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The remains of a large Roman pottery production site have emerged during major excavations at the Moors at Arne, near Poole Harbour in Dorset.
Important wildlife habitats are threatened by rising sea levels, which the Environment Agency – in partnership with Kier, the RSPB, and Natural England – is working to mitigate by creating a diverse wetland habitat of intertidal and freshwater areas. As part of ‘The Moors at Arne’ project, Wessex Archaeology have been carrying out archaeological investigations to identify and document any underlying remains across the site.
Their discoveries include two kilns, which are believed to date between the late 2nd and 4th centuries, as well as the remains of Roman buildings, and more than 17,000 sherds of Black Burnished Ware pottery. Named for its charcoal colour, Black Burnished Ware was widely traded across Roman Britain, and the Moors at Arne kiln site appears to have formed an integral part of this market. Much of the south coast of Dorset, including the Poole Harbour area, formed a major industrial complex in the Roman period, as the team from Wessex Archaeology explained: ‘This pottery production site accounts for just one element of the wider Romano-British industries. It is situated in an area of naturally occurring, very high-quality clay and was close to sources of fuel and water, essential for pottery manufacture.’
The project team turned their hands to experimental archaeology as well, reconstructing a Roman-style kiln to explore how Black Burnished Ware was created. The temperamental nature of the local clay when exposed to the heat of the firing process, as experienced by the team in their efforts, can also be clearly seen in excavated examples from the Moors at Arne: several substantially complete ‘waster pots’, which had failed to take on the characteristic black colour during firing, were found abandoned within the kilns. These rejected pots would probably have been used as supports for the next load to be fired, revealing a snapshot of the inner workings of the kiln site.
Post-excavation analysis will take place over the coming months. ‘We’re looking forward to finding out more about how this site operated, what they were producing, and how the site fits into the wider Roman activity in this area and beyond,’ the team commented.
The investigations have uncovered intriguing prehistoric finds, too, including one of the oldest and most-intact wooden tools ever found in Britain; see CA 417 for more on this, and visit http://www.dorsetcoast.com/project/moors-at-arne-coastal-change-project to stay up to date with the wider project. We will bring you more detailed coverage of the Roman discoveries in a future feature.
Text: Rebecca Preedy / Photo: © Wessex Archaeology
