The Excavation of a Fourth-Century Roman Pottery Production Unit at Stibbington, Cambridgeshire

Abstract

Excavations took place in 1969, in advance of housing development, on the site of a fourth-century Roman pottery workshop, two adjacent kilns, a well, a large pit and two burials. The workshop contained internal features linked with pottery production, including possible emplacements for potters' wheels. Two kilns, each constructed differently, were producing grey and colour-coated wares. A large pit was used for rubbish. A well, square in plan, was associated with the workshop and must have provided water for the potters. Of particular interest was a complete millstone, which appears to have been used as a flywheel fixed to a potter's wheel. Pottery production at the site may have continued into the early part of the fifth century and as such is one of the last known production centres of the Roman Nene valley pottery industry. The site is significant in that it probably represents a near complete and typical industrial pottery production unit within a major pottery production area of the province and represents an important aspect of the late Roman economy.