Hit 50 medieval pottery sherds in one dig session last Saturday

I volunteer with a local archaeology group near Bath and last weekend we were excavating a suspected medieval market site. I pulled out 50 pottery sherds in just four hours, which is way more than my usual 10 or 15. Most were coarse local wares from the 13th century, but a few had green glaze that might be from France. Our field director said that volume usually means we're right on top of a trash pit or a midden layer. We marked the spot and will come back next month to dig deeper. Has anyone else had a session where the numbers just blew past your expectations and what did it lead to?

3 comments

3 Comments

michaeltorres1mo ago

Ngl that green glaze detail caught me off guard. You might have actual French imports in there? That's wild for a market site in Bath area. Normally you'd expect that stuff to be further south or near the coast. Honestly I'd be buzzing if I found just one of those, let alone mixed in with a 50 sherd haul. Hope your team finds something really interesting in that layer next month.

the_taylor1mo ago

Green glaze... you're really this hype over pottery?

knight.dylan1mo ago

Wild for a market site in Bath area" - that's exactly what threw me too. You ever seen that green glaze show up in contexts where they think it's local knockoffs trying to copy the French stuff? Cause I remember reading somewhere that some potters in the UK were faking those glazes with copper oxide to pass off as imports for the rich folks. Would be crazy if your layer mixed both real imports and local fakes in the same deposit. That'd tell you something about supply chains and faking it back then. Keep us posted on that layer.