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was exported to London (see above), but is a regular find
on third/fourth-century sites throughout Kent (Figs. 35—36),
particularly from the mid-third to the mid-fourth century (4.IV, 4.V). The
occurrence of a number of grey sandy ware jars at Dover in contexts of the
late second to mid-third century that broadly resemble North Gaulish types
(no. 176 here; cf. Tuffreau-Libre 1980b, fig. 13, nos. 1 and 2; Willson
1981, nos. 581, 636, 639, 643, 668, and 699) suggests that direct shipment
of coarse wares from the Continent (Boulogne perhaps, as this was the site
of a Classis Britannica base opposite Dover) to Dover took place
without any redistribution within Britain; these vessels may have
accompanied the fine grey sandy ‘Arras’ ware that is occasionally
found on sites in east and north Kent (see above); however, the decoration
is not apparently paralleled by material from the Nord/Pas-de-Calais
region of France (Tuffreau-Libre 1980a).
The most significant new fabric to be found in east Kent in
Severan contexts, in terms of quantity, is a grog-tempered ware of almost
certain indigenous production. This is characterised by high firing, in an
atmosphere of reduction or resulting in insufficient oxidation, often to
the point of vitrification, giving a silver-grey or occasionally glassy
grey-green surface. Grog and quartz are the major inclusions, occurring in
varying ratios and size ranges; a grogged fabric with sparse quartz is
particularly common, but quartz with sparse grog is also encountered. The
name ‘Native Coarse Ware’ has been applied to the Canterbury material
(Pollard forthcoming, d) as a convenience; the wiping of the lower
exterior of jars, producing a scarred appearance, and the penchant for
simple linear burnished motifs, recall the grog-tempered wares of the
first century B.C. to the early second century A.D. (see above), although
the coarse-combing of the latter period does not occur. It is possible
that these late Iron Age-derived wares continued to be produced in small
numbers, particularly as storage jars, during the second century (cf.
Gaunt 1974, no. 3). The techniques exhibited
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by the ‘Native Coarse Ware’ are at variance with those of the Canterbury
sandy ware industry which it succeeded: the high firing is only an
occasional feature of the latter, more often encountered in kiln waste than
occupation site material. Hand-forming, perhaps involving a turntable as
well as coiling, seems probable, with the rim sometimes trued-up on a wheel
of some kind. The upper body and rim are usually burnished (no. 179 here).
Jars are by far the most common forms, including simple everted rims and
angular everted or rolled rims. The ware has been recorded on several sites
in north-east Kent, including Canterbury (Frere 1970, fig. 10, no. 21 —
no. 179 here), Wingham, Richborough and possibly Reculver (Philp 1957, no.
29); similar wares have also been examined from Dover (Willson 1981, nos.
408, 413, 432, 521, 738, 748, 807, and 858: examination by the present
author), Folkestone, and west of Canterbury (see below and Fig. 45). None of
these finds need be earlier than the very late second/early third century.
The quantified evidence from Canterbury (Appendix 5) suggests that
‘Native Coarse Wares’ comprised anywhere up to 20 per cent of late
second to mid-third century assemblages, with BB2 and grey sandy wares (see
below) providing the main competition until the last quarter of the third
century when ‘late Roman’ grog-tempered ware was first produced.
The spatial range of distribution parallels that of the
Canterbury grey sandy wares of the Flavian to early Hadrianic periods; it is
by no means certain that the grog-tempered ware was produced at Canterbury
by either co-ordinated or individualistic concerns, but it can be inferred
from the close distributional accord between the two successive wares that
this area represented a ‘natural trade/exchange zone’. There is no
evidence to suggest that coastal trade in either ware was carried out beyond
30 km. of the Wantsum (the marine channel downstream of Canterbury
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