Level 3 - Life in Roman Sussex - Food & Drink

Food & Drink

Consumption

There is often a division drawn between coarseware pottery used in food preparation and fineware material used for the dining table. Yet within the majority of households it is likely that coarseware vessels were for both purposes, with the valuable fineware pottery being limited to certain dining occasions and possibly certain social classes. Perhaps the most recognisable and widespread fineware is the red-slip pottery known as samian, made primarily in central and southern Gaul and exported all over the empire during the 1st and 2nd/early 3rd centuries. The vessels included cups, bowls, platters,

and dishes, with the occasional example of a jug such as that found in the cremation grave in north Lancing.

Samian imitations were made in Roman Britain - notably in the Pulborough area of Sussex (the 'Pulborough-Aldgate' Potter) - but the pots were generally of inferior quality and the industry did not last long (see Crafts & Industry). The continued demand for fine wares after the collapse of the samian industry in the 3rd century was satisfied by a number of centres in Britain, primarily in the Nene Valley, Oxfordshire and the New Forest. These produced not only a range of finewares such as beakers, bowls and flagons, but also a variety of coarseware products, including mortaria.

Spoons and knives were used for eating, and they were usually made from copper alloy, wood, bone, silver or iron. Wooden implements and vessels were probably far more common, but unfortunately rarely survive.