Kay Hartley Mortarium Archive Project
Kay F. Hartley, Ruth Leary, Yvonne Boutwood, 2022. (updated 2025) https://doi.org/10.5284/1090785. How to cite using this DOI
Data copyright © Kay F. Hartley, Ruth Leary, Yvonne Boutwood unless otherwise stated
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- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1090785
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Region: Continentals
Potters | Region/Industry Overview
Introduction to Stamped Mortaria from Continental Sources (and very rarely, elsewhere)
K. Hartley
This Mortarium Project is concerned only with stamped mortaria from Continental Europe and very occasionally elsewhere, ignoring all unstamped ones. The 'mortarium' was still an alien vessel to the Iron Age Cultures present in what one might call 'Albion' until elite tribal leaders in the south and south-east came into social and political contact with the Romans. Even then its use was strictly limited and any change, if it occurred, would have been slow. It was the Claudian conquest which changed the situation overnight. Military Units and all administrative staff had to be provided with appropriate equipment and utensils. Thus, all of the earliest mortaria came from Continental sources and in due course, all the earliest potters making mortaria in Britain as well as occasional later ones, also came from the Continent. All of the earliest mortaria which came into Britain in any number were unstamped and some details about these can be found in Hartley 1998; 1977 and 1973a, but the most up to date summary of one major early source in the Rhône valley is by Paul Tyers, in Bird et al. 2020.
The practice of stamping mortaria probably started in brickyards in the Tiber valley, where bricks and tiles were made on large, often senatorial, estates. The production of jars, mortaria, dolia, and other items made of clay, were offshoots of the main industry and all were made originally for estate needs. The industry took off quite early in the first century AD. This Brickyard industry has been studied in depth by various scholars including Bloch 1947, Helen 1975, Setälä 1977, Aubert 1994, M. Steinby and many others, sometimes listing stamps, but also discussing the organization of the industry and the nomenclature used (see Acta Instituti Romani Finlandiae for various publications). In 2002, however, Pallecchi published all the stamped mortaria known of, which were made in these Brickyards in central Italy. She discusses the nomenclature and possible status of the potters (eg. managers etc.) mentioned, for example whether freedmen, slaves are concerned. Aubert 1994, chapter 4, p.200-321 gives a particularly useful and detailed discussion of the industry.
It is likely that the more widespread practice of stamping mortaria developed purely as a result of them having been stamped in the brickyards. Some potters who appear as independent potters in Italy have names which may link them to those owners of brickyards where they had formerly been slaves and to those owners who had made them freedmen, and who probably sponsored their activity. One has to remember, of course, when making some judgements from names that some of the common names associated with slaves could also be used by freeborn men. Similarly, some potters working in Gaul can carry some such a link. It therefore seems particularly relevant to start this introduction to stamped mortaria found in Britain, but made on the Continent, with the stamped mortaria made in Italy and to list them individually.
A total of seven stamps of potters working in Italy have been recorded to date from sites in Britain:
- Stamp too eroded for identification or illustration (Manning ed. 1993, fig 185, no.3 and p.422, no.10). Phase 1 (AD55-75) of the fortress at Usk.
- Q. Lucilius Crescens from Verulamium (Frere 1984, no.77, 55 A I 7/8), from a context dated to AD75-90. Pallecchi 2002, punzone 24.1, 243a on p187-8.
- M. Varienus Cresces - from Richborough (not published). Found among unstamped rims in the rubbish west of the road over Claudian ditches). His mortaria have been recorded at Pompeii. Pallecchi 2002, p248, punzone 37.4, 409.
- Statius Marcius Secundio who worked in the figlinae Oceanae. A fragmentary stamp reading ]RG SE[ with either a stop or a small I between G and S. Found just outside the wall at the Aldgate, London, (DUA). Examples are known from Pompeii. From a die of the same type and same reading as Pallecchi 2002, punzone 27.35 and 27.36 on p213-4.
- L Lurius Priscus - from Clement's Lane, London (12 on label). Roach-Smith 1859, 89. CIL VII, 1331, 67. British Museum 112K. Believed to be first century by Pallecchi 2002, p191-2, punzone 25.4, 247.
- Cn. Domitius Arignotus - from Vindolanda (SF15894, Period V/VI ( AD120-180), Birley and Sheehan-Finn, fig.7, no. 81, misread ); examples of his work known from Pompeii, Pallecchi 2002, p140-143, Punzione 18.40-18.45. The Vindolanda stamp is in poor condition and from a die similar to punzone 18.42 with palm branch pointing to right as in drawing for Punzione 18.42. Arignotus was a freedman officinator of the two Domitii and he was still managing later for Domitia Lucilla the elder when she inherited (Helen,Tapio 1975, pp105-09). Residual.
- FAVSTI/DOMITIAES/LVCILLAES - The Domitiae Lucillae brickyard, with Faustus their slave, probably acting as their manager. Ownership of brickyard dated to AD108-161 from the dynastic details of the gens Domitius, (Pallecchi 2002, p156, punzone 18.62). Found at Sea Mills, Avon. F1338 Bristol Mus. 1K
It is likely that most of these reached Britain in the first century. There will of course have been more and their hefty profiles are so distinctive that unstamped fragments can be readily identified. It is, nevertheless, a very small total and unlikely to represent import on more than a minimum scale. However, shipwrecks, like that off Cap Dramont, D2, near St Raphael (Jonchery 1972), show that Italian mortaria were reaching France by sea and, no doubt, being taken up the Rhône to Lyons and beyond. Unstamped mortaria from the Lyons area were coming to Britain in large quantities up to cAD 80 or so and some Italian mortaria could have come with them.
Rhône valley
The few stamped mortaria we got from potteries in the Rhône valley, probably in the Vienne/Sainte-Colombe area, like those of Primus, Grecus, C.S.C.DOVS and others no doubt came along the same well-established river route (Bird et al. 2020, p399-401). We have, to date, 6 stamps from this pottery, 3 reading Primus, 1 Priamus, 1 Grecus, 1 C.S.C.DOVS and a single unstamped fragment from Exeter, which is from a mortarium where the stamp has not survived. In rim-profile these mortaria can be reminiscent of Italian mortaria from the Brickyards of central Italy, but when side by side their difference is manifest as the latter have much heftier rims. As far as I know there is no question of the above being made in Italy as mentioned in Saison-Guichon, but it is a possibility that the makers had previously worked in some of the large brickyards there before beginning to work independently in Gaul.
Potteries at Aoste in Isère, in the Province of Gallia Narbonensis (Rougier 1988; Laroche 1988).
We also have a small number of mortaria from these important potteries. These are attributable to G. Atisius Gratus and G. Atisius Sabinus (Hartley 1973, fig 3, distribution out of date, but still giving a correct general impression). The mortaria from this Pottery may appear in small numbers, but they have a very wide distribution throughout western Europe. The distribution on this map would suggest that they came along the same route as the above mortaria. Their import into Britannia was almost certainly within the period AD 50-85. All of those we have are of Type Gillam 236.
Coulanges, 'Mortillon' (Allier):
We have 2 stamps from these potteries: one stamp of Vicanus found at Head St, Colchester (unpublished); and a circular stamp found at Caerleon, ASVA. The date of the Coulanges production was dated as Antonine by the excavator (Vertet 1976). This is an unusual source for Britain and there is no question of deliberate importation
The seriously major imports of stamped mortaria to Britain
1. The Lyon area appears to have been a major source of the earliest unstamped mortaria in Britain in the first century, along with mortaria like those from the Mayen area in the Rhineland (Niblett 1985) and no doubt other sources along the way. But, when stamped mortaria are considered, all of our major sources from the second half of the first century up to the early second century were in north-western Europe, almost certainly between Haute-Normandie and Nord-Pas-de-Calais area, from the Eure area of Normandy to possibly no further north than Bavai, but possibly including the Oise/Somme area. The sources in this whole area dwarf all of those mentioned above.
2. The second spate of imports of stamped mortaria were from two different workshops in the District of Düren in the Rhineland cAD160-230+. Verecundus 2 worked at Soller, Kr. Düren (Haupt 1984), but the second workshop, working in the same style and with the same methods was discovered later, but early enough for Dr Haupt to mention it in her Paper, 'Von Birgel nach Silchester' in 1981 and in Haupt 1984. This second workshop lies on the border of the district of Birgel (incorporated since 1975 as a district in Düren) and there is undoubtedly a close relationship in the mortaria produced. The products of both workshops could be regarded as having a very specialized usage because of their size and strength. Neither site has been extensively excavated, but according to present knowledge the stamps of Verecundus 2 are present only at Soller which could mean that this workshop is the earlier though the use of Trademarks also became established here.
Mortaria continued to be imported from the Rhineland, probably from various Rhineland sources until well in to the third century, but these were of the unstamped, collared type (Richardson 1986, 109-112).
The earlier sources in western Europe
Although all the distribution maps in Hartley 1998 are obviously out of date they still demonstrate the importance of the potteries in northern France. Comparison of the distribution of stamps of Q. Valerius Veranius or even Q. Valerius SE[, with those of the stamped mortaria from all other parts of the Roman Empire put together, show that the potteries in this area were, by far, the most important suppliers to Britain of stamped mortaria from the Continent within the period cAD65-110.
The evidence available indicates two areas where workshops could be expected to exist though unfortunately no completely certain evidence for kilns has yet been found at Noyon.
i. Noyon (Oise) where masses of pottery have been found or indicated from when the construction of a 'Station des eaux' was begun in the 1950s and extensions from time to time have revealed further layers of pottery, including some fragments which were considered to be wasters or clay fragments from kilns. A summary of events is included in Ben Redjeb 1992a, p56 (see also Ben Redjeb 1992b and Angot 1969). The circumstances in the rescue excavations etc were the opposite of ideal for the discovery of kilns. Because no kilns have been found, I refer to the mortaria here as 'Noyonnais' rather than 'Noyon', but the considerable number of mortaria stamped by appropriate potters which have been recorded from nearby Amiens 50km, distant (Dubois & Binet 1996 and Dubois et al. 2009), would fit well with production at Noyon. It is clear from the number of mortaria known overall for Q. Valerius Veranius, that he was the most prolific of the potters who may have worked at Noyon and elsewhere.
He had certainly started his career at Bavai (Nord) but stamps from his earliest dies (Hartley 1998, fig 1, nos. 1-2 have not been recorded further away than nearby Haussy. At least one stamp I saw at Bavai (fig 1, no.3) was a broken stamp from Die 3 - see Richborough stamp (Bushe-Fox 1932, 163, (14) A (my no.104K); stamps from Die 3 are widely found. I suggested at the time that he may have moved to the Noyon area and that his extensive and important production was from there, but see below.
ii. The second area where there is some evidence to indicate production is at sites in the Evreux area (Eure) of Normandy (Adrian 2013; Blaszkiewicz et al. 1988). A smaller, but noteworthy number of appropriate stamps are known from sites in this general area (Eure), with more emphasis on potters who are likely to have begun stamping slightly earlier and who have a somewhat different range of rim-profiles, like Q. VA. SE, T.IV AFER; it includes GRACILIS and MOTTIVS/BOLLVS who are otherwise unknown in France. In addition there are mortaria of Q. Valerius Veranius and other potters represented at Noyon and Amiens like Orbissa and Summacus, Q. Valerius Esunertus and Q. Valerius Suriacus. Although they are stamps recorded at places in the area rather than all in one place, kilns have been found in the area (Adrian 2013), and second-century kilns have been found not far away at Les Mares Jumelles (Adrian 1995), so we know that everything needed for pottery production was available.
Judging from what clearly happened in Britain, even potters of only moderate importance did not always do all their production in one single workshop (eg from Sarrius and G Attius Marinus down to Nanieco), In fact, it would be really surprising if a potter of Veranius's importance was active in only one workshop. Because the stamped mortaria at Noyon were closely similar to ours with the same stamps, I have termed ours 'Noyonnais', partly because of knowing about them first, but also to get round the fact that no precise 'Atelier' for him has yet been found there; it may well turn out to be a somewhat inappropriate term! The Noyon area is in a suitable situation for a pottery supplying Amiens, but even if or when production is actually proved beyond any possible question, there had been some production at Bavai which might have continued at least for a short time, if suitable clay was available, and, it is virtually certain that some or all of these potters were involved in production in the Eure region.
Sources in the north of France which were of less importance for Britain
Apart from obtaining mortaria on a very large scale from potteries in the above locations, we have some stamps from potteries in the Bavai region (eg. Adiutor, Brariatus, Privatus, Martialis 1, Verecundus 1, Victor (3 stamps from 3 different dies) and others. Potters like Adiutor, Brariatus and Victor were active at some time at other sites, but I have assumed that the products we have would be most likely to come from Bavai. There are a few other potters who can be attributed with reasonable certainty to the north of France on fabric and form, but whose exact sources are quite unknown: eg, Orgil, Buc(c)us, Fronto, CIVIL? and others. One old find from Caerwent (unpublished) has a stamp which reads something like CIITTIVARIO or CIITTINVARIO (with II representing E and VA or NVA ligatured); this has some similarity to the mortaria made at les Mares-Jumelles (Adrian 1995) rather than to any of the above, but it cannot be attributed anywhere without further information or examination.
As soon as production inside Britain was able to supply the needs of the progressing conquest any stamped mortaria we have from the Continent were probably incidental ones (eg. perhaps those from Coulanges), brought over in the entourage of visiting officials etc., apart from those of Verecundus 2 and some mortaria with trademarks, which were from the Rhineland cAD165-230 (see below).
The Rhineland
We have 2 stamps reading ATTICVS .FEC/KANABIS.BON, from Colchester (not published), and Verulamium (Niblett et al. 2006). Probably second-century. See Pfahl 2002.
The main spate of imports from the Rhineland area was within the period cAD 165-230. Verecundus 2, working at Soller, Kr. Düren made mortaria of massive size and weight which would have had definite specialist use; some potters working in the same area used trademark stamps (TMs 149-154) made similar vessels (Haupt 1984). Another workshop which was closely and clearly related in its products, was later discovered at Birgel, Kr.Düren (mentioned in Haupt 1981); so far as I am aware no stamps of Verecundus 2 have been found there, but mortaria of exactly the same type but with decoration or Trademarks like those recorded to a lesser extent at Soller Haupt 1984).
Their import to Britain was not on a very large scale, but their unusual character makes a large impact. At least four were found at insula xiii, at Silchester, where Fox, G E and St John Hope W H, excavating from 1890 to 1907 (Archaeologia vols 52-60) thought their presence indicated a kitchen or bakehouse. Dr Haupt recognized the mortaria at Silchester as similar to those at the recently discovered site at Birgel, Kr.Düren and noticed also the absence of any stamps of Verecundus 2 (Haupt 1984). These are clearly of the same type and fabric as those stamped by Verecundus 2, but they belong to those with trademarks instead of namestamps. There is no reason to link them with dairies as George Boon (1974) and Felix Oswald had done earlier, because mortaria in northern France used to be described as 'tèles á lait'.
There are several mortaria like those made at Soller and Birgel recorded from different sites in London and Southwark. All of these Rhineland mortaria are notably absent from Scotland but are found widely in England where they are readily recognizable even without stamp or trademark because of their size, structure and fabric. Import of some unstamped, collared mortaria continued from sources in the Rhineland in the third century (see Richardson 1986, for a discussion of those from St Magnus Wharf in London).
Finally we have two incomplete stamps (INC 104) from Canterbury and London (neither published) with incomplete first letter ]ALVC when complete. Another stamp which appears to be from the same die has been found in the La Catria area of the Guadalquivir valley in Spain (information from Beth Richardson). It is a very unusual stamp and raises the possibility that it could be Spanish.
In Hartley 1998, p.206 the potter Boriedo, who now has 3 mortaria in Britain, from Castleford, Elginhaugh and Ribchester, was listed with Potters who were believed to have worked in the north of France. He was in this list because the style of his mortaria so strongly indicates this source. All three, as it happens, are for various reasons in difficult condition. This should provide a very healthy check on jumping to conclusions because it should not be in the list and its presence shows how one can quite easily make mistakes. Fortunately, the British Museum had reason to ask Michael Hughes to analyze the fabric of The almost complete mortarium of Boriedo because it was in the Ribchester Hoard (Jackson, R P and Craddock, P T, 1995). This mortarium has been worn within an inch of its life - only by checking by the groove below the bead with a lens can you see the trituration grit in any normal sort of way. The fabric is completely discoloured and there are signs of varnish having been used on it. Furthermore the Hoard was found in a pit near the River Ribble, which does not suggest that it would always be dry. Despite all its vicissitudes the vessel stands up firmly. I looked for anything which was normal to decide where it was from - that was the profile of the rim, the type of spout and these all said 'north of France'. The late Val Rigby had excavated in France and thought exactly the same. When Dr Hughes said 'wherever it was made, it was not the north of France' we were both astounded. If its condition had not been so disconcerting and it had had a reasonable amount of trituration grit I might still have thought it must be an import because of its form, but at least I would have known it was not from the north of France. I suspect that no mortarium made there could stand up to the wear it had suffered and I think it would be impossible for one to be in its sturdy state when buried near a river because dampness as well as acid soil causes the fabric to begin to disintegrate.
In fact I now have no doubt that it was made at Elginhaugh by a potter who had been drafted there from the north of France where he had learned his craft. It was clear eventually that many potters had come there from the Continent and from other areas in Britain, but at the time it was difficult to believe it. There are now quite a few potters who may well be, in fact, imported potters for example, a potter working at Elginhaugh for Fronto, a unpublished stamp, ]ersicus at Newstead, C. Iul.Atticus at Fishbourne, Dagobi and an incomplete stamp at Clausentum and others. It seems growingly more likely that many of these may be 'imported potters' working locally, but analysis will certainly clarify this question.
Appendix
[There are also at least six other stamped Italian mortaria in Britain which are or may have been in private collections. These include:
L Lurius Proculus/Cresce(n)s (Crescens, a slave). Mortarium complete except for a small plug out of the base. In a museum at Cambridge. Purchased 1891. Provenance uncertain, ?Italy. Die believed by Pallecchi 2002 to be end of first century to beginning of second century.
C Satrinius Tertius, probably found in Rome. Brought to Durham by J Ward Perkins M.S.I;15/1/55. Dept of Arch KD9. See Joncheray 1972, p.25.
A second mortarium of Cn Domitius Arignotus, in the Flinders Petrie Museum at University College, London, 5K. Marked 19445 PC 35/e, with reference to 'Exhibition Catalogue 1894' p 12 (15). Koptos, Egypt. Believed to have been obtained by Petrie.
]ΛGENDV[ /]ITIORS‣R (initial letter on top line could be M or blind A; the final R on lower line is probably followed by the end of the stamp rather than I). I have not been able to find any other example of this stamp. Flinders Petrie Museum in University College, London (4K). Marked UC19446 PC 35/E. Found at Koptos, Egypt; the context suggested, is 'Rubbish-dump E of town.' Exhibition Catalogue 1894', p12 (15).
SATVRNINI, (AT ligatured; first NI ligatured) probably from same die as Pallecchi 2002, p.116, Punzione 14.5. This is a stamp of M Cimonius Saturninus (ibid. p113-118, no.4). This potter has two mortaria in Britain:
i. Koptos, Egypt (Flinders Petrie Mus. in University College, London (3K).
ii. Civita Lavinia (Dept of Greek & Roman Antiquities, British Museum 3K)
He has been recorded at Pompeii and his early date is confirmed by his use of Type 1 mortaria (Hartley 1973) (Cahiers d'Archaéologie Subaquatique, Numero 2, p49-60).
