The medieval ceramic industry of the Severn Valley

The subject of this thesis is the medieval ceramic industry of the Severn Valley. A large proportion of the caramic artefacts used in the study region has been characterised by pecrological analysis. This has involved the manufacture and study of over 1,200 thin-sections using principally archaeological stratigraphy in the _HD main cities of the region, a chronological framework of pottery types has been constructed. In certain areas this sequence is tied to an absolute chronology whilst in others the result is a 'floating' relative sequence. The distribution of many distinctive ceramic types has been plotted, enabling the methods of distribution used for different classes of products to be compared, both through time and synchronously.The thesis uses these data to group ceramic industries by the size of the distribution areas of their products. Changes in the character of ceramic industries through time are noted and the factors governing these changes discussed.