See Genuine Kanovium Pottery

See Actual Roman Pottery from Kanovium!

This Page contains images and information on numerous examples of Roman Pottery found at Caerhun Roman Fort : Read this Introduction to understand the basics.

In Britain, the Roman settlement site stands alone in regard to finds, or at least in the actual volume of finds recovered, we can safely say the Roman site produces vast amounts of occupation debris, more than any other period in Wales, and England. For instance, phases of Prehistory can sometimes produce next to nil, other than maybe a few flints or worked stones used as amulets, the Medieval period, particularly in British towns can almost compare to the Roman levels, but generally the Roman site is a messy enigma all of its own, the stratified levels being much thicker than preceding or later historical periods. Why is this?, the Roman Empire was a massive culture which thrived on supply and demand, perhaps it could be compared to modern day U.S.A in that goods are exported throughout the world, be it rock music or products such as the baseball hat and Coca- Cola, people in some countries such as Britain and the Netherlands in particular attempt to copy the U.S.A, be it in the way the Police force operates, the media and the political system. It is fair to say that if life forms from another galaxy examined earth, if U.S.A could be identified as the influencing force, then Britain and Europe would be considered provinces of the ‘American Empire’. This was similar in the Roman annexation of the collection of islands possibly known as ‘Pretania’, or ‘Britain’ and indeed no doubt most of the indigenous residents of these islands hated the Roman Empire and all it stood for, but no doubt all would have been happy to accept the Roman trappings, the Empire with the vast sophisticated road network (and sea network) and fairly large military presence, in most provinces meant that huge amounts of consumer goods were shipped back and forth, often, at this early stage, simply to supply the Roman army billeted throughout the counties that comprised the Empire. Faience and glass from Egypt reached Caerhun, Chester, Capel Curig, Caernarvon and Anglesey. While Britain was famous for hunting dogs, Celtic beer, duffle coats (Burrus Britannicus, or the British coat) and especially iron ore, lead, and tin.. So while the Roman Empire provided Britannia with glass, redware from Gaul, Italy and North Africa, wine, olive oil, fish sauce, gem stones, and ivory, the Romans wanted a British return too. Without an absolute doubt, gold was the prime reason for the Roman conquest of Britain (all ores were equally exploited however) but had failed to actually locate any really serious supplies other than the mine near Pumpsaint, South Wales. There is a story (possibly spurious) that Emperor Claudius had been unaware the large amounts of gold seen on many Celtic chiefs had actually originated from Ireland, in consequence only one Roman gold mine is known in Britain, this is the Dolaucothi complex near Pumpsaint in South Wales.

So in view of this massive consumer injectment of Roman goods into Britain the Roman site is littered with all types of what was basically rubbish, as that is generally how we come to find it today, though, the information it tells us is indispensable. The vast infrastructure meant some goods such as pottery, and products shipped in ceramic packaging, the ‘amphora’ for one, which was used for wine, olive oil and a Roman brand of barbecue sauce, garum, fermented fish sauce which today would be considered a health hazard due to it being poisoned by the salmonella virus, abosulutely litter the places the Roman lived Joan P. Alcock Food in Roman Britain Tempus 2001 claims an amphora reached Caerhun which contained cherries.

Caerhun fort is exactly the same in this respect, a walk over the site will generally reveal some example of Roman occupation (and indeed earlier and later periods too) be it maybe only a small crumb of pottery. So what class of relic can expect to be seen at a Roman site? By far the commonest indication of Roman activity is the distinctive orange brick and tile, this is very brittle and friable because it was not baked at a very high temperature in the kilns, if the process commences at around 600 degrees F, it is doubtful if this red tile was baked much higher, the biscuit coloured material would maybe reach 800 degrees, while only the Samian ware was produced at temperatures of 1200 degrees, Roman kilns generally couldn’t reach very high temperatures and this not only resulted in the pottery being soft but also prohibited them from ever making cast iron. This tile will be seen in every mole hill, every nearby river, the odd bit is even in Caerhun Church, sometimes the fragments will be large but most of the time just crumbs, sometimes it will even colour the earth red. Used in many different brick shapes, and for roof tiles it is the first Roman object to be recognized by the novice.

Next to be encountered after this roof, fllor, and bath-house debris is pottery, as mentioned above due to it being a very common commodity in the Roman world, in the later Medieval period it was still common for pottery to be imported into Britain but nowhere near as much. The Roman army, while at the conquest period was happy to be supplied with Iron age wares from Dorset for mundane use, had a particular liking for a type of red glazed ware called Samian (the origin of the name is even still unknown, possibly representing the Greek island of Samos) while the chief centres of production was widespread, areas of modern day France, it was produced from an earlier date at Arrentium in Italy, this type being known as ‘Arretine’ and also on the coast of North Africa, it was shipped into Britain in vast amounts. While much of Kanovium’s ordinary wares will have come from the nearby legionary supply base at Holt near Chester (which had an interesting line in green glazed fineware), it will also have come from the Midlands, the black fabric ware from Dorset, and at later dates Mancetter, the Nene and Severn valleys. It is here reiterated that there is absolutley no evidence or even suggestion that any Roman ceramic being produced at the Caerhun fort. We also get the ‘Roman packing case’ the amphora, these could be three or four feet tall and the Spanish ones (of which one was found at Caerhun, see above image) had a very fat, pot belly, these leave countless sherds to be found. Early in our interest in Kanovium we noticed that much pottery could be seen, usually the result of farming activity, but equally moles or sometimes even bad weather, at this point we had no idea that these could be Roman. On one occasion near the bath-house we found quite a large amount of a glass flagon complete with strap handle, this was just lying about and it looked such good quality that it must be modern, but a visit to a museum (Vindolanda, Hadrian’s Wall) proved otherwise, it was indeed Roman.. So books had to be obtained, and by far the best was Samian Ware by Guy De La Bedoyere, Shire, though the excavator of Kanovium, Peter Kenneth Baillie -Reynolds’ pottery report was excellent and identified many sundry fabrics we had rescued. I say rescued, these sherds can actually almost dissolve in bad rain or frost, especially the Samian and other orange fabrics.

Once educated to what I was looking for I collected about one hundred sherds from Kanovium, representing many different class of vessel, some of them fairly large too, as I said above they are always found casually and if someone has been digging, be it a farmer or a mole you will always discover at least one recognizable piece, and this is quite rewarding. My examples closely resemble what was found in the excavations by Baillie Reynolds, in both vessel type and date, most belong to the Flavian period, AD 69-96, during which time maximum military activity was centered on Caerhun, the odd piece goes as far as A.D. 150 but this is rare, I have found no examples which suggest they belong to the 3rd or 4th centuries. Fragmentary glass is also fairly common, in the already mentioned flat sided strap handled bottles, and also in window panes.

The next fort in the network at Bryn y Gefeiliau, Capel Curig has been described in a guide book about Snowdonia as ‘the first bad litter spot in Snowdonia’ it seems the Romans had been bad tourists at Caerhun too much of the site being littered with their pottery. Once at the Capel Curig fort I noticed that mole hills seemed to comprise 60% soil and 40% ground up Samian pottery, this gives you an idea of the volume present.

Below are some examples of pottery I have found mostly from Caerhun, left behind they would erode in bad weather, many in my collection are too small to include..

Red Glazed Slipware (Samian), origin, Italy, France and North Africa

All pieces actually from Caerhun Roman Settlement, North Vicus, North of bath-house, church-yard, east salt marsh, removed (1995) dike east of baths

The pieces above illustrate Samian ware and are actual size, this is possibly the most encountered type of Roman pottery at Caerhun, the fine glazed redware exported Empire wide from factories, at the end of the first century at least, in Gaul. The fabric was made, with the use of rolled relief decoration to look like high quality glass or silverware, which would have been out of the pouch range of most of the occupants of the Empire, this type of pottery then arrived to fill the gap, it’s popularity and its widespread use was something of a phenomenon and it must have made a lot of people very rich. Many of the bowl types depicted scenes of classical antiquity, and it allowed the every day person to own something typically ‘Greco-Roman’ in style. It was still however not cheap, it was a very attractive style of ceramic and would still sell today if anyone could figure out how to make it properly, no potter as yet can decide how the red glaze was created but thought is that it was done with an iron ore powder in a totally oxygen free kiln. It is clearly a misconception to say Samian represents high status occupation, certainly you won’t find it in your average Celtic roundhouse at this time, but the auxilia soldier could clearly afford to own it, though on the strength of my Caerhun examples it was in the cheaper undecorated fabrics, this type is much commoner.

At the maximum period of military occupation at Caerhun all the Samian was imported from Southern France, or Gaul to the Romans, after 150 A.D. Central and Eastern Gaul took over from the Southern factories, today, we are unsure why certain areas produced the supplies, or indeed how it was even made. Modern reproductions, though pretty, have failed to replicate either the fabric or the shiny red glaze, and generally reproduce the red or brown glaze with cellulose paint spray. The red glaze (black was also available, as was a marbled yellow, but are rare) is the chief attraction, not only very attractive, even now when covered in mud or clay, but also rendered the pot water proof unlike all the coarse ware pottery. The porosity of the unglazed fabrics meant the pot would not only have leaked but also it would have developed fungal growth and become smelly and unhygienic. Available in plain form (the most common) or in relief molding, the above pieces illustrate common forms from Caerhun. Left to right, top to bottom they are as follows- Dr 38 rim, late 2nd century, Dr 27 cup rim, Flavian, DR 31 bowl, mid to late 2nd century. DR 18 dish base, mid to late 1st century, DR 37 rim, Flavian. DR 17 cup base, this may have been chipped to form a gaming counter, and has a maker’s stamp, centre, flavian. Two decorated body shards of relief decorated DR 37 bowl, Flavian, not amazingly common here in my experience, possibly plain types being more affordable to the auxiliary foot soldier on his poor pay.

The second image features more examples of Samian Ware found at Kanovium, top left is a very large fragment of a large platter again most probably a DR 18, which would be from similar vessel types as seen above in the base portions. This was recovered in 2001, along with, the top left on the top image, and a very large portion of an amphora body sherd. Farming activity in the field north of the fort, left of the track to the gamekeepers cottage (still a wet area) to contain a natural spring had resulted in a large ‘L’ shaped trench being dug. Field walking the trench indicated archaeology had been reached, for at a depth of just short of a metre much clean blue clay had been unearthed, this contained the pottery, also found was a tiny ‘incense’ cup which was complete. The winter weather resulted in the pottery being subject to rain and then a heavy frost, this resulted in the incence cup being completely destroyed due to the friable nature of the biscuit type fabric. The Geophysics Survey of 2002 did not extend to this area, but it seems plain Roman levels had been breached, but if occupation or simply a rubbish pit, is unknown. It is not possible to securely date these pieces, but the amphora was of the large round vessels generaly imported from Spain during Flavian times. Top, middle is likely to be the ubiquitous DR 37, as is the highly decorated piece below. The decorated piece is a typical Flavian type 37, and upon it remains of a scene of a large bird surrounded by swirling swags and tendrils, as is attested elsewere at this fort, but also at Bryn-y-Gefeiliau and Caernarvon forts. The larger remaining pieces are from the type 29 bowls, these are fairly common in the Excavation Report. Of a finer fabric than than the type 37 bowls, they also generally have straight sides to the vessels (unlike type 37). The smaller piece features a swirly border, seen on image, date? possibly Flavian, while the large features an area of rim, beneath which is a plain area, followed by a double border, within which is a row of ‘ovolos’ as are also seen on type 37, probably dating from A.D.80-120. The smallest piece is something of a mystery, it is of a much lighter coloured fabric, possibly of higher quality than the orange coloured South Gaulish material, and also features an unusual decoration in the form of strips, lined in black, which are simply unslipped, I can find no comparisons, is it earlier than the Flavian types? Claudio-Neronian, A.D 41-68?, or is a a later Samian replica form?, or even North African? It is doubtful it is African as generaly the fabrics are inferior to Gaulish redware, and are a rather nasty gritty (if tough) brownish colour, of the many forms of Samian we have seen at Caerhun this example is the solitary type with a striped pattern. The above pieces are all at actual size.

Type 37 Samian Bowl found at Bryn-y-Gefeiliau fort, 1993

Click to see at full size

The image above shows a remarkably fine group of form 37 fragments, which are all from the same bowl, not found at Kanovium, they show what these smaller pieces would look like if more complete. Found locally due to farm work, they were clearly in a Roman occupation level and not plough soil as they would have been more damaged and fragmented like the above pieces. The DR 37, named after the French scholar, Dragendorf, who catalogued Samian last century, was the archetypal large bowl, about the size of a modern fruit bowl, which indeed it may have been, and is probably the most common form after the small cups and large platters. This example dates from roughly A.D. 90, making it late Flavian, from the last years of Domitian, imported to Wales from Southern Gaul, from a very large pottery producing area, La Graufesenque, certain designs even allow the bowl to be attributed to a certain potter, who in this case was either Mommo or Memor, who used particular stamps of strange birds called Nile geese, or odd bands of marching cherubs.

Most of this information has come from Guy de la Bedoyere’s excellent Shire Archaeology booklet- Samian Ware. The book allows different shards to be dated and is a good starting point for a study of this pottery.

This bowl is of the relief decorated types, and has many themes of classical (Hellenic) imagery, it was a shock to see in in a Snowdonian field, an amazing find, and a great link with the Roman psyche of the late 1st century AD. The imagery is left to right - a large wing, this is of a victory pouring a libation, a large hare leaping a tuft of grass, beneath this, a palm tree, Nile geese in the branches, beneath the tree are two satyrs one who is drinking a cup of wine, and one who is eating a bunch of grapes, this I have been informed is a scene of a rite to Bacchus, the wine god, and it may also be a common Greek pottery theme called ‘the fruit pickers’. The next fragment features the goddess Diana, in one hand she holds her hunting bow, and in the other the feet of a small deer, know as Diana’s small hind, she is always shown with these two attributes. To Diana’s right is a large swag of foliage, and above all the continuous decoration known as an ‘ovolo’. The third shard has the feet and flowing dress of the above victory, the two pieces fit together, next a bi columnar temple, inside is an altar upon which a god, or statue of a god appears to be throwing a ‘discus’. Next is a small rabbit, similar to the types seen on Romano-British plate brooches, leaping a tuft of grass, the animal on the other shard may be a dog, of the greyhound type. Above the rabbit is the legs of one of the curious marching cherubs, which Bedoyere draws attention to in his book. He claims the brick red colour of both the fabric and glaze, and the coarse nature of the relief, possibly down to mould blurring from over use (Diana has no face, some of the ovolos are weak) represents a drop in quality from the South Gaulish factories, which may be for the reason other areas took over production.

This bowl is identical to two found at Caerhun, one from the annex area of the vicus, and one from alley between the praetorium and XVII, though neither feature the palm tree with the drunken satyrs picking fruit.

The Mortaria : A Large Grinding Bowl

A very characteristic Roman pottery type, the large mixing bowl, the mortaria. Used by every class of Roman society, (unknown in Britain prior to the conquest) they have been called the Roman ‘food processor’, the Romans had a taste in very pulped food, and broke it down in these large gritted flanged bowls. Large isn’t the word, some found at Caerhun have been as big as the circumference of a barrel and were obviously used for communal cooking for the soldiers. The size and weight often rendered them smashed, many pieces from Kanovium illustrate the type.

Left to right, a second century example, red fabric with a cream slip, probably made at Holt, which was the factory of Legio XX, which supplied all the North Welsh forts, this piece actually found at Segontium, 1993, West Gate, erosion.

The centre piece is from Caerhun and is very rewarding in that it shows clear evidence of the grinding process. The grit in this large bowl is quartz, some pieces being quite large, most have been ground out and have deeply scored the biscuit fabric, probably ending up in the food which must have made it quite unpleasant to eat. This cannot have detered the bowl’s owner as it shows considerable use, only three grains of the quartz grit remaining. This bowl was on average 14mm thick, and is of a very hard biscuit fabric. Recovered from a modern drainage ditch, which had been emptied, east of the bathhouse area, in association with the removed dike in 1995.

The final piece is of a very fine flanged bowl or small mortaria, the pottery is so sharp it could have been made yesterday, possibly another Holt product, though much mortaria had been made in the Cheshire and Midlands area, early 2nd Century, from removed dike, 1995, River Conwy near fort. These pieces see the mortaria at the point of design of around AD 100, very nice rounded upstanding flange. Much later pieces, the ‘hammerhead’ being found in the fort ditch and proves a late Roman use of the site, these have a much more angular rim, and are characterised by a painted surface of random blobs and dots. This author has not found any examples of these 3rd to 4th Century Mortaria, and must go some degree to prove late occupation at the fort was indeed sparse.

Orangeware Bowls and Flagons

The type of pottery known as orangeware is also encountered in large amounts at Kanovium, though often it will fall to dust, not baked to a high temperature, it survives very badly, rain and frost will rapidly degrade it. Indeed, areas of ground inside Roman settlements can often be seen to comprise this fabric mixed into the soil, and in places almost colour the soil orange.

The above pieces show a base and rim spout from two examples of orange flagons, with a white slip for waterproofing, the pot was probably for wine, very common in the excavations, this was a large pot about 130 mm tall, this one shows evidence of a screw thread in the spout, here, the white slip remains almost intact. The two smaller pieces are of small bowls. All pieces date to the Flavian period. The centre flagon mouth was located in 2001 when the field north west of the gamekeepers track was ploughed, this would have been just outside the north west fort ditch. The field slopes toward its centre, from this area the spring emerges, from which the Samian and amphora pieces were found. Roman pottery, along with much later periods was well represented, and a short field walk soon resulted in a small collection of Samian, course wares, tile, and nails being located. This may represent additional areas of fort vicus, though it may also simply point to Roman debris being tipped onto the field in much later times for fertilizer. The large white slipped flagon base was recovered from the removed dike in 1995. Piece top left, found in salt marsh, east of bath-house.

Examples of Roman Glass found at Caerhun Fort

Glass is not uncommon at the site, though not as evident as Samian, Baillie-Reynolds suggested it was not common at Caerhun, but was represented. I have found enough to suggest not only was it used in the bath-house windows, it was also to be found in the barrack block windows, which would have been essential in the local climate, barracks I, IV. The window glass can be seen centre (barrack, south-east corner) and far right (bath-house). It can be seen to have a clear side and a sandy side, this because it was made by flowing it onto a large flat stone, which was sanded to stop the glass sticking to the surface. This type of window glass production is known to have only been established in the 3rd century A.D. so goes someway to date building work inside the fort and outside in the bath suite. The glass, pieces two from left are from the common square bottles, one is from the base, and one the top rim, with a strap handle and are the typical green colour, baths/salt marsh areas, good quality. The piece second from the right is different from this green type, it is a very dark blue and very good quality, found in the ploughed field north vicus area, 2001. The bottles are late 1st century, early 2nd Century A.D. the expensive shard is later, and is not a common Caerhun find.

Blackwares, Greywares, Ollas, Cooking Pots and Hunt Cups

The standard cooking and storage vessel of the Roman army in Britannia, unusually almost never found in Gaul, they are a British phenomenon, and had their roots in the Iron age. All but top right, they represent the ‘Olla’. Widely used in Britain by the Roman army from the conquest of A.D. 43, often in much coarser hand thrown types than above, they must have provided much employment for the Britons, production being centered on Dorset (Hengistbury Head) and Essex. Produced in Dorset by the tribe known as the Durotriges, who, at this time, still made ceramics by hand and not on the potters wheel. The Roman military seemed happy to accept these sometimes crude Iron Age pots, though later introduced the wheel to the Dorset potters. While the Durotriges had made hand forming pots something of a fine art, it was still a slow business, the Romans required ceramic production on a much higher level, so the potters wheel was essential. Produced throughout the whole four centuries of Roman occupation and shipped all around Britain, they are known as Ollas, and are in the fabric called black burnished ware or BB1. The jars are in a very hard gritty fabric which has survived remarkably well after 1800 years of burial. Right top is a very fine rim fragment of a cooking olla, with distinctive incised decoration beneath the rim and also with a white barbotine paint decoration, which is quite rare. The bottom piece is from another olla, the foot is decorated with circles.
All are from Kanovium, some show evidence of heat from cooking and all date to the Flavian period Top left is a greyware ‘Hunt Cup’, this has a very fine fabric which resembles black Samian, just visible is a line border, beneath would have been scenes of hunting and animal chases. Located in a mole hill, north vicus, I have also located a similar piece near the ancient dock. Fairly high status ceramic, the Hunt cup is likely in association with the amphora fragments, and flagons found nearby and are possibly likely to indicate an inn or mansio being nearby. Likely for beer drinking, they may have originated from the Rhine area of Germany. The Olla pieces were unearthed at the dike in 1995

Grafitti on Pottery from Caerhun Fort

The above piece is Roman, it has got scratches and small letters all over it, which though not apparent in this image, but what can be seen is a large ‘K’. This letter is large and ornate, it could be Roman, but it could be equally 17th or 18th century, as it is in this style of writing for the period.

If it is Roman, it is known as a graffito, the Romans strived to be literate, and in the absence of paper or parchment, which was very expensive, did their writing lessons on pieces of broken pottery. Any piece of unearthed Roman pottery should be checked for this writing, as the information can be valuable and illuminating. If this is Roman, then it is rare at Caerhun, a few have surfaced, but only of names or random letters. Segontium has provided graffito from an Optio (centurion’s deputy) and a Bucinator (bugler). Found with Roman cheese press fragment, see below, Bathhouse area, 1995.

Found in 1926-9 are the following graffitos on Samian fragments from Kanovium

1. NI VERICVNDI. On the under-side of the base of S. 308. The owner’s names, in the genitive case scratched through the glaze.

2. ?CA / / XB on the underside of a base stamped SACERIOF.

3.   ...AR... On the under-side of a base of a form 18, found in the top layer of the south rampart, section Q-R.

4.   ...SVTO [? On the underside of the base of a cup of form 27, occupation layer in annex.

5.   FO......On the external overhang of a dish of form 18, found in building X1, (under carpark).

6. ]CNATVS on the external overhang of S. 278.

7.   ...OA...On the external wall of S 313.

8.   A cross (?) or part of a letter on the plain band above decoration on a form 37 buildings X1/XV1.

9.   PRMI[tiv]VS Partly erased, miss spelt on overhang of S292

9b.   PRIM[itvus was finally written correctly on the base of the same bowl.

During August 2002 the field next to the Gamekeepers Cottage was ploughed. A brief fieldwalk on Friday the 23rd revealed this Mesolithic flint tool, either an arrowhead or a scraper, about 1 cm long, 5000 years earlier than Kanovium, it shows evidence of people using the banks of the River Conwy long before the arrival of the Roman army..

An Example of a Roman Military Cheese Press From Caerhun Roman Settlement

The Conwy River is supplied with a number of earthwork barriers to protect the rich farmland from the comparitively destructive high tides, coupled with flash floods from rainfall which drains from the valley sides, particularly the Carneddau Mountains west of the fort site. No date for these dikes can be ascertained, examples can be viewed at many areas of the river, but in particular at Llanrwst, Caerhun fort area, and at, and down river of Tal y Cafn bridge. The dike in question here can be viewed to perfection on the Air Shots page, image top left, the dike can be seen bottom right of image, it was there then it isn’t now. Part of the example still be viewed at Caerhun fort was removed during the summer of 1995, this is just to the south east of the bath-house building, it is still 60% extant, running north from the bath house to eventually integrate with the earthwork dock several hundred metres north of Kanovium's north east corner. It is doubtful that these dikes date to the period of classical antiquity, it is likely they are very late Medieval or indeed much later as surely river banks in the main could not remain at similar levels to the Roman period. Though here I do have to contradict my own argument, The Geophysics survey of 2002 by Gwynedd Archaeological Trust, seems to indicate a ranged building of substantial size, in this authors' opinion, of Roman type, between the dock and modern Gamekeepers Cottage, and on an area of seemingly re-deposited salt marsh and river wash. This aside, the dike when removed in 1995 seemed to be composed of Roman occupation debris that had not moved far. Dirty clay was mixed with charcoal and Roman pottery fragments, bones and oyster shells, bones however (other than a tooth from a horse) were not present, though this is probably due to the very acidic nature of the soil at Caerhun. P.K. Baillie Reynolds when excavating the site commented the copper alloy coins had suffered terribly, as even had the silver denarii, from being buried for eighteen centuries. As mentioned above all pottery from the dike removal was recovered by Kanovium Project, including a strange object that at first resembled a piece of the flat Roman roofing tile, the tegulae. It was fired in the usual Roman red fabric, this suffers badly from acid soils, as does the site's Samian Ware, it was in three pieces, but I was interested to see it contained many perforations, which had been arranged in lines. It seemed obvious something was supposed to drain through the holes, initial thoughts were that it had been a type of drain cover from the nearby bath complex. At only ten millimeters thick it was unlikely to have served this purpose, the friable, yet brittle nature of Roman redware pottery, would not have been robust enough for this purpose, (and the holes too small) so it seemed more likely to have been used in the preparation of food, cheese immediately came to mind. A recent study of Roman food by Joan P. Alcock, Food In Roman Britain, Tempus 2001 confirmed the fact. It is a very interesting window on the activities of the Roman auxiliary soldier at Caerhun, while Imperial Rome is interesting, chariot races, Gladiators etc, I find these more personal items rather more evocative. The large mortaria bowls mentioned above feature examples of three foot girth, while I correctly identify these as communal camp mixing bowls, Alcock confirms this, and informs us they are in fact used in the making of cheese for the garrison. So in difference the established idea it seems the troops maybe spent much time making food as constructing camps.

Joan P. Alcock records examples of cheese presses from Silchester Roman town (Hampshire), Colchester/Camulodunum (Essex), Lower Halstow (Kent), and Leicester. These are flat and are believed to be used as large scale strainers that imply industry. Roman forts have provided examples of vessels used by individual soldiers. These look simply like normal Roman bowl types with the added perforations, the forts of Usk, Corbridge, Holt on Dee, (not actually a fort, but a supply depot that actually made the presses, probably including the above example) and Bainbridge have provided examples. Three vessels from the fort of Longthorpe in Cambridgeshire, look remarkably the shape of form 27 and 37 Samian ware, while the third resembles a very tall hybrid form 27, if local trades copied the imported styles and added the perforations is not known for sure but likely. The vessels were actually produce of the local industry, Nene Valley potteries. The bowl from Lower Halstow looks rather like a modern dog bowl (as do many Roman types) included concentric rings in the base which Alcock claims was to retain the cheese while pressing, many Roman bowls have such rings, often produced by the potter’s thumbs when throwing the pot. Also to be noted was another bowl shaped strainer, this from the fort of Templeborough (Yorkshire), featuring small holes in the base Alcock considers it could be used for the straining of cheese curds, or equally honey from a honeycomb. While wicker baskets could also be used for the purposes, it was found that some of the Colchester and Silchester examples were actually twin handled perforated jars (amphorae?). A villa site, Eccles, in Kent produced a conical press, and it is considered it was for commercial produce.

Joan P. Alcock mentions the ubiquitous mortaria, and considered these the perfect cheese making vessel, large examples mentioned above may have indeed been for this purpose, the spout allowed removal of the whey from the curds, and the grits present in the inner surface contained bacteria which remained after the mortaria was cleaned and this helped with the next batch of cheese. Alcock reveals that modern milk bowls from Northern France are very similar to the shape of the Roman mortaria, and ends the section very nicely when she claims the auxiliaries at the fort at Middlewich (Cheshire) ate a cheese very similar to our modern Cheshire cheese types due to the salty pasture around the fort.

The portion illustrated above is flat, and it shows no sign of having any curves evident, so therefore it must be concluded that it is part of a flat press and not an individual soldiers private cheese making bowl. I doubt if this actually implies commercial industry at the fort, but in common with the massive mortaria points to there being definitely some form of widespread food distribution system for the garrison, and while no mess halls are evident in Roman forts there is no reason to not suppose the idea of large scale food production for the troops. A Roman fort of Kanovium’s size in time of annexation of enemy territory may have contained as many as 500-1000 troops, plus hangers on, slaves, and utility workers, they would have taken an awful lot of food. So what we have above is a camp cheese strainer, likely housed in a flat wooden frame (wood could have also have been used in its entirety, but the Romans had a pedantic love for making objects from tile) it would have been large, compare to the mortaria for this purpose, and we only likely now see a very small portion of the whole press.

A Neolithic Axehead Found Near Caerhun Fort

A walk at Caerhun fort on Thursday the 25th of September 2003 provided this chance find. It looked like a Roman amphora handle (the curved section) when partially buried, when covered in soil most things look the same colour, but once extracted it was seen to be the butt end of a Neolithic axehead. This is quite an important discovery, I contacted my local archaeology unit, Gwynedd Archaeological Trust, who indicated the find should be added to the SMR, which will be attended to shortly. I am also not at the present time going to reveal the find spot, though at this point all I can say is it was possibly in a Roman related area, but not an area that has received any archaeological attention.

A glance at Frances Lynch, Prehistoric Anglesey, A.A.S 1991, Chapter II The Neolithic Period : The First Farmers In Anglesey page 112 confirmed my initial identification. It would appear to have been made at the axe factory of Graig Llwyd, above Penmaenmawr, from a very hard type of granite. Anglesey has provided us with five examples which closely correspond to the above example in both size, shape, and cross section. These were found at Rhostrehwfa, Rhos-y-bol, Ffynnon Dudur (Pentraeth), and Llanfihangel Esciefiog. It has been commented on by Frances Lynch that the products of Graig Llwyd display a typical size that can only be a product of very proficient workmanship, which can almost be viewed as arrogant when the tough nature of the rock is taken into account. Measuring roughly seven inches in length.. The cross section and thickness of the Caerhun axehead is exactly the same measurement of the Anglesey examples, but is now five inches long. The cross section is important, the symmetrical double triangle shape is indicative of Graig Llwyd, though not unique, Graig Llwyd did have competition, mostly from the Cumbrian site of Langdale, and an axehead found unprovenanced in ‘Anglesey’ from Langdale also had a very similar cross section. Very hard rock such as dolerite could not be shaped as precisely as this quite attractive cross section, and a group of three found at Bryn yr Hen Bobl barrow (the hill of the old people), Anglesey had only been shaped into a rough oval. Langdale products can be differentiated from Graig Llwyd by the fact the blade edges on either side of the axehead are ground away on Langdale examples (simply leaving the cutting edges of the blade and butt sharp) Graig Llwyd always left the edges sharp, as can be seen on the above image. There was another axe factory at Mynydd Rhiw, Lleyn Peninsular , never apparently as prolific as Graig Llwyd, Frances Lynch illustrates two examples, these seem rather smaller and it is not possible to say with confidence which site the axehead above originated from.

I stress I cannot claim to know the stone type, which would of course clinch the argument from whence the axe originated. The section, quite clean, as when broken, shows a grey-green rock flecked with what looks like iron ore which apparently does indicate Graig Llwyd. A clean cross section is needed to judge a stone’s origin as the outer weathered surface can be misleading. This example has without a doubt been burnt, one side is almost cream coloured (image above) the opposite side is reddish, almost the colour of sandstone, and it shows evidence of severe heat in several places. Why is it burnt? the tool has broke neatly at a point it would have been mounted in the wood haft, and shows several edge chips, it could have been casually thrown in a fire or possibly it could have been used as a pot boiler, water being placed in wooden (or rock cavities) containers, food being cooked by the frequent addition of hot rocks. This method of cooking had been practiced by people who had no pottery culture, but suprisingly was still used in the Iron age and into the Roman period. Examples from Caerhun fort (dolerite from near Penmaenmawr) indicate the Roman army still used it in the 1st century A.D. Equally the axehead could have been burnt recently in the burning of vegetation, or possibly it may even have been used as a pot boiler in Roman times.

What is it doing at Caerhun? the road over the Bwlch y Ddeufaen pass that was to become the Roman road between Caernarvon and Caerhun had been used since the very early Prehistoric period. It is known in the Neolithic period axe consignments were moved by sea or equally from inland river ports, an example known is nearby at Prestatyn, and this too is close to a Roman site, so possibly the Conwy River close to the fort site may have been such a port Graig Llwyd produce (always these utilitarian tree felling axes) are known to have been exported to not only many areas of England, and The Outer Hebrides, but also Northern France. Possibly it indicates tree growth was being stripped on the western bank of the Conwy Valley during the Neolithic period, the axe seems to date to roughly 2200 BC. Granite rock was used in North Wales because there was no supply of natural flint, though Chert was used east of the Clwyd Valley, and it was not uncommon for flint type rocks to be collected on the beach for making into tools, also it is known that some tools are not identifiable to any factory, simply being home produce made from any handy rock but in the style of tool familiar to the people. Finally I would say the axe was not in a stratified location, that is when an object remains in the floor level deposited at the period of its use, it shows no evidence of being rolled in a river, and it may possibly have reached the present spot by being deposited in modern rubble, a common feature of farmland.

Mesolithic Arrow Point Found at Caerhun 2002 Click to Return To former Page