Colchester Archaeological Report 2: The Roman small finds

Fig 81 Picture lamps (1:2)
Loeschcke Type 4, Type 2, or Type 5 lamp, or possibly a very
early Type 8. Whitish fabric with traces on the base and wall
of a pink slip. Probably of local manufacture.
Factory lamps and others (Fig 82; 2100-2106).
There is no direct evidence for the production of
lamps in the town in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, but
the rough factory lamps, (2100, 2103, 2104) may be
of British manufacture (Donald Bailey, pers comm),
and the simple round lamp (2105) and the 4thcentury
grey ware lamp (2106) could be local.
2100 Fig 82 SF BKC 4307, N217. Surface clearing. Period 6. The
upper part of the handle is missing. The fabric is very coarse,
light reddish-brown and micaceous. A Loeschcke Type 10
factory lamp, with open channel.
2101 Fig 82 SF MID 633, A2353 L353. ?Topsoil. 4th-century or
later. Fragment of a well made Loeschcke Type 10 lamp, in a
smooth light red fabric. Probably of North Italian
manufacture.
2102 Fig 82 SF BKC 2312, G263 F61. Clay and timber-lined pit.
Period 5b. Four fragments from a large Loeschcke Type 10
lamp in a smooth light red fabric. Only the stamped base is
illustrated. The base has a grooved footring and a moulded
stamp, VIBIANI, of the Upper Italian potter, Vibianus, who
was probably operating in the Hadrianic-Antonine period
(Loeschcke 1919, 293-8).
2103 Fig 82 SF BUC 1210, E39 L13. Destruction debris and
topsoil. Post-Roman. Most of a Loeschcke Type 9 factory
lamp with closed channel. The handle has been broken off
and the top damaged. Coarse micaceous reddish-yellow
fabric.
2104 Fig 82 SF BUC 1216, E476 L32. Dump. 4th century. A small
78
complete handled lamp with slight (?vestigial) channel and
side lugs. ?Fabric colour. ?Black slip.
2105 Fig 82 SF BKC 2406, G354 F11? Timber-lined drain. Period
5c. A simple round wheel-thrown lamp with a small
pinched-out nozzle and solid pedestal base. There is a slight
scar opposite the nozzle which may have come from an
applied handle, now missing. The fabric is smooth, reddishyellow
to light red in places.
2106 Fig 82 SF CPS 538, 613 F119. Robber trench material.
Period 5. An unusual lamp, possibly not Roman, though its
form owes much to Roman lamps, and nothing to the
medieval cresset. The body of the vessel is wheel-thrown,
with a large central vent with a triangular rim. A large
nozzle, which shows signs of burning, was applied to the
body, a hole forced through the body wall and the join neatly
finished. The fabric of the lamp is hard, with much fine grit,
including some calcite, and is fired to very dark grey with
dark reddish-brown patches. The robber trench in which the
lamp was found contained some Norman sherds but the
finds consisted principally of late Roman sherds and coins
from a dispersed hoard which was deposited no earlier than
350-60. Though the fabric of the vessel could be seen as
either Norman or late Roman, it is felt, on balance, that the
form of the lamp and the overwhelming preponderance of
Roman material in the robber trench indicate a mid 4thcentury
date for the vessel.
Open lamps (Fig 82; 2107-2108)
2107 Fig 82 SF LWC 4284, B577 F144. Large pit filled with burnt
daub. Period 2. The major part of an open lamp with roughlyapplied
loop handle, Loeschcke Type 12, with small nozzle.
Buff fabric. Probably wheel-thrown, with the handle applied
and nozzle pinched out in a second stage. Possibly locally
made.