SNN115907 - Provenancing Roman mortaria and coarsewares from Stanwick, Northamptonshire using ICP analysis

ICP analysis was used to determine the origins of second century mortaria recovered from the Roman settlement at Stanwick. The mortaria were thought to have been produced in either the Upper or Lower Nene valley, in Northamptonshire and Cambridgeshire, or Mancetter / Hartshill, in Warwickshire. Some coarseware fabric types identified amongst the Stanwick assemblage, the majority thought to be Nene valley products, were also analysed. The results showed that the Nene valley mortaria and many of the coarsewares were made using the Upper Estuarine Series (UES) clay. Products of the Upper and Lower Nene valley were therefore compositionally similar but could be distinguished using trace elements. The Mancetter / Hartshill mortaria were made from a mica-rich clay that was compositionally distinct from the Nene valley UES clay products. Analysis showed that although the mortaria produced at Ecton in the Upper Nene valley were made from the UES clay, a different type of clay was used to make greywares at the same site. Further research is required to determine the origins the C4 coarseware fabric identified at Stanwick, which was compositionally similar to the Ecton greywares but not identical. The coarseware fabric A2 was probably made from calcareous Oxford Clay. Previous research has shown that this clay was utilised by potters in the Lower Nene valley but it would also be available to potters in the region of Milton Keynes and the distribution of the wares suggests that this is probably where the A2 fabric was produced.