Reassessing Roman ceramic building materials: economics, logistics and social factors in the supply of tile to Dorchester on Thames, Oxfordshire
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3989/arq.arqt.2016.164Keywords:
Roman Britain, Ceramic building materials (CBM), Tegulae, Pink grog-tempered ware, Trade, Road transport, Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Thin-section, PetrographyAbstract
This research explores the supply of Roman ceramic building materials to Dorchester on Thames, Oxfordshire. Mineralogy and bulk chemistry of tile fabrics were analysed by thin-section and scanning electron microscopy. The assemblage from this Roman ‘small town’ has shown, besides the existence of local manufacture, that tegulae were on occasion transported c. 50 km by road to the site. The ‘pink grog-tempered ware’ fabric in which some tegulae were made is analogous to a fabric used to produce large storage jars in the vicinity of Stowe Park, Buckinghamshire. Analysis and discussion of the mechanisms and logistics which facilitated the production and long-distance transport of these tiles and jars is undertaken. Social and economic factors involved in their production and purchase are proposed. This study demonstrates the importance of greater levels of analysis of building materials, with the potential to inform us about social strata beneath those most visible in the historical and archaeological record, and a significant, often neglected aspect of the Roman economy.
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