled due to the presence of the rennet-enzyme in the stomachs. 

Over time, cheese production changed. In the beginning, the cheese was soft and would spoil rather quickly. However, by using a cheese press made from clay, it was possible to drain more liquid from the cheese. This produced a harder product that lasted longer.

Roman brick with a dog's paw print impressions

Yes, it is a brick placed on the second lowest step! In the Roman period, bricks were made by shaping the clay, leaving them to dry, and firing them at 1000 °C. However, this brick is also part of the story about dog domestication, as while the clay was drying a dog walked over it.

While this topic is widely debated, most scientists believe it happened around 20,000 to 40,000 years ago. How this happened is also a mystery. Some believe it was the result of a mutual need between hunters and wolves. Others believe that some wolves developed ‘cuter’ features over time, allowing them access to human food supplies.

C is for Clay, on display in the Sun Lounge at the Roman Baths and Pump Room

The most modern objects in this display are the clay pipes on the lowest step, dating from 1645 to 1900. Clay pipes were cheap and easy to produce but fragile, making them a common find in archaeological excavations. 

Due to rapidly changing fashions, clay pipes are easily dated by their style, shape and size. The pipes on display are placed chronologically, with the oldest at the top.

The A-Z display is free to see in the Sun Lounge during opening hours. Stay tuned for updates as we work our way through the alphabet!

Katarina
Volunteer, Collections department.

A is for Alphabets

The Sun Lounge has recently become home to some new displays! They are part of a series of changing displays that will explore the weird and wonderful objects in our collection by going through the letters of the alphabet. As the displays move through the various letters of the alphabet, more and more unusual objects will come out of storage and into the cases.

The Alphabets display, currently in the Sun Lounge

The first case, ‘A is for Alphabets’, looks at how different alphabets and writing systems have been used throughout history. Each of the objects shows different writing systems, including Latin, Arabic, Chinese, cuneiform, and hieroglyphs.

Not all of the writing systems displayed here are technically alphabets! Cuneiform, hieroglyphs and Chinese are not ‘true’ alphabets. These were developed earlier and the symbols represent parts of words, or whole words, as opposed to single sounds. Latin and Arabic are the only ‘true’ alphabets displayed as each symbol represents a single sound.

The case shows that writing has been used for similar purposes in different cultures and time periods.  The objects on display include a Roman curse tablet, a number of Chinese coins, a cuneiform tablet and cone, and a bank note. The artefacts broadly fall into 4 categories; trade, religion, organisation, and food and drink. 

Egyptian shabtis

My favourite objects are the two shabtis. These ancient Egyptian figurines represent agricultural workers who would serve the deceased in the afterlife. The hieroglyphs on the front are typically from the Book of the Dead. The Book was made up of spells to help the deceased navigate the underworld.

Alphabets and writing systems give us a fascinating insight into different civilisations throughout time and across the world. I really enjoyed putting together this display. Pop into the Sun Lounge to see this display and keep an eye out for the next installation; the letter B!

Alex

Collections Volunteer

Shining a Light on Ancient Greece

Είναι όλα Ελληνικά για ‘μένα. It’s all Greek to me… Not something I imagined myself saying while on placement here at The Roman Baths. Yet here I was, tasked with putting together a handling session for my Tuesday Times Table and being drawn to my Greek heritage. Some of the Greek pottery was brought to my attention, and it immediately peaked my interest. I decided to bring out the Baths’ small collection of ancient Greek oil lamps.

Hilariously (and embarrassingly), at first glance and having only seen photographs of the top of the lamps, I thought they were some form of ancient tea pots! With a bit of research into the collections database, I was happily surprised to discover they were oil lamps, or lihnaria (λυχνάρια, sin. λυχνάρι). Thus, my session became all about how the Ancient Greeks used these tiny pieces of pottery to illuminate their lives.

Tori with her Tuesday Times Table

I picked four lamps that could be handled, and had various replicas to show the difference between styles of lamps and the difference between Roman and Greek lamps. All of the Greek lamps that were displayed are mould made. The first two lamps are anthropomorphic, and date possibly between late 3^rd and late 2^nd century B.C. These two were the most interesting to me because they had human-like faces. 

Anthropomorphic lamps

The next lamp is possibly from the 3^rd- late 2^nd century B.C., and has two distinctive Corinthian heads on either side. The last lamp has been a little bit trickier to date and understand, because it is missing its nozzle. It seems that it comes from Athens, but it could possibly be Roman dating from when the Romans invaded Greece.

Lamp with Corinthian Heads and Possibly Roman Lamp

The way the lamps were used was to pour oil in the centre hole, and then grab some material for the wick and place into the spout until it touches the oil. Then it could be lit, and could stay lit for a few hours. Through my research, I discovered that there were many types of lamps and some lamps even had multiple spouts to provide more light. However, these lamps used up a lot of oil and burned much faster.

Overall, this was a really fun experience and I am really happy I got the chance to bring out these ancient Greek oil lamps. This was an excellent way to bring out parts of the Baths’ collections for everyone to see. I cannot wait to see what future Tuesday Times Tables are in store!

At the end of Tori’s table, people got to make their own lamp to take home!

Tori

Placement Student

Tuesday Times Tables: Writing Like A Roman

Just like we do today, the Romans used many different writing materials. Everyday writing was usually done using an iron or lead stylus on a wooden tablet spread with wax, or a thin sheet of wood. More important documents were written with a pen and ink (made of soot and resin) onto wood, papyrus or parchment. At the Roman Baths, we have our famous curses, which were inscribed onto small sheets of lead. Graffiti was painted or scratched onto walls. Gaming counters, made of pottery or bone, were sometimes marked with a stylus or knife on one side to play particular games.

Emily showing visitors how the Romans wrote at her Tuesday Times Table

For my Tuesday Times Table, I chose two of our nicest iron styluses, two bone gaming counters and three of my favourite curse tablets. I also picked seven pieces of inscribed pottery from the depths of our vaults.

The Romans wrote on pottery for lots of different reasons. Sometimes the owner would write their name on a pot to show who it belonged to, like you’d put a name sticker on a lunchbox. Sometimes they would write what was in the pot, like “olive oil” or “fish sauce”. Sometimes they would even use broken bits of pottery like we would use scrap paper, to make a quick note before they threw it away.

Dice cup fragment showing 'X' on base

My favourite piece is a fragment of a small beaker, with an “X” carved into the base. It is possible that this was a dice cup for playing games or gambling. Fortuna was the Roman goddess of luck, and her symbol was the wheel. Scratching an “X” onto the circular base of the dice cup made the shape of a (very vague) wheel, which made the cup lucky!

The most popular thing on my table, however, wasn’t an artefact at all. I used pictures of the letters from one of the curse tablets to create a handwriting or cursive Roman alphabet, which lots of people were very interested to see. It was easier to learn your ABCs in Ancient Rome, because they only had 20 letters. K, Y and Z were added to spell Greek words, but J, U and W weren’t used until much later.

The Roman alphabet

Have a go at writing like a Roman! What would you have written on a curse tablet?

Emily
Collections Volunteer

Tuesday Times Tables: Art and Design in Roman Britain

Choosing the theme of ‘Art and Design in Roman Britain’ was easy for my handling table, due to the wealth of art within the collections in the Roman Baths. I focused on pottery, glass, wall painting, mosaics and jewellery as they were perfect examples of art in Britain, and within Bath as all my objects were local finds. Having only ever studied Roman art within Rome and the surrounding empire, it was a challenge learning new things about art within Roman Britain, especially the cultural overlapping with the Celtic tribes within Britain at the time of the Roman conquest.

Overlap between the Celtic and Roman styles was mainly seen within the jewellery on my handling table. The brooches and bracelets were perfect examples of a Celtic influence, due to the swirling designs which are identifiable as Celtic. I had beautiful twisted bronze and copper bracelets, with a tiny child’s bracelet which was a personal favourite. I also had a number of replica brooches, pins and torcs on display as examples of how varied and colourful Roman jewellery was and how the styles had changed.

Child's Copper Alloy Bracelet

Mosaics are always important examples of art within the Roman world, let alone in Roman Britain where fewer have survived. I used tesserae (the square stones in a mosaic) as an example of the scale on which each tiny tessera was placed, and was amazed how durable they are considering their age. Accompanying my tesserae was a piece of mosaic from Weymouth House School in Bath, found in 1897.  The mosaic was popular with those who had never seen or had contact with a Roman mosaic before.

Mosaic piece from Weymouth House School

Using Samian pottery as examples was perfect due to its vibrant ochre colouring and beautiful designs of birds, and a sun among other motifs on the sherds of the pottery, I also had a replica Samian bowl with a Barbotine design around the top to show how Samian ware might have looked when complete.

Samian Bowl Sherd

The most popular and impressive item was a small bronze eagle, which was an ornamental fitting for an object. I was amazed how well preserved the eagle was with the perfect incision of feathers on the wings outstretched, and on the face of the beak. Although small it made a big impact on my handling table due its beauty, and for its symbolism of the Ancient Roman world and its presence which is still here today.

Roman Bronze Eagle Figurine

Megan 

Roman Society Intern

Greek Vase

          This week I had been tasked with researching the Greek vase, pictured, at the Roman Baths. With most of the work on it having been lost or never fully completed, and with original documentation on the vase being brief, it is safe to say I appreciated the challenge!

            The vase is Attic (i.e. from Attica, the principality surrounding Athens) and its shape suggests that it was a small container for oil, or more likely a funeral gift or grave offering – it is called a lekythos (λήκυθος). It was made between the late 6^th century BC and early 5^th century BC, and the painter has used the black-figure technique, where details are painted in black paint onto a red surface, and later highlighted (incised) using the nib of a sharp tool (this is called incision). Potters and painters could become very well-renowned in ancient Greece, and painting of this kind was considered a form of high art.

            It depicts a four-horse chariot (quadriga) and four figures around it: two are riding the chariot, whilst two others flank it. This lekythos is unusual insofar as it features a red-coloured background, when we would usually expect a white-coloured background for a lekythos from this period and location. Increasingly, white-ground lekythoi were used as grave offerings and commonly featured scenes of death or ‘final farewells’.

            You can just about make out one figure playing the lyre (cithara). Sadly, much of the design is worn and therefore many details are lost. However, the horse and figures are clearly visible. Traces of purple paint are visible on the neck, and there is a geometric pattern just below the mouth of the vase, where the handle has also been lost.

            The figure playing the lyre has formerly been identified as Orpheus. However, I think that they are probably better identified as Apollo, who, as a god of death and music (an unlikely pairing!), would better suit a vase which was probably dedicated as a funerary gift—music might have been played at the funerary procession.

Chris Gallacher
Placement
University College, London

Repair, reuse, recycle…

Samian ware was highly prized Roman ceramic tableware, distinct for its orange/red colour and skilled craftsmanship. Imported and relatively expensive, your average (fairly) well-to-do Roman would have had the odd piece to show off their wealth. As it is, it was of such an expense that though you do find some quantity of samian on most archaeological sites, it was also a material that wasn’t thrown away with ease…

You’re doing the washing up and you accidentally chip the rim of your favourite bowl; most of us may hang on to it for a while, but eventually we would throw it away. The Romans weren’t quite so quick to dispose of their prized possessions.

When samian, being prized as it was, got chipped, the Romans had a novel (and presumably time-consuming) way of hiding the evidence. They would grind down the rim around their pot to produce a new unbroken rim, often having to remove a significant portion of material to achieve this.

Samian bowl with rim ground down

You knock your favourite bowl off the table and it’s lying in pieces on the floor; the Romans had a solution for that too!

Samian is sometimes found with holes drilled through it along the line of a break, evidence that the bowl has been put back together. Corresponding holes would be drilled on the two halves of a break, and a lead rivet would be put between them to hold the two pieces together.

Samian bowl with lead rivets

The Romans were not hesitant about using lead in conjunction with food, being (relatively) unaware of any issues with it, and as samian was about showing off your wealth, it would seem the distinct colour and decoration, was enough to distract admirers from the less appealing lead additions.

Samian spindlewhorl (used for spinning yarn)

And they didn’t stop there, when all you had was a sherd left, you could always chip it down, in to a rough circle and use it as a counter, or with a hole drilled through it, it could be used as a spindle whorl (for spinning yarn).

So you see concepts of recycling were nothing new, the Romans were at it long before us.

Look out for the objects pictured here in our current temporary display on samian, in the Sun Lounge at the Roman Baths.

Verity 

Roman Baths Collections Assistant

Roman Food

Everyone loves to know what the Romans ate, but do people really know where the Romans’ food came from?  For my Tuesday Times Table, I decided to focus on Roman butchery and hunting practices therefore many of my handling objects were in fact the excess or ‘off cuts’ of Roman food products.

The table layout itself followed the basic process of Roman food production, from hunting depictions on samian pottery, through butchered bone and marine products and then concluded with Roman cookware.

The three pieces of samian were excavated during the Spa excavations (1998) and on all of them are images of hunting. The first dates to AD 80-110 and originates from Southern Gaul (modern day France), and features the rear of a boar. The second piece is from Central Gaul, and dates to AD 125-150, and depicts an image of a panther being attacked by a hunter. The third piece is also from Central Gaul and dates to AD 160-190, and has two deer running towards the right. The interesting thing about these pieces of samian is that two of them (the boar and the deer) depict images of species eaten by the Romans, but the panther sherd shows an animal not indigenous to the UK, especially Aquae Sulis (Roman Bath) and therefore shows  that hunting was a recreational sport, rather than a necessity to produce food.

The butchered animal bone was next on the table. It featured bone from cow (Bos), pig (Sus), sheep (Ovis) and rabbit (Lepus). The majority of the bone shown was from the Spa excavations, and then I also chose three cow bones, a cervical vertebra, a knuckle bone and a long bone, from the Hat and Feather site excavation Bath, of 1992. Almost all of the bone showed evidence of ‘chop’ marks on the distal and proximal ends of the bone, which take the form of a deep ‘V’ shape, suggesting that the bone was cut for butchery purposes with a cleaver or large knife, due to the location of the cut. However one piece of cow long bone and been ‘carved’ parallel to the bone, and this would suggest evidence for the consumption of bone marrow in Aquae Sulis.

The evidence of seafood at the Spa site was extremely high. A multitude of mussel and oyster shells were found, probably originating from the South-East coast of England, along with 257 remains of fish bone, both freshwater and marine. This interestingly suggests the evidence for trade, not only across England, but also across the Mediterranean. It is likely that these marine fish (mainly sea bass) were transported in large amphorae (a large jar with handles) from different areas of the Roman Empire.  Snail shells were also found in abundance from the site, and the combination of all of these food types suggests that Roman delicacies were not too different to those we eat today.

I also wanted to display evidence for Roman cookware to allow the public to gain a concept of the process of Roman food products. From the Spa site was found a white flagon sherd with a rimmed neck, that would have held wine; a strainer spout, that would have been used to strain either food or infused drinks and a sherd of mortarium (used for grinding and mixing herbs) in which all of its stone inclusions had been worn down, creating a smooth surface, clearly showing evidence of high usage in the period. I thought that it was also useful to display a replica samian ware bowl and replica mortarium in which people could try grinding and crushing rosemary and black pepper corns in the same way that it was required to for nearly every Roman meal.

This Tuesday Times Table allowed me to research a topic that I had not encountered previously, and also meant that I was able to give a flavour of Roman lifestyle and food preparation that is not commonly thought about by many.

Ellen Wood

Roman Society Placement and student at the University of Reading studying Archaeology and Ancient  History.

History in the Making: Weston’s Heritage Day

One year ago, Michael McCarthy put in a call to the Roman Baths with the dream of having a Heritage Day for the Parish of Weston.

A year later, on 20th April 2013, Weston celebrated the first Heritage Day with the help from local historians, the Moravian Church Hall, Students working on a project from the Bath Spa University, and members of Bath and North East Somerset Council's Heritage Services Team from the Roman Baths and Record Office, and the Libraries Team.

A happy Susan and Jenn staffing the Roman Baths display at Weston

Items brought from the Roman Baths collection included fragments of Roman and Medieval pottery including jugs, cooking pots, and Roman roof tiles found during excavation work at Purlewent Drive in the early 1900s. Additional archaeological finds include coins from the Roman and the Georgian eras, and the famous Iron Age Spoons.

  



Replicas of the Iron Age spoons from Weston



The spoons are thought to have been used as a divining tool the Celts used to tell the future. The theory is that by placing the spoons one on top of the other, the diviner would then blow a liquid (blood, wine, or water) into the whole of the top spoon and when they were separated, the bottom spoon would hold a pattern that could be used to predict a future event.

Minister of the Moravian Church, Beth Torkington, is intrigued by the Spoons

Additional items that the Roman Baths displayed were historic photographs of the hospital when it opened in the 1930s, a property tax slip, and post cards of the area. The most intriguing postcard holds the image of the Brewery which at the beginning of the Heritage day could not be located in the current plans of Weston. But that’s what is amazing about a community coming together with information that not everyone has access too. It was after a visit to the table by the Tithe Maps & Weston Estates historian Tony Bray with his map from the 1800s that the Brewery was discovered to be located on Trafalgar Road.

Some of the pottery found in Weston

Every table was a popular stop, including the other members of the Heritage Services team from the Record Office at the Guildhall. Residents were interesting in picking the brains of Colin and Lucy.

Colin from the Record Office shares his knowledge

This event was not just about what items could be brought to Weston, but about how the community came together to explore their history and share their knowledge with others and preserve it for the future. The Bath Chronicle, who wrote up a nice article from the day, quoted Michael McCarthy ‘...this day will inspire a younger generation to continue to tap into the rich seam of local history that still remains to be uncovered.’

Lucy explains the Parish Register indexes

Even the MP of Bath, Don Foster, stopped by to open the event, stopping at every table to chat with the presenters, and spending time with the locals by having some tea and cake.

Michael McCarthy welcoming MP Don Foster

The final total count of visitors to the Heritage Day was estimated to be around 200 members of the community. Michael is hopeful to have another Heritage Day next year to explore other historic finds of the area and possible, if we are lucky, new finds as well.


Jenn

Part II – Blood, Threat and Cheers

In the last blog, we looked at the basics of the Roman gladiator and gladiatorial contests; in this second part we’ll explore the position of the gladiator in Roman society and how they were viewed by those around them.

BATRM 1981.5.a.1 Samian piece depicting gladiators on display at the Roman Baths Museum

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Close up

The gladiator held a very contradictory position within ancient Roman society. While he could win fame and fortune and become a sort of celebrity, he was also forever an outcast – these people were known as the ‘infames’ of society, a label and status assigned to most performers who were paid for their acts.

Such stigma did not necessarily entail shame though: there is plenty of evidence from tombstones that shows gladiators declared their profession proudly. They seem to have been something of an enigma even to the Romans, who were fascinated by them, and believed the blood of a gladiator could be used as a remedy against impotence!

‘Healing blood’ sounds like something we might associate with the divine, so perhaps their heroic status was more powerful than their ‘infamia’. This would go some way to explaining the decoration on fragments of Samian ware which we hold here at The Roman Baths. On one fragment gladiators are thought to appear alongside Hercules, a very well-known hero of the ancient world.

Remains of the gladiator school at Pompeii, where the body of a rich lady was found amongst the fighters

Roman women were clearly not put off by the gladiator’s status either. The excavations at Pompeii have revealed some fascinating evidence of this, including graffiti which refers to gladiator Celadus, who ‘makes the girls swoon’. They’ve also uncovered a Pompeian woman in amongst a group of gladiators – all preserved by Vesuvius’ eruption – suggesting there was mingling, or perhaps even a love affair, taking place at the time.

The Emperor Commodus took part in gladiatorial games. An avid supporter, he trained in combat and appeared in the arena in AD 193 dressed as Hercules, but his stunt did not go down well with dismayed contemporaries who considered it undignified.

The Emperor Commodus as Hercules’

Today, we would probably assume that it was the bloodshed of gladiatorial games which caused controversy in the ancient world. In fact commentators at the time were much more concerned about the effect they had on the audience’s emotions – philosophers believed the games caused people to lose self-control, and criticised them for this.

The aim was not gore at all but an impressive contest of control and skill, and a demonstration of excellent swordsmanship. Hence the use of strict rules and a referee - if, for example, armour fell off unprovoked (i.e. unfairly), the referee could pause proceedings. A fair fight was essential: there was no honour in beating a weaker opponent. So contests for criminals charged to execution were generally held at lunchtime, when the audience was at its thinnest. Such fights were not entertaining as the gladiator had a major advantage over the convict.

Entertainment lay in the ability of the two fighters, evenly matched, to out-fight each other. Exceptional skill was important, as, if the audience were impressed enough, they could call for the loser’s life to be spared. On the other hand, those condemned to death were expected to master the moment – welcoming it by kneeling before their opponent.

The Emperor Honorius formally banned gladiatorial games in AD 404, but they have continued to be a source of wonder and entertainment for us ever since.

Sources:

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/gladiators/gladiators.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/gladiators_01.shtml

Gladiators and Caesars: The Power of Spectacle in Ancient Rome, ed. Kohne, E., and Ewigleben, C., London 2000

Exploring Mediterranean Pottery

I must admit that investigating pots from all around the Mediterranean is an exciting but challenging process. The task I had been challenged with was to “decode” a great collection of ancient Mediterranean vases dating from the Early Bronze Age to the Late Iron Age (BC 2500-30) that had mysteriously ended up in Bath. After one visit, three books, and countless articles and museum’s websites I have just about cracked it.

Here is a brief introduction to just some of the objects and their fascinating history.

The first one is a bottle-shaped vase called unguentarium or also known as spindle-shape unguentarium. This pot is a pinkish-grey bottle with a rounded biconical body, a tapering base and an uneven concave neck. Dating ito the Hellenistic Period (BC 325-30) and made in Cyprus, this small narrow-necked flask was made in order to store perfumed oils. Unguentaria were used throughout the Ancient Hellenistic and Roman World and it was common that they would not stand. These types of vessels were placed in tombs as grave offerings.


Unguentarium - BATRM1986.27.5

The next pot is a jug, and more specifically an oinochoe (οινοχόη in Greek). The name reveals that this jug was made to contain wine (οίνος in Greek). This vase is a Mycenaean style ware dating to the Late Bronze Age (BC 1650-1050) and was probably imported into Cyprus from the Aegean. It is made of a cream slipped decorated bichrome fabric and has a flat rim sloping outwards, a globular body, one vertical handle and a spherical ring base. It was decorated with lines and bands of concentric circles in purplish-red and dark brown paint, placed vertically on either side of the body. Vases of this type are found in two types of context either as an indication of high quality tableware (domestic) or as grave offerings (ritual).

Jug - BATRM1986.26.9

The last object is a black figure Attic lekythos (λήκυθος in Greek) and dates to between late 5th century and 6th century BC. This pot was made in Greece and depicts standing figures including Orpheus. Vases of this type were originally made to contain oil; however, the ones made in Attica are a bit different. They are called Attic white lekythoi (the background is white and the figures normally black) and were used as grave offerings. After the construction of the Parthenon, the ancient pot-makers were inspired by the beauty and perfection of the monument’s sculptures, and therefore they started making a new type of lekythos with both white background and figures (imitating the marbles).

Vase - 1985.293

Mystery objects: Among the collection, two objects found in Carthage were really hard to identify. After many hours of research the mystery was finally solved and the result was far more exciting than expected. The first object is a syringe-shaped pipe quite common in North Africa. The second one is an ancient rattle which was used in order to help young children fall asleep, and at the same time drive away evil spirits.

Pipe - BATRM1986.23.1

Rattle - BATRM1986.23.2



Roman Tableware

The evening of the last Tuesday of August was a clear, calm one, a lovely atmosphere to set up the last Time Table of the summer season around the Great Bath. The topic I had chosen to explore was Roman tableware as it was something all Romans would have used and like many objects would have been an indication of a person’s power, wealth and status.

For the most grand of dining tables gold and silver vessels and platters would have been the material of choice but would these objects have been eaten off? Perhaps exquisitely decorated pieces of metal such as the Mildenhall Treasure were placed on display in Roman dining rooms to be admired. Bronze was also used to make tableware and metals were used to make spoons. Spoons were the main cutlery used by the Romans as they did not have forks and mainly ate with their fingers.



Pewter Ewer from the Sacred Spring

I was fascinated to learn of the popularity of pewter tableware as I had not associated the material with the Romans. However it was popular as it was cheaper than silver and not as breakable as pottery. A number of pewter objects have been found in the Sacred Spring presumably ending their lives as religious offerings. If you joined me at my Time Table I hope you enjoyed making a mini Pewter platter to take home.

Glass still appeals to us today as it did in Roman times. The Romans however seem to have been a lot more adventurous with the colour of their glass using yellow-browns, greens, dark blues and orange-red.

Samian Bowl

Before the Romans came to Britain very few people had fine pottery. That all changed though and soon the Romans were importing loads of pottery such as red samian ware from Gaul and British potteries were trying to copy Roman styles.

Next time you are looking in a museum case at pewter jugs, glass bottles or samian pottery have a think about their original setting. Try to visualise the dining room decorated with wall paintings and mosaics, think of the smells of hot food and wine and listen for the sound of conversation, laughter and music.



Emma Traherne – Volunteer at the Roman Baths and Assistant Curator at the Museum of Farnham (Surrey)



For more information on the Sacred Spring and the Pewter Finds

http://www.romanbaths.co.uk/collections.aspx



For more information on the Mildenhall Treasure

http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/article_index/m/the_mildenhall_treasure.aspx

The Search for an English Pottery

This small fragment is one which was discovered in the yard of No. 4 the Circus, in Bath. It’s pretty exciting, because with a little archaeological detective work we can figure out what this piece once looked like, where it was from, the sort of person who may have owned it, and when it was made.

Even with the little detail,
we can discover a lot about a piece of pottery!

This fragment has a maker’s mark, also known as a backstamp. Potters put a lot of time and energy into making their designs, and so they wouldn’t want for anyone to be able to rip off their patterns. By registering and patenting their designs, they could be legally protected if anyone else tried to use it without their permission. The marks helped to show who owned the design and when it was registered. Staffordshire potters have marked their wares since at least the 1790’s. This has the name of the maker, a pattern name and a registration number – all of these give us information.

The Swinnertons were a company formed in 1906 based in Hanley, Stoke-On-Trent. In their peak they owned six factories – three of which were teapot factories. They sold pottery with the Swinnertons name on it for almost 60 years, aiming their goods at middle class households. Today, the company is part of the Doulton group – I’m sure you’ve heard of their figurines!

The registration number on this piece, 837606, lets us know when the pattern was first made. Each registration number is unique, and kept in files at the National Archives in Kew. The numbering system was started in 1884: with over 1500 potteries in Staffordshire alone, no wonder the numbers are long! This number would have been registered in 1940.

Now, what does the actual piece look like? Since this is just a base, I couldn’t tell you if it was a saucer, a plate, or a larger dish. There also seems to be TWO patterns selling online with the name ‘luxor vellum’ and the same registration number: a plain cream, and a floral pattern. Try searching for Swinnertons “luxor vellum” 837606 on the internet, and tell us in the comments which one you think this pattern is!

Want to look up your granny’s teacups and find out more about them? Thepotteries.org (run by an amateur historian in Stoke-On-Trent) has a table of what range of numbers were registered between 1884 and 1965. It’s a good place to start!

 
Barbara