This was a very successful and fascinating day with Duncan in the Museum Education Room. In the morning Duncan went through the 2 main features of pottery, fabric and form, and listed all the parts of vessels to look for – lid, rim, spout, base etc. He went through how pot was made - basically by hand, or on a wheel - how it was fired, and led us from the Post-Roman period to modern - from about 350 to 1850. The Industrial Revolution changed everything - from production to transport to taste in pottery.
After lunch, in groups, we had a collection of sherds to try to sort into chronological order – to see whether we’d learned anything in the morning!
Duncan rounded off the day by comparing 5 different domestic sites in which he’d been involved – from a peasant farmstead on Fyfield Down, via Launceston Castle to Bull Hall in Southampton – looking at the proportions of different kinds of pot in each. It certainly put people back into the Archaeology.
Thanks to Duncan for an excellent day.
After lunch, in groups, we had a collection of sherds to try to sort into chronological order – to see whether we’d learned anything in the morning!
Duncan rounded off the day by comparing 5 different domestic sites in which he’d been involved – from a peasant farmstead on Fyfield Down, via Launceston Castle to Bull Hall in Southampton – looking at the proportions of different kinds of pot in each. It certainly put people back into the Archaeology.
Thanks to Duncan for an excellent day.