Medieval Archaeology 33

The ratios of E and W Mediterranean pottery among groups of post-Roman imports, when compared wlth contemporary pottery assemblages from Mediterranean sites, suggest that there was direct trade contact between Britain and the NE Mediterranean, perhaps Constantinople itself (cf Procopius), in the late 5th to 6th centuries.

Vertical-wheeled mills have been seen as a 12th century introduction to Ireland, but two Irish mills dated to the 7th and 8th centuries probably had vertical (undershot) wheels. c M H

Flax-retting pools of 12th-13th century date, hitherto unrecognized, still survive in the landscape of NW England. c M H

Reports several research projects on the capital of the Hanseatic League treating topography, urban plots, house-building, handicrafts, trade, and food supply. Au(abr)

Houses in Kent c 1300-1550 have been dated by dendrochronology and a sequence for oak established for the period 1158-1540. c M H

Large knives are found to be a symbol of male adult status in 7th and early 8th centuries, whereas in juvenile burials sex and knife size were not discernibly correlated, though boys were more likely to have a knife than were girls. Many more possibilities exist for studying knives from early Saxon burials.

From the upper fill of the Roman town ditch: the brooch pin is of insular make but the ring-brooch is almost certainly a Central European product of 5th or perhaps 4th century date.

County-by-county summaries of recent work, with subject index, and short reports from specialist medieval groups.