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Abstract
A COMPLETE, ALMOST CYLINDRICAL, LIMESTONE VESSEL was recovered from a post-medieval dump of soil outside Dulverton House, Pitt Street, Gloucester. The area lies between the former Infirmary and the Infirmarer’s Lodging of St Peter’s Abbey, now Gloucester Cathedral. The vessel has been identified as a cresset (lamp) based on analysis of the thick burnt residues coating its inner walls, which indicates it contained a mix of ruminant animal fats (probably tallow) with up to 50% non-ruminant (e.g. pork) fat. Stone cressets are rare finds in archaeological contexts and are usually identified by light burning on the vessel or similarities of morphology with other burnt stone vessels. This is the first example to be subjected to residue analysis, which allows us to confirm that small stone vessels were used directly as lamps and that they did not always contain an inner ceramic vessel. It is possible that the Dulverton House cresset was used in the Abbey of St Peter to illuminate access to the church for the regular night-time offices.
Résumé
Une lampe en pierre à Dulverton House, Gloucester par Ruth Shaffrey, Chiz Harward, Julie Dunne, Toby Gillard et Richard P. Evershed
Un récipient complet, quasi cylindrique, en calcaire a été retrouvé dans un dépotoir de terre postmédiéval à l’extérieur de Dulverton House, Pitt Street, dans la ville de Gloucester. La zone s’étend entre l’ancienne infirmerie et le logement de l’infirmier de l’abbaye de St Pierre, devenue cathédrale de Gloucester. L’identification du récipient en tant que lampe est basée sur l’analyse d’une couche épaisse de résidus consumés sur sa paroi interne, indiquant un mélange de graisse d’animaux ruminants (probablement du suif) et jusqu’à 50 % de graisse d’animaux non-ruminants (p. ex. de porc). Rares trouvailles dans des contextes archéologiques, les lampes en pierre sont habituellement identifiées par de légères traces de combustion sur le récipient ou d’autres similarités morphologiques avec d’autres récipients en pierre brûlés. C’est le premier exemple soumis à une analyse de résidus, qui nous permet de confirmer que des petits récipients en pierre servaient directement de lampe et qu’ils ne contenaient pas toujours de récipient en céramique à l’intérieur. Il se peut que la lampe de Dulverton House ait été utilisée dans l’abbaye de St Pierre pour éclairer l’accès à l’église lors des offices nocturnes réguliers.
Zussamenfassung
Eine steinerne Öllampe aus Dulverton House, Gloucester von Ruth Shaffrey, Chiz Harward, Julie Dunne, Toby Gillard und Richard P. Evershed
Aus einer nachmittelalterlichen Erddeponie vor dem Dulverton House in der Pitt Street in Gloucester wurde ein vollständiges, beinahe zylindrisches Gefäß aus Kalkstein geborgen. Das Fundgebiet liegt zwischen der Krankenstation und der Unterkunft des Stationsleiters (Infirmarer's Lodging) der ehemaligen Abtei St. Peter, die zur heutigen Kathedrale von Gloucester wurde. Analysen der dicken Schicht verbrannter Rückstände auf der Innenwand des Gefäßes identifizieren es als Öllampe und deuten darauf hin, dass es eine Mischung aus Wiederkäuerfett (wahrscheinlich Talg) und bis zu 50 % Nichtwiederkäuerfett (z. B. vom Schwein) enthielt. Steinerne Öllampen sind seltene Funde im archäologischen Kontext und werden in der Regel durch Brandspuren auf dem Gefäß oder morphologische Ähnlichkeiten mit anderen Steingefäßen mit Brandspuren identifiziert. Dies ist das erste Exemplar, das einer Rückstandsanalyse unterzogen wurde. Sie bestätigt, dass kleine Steingefäße direkt als Lampen verwendet wurden und nicht immer mit einem inneren Keramikgefäß versehen waren. Die Öllampe von Dulverton House wurde möglicherweise in der Abtei St. Peter verwendet, um für die regelmäßigen nächtlichen Gottesdienste den Zugang zur Kirche zu beleuchten.
Riassunto
Una lanterna in pietra da Dulverton House, Gloucester di Ruth Shaffrey, Chiz Harward, Julie Dunne, Toby Gillard e Richard P. Evershed
In una discarica postmedievale di terra all’esterno di Dulverton House in Pitt Street, a Gloucester, è stato rinvenuto un recipiente pressoché cilindrico in calcare. Quest’area è situata tra l’antica infermeria e la residenza del monaco-medico dell’abbazia di San Pietro, ora la cattedrale di Gloucester. Il recipiente è stato identificato come lanterna in base all’analisi dello spesso strato di residui bruciati che rivestivano le pareti interne i quali indicano che esso conteneva una mistura di grassi animali (probabilmente sego), derivati fino al 50% da non ruminanti (cioé da suini). Le lanterne in pietra sono reperti rari nei contesti archeologici e vengono identificate accendendo una fiamma nel recipiente oppure tramite le somiglianze morfologiche con altri recipienti in pietra bruciata. Questo è il primo esemplare a essere stato sottoposto all’analisi dei residui organici, il che ci permette di confermare che piccoli recipienti in pietra venivano usati direttamente come lampade e che non sempre contenevano all’interno un altro recipiente in ceramica. È possibile che la lanterna di Dulverton House sia stata usata nell’abbazia di San Pietro per illuminare l’accesso alla chiesa per le regolari funzioni notturne.
Acknowledgements
Urban Archaeology would like to thank King’s School who generously funded the fieldwork and post-excavation programme at Dulverton House, and in particular Phil Dancey and Lloyd Griffiths for their forbearance. Chiz Harward would like to thank Mark Donaldson of Town and City Builders Ltd for his exemplary help during the site works. Laurence Keen kindly commented on an early draft. Ruth Shaffrey would like to thank Jerry Sampson for a discussion of the Glastonbury Abbey lamps. The authors also wish to thank the NERC for partial funding of the National Environmental Isotope Facility (NEIF; contract no. NE/V003917/1) and NERC (contract no. NE/V003917/1) and funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007-2013) and European Research Council Grant Agreement number 340923 for funding GC-MS capabilities, together with NERC (contract no. NE/V003917/1) and the University of Bristol for funding the GC-IRMS capabilities. Ian Bull, Alison Kuhl and Helen Whelton are thanked for technical help.
Notes
4 Welander Citation1991, 22, 112–3; Harward in prep.
5 Harward in prep; Historic England Citation2021a.
6 Welander Citation1991, 112–3; Historic England Citation2021b.
7 Harward in prep.
8 Eg Dudd and Evershed Citation1998; Correa-Ascencio and Evershed Citation2014 and see appendix.
9 Evershed et al Citation1997; Berstan et al Citation2008.
10 Dudd and Evershed Citation1998; Copley et al Citation2003; Dunne et al Citation2012.
11 Frith et al Citation2004.
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13 Bowers, Citation1998.
14 Mottram et al Citation1999.
15 Blinkhorn et al Citation2017.
16 Mainman and Rogers Citation2000; Barclay and Biddle Citation1990.
17 Ibid, 985.
18 Ibid, 984-5.
19 Ibid, 90.
20 Addyman and Hill Citation1969, 80; pers obs; Boore Citation1982.
21 Penney Citation1987, 196; Knight Citation1972, 130–3.
22 Harward et al Citation2019; Allan Citation1984, 294-5; Lewis Citation1984, 40.
23 Adams Citation1967, 52.
24 Owen Citation2017, 10–11.
25 Palmer and Shaffrey Citation2020, 50-1.
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27 Davey Citation1976, 19
28 Bishop Citation2001, 27.
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30 Palmer Citation2001; Hansen Citation2009, 15.
31 Frith et al Citation2004, 224.
32 Anon Citation1863, 439.
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35 Mainman and Rogers Citation2000.
36 Knowles Citation1951.
37 Jerry Sampson pers comm.
38 Atkins Citation1986, 82.
39 Fowler Citation1903, 22, 195.
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44 Adams Citation1967.
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48 Adams Citation1967.
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50 Adams Citation1967.
51 Correa-Ascencio and Evershed Citation2014.
52 After Allan Citation1984, 294–5 and after Barclay and Biddle Citation1990, 997.
53 Copley et al Citation2003.