Tradition and innovation: six centuries of pottery production, use and disposal in late Saxon to late medieval East Anglia

Anderson, Sue (2023) Tradition and innovation: six centuries of pottery production, use and disposal in late Saxon to late medieval East Anglia. Doctoral thesis, University of East Anglia.

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Abstract

Built upon almost three decades of recording medieval pottery assemblages in East Anglia, this thesis utilises data from over 1800 sites and more than two million sherds – a ‘big data’ approach – to consider distributions of pottery fabrics and forms across the region between the mid-9th and mid-16th centuries. The pottery types in use in the three main period divisions across this date range are described and defined with regard to their fabrics and forms, and related to known and putative production sites. GIS-based study of the distribution of major fabrics and forms provides an insight into the type of pottery used across the region, how the various types related to each other and how these patterns changed over the centuries. Based on this evidence, themes relevant to each period are discussed in order to place the results within the historical and archaeological context of each period. Questions relating to differences between rural and urban pottery manufacture consumption, the role of immigrants, the growth of markets and their impact on pottery manufacture, and changes in patterns of waste disposal are considered. Case studies of the two main manufacturing areas – Grimston in north-west Norfolk and the Sandlings coastal strip of Suffolk – use new data to provide insights into the medieval pottery industry in the region, and the people who bought and used the potters’ products. The study concludes by bringing these themes together to provide an overview of pottery studies in East Anglia in the early 21st century, and provides some key research objectives for the future.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of Art, Media and American Studies
Depositing User:	Nicola Veasy
Date Deposited:	28 May 2024 09:16
Last Modified:	28 May 2024 09:16
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/95310
DOI:

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