Late Saxon Pottery from Berkeley Castle, Berkeley, Gloucester

Stuart J Prior, Alan Vince

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

Abstract

Excavations by Bristol University 2005-6, in Berkeley Castle’s walled Victorian garden complex [ST 685 991], recorded a section of Anglo-Saxon ditch likely associated with Berkeley’s Anglo-Saxon Minster. Amongst the finds recovered were 35 sherds of late Saxon pottery, samples of which were examined in thin section and using chemical analysis to establish the source of the vessels, none of which appear to have been made locally in south Gloucestershire. The results of this geological and chemical analysis together with a typological study are consistent with the vessels coming mainly from a source in Wiltshire with a small number coming from Gloucester. They indicate that in the late 10th to early 11th century there was no local pottery industry which could supply south Gloucestershire and consequently that unless a site was of high status, as the minster at Berkeley undoubtedly would have been, the general populace of south Gloucestershire probably did not have access to pottery.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)143-149
Number of pages7
JournalTransactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society
Volume130
Publication statusPublished - 2012

Keywords

  • Berkeley
  • Anglo-Saxon
  • Minster
  • Pottery
  • Thin-Section Analysis
  • Chemical Analysis
  • Aceramic
  • Gloucestershire

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