Roman Pottery Kilns

The Ceramic Technology of the Mayen Potteries: Experimental Archaeology in a Pre-modern Industrial District: The large-scale potteries of Mayen were able to assert themselves in supra-regional key markets from late antiquity until the end of the middle ages. From an archaeological and archaeometrical point of view, the current state of research on the areas of these potteries is comparatively good, thus providing the best prerequisites for a diachronic evaluation of the ceramic technology of this district with methods of experimental
archaeology. The results achieved are designed to form the basis for a model of such a cluster of potteries based on transparent data.
As a first step, kiln 26/II from Siegfriedstraße 53 in Mayen was reconstructed and rebuilt in 2014. The kiln in question is a shaft furnace which was in use from the end of the 5th till the beginning of the 6th century. The most important co-operation partner for this project is the Fachschule Keramik Höhr-Grenzhausen. in addition, other historically interested potters were engaged on the project. The reconstruction was built next to the Mayener Grubenfeld, close to the division for experimental archaeology. This study illustrates the historic-cultural framework of the late antique large-scale potteries of Mayen
and the basics for the realisation of the reconstruction. It also presents observations made during the first experimental kiln operation.
An experimental archaeological evaluation of this principle of kiln construction turns out to be stable and comparatively rather trouble-free. The know-how needed to control the combustion in a shaft furnace
could have been learned quite fast by anybody after appropriate training. This was possible due to the nearly linear fring process which requires hold times only from 80 to 120°C and at the desired fnal temperature. The production of the utilitarian wares of Mayen requires an oxidising fring atmosphere which can be generated relatively easily with this type of kiln construction. Reduction occurring during the burning is caused by shorter intervals when stoking up the fre in a temperature range above 500°C. shaft kilns constructed according to the construction principle known from Mayen might very well have also been used for the production of fine wares and wares with slips, an assumption which still requires further research. However, this would have resulted in higher demands regarding the quality of the fring process. Influencing factors could have been i.a. variations in the method of stacking the ceramic vessels, the erection of a temporary kiln dome in order to control the fring atmospheres or specifc use of particular types of wood. ---

La technologie céramique des grands ateliers de Mayence: archéologie expérimentale dans un bassin industriel prémoderne: Les grands ateliers de poterie de mayence ont pu s’assurer des marchés interrégionaux depuis l’antiquité tardive jusqu’à la fn du Moyen Age. On dispose d’un état de la recherche relativement bon en ce qui concerne la céramique et les zones occupées par les ateliers du point de vue archéologique et archéométrique – donc des conditions optimales pour évaluer diachroniquement la technologie céramique de ce bassin par l’archéologie expérimentale. les résultats obtenus sont sensés fournir à long terme la base d’un modèle de ce type de cluster d’ateliers à partir de données transparentes. La première étape consista en 2014 à reconstruire et monter le four 26/II de Mayence, Siegfriedstraße 53.
Il s’agit d’un four puits en fonction de la fin du 5e au début du 6e siècle. La Fachschule Keramik de Höhr-Grenzhausen est le partenaire le plus important de ce projet. Mais d’autres potières intéressées par l’histoire
s’y étaient aussi jointes. La reconstruction se déroula au Mayener Grubenfeld à proximité de la section archéologie expérimentale.
Cette étude explique le contexte historico-culturel des grands ateliers de mayen dans l’antiquité tardive et les bases ayant servi à la réalisation de la reconstitution, et présente les observations faites lors de la première cuisson expérimentale. Le type de four évalué expérimentalement s’est révélé résistant et relativement peu sujet à des pannes durant son fonctionnement. chacun, après une initiation adéquate, aurait pu apprendre très vite les bases nécessaires pour contrôler la cuisson dans un four puits grâce à l’évolution pratiquement linéaire de la cuisson qui affche des temps de maintien de 80 à 120°C et à la température fnale désirée. La fabrication de la céramique commune de mayen exige une atmosphère de cuisson oxydante que l’on peut créer facilement
avec ce type de four. Une réduction peut survenir durant la cuisson quand on augmente la fréquence des charges de combustible dans une zone de températures supérieures à 500°c.
Les fours construits selon le type Mayen se prêtaient également à la fabrication de poterie fine et engobée, mais auraient alors exigé un contrôle de la cuisson plus sophistiqué. différents facteurs auraient pu intervenir à cet effet, tels que les variations de l’empilement des vases dans le four, l’aménagement d’une coupole provisoire pour régler l’atmosphère de cuisson ou l’utilisation ciblée de certains bois. Traduction: Y. Gautier

Archaeological investigations conducted in recent decades have provided valuable new insight into the production of tiles and amphorae in the Roman province of Dalmatia. Discoveries of workshops as well as of separate production bound finds – most notably the kilns – are the most direct evidence for it. Occasionally, stamps impressed into the therein produced goods enable identification of persons involved in production. In this poster the authors will present typology of workshops discovered so far and look into their statuses and markets; also, they will present stamps found in such sites, detect the owners and their origins, as well as their estates, links with the local community and/or impact
they might have made on it.

A pottery production site was excavated in the village of Otok near Metlika on the upper terraces of the river Kolpa in 2012–2013. Four small bipartite kilns were excavated. These were circular or oval in plan and were equipped with a central pedestal and a massive kiln floor, which was pierced with triangular and rectangular openings. A wide range of pottery forms were found at the Otok pottery production site. These included both cooking and tableware of exclusively local production. The „vase“ shaped or cylindrical jar with everted rim is of particular note. Examples of this vessel type are known from the cemeteries at Otok and Rosalnice in the vicinity of the site. These are drinking vessels, which were also found throughout Dolenjska in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. The Otok assemblage also contains numerous
potsherds that are decorated with snake and lizard appliqués, which are classified by the authors as part of the so-called „Schlangengefässe“ category. They are probably related to a cult in the domestic or private domain. The pottery production site dates from the 1st to the 2nd centuries AD. The development of the pottery workshop and the transport of its products were facilitated by proximity to the river Kolpa, which was navigable in the Roman period and represented the shortest possible route between Siscia and the Adriatic See.

Abstract: The Roman army required large quantities of different objects for daily-use and it was an important consumer and producer of diverse craft goods, such as everyday tools, clothing items, vessels for storage, cooking and consumption, luxury personal items, and many more.
The Limes regions in Pannonia Inferior and Moesia Superior had an important role in the economic and political life of these provinces, because of the permanent presence of the Roman army and state administration, and also thanks to the convenient geographical position and numerous natural resources. Along with the establishment of the Roman government in the Pannonia Inferior and Moesia Superior, diverse goods from different parts of the Empire began to arrive, and craft production by Roman standards was established in the borderland areas as well. At the same time, autochthonous, traditional techniques of production were not neglected. In this paper, we will offer a brief overview of the archaeological and epigraphic evidence for craft production of objects made from clay, stone and osseous raw materials, related to the Limes on the present-day territory of Serbia.

Keywords: craft production, workshops, craftsperson, ceramic technology, stone objects, osseous technology