Links

Colchester Archaeological Report 5

The post-Roman small finds from excavations in Colchester 1971-85 by Nina Crummy is the fifth volume in the series entitled Colchester Archaeological Reports. It presents a catalogue of the post-Roman small finds from excavations and watching briefs undertaken in Colchester over the 1970s and early 1980s by the Colchester Archaeological Trust. During this period the town saw redevelopment on an unprecedented scale, involving the destruction of substantial parts of the Roman, medieval and later town. Excavated features included substantial houses of stone and timber ranging in date from Norman through to post-medieval, the 11th-century town defences, kilns, pits, and robber trenches representing the remains of the buildings of the underlying Roman town. Valuable evidence about the nature of the town's occupation between the Roman period and the 10th century was yielded by the discovery of three pagan Saxon huts, two at Lion Walk and one at Culver Street. In the volume details of over 3,600 finds and their contexts are given in catalogue form. Of these about 500 are illustrated. The finds are classed by function, according to the system of categories established in volume 2 of the series, which dealt with the Roman small finds. This facilitates the location within the volume of a particular object or group of objects. The categories used include objects of personal adornment or dress, toilet, surgical or pharmaceutical instruments, and tools. The classification system itself is described in some detail. Contributors to the volume are Barry Ager and Dr Patricia Galloway (pagan Saxon bone combs), David Buckley and Hilary Major (querns), Philip Crummy (the sites), Geoff Egan (textile seals), Joy Hind (clay tobacco pipes), and Justine Bayley (crucibles).

Publication of the report was made possible by a generous grant from English Heritage.

How to order