Processes in pottery recording

Pottery recording produces a digital data record of the Pottery assemblage. Depending on the type of recording undertaken, this may constitute the final record or may form the preliminary dataset upon which recommendations for further work are based. These data may also be used by other project team members to inform fieldwork and/or post-excavation analysis. The pottery record should also be presented so as to ensure its long-term utility, for example by the inclusion of appropriate metadata – see the Toolkit for Managing Digital Data (Dig Digital).

Before any recording begins, the project manager should

1. contact the identified pottery specialists to agree the post-excavation timetable and establish effective communication
2. ensure that specialists have the information they need to undertake an appropriate level of recording and analysis, on time and within budget; this should ideally include as a minimum
   • the project brief and the project design, or the updated project design if a new version has been produced for the analysis and reporting stage
   • a site summary or interim report
   • the stratigraphic matrix
   • updated structural and phasing information
   • a copy of the site database or other concordance of relevant structural information for every contextual unit, providing information on context type, context group, feature type, fill of, site sub-division and stratigraphic phase
3. ensure that material sent to, and retrieved from, outside specialists is appropriately documented, packed, transported and tracked
4. establish who has responsibility for sending out and retrieving material for external specialists and who will cover the costs

Prior to recording, the pottery specialist should

1. re-familiarise themselves with the agreed research aims and methods, as defined in the project brief and the project design
2. re-familiarise themselves with the requirements of the data management plan
3. ensure that the recording method will be at the appropriate level for data to be analysed according to the project aims (eg more detailed analysis of firing for kiln assemblages) and depositional history of the site (eg more detailed recording of key stratigraphic groups), as well as for the interpretation of the assemblage in terms of pottery manufacture, distribution, acquisition and use
4. agree the project timetable with the project manager, identify critical points where information is needed from the project manager or from other specialists, or where finds or data need to be sent to other specialists (eg Samian pottery, stamped mortaria, scientific analysis or illustration)
5. ensure access to relevant national, regional and site-based fabric and form series (see Downloads and resources), using published literature and/or arranging visits to pottery type series; travel and any access charges should be paid by the project, as agreed in the assessment
6. locate and, where necessary, separate out material for further treatment, eg photography, drawing or scientific analysis
7. determine how the pottery will be packed after analysis, following the guidelines of the repository that will curate the project archive. It is usual for most of the pottery to be boxed in contextual unit identifier order but ensure that diagnostic material (eg fabric type sherds and illustrated sherds) can be easily located; decide also, in consultation with the repository, whether or not to bag different wares or fabrics separately within each contextual unit
8. ensure that material to be sent to other specialists, or returned to the project manager, is appropriately documented, packed and transported (CIfA 2014a, 3.7.5)
9. ensure that appropriate facilities, properly equipped, secure and with sufficient space and light, are available for undertaking the work (CIfA 2014a, Annex 1)

During recording the pottery specialist should

1. sort every sherd in a contextual unit according to each different attribute, eg a pile of plain body sherds of Fabric 1, two plain everted rim sherds in Fabric 1 with the same rim diameter, a body sherd in Fabric 1 that has an incised wavy line on the body, a pile of plain body sherds in Fabric 6, a pile of body sherds in Fabric 6 that have an internal clear glaze, and so on. See also guidance from PCRG, SGRP and MLPRG
2. ensure each data entry refers to these groupings that share the same attributes of fabric, form, dimensions, surface treatment, etc
3. ensure data is recorded using consistent terminology, so that the same attributes are recorded in the same ways every time
4. ensure the pottery record is in digital form, in a database or spreadsheet that is created and managed in accordance with the data management plan
5. ensure any codes used in creating the record (eg fabric codes, field names) are supported by a concordance of codes and full descriptive terms; the format of this concordance (ie paper/digital) should adhere to the repository requirements for inclusion in the project archive

At the end of recording the pottery specialist should

1. clean the digital record to remove any inconsistencies (eg in the varied use of capital letters within text fields, such as POTTERY, Pottery, pottery)
2. provide documentation, compile metadata or clean the digital record to convert codes into full descriptive terms (eg to ensure future users can understand that SVW OX1 means Severn Valley Oxidised ware 1)