Medieval Archaeology 21

Over 500 pieces of gold foil on 181 objects of jewellery were studied to discover tbe method of manufacture and the possibility of understanding workshop practice and links. Photographs and photomacrographs show that the foils were stamped, possibly using a fine-grained wooden or bone stamp, and subsequently cut to cell-shape. Various pattern types were distinguished and an apparently choronological progression from fine to coarser line spacing is seen. There may have been a fixed unit of measurement in use, and different foils were chosen for the separate parts of a single object.

The 13th to 15th century wares illustrated and discussed here fall into two groups fine tin-glazed (lustre) wares, and coarse unglazed or lead-glazed. The two main lustre ware production centres were in Andalucia and (later) Valencia; during the overlap period fabric analysis will be needed to distinguish the products. Eighty-three finds from thirty-five sites are described and twenty-eight other sites listed; this was a limited, luxury trade. The coarse wares are Mérida bottles and costrels, amphorae and other storage vessels and green-glazed bowls, probably all from Andalucia and probably imported as containers, unlike the fine wares which could be traded for their appearance alone.

TL 064025. Further excavations revealed a long structure, probably 'Le Longrewe' and of early 14th century, and the Great Well of 1279-81. The documented history is outlined. Le Longrewe, which overlay part of a manorial ditch and two fragmentary buildings, was a lodging range measuring 100m x 5, of mortared flint, with at least eight rooms and two later phases of alterations. The well was partly excavated and subsidiary buildings were examined. Most of the 15th century layout can now be deduced. A selection of finds is illustrated - fine bronzework, pottery of late 13th century to post-medieval times, medieval floor tiles, and environmental evidence.

[TF 981195]. Inhumation 31 of the AS cemetery had a very large rectangular pit lined with wood forming a chamber (details of construction given). It appeared to have been robbed soon after construction, shield fittings (with fish motif) and a spear were the only things left by the robbers, and a date of mid-6th century is suggested. This grave and another were encircled by a ditch, uncommon in England but found in Continental contexts at this time.

Reports the first discovery in Britain of red-painted wasters from a kiln area of late 9th/early 10th century. Their difference from later Stamford products may suggest an immigrant potter from N France.

Study on the ground and use of historical sources indicated that some Midland and E Anglian villages were made up of a number of separate (manorial) nuclei as early as 11th century; some Hampshire and Dorset villages are similarly 'polyfocal'. For the period before 11th century, archaeology has already produced a few likely examples. Five possible explanations for this type of growth are offered and the need to look out for fresh examples noted.

A number of sherds with roller-stamped decoration of interlinked circles are collected here and attributed, not to the Middle Saxon period as was thought for the Stixwould piece, but to 13th/14th century.