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certainly beakers were amongst the third-century repertoire of the Mucking
potters (Jones and Rodwell 1973, Type Q, nos. 99—100, and Type R, nos. 101—107).
Fine oxidised wares and white-slipped wares of the
Hadrianic-Antonine period appear to have been almost entirely confined to
flagons, the forms including cupped-rims (no. 159 here), cupped-ring necks
(nos. 156 and 161), large bead-and-ring necks (no. 155), ‘hammer-head’
and triangular-ringed rims (no. 157) and tall-necked vessels with conical
ringed upper necks (no. 158). Bag-shaped bodies are common (cf. Whiting et
al. 1931), but globular and elliptical. shapes are also found. The very
late second century (the early Severan period, roughly speaking), witnessed
the introduction of flange-neck types, as mentioned above; these occur in
both oxidised and white-slipped wares, and as flagons and flasks (nos. 167—9).
Beakers also occur in oxidised ware (e.g. no. 147) but are much less common
in this fabric than in reduced ware. Bead-and-hooked flange segmental bowls
or dishes have been recorded (e.g. at Rochester, unpublished) in second- to
mid third-century contexts; it is conceivable that these were designed as
small mortaria, as white-surface bowls are otherwise virtually unknown in
Kent.
The range of fine oxidised wares increased in the late second
or early third century with the apparent reintroduction of segmental and
hemispherical bowls, presumably stimulated by the sharp drop in the volume
of samian imports. The forms include loosely-derived variations of samian
forms Drag. 31, 32, 36, 38, and Ludowici Tg/Drag. 36/Curie 15 (nos. 166,
165, 164, 161 and 162, respectively, here). Copies of the conical cup Drag.
33 are also known, but would seem to be rare (cf. Whiting et al. 1931).
It is possible that the production of bowls in the Severan period
represented a direct continuation of the Trajanic production, but this
hypothesis is not supported by the stratigraphic associations of these
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forms at Rochester, Springhead or Canterbury, and would in any case seem
unlikely given the massive scale of importation of Antonine samian. However,
the Oxfordshire industry may have continued production of oxidised samian
copies throughout the second century (Young 1977a, Types 0.41, 42 and 0.45),
with a new range of oxidised and colour-coated products being introduced
in the mid-third century (ibid., Types 0.44, 0.47, C49, C51, C55,
C58, C97 and possibly C88). The Oxfordshire oxidised wares, as discussed
above, require further research on their dating, should this prove possible,
with freshly excavated material. It may be significant, however, that there
was a hiatus in the production of segmental flange-rim forms (ibid., 0.39
and 0.44) in the later second and early third centuries, and that the Drag.
38 derivatives were not introduced until the mid-third (0.47, C51) after the
demise of samian importation and the recession in the Oxfordshire industry
between c. 180 and 240 (ibid., 235—6). The industry might be
expected to have produced Drag. 38s in the Antonine period had it been
directly competing with samian at that time.
Potteries producing ‘Highgate Wood type’ ware continued to
supply Southwark, and possibly the extreme north-west of Kent also, with ‘poppyhead’
beakers up to the late Antonine period, although the Highgate Wood site
itself ceased production around A.D. 160 (Brown and Sheldon 1974, 230). The
final phase of the Highgate Wood industry included ‘BB2’ medium
everted-rim jars, and triangular-rim pie-dishes, with lattice tooled
decoration, and dog-dishes with wavyline tooled decoration (ibid., nos.
82, 79, and 91) in the range of products; one possible vessel of the ‘BB2’
jar form was recovered at Joyden’s Wood, and parallels with Highgate Wood
are cited for a ‘miniature jar’ form at Southwark, resembling BB2 and
reduced fine ware everted-rim beakers (Tyers and Marsh 1978, form IIF 11).
The evidence for ‘Highgate
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