| Popis: |
This project aims to develop understanding of a major ceramics industry. Its products are some of the commonest wares on late medieval-post-medieval ('transitional') sites but it is an industry whose origins, dating and distribution are not sufficiently well understood. The core of this project is characterisation of the main centres of early production of Midlands purple coarse and Cistercian fine wares in the west midlands (here, south Derbys, Shropshire, Staffs, Warws, Worcs). The results of a variety of characterisation techniques (standard fabric characterisation methods alongside chemical and petrographic analyses) will be compared with data obtained by the same techniques using ceramics from key consumer sites with stratified early material as a test case. It will be the first study of this west midlands industry on a region-wide basis. It is anticipated that the outcomes of this pilot study will be capable of informing future curatorial and managerial strategy for both production and consumer sites. The project has the potential to inform further research: it will lay the foundations of a broad knowledge base and indicate how that might be developed. Results will be disseminated through a specialist journal (medieval Ceramics) and on the Web. |
