Cornwall during the Iron Age and - Cornwall Archaeological Society

Exeter in the 3rd and 4th centuries AD than in the preceding period, and has the same pattern
of occurrence in Cornwall. Significantly, South Devon ware forms include large jars with
cordons and their increased import in the later Roman period may have reinforced the local
Cordoned Ware tradition. Oxford wares have been identified on a number of sites such as
Trethurgy and Porthmeor and probably reached Cornwall during the 4th century AD (Young,
1977, 239).
Imported artefacts of comparatively high value may have had a long life and their use for
dating the archaeological contexts from which they are recovered needs consideration. It may
seem obvious on a small excavation to use a piece of Antonine samian to date the site. At
Trethurgy, sixty samian sherds from a minimum of fourteen vessels were found, despite the
complete excavation. The largest quantity of samian came from the 4th century midden which
was the earliest context to produce Oxford Ware on the site. In turn, some of the best pieces
of Oxford Ware were found in the deliberate infill of a structure which contained post-Roman
import wares and should date to the 6th century AD. Fine wares could thus be deposited
perhaps two centuries after their manufacture, which increases the difficulties of producing
a dateable sequence for the Cornish gabbroic wares of the Roman period.
About 95% of all pottery from Roman Cornwall is gabbroic. The as yet unlocated Iron
Age pottery centres, presumably on the Lizard, continued, gradually influenced by Roman
forms. A brief period of experiment in the late 1st and early 2nd centuries has already been
mentioned with reference to finds from Carvossa. Thereafter the principal products were
simple jars, some with cordons, which gradually got larger and more poorly made. Bowls
and dishes were introduced during the 1st century AD with St Mawgan-in-Pydar Type R
(Threipland, 1956, 66), and continue with flat, 'pie dish' rims starting in the 2nd century.
These develop into 'grooved' or 'proto-flanged' forms by the late 2nd century and into
flanged bowls by the late 3rd. This sequence appears at first sight to copy that of Dorset
black-burnished bowls, but similarities are general rather than precise. It is more likely to
be a general reflection of stylistic trends, with the flanged bowls influenced by metal forms
such as the Hallivick pewter bowl. There is no definite evidence for the use of the potter's
wheel. Well-made vessels, highly fired and of well-levigated clay, represent careful
application of traditional techniques. Roughly-made jars and bowls, of a type often labelled
'hand-made' in contra-distinction to 'wheel-made' occur throughout the period. They are
certainly present from the earliest contexts at Trethurgy. The proportion of roughly-made
forms increases in the later Roman period. At Trethurgy and at Grambla (Saunders, 1982),
occupied throughout the 5th century AD, there were no detectable changes in form, and it
is only in the 6th century that Roman-type gabbroic pottery becomes scarce. The potting
centres may have continued during the 5th century because they were less dependent on a
monetary economy than kilns in other parts of the country.
Other economic activities are less easy to identify. Most domestic sites produce evidence
of small-scale metal working. The manufacture of some stone mortaria took place on
domestic sites (unfinished examples are known from Castle Gotha and Trethurgy), although
a greisen handled bowl mortarium has been found as far afield as Richborough (Roach Smith,
1850, 104). The production of salt has been demonstrated on the Lizard, at Trebarveth in
the 3rd and 4th centuries (Peacock, 1969a), and at Carngoon Bank (from at least the 3rd to
the 6th centuries AD (McAvoy, 1980). A major and distinctive feature for Cornwall was the
production of tin. This is generally considered to have been of little importance during the
1st and 2nd centuries AD, when Iberian mines were supplying the Empire's needs. (Could
this factor have anything to do with the suggested dislocation of Cornish settlement patterns
in the 2nd century AD?). In the 3rd century the Iberian mines were in decline, tin was
increasingly used in coinage, and in Britain the demand for tin went up becaue of the growing
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