Other artifact types can also help determine when a site was
inhabited. Certain types of ceramic wares for example are known to have
relatively short periods of manufacture, and this in turn can aid an
archaeologist in narrowing down the potential window of occupation. With
respect to the mid to late 18th century there are a number of
ceramic types that can be attributed to this time period.
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| Jackfield |
A refined earthenware ceramic known as Jackfield is one such type. Produced in the region of Shropshire, England between 1745 and 1790, this ceramic is characterized as thinly turned, with a paste that turns a purple/grey after firing and is covered in a lustrous black glaze. Typical forms include tea pots and pitchers as well as mugs and bowls.
Although associated
with the town of Jackfield in Shropshire, this ware was also commonly produced
in Staffordshire by potters such as Thomas Whieldon, with a redder hued body.
This recognition of a broader area of manufacture has led some scholars to
endorse the term “Jackfield-like”, or even “blackware” when referring to these
pieces (Barker and Halfpenny (1990). The choice to produce a black glazed
ceramic is a curious one, as at this time English and other European potters
were endeavoring to create a white ceramic to mimic the superior export
porcelains arriving from the East. According to Hume, in his much referenced A
Guide to Artifacts of Colonial America, examples of Jackfield ceramics are
common on American sites of the 1760’s (pg.123).
Not unlike instances of counterfeit coinage, imitation or
debased forms of Jackfield were made in the colonies by regional potters. Here,
the intention was not to swindle someone out of their goods with fake currency,
but rather an effort to “keep up” with the latest trends and styles originating
out of England. While exhibiting a similar solid black glaze, these
Jackfield-like examples constructed of regionally sourced clays have an orange
body typical of redwares as opposed to a purple/grey body, and are generally thicker in cross section than their English counterparts.
As with coins having the potential to be in circulation for
decades after minting, so too can ceramics be in use long after their run of
manufacture has ceased. These factors are taken into consideration when using
these artifacts to evaluate the age of a site or feature within a site. Historical
archaeologists analyze ceramics based on the mean date or the midpoint in the
period of manufacture for an identified ceramic. This mean date for each
ceramic type is recorded and the average of all ceramics identified and
analyzed is utilized in determining the approximate date of the site. In addition, the behavior of curating
heirloom ceramics – think your grandmother or great-grandmother’s “good” china
plates – is a phenomenon, that if not recognized as such during analysis of a
ceramic assemblage could greatly skew age estimates (particularly for domestic
sites) several decades earlier than when the actual site occupation took place.
We hope this brief description of just one of the tools archaeologists use to analyze the past was of interest and a greater appreciation is realized as to the significance of the broken pottery recovered from archaeological sites. Please visit our online collections.
References:
Barker, David and Pat Halfpenny
(1990) Unearthing Staffordshire: Towards a new
Understanding of 18th Century Ceramics City of Stoke-on-Trent
Museum and Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent, EnglandHume, Ivor Noel
(1969) A Guide to Artifacts of Colonial America. University
of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia (reprint)
https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/typeceramics/type/jackfield-type-ware/
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