Buitenbeentjes, bloempotten en verloren schapen. North African Red Slip ware (ARS) ten noorden van de Limes

Samenvatting

Freakish sherds: North African Red Slipware (ARS) north of the Roman Limes. In the 19th and the first part of the 20th century, many of the dwelling mounds along the North Sea coast were quarried to produce fertilizer for sandy and peaty soils. In the process, a large number of well-preserved objects were found and collected. Among these were several thousand imported items of Roman provenance, mostly fragments of terra sigillata vessels (samian ware). Unfortunately, all of these finds lack a detailed context. An exception is the mound (wierde or terp) of Ezinge, where A.E. van Giffen carried out excavations between 1923 and 1934. There 172 fragments of terra sigillata were found and identified, including 25 African Red Slipware fragments. Until recently, this type of pottery had not been found in the region or indeed anywhere north of the limes. The discovery of the material in only one mound among 1200 investigated one is very striking, and requires an explanation and further research. For this reason, part of the old collection of terra sigillata from Frisian dwelling mounds and also material from recent excavations are being closely reexamined.