The archaeological finds tell us a lot about what was happening at Grimstock Hill in the Romano-British period.
21,529 pieces, ‘sherds', of pottery were unearthed during the excavation. By studying these we can tell that they are parts of bowls, dishes, tankards, storage jars and cooking pots. The majority of these would have been made by people working relatively locally, at Mancetter or Hartshill, and then brought to Coleshill.
Inhabitants also had some more expensive and fashionable ‘Samian ware'. This type of pottery was high quality, bright red and often decorated. The Samian ware found at Coleshill was made in Gaul (the Roman name for a region in Western Europe) and was decorated with lions, stags, dolphins, ships, Neptune and Cupid.
Amphora from Spain was also discovered. They would have held wine, oil, fish-sauce, grain, olives and seeds. All of these items would have travelled a long way. They could have been brought by settlers or purchased from roving tradesmen.
Archaeologists uncovered a number of beautiful brooches, jewellery and ornaments.
People living in Grimstock Hill clearly wanted to look nice and show their wealth or status through ornaments. Cosmetic pots and a tiny pestle (for applying eye-liner) were also found.
Mortaria
The site also contained many fragments of mortaria. These pottery mixing bowls, with a distinctive spout, were used for grinding food. Mortaria did not exist here before the Romans came. Finding them on site indicated that people were changing the way they prepared food and, more importantly, that they had a taste for Roman food.
Mortaria were normally made by specialist potters who usually stamped their names on to their work. From fragments found at Grimstock Hill we know that during the Roman British period mortaria were mainly being made at potteries in Hartshill or Mancetter.
These are the names of some of the potters
