The mineralogy and petrography of Low Lands Ware 1 (Roman lower Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt basin; the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany)

Over the last 80 years Belgian, Dutch and German archaeologists working in the lower Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt basin have encountered a Roman pottery group that occurs in large quantities at most Roman sites in the region. Several researchers have separately tried to define this pottery, resulting in different names. Petrographic and geochemical analyses of 100 samples have now shown that the production of this ware predominantly made use of one source of raw material, divisible into three sub-groups on the basis of technological choices. The probable source lies in the early-Pleistocene Tegelen-formation, a clay rich in muscovite mica and garnet, which outcrops in the tertiary Scheldt escarpment (Nl) and the campine microcuesta (B). On the basis of geographical characteristics, Roman finds and the presence of a large Medieval pottery industry, production in the Bergen-op-Zoom area is suggested. In view of these new findings the name ‘Low Lands Ware 1’ is introduced to refer to this pottery group.