Grey Ceramic Pitcher
This grey ceramic pitcher dates between the 10th and mid-12th centuries.1 It is probably from a Saxo-Norman household in present-day England. Its significance for the viking age would be in its construction and existance.
This pot is a very good example of a common household pot. It was probably used for both cooking and storing food. It could also have been used to store liquid. Having good examples, like this one, of common goods is important archaeologically for understanding the daily life of the people. Like the written record, artifact evidence can be skewed towards the lives of higher-class people; objects like this break that trend.
This spouted pitcher is made from Late Saxon Shelly ware. It was constructed from clay mixed with crushed oyster shell as temper. Temper keeps the clay from cracking and makes the pottery generally stronger.2 This particular pitcher was probably fired in a kiln in the Upper Thames Valley and brought to London via the River Thames. This process is also significant because it gives a clearer picture of industry in the viking age, which seems to have been mostly small and individually run.
There was a lot of political turmoil in England and western Europe during the viking age.3 Due in part to the small divided kingdoms of England, this feuding also created a cycle with viking raiders. The attacks of raiders weakened individual English kingdoms and left them vulnerable to each other, and in turn the fights caused by that facilitated easier raiding for the Norse.4 This pitcher is a good example of how life, trade, and industry went on, even during conflict and turmoil in Europe during the viking age.
This pot is a very good example of a common household pot. It was probably used for both cooking and storing food. It could also have been used to store liquid. Having good examples, like this one, of common goods is important archaeologically for understanding the daily life of the people. Like the written record, artifact evidence can be skewed towards the lives of higher-class people; objects like this break that trend.
This spouted pitcher is made from Late Saxon Shelly ware. It was constructed from clay mixed with crushed oyster shell as temper. Temper keeps the clay from cracking and makes the pottery generally stronger.2 This particular pitcher was probably fired in a kiln in the Upper Thames Valley and brought to London via the River Thames. This process is also significant because it gives a clearer picture of industry in the viking age, which seems to have been mostly small and individually run.
There was a lot of political turmoil in England and western Europe during the viking age.3 Due in part to the small divided kingdoms of England, this feuding also created a cycle with viking raiders. The attacks of raiders weakened individual English kingdoms and left them vulnerable to each other, and in turn the fights caused by that facilitated easier raiding for the Norse.4 This pitcher is a good example of how life, trade, and industry went on, even during conflict and turmoil in Europe during the viking age.
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