Roman kilns in Otford, Kent

I have been sitting on this for the past few days. Something about it does not ring quite right, but I can't work out what. The Sevenoaks Chronicle has a story about a couple of Roman structures, possibly kilns, found in Otford, Kent:

The last two weeks of an archeological project to excavate a site in the village drew to a close earlier this month with experts believing they may have unearthed two pottery kilns, each around 4m in diameter.

Until now it had not been thought that the firing of pottery – a huge industry in Roman times – was carried out in this area.

Sevenoaks archeologist Diarmaid Walshe spearheaded the dig.

He believes if scientific analysis proves his finds are kilns, Otford could have been at the centre of an industry that supplied pottery to Roman settlements all over the South East.

"If they are pottery kilns it's very important because, according to experts, there were no pottery kilns in this area.

"We can't confirm it yet, but on the face of it they do appear to be pottery kilns because we've got massive quantities of pottery sitting in there.

There are too many ifs in the story for my liking. Archaeologists did find a number of coins which dated from the first to the fourth centuries. Full story here.

Comments

[An Archaeologist]

I have just looked at the report and note that others have found the gaping holes in this story. I share your bafflement.

[adrianmurdoch]

It will be fascinating to see how this plays out. If any one follows up. Thanks for your thoughts.

[An Archaeologist]

I certainly hope it is taken further, as it is worrying that a 'Director' who turns out to be a student from Sussex is allowed to work on an important site and make such basic errors. I certainly hope the final report is of more academic level. And well spotted... thanks for finding that

[Diarmaid Walshe]

I was the site director on the site and think it is only fair to correct a few comments made by my friend "An Archaeologist". I am quite aware of the person who made the comments and note that he seems reluctant to state his name. I wonder why?

First of all to say I am a student is not fully accurate. I am actually a Post Graduate student in Field archeology and also belong to the IFA (not at a student level). I have been involved in Archaeology since 1989 and have been for the past number of years with the Uni of Tel Aviv working on 2 of their main sites. In addition as part of my university assessment to gain my post grad I am required to run my own site as a director. To help me on site I had four professional archeologists to ensure the proper standards were met.

[Diarmaid Walshe]

In regard to the article the reason for the reluctance to make a definite statement as to the nature of the Kiln was due to the damage that had been caused by human occupation on the site, the large number of trees on the site and finally the fact that 7 roman rubbish pits were cut into the structures.

The kiln structures were 1.5 meters in diameter and were of the pedestal type. These kilns can be confused with ovens and in the past in Kent a number of archeologists have made that same mistake. I rather unlike my friend like to ensure that I have supporting evidence before I make a definite statement.

[Diarmaid Walshe]

In addition as with all newspaper stories they sexed up the story. The point I made was kilns of the type would supply pottery to the surrounding area, which would have covered 16-24KM around the kiln location. However the fabric that this kiln was producing has been found in London, Sussex and as far away as Reculver does show coverage within the SE. This is what the paer hit on a rather than the local picture

I note the “An Archaeologist” states I made basic mistakes well maybe he would like to enlighten us as to what these are. The basic fact are this individual has no idea about the site, the people involved and is engaged in a person attack on me for his own personal reasons. I would like to invite David to visit the site and tell a number of professional archeologists that they had no idea what they were doing.

If any one is interested in the site of the methods used to excavate the site I would like to invite them to visit and have a look at what was done and achieved.

[adrianmurdoch]

Thanks so much for taking the time to clarify the findings at the dig. Much appreciated

[Diarmaid Walshe]

I was only too delighted to provide the information and was delighted you show interest in my excavations. It’s just a pity that the person who made the comments does not have the courage to state his name, his academic qualifications and his experience in Kentish Roman pottery. The main problem with the site was a local amateur group had excavated it in the past in the late 1960s. They provided no report and shockingly did not record their trenches so nobody knows where or what was excavated. The ironic thing is one of the person who was on this early excavation is the person referred to by the “An Archaeologist”

I have carried out a full site survey, taken over 50 liters of environment samples and sent away 8 kg of pottery for scientific analysis. I have now dated the kilns securely to 70-80AD based of pottery and metal objects. If this is an example of basic mistakes I dread to think what my friend will say to the revelation of the archeological skills of his friend on the 1960s excavation

I hope this will provide closure on the subject. However I will keep your blog informed of developments on future excavations and thank you for your interest

[adrianmurdoch]

Again thanks - and please do keep Bread & Circuses informed of any new developments.