C-14 Site Ceramics

A total of 21 ceramic vessels are represented in the assemblage from the C-14 site. While meager in number, the assemblage in rich in temporal information. The types and number of vessels identified breaks down as follows:

Borderware

1 yellow glazed unidentified vessel

1 light olive green glazed porringer

1 mottled yellow and green glazed pipkin

1 yellow glazed small bowl

North Devon Gravel Tempered

1 tan glazed milkpan

North Devon Gravel Free

3 baluster jars

Martincamp

1 costrel

Stoneware

1 Bellarmine

Tin-Glazed

1 blue and white plate or platter

Sgraffito

1 platter

1 unidentified vessel

1 cup

Redware

3 storage pots

2 milkpans

1 mug

1 unknown

21 vessels total

A good description of the ceramic types can be found at the following links:

These ceramics are typical of an earlier, say pre-1650, seventeenth century Euro-American site. Winslow's travels to England and elsewhere, would have put him in a good position to be able to purchase these ceramics.

Three points were focused on as the ceramics were analyzed. The first is the source of the ceramic wares, the second is the variety and percentages of the wares in the assemblage, and finally the forms of the vessels recovered will be looked at to see how the correlate with the foodways practices of the period.  Six classes of ceramics were present in the assemblage and will be discussed in the following order: Borderware, Tin-glazed earthenware, Slipware, Stoneware, North Devon wares, and finally, the largest category, Redware.

As is the rule at any English site, redwares account for the largest percentage of the ceramic assemblage. At the Allerton/ Cushman site in KIngston, Massachusetts, of the 116 vessels, 79, or 68.1%, of those are of redware. While redware is somewhat of a stepchild in ceramic analysis, with not much new research occurring since Laurie Watkins 1968 pioneer work on New England Potters and their Wares, they are one of the most unbiased ceramic types. Basically everyone used redware vessels for cooking, serving, storing and processing foods, and since the were so common and utilitarian they provide us with a unique look at the foodways at the site. At this site, a wide variety of vessel forms were recovered. . Twenty-seven redware milk pans were present in the assemblage. All but one of these had a plain lead glaze on the interior ranging from a clear glaze to one which has a brown tint to it. One unique specimen was unglazed on the interior and exterior but was burnished on the interior, possibly as a way of making it somewhat water resistant in leiu of glazing. This type of redware has not been reported at any other site at this time and it may represent a vessel in use during the Allerton period at the site. It is possibly reminiscent of earlier Medieval pottery techniques in England, and since this vessel is of redware and was so utilitarian it probably was not an imported ware from an other European country.

The stoneware is of a small bulbous variety made in the Frenchen region of Germany which is the same locale that the well known Bartmankrugs, A.K.A. Bellarmines, were also made. These vessels are in the form of bottles similar in shape to the Bellarmines except they do not bear the molded masks and medallions of the Bellarmines.

The next class of ceramics to be looked at are the North Devon gravel tempered and gravel free wares. One North Devon gravel tempered milkpan comprises the vessels of this type of ware. These were produced in the Devon region of England from 1660-1700. Three Baluster jars make up the North Devon Gravel Free wares. These were used for storing liquids and date from c. 1600-1680.

North Devon sgraffitto which occurs in the form of two plates and one cup. None of the fragments are really large enough to discern what the design.  This ceramic type was made in the Devon region of England from 1650 to 1710.

The next ceramic type is one of the least reported in New England. This is an English ware known as borderware. Borderware was produced in the border area of northeast Hampshire and west Surrey especially during the 16th and 17th centuries and ceased in the early 18th century (Pearce 191992: 1). The bodies of the borderwares are of a cream to off-white fabric with green, brown and yellow glazes being the most commonly occurring. 

The final type of ceramic is a fragment of a Tin-glazed vessel.