ROMAN VESSEL

250

A Late Roman pewter hoard consisting of two large moulded platters. The vessel form of both platters consists of a very short steep wall surmounted by a broad flanged rim set at 90 degrees horizontally. Platter 1: The vessel weighs 1.247kg. The diameter of the platter is 360mm, of which 37.24mm is the width of the rim. The short wall of the platter is 17mm high and the rim is 2.04mm thick. The rim edge is decorated with a single incised line around its circumference. The bottom of the platter is also decorated with a series of concentric incised circles. At the centre is a single line circle, 5.04mm in diameter. Surrounding this are two parallel lines, set 2.72mm apart. 3.8mm from the centre are two lines set 12.84mm apart, 70mm from the centre are two lines set 8.4mm apart and there is a further set of two lines 100mm from the centre set 12mm apart. There is also a double incised line around the outer edge of the central portion, at the bottom of the rim. The reverse of the platter is undecorated, but there are slightly raised concentric lines formed from the incised lines at the front. The platter has a significant tear of 96mm where the rim meets the wall. The rim also has a transverse split (that does not reach either edge) and a short crack at one point in the rim. The platter is squashed down slightly, presumably due to being buried and the weight of the earth. The vessel has a mid grey, dull patina with significant patches of white powdery corrosion product.Platter 2: The vessel weighs 1.572kg. The diameter of the platter is 377mm, of which 36.78mm is the width of the rim. The short wall of the platter is 13mm high and the rim is 4.68mm thick. The rim is decorated with a single incised line around its circumference, and is also slightly more beaded than platter 1. The bottom of the platter is also decorated with a series of concentric incised circles. At the centre is a single line circle, 4.64mm in diameter. Surrounding this are two parallel lines set 3.48mm apart. 28.4mm from the centre are two parallel lines set 1mm apart, 4.8mm beyond these lines is a very faint single incised line. Beyond this, 38.44mm from the centre are two parallel lines set 1mm apart. 81.98mm from the centre are two further parallel lines set 8.72mm apart. Between these last two pairs of lines is a possible, very faint single line. There is also a double incised line around the outer edge of the central portion, at the bottom of the rim. The reverse of the platter is undecorated, but there are slightly raised concentric lines formed from the incised lines at the front. The platter has a significant tear of 180mm where the rim meets the wall. There is a tear between the beaded portion and main body of the rim of which is 70.1mm long. The platter is squashed down slightly, presumably due to being buried and the weight of the earth. The vessel has a mid grey, dull patina with patches of dark grey and a higher proportion of white powdery corrosion product than platter 1, especially to the reverse. The reverse is slightly more soil encrusted. The exact circumstances of recovery are not known, or the treatment of the platters in the years since discovery, but it could be tentatively suggested that this platter was placed lower of the two, with the other resting above.Challands, 2006, in East Anglian Archaeology Report number 113; Excavations at Kilverstone, Norfolk: an episodic landscape reports on a 'blacksmith's hoard' (page 125) where pewter plates were neatly stacked up at the side of a pit, Also in the pit was the smith's iron tools amongst other iron items perhaps produced by the smith such as a padlock bolt and nails. Though now fragmentary, figure 4.23 number 3 shows a pewter plate similar to those recorded here. Challands comments that Late Roman pewter hoards tend to cluster around central East Anglia, though they are known further afield.Neil Beagrie (1989, The Romano-British Pewter Industry in Britannia XX, page 175) also explains that most Romano-British pewter vessels are from Late Roman contexts dating from c. 250-410 AD (though they may have been in use some time before deposition).He also indicates that there is plenty of evidence for pewter manufacture in Roman Britain from the 4th century, based mainly on the remains of moulds used for casting. Beagrie suggests (page 179) that pewter hoards were a form of religious offering though the Kilverstone discovery now provides clear evidence to the contrary.However, as there is no contextual evidence to accompany the platters recorded here, a reason for deposition can only be conjectured.A similar platter has recently been found as part of a pewter hoard at Camborne in Cambridgeshire (Wessex Archaeology forthcoming). At the time of recording an image was available at http://www.wessexarch.co.uk/projects/cambridgeshire/cambourne/pewter.htmlHere Wessex Archaeology suggests that the Cambourne hoard was intended to be recovered and had no religious significance. They also point out that pewter hoards are rarer than copper alloy hoards as pewter is very easily melted down to recast.Aside from the Kilverstone fragmentary example, a published parallel for the complete pewter vessel form could not be found, but for a similar vessel in copper alloy see Tassinari, 1975, La Vaisselle de Bronze Romaine et Provinciale au Musée des Antiquités Nationales, XXIX supplement a Gallia, Éditions du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris, number 88.There have been a number of single pewter finds from Essex, but at the time of recording it is believed that these two platters represent the first known hoard of pewter from Essex and as such are a significant discovery.