Post Roman Pottery Why the wheels fell off

[@Found_in_the_ground]

Thanks Graham. You've inspired me to make replica ancient pots and next will be to fire some in the barbecue before I work upto a kiln project. Thanks Chris.

[@NickVenture1]

Such a good class. Also I feel sorry about the downfall of Roman Britain. Such a decline. Best to emigrate in those days.

[@mirandamacd836]

Thank you for the wonderful insights and sharing years of archaeological experience in pottery.

[@larryr.sieting6494]

This was a really nice talk on pottery in the ancient/Roman world. As a hobby potter,. and as an individual who has an desire to learn about the past, I have found that I am being pulled in the direction of the science of making pottery; from the Paleolithic forms and techniques to those of the beginning of the High Renaissance. I will be viewing the videos here and checking your web site.

[@PottedHistory]

Thanks Larry, I hope that you find plenty of content to inspire you.

[@bizzlecrafts]

You are very welcome to adopt me any time. I could listen to this all day.

[@PottedHistory]

I've always said that it's easy to get me talking, it's getting me to shut up that's the problem, just ask my daughters.......... What do you say @Pottedapprentis?😄

[@Freakoutski]

This was a really illuminating defence of the pots of the "dark ages". Looking forward to more videos!

[@PottedHistory]

Thanks Freakoutski, they really deserve defending :)

[@RotGoblin]

Genuinely brilliant and informative video Graham, as per usual. Thank you for sharing this one.

[@karlthepotter4228]

Absolutely fascinating Graham, thank you

[@PottedHistory]

Glad you enjoyed it.

[@Philies94]

Great video. Thank you for explaining it so well.

[@jennifermeintjes7971]

Thank you. Very helpful & insightful.

[@PottedHistory]

Thank you for watching.

[@GuthlacYT]

Thank you for this fascinating video! I'm almost annoyed at myself for never seriously questioning why the potters wheel was never used in post-Roman Britain now! It's one of those things which very much takes an insider's eye. This also contextualises the creation of Ipswich ware pottery - at a time of increasing urbanisation (of a kind), suddenly the practicality of mass-produced pottery becomes apparent.

[@PottedHistory]

Thank you, much appreciated.

[@AncientPottery]

Great lecture, I really enjoyed it. So my thought was, what were they using for bearings on those Roman pottery wheels? I would have trouble making a wheel with natural materials that would turn quite as smooth as Graham’s wheels in the video. Perhaps the Roman wheels were using some imported bearings or some other axle technology that was not available anymore. Loving your videos, keep it up.

[@PottedHistory]

Hi Andy, it's a good question, but I've actually been very careful to make sure that the bearings are only Roman technology, and the wheels that you see in the video all run on the same principal. A static iron shaft set into a solid base, stubs of such shafts have been found embedded in the floor of a Roman workshop. The lower bearing that stops the wheel wobbling is simply a leather collar that fits snugly around the shaft and is lubricated with olive oil or grease. The top bearing is just a hole, fractionally wider than the shaft, bored half way through the wheel head with a domed pin at the top end, that fits into a hollow at the top end of the static shaft. No modern technology.

[@AncientPottery]

@@PottedHistory Thanks for that explanation. So I guess there is nothing here that would be unattainable in post-roman Britain.

[@PottedHistory]

@@AncientPottery Hi Andy, metalwork flourished in post roman Britain, although the best of it was reserved for weapons and jewellery, but creating an accurate shaft and spindle would be no problem at all for them.

[@spitrock33]

Very informative,,nice job

[@PottedHistory]

Thank You

[@hiccacarryer3624]

Very interesting and made a lot of sense - are there tangible differences in style between post Roman British and AS ceramics in this period?

[@PottedHistory]

Hi Hicca, there is, in the late 4th and earl 5th century an adoption of more Germanic styles and some of these types of ware are being made on the wheel but, by the late 5th early 6th C almost everything is being hand made. There is now a tendency to use the terms Post Roman or Sub-Roman for the period from the end of the 4thC to the 6thC, Anglo-Saxon being used after this.

[@cgallup]

What is a good Primitive Kick wheel type Wheel I want to try to make one?

[@PottedHistory]

This is probably my favourite type of wheel to throw on, excluding an electric wheel which does have a certain level of convenience.

[@thehappypotter9612]

I find that the modern coil-building technique results in weak structure, which does not fare well in stressful open firing.

[@PottedHistory]

You're right, and it's one of the main reasons that I don't like the term coil-building, because people have been taught to create weak structures that way. Traditional hand building is a much m ore robust technique.

[@petrapetrakoliou8979]

Did you try it out? I don't recommend it. I am not confident in pots being fired in fireplaces in a house as it made little sense to risk your house burning down when you could very well do a fire outside - I know of no ethnological case of people firing their pots in their house. Having fired a lot of pottery in open fire, I think it would be certainly extremely dangerous and unbearably hot if it was done in the house. Prehistoric houses did burn down all the time as show their charred remains and fire was a constant threat. Very good insight into how society stepped back in the 5th century by the way.

[@PottedHistory]

Yep, fired carinated bowls and beakers in the replica Neolithic houses at Stonehenge and in a replica round house in Northumberland, and seen it done several times during my 20 years living in Africa. For domestic sized pots, the fire doesn't need to be bigger than a good cooking fire. For larger pots you need to fire outside.

[@petrapetrakoliou8979]

@@PottedHistory Fastinating. I'll try it out perhaps one day I'll build a clay hut on my own. Maybe some of these burnt houses are due to accidents when they tried to fire pots inside to protect the pots from questionnable weather in places like England.