VM_365 Day 107 Where have all the fragments gone?

Large Roman jar undergoing reconstruction.
From the ground to gluing tray, large Roman jar undergoing reconstruction.

In the image for VM_365 Day 107, we have one of the last of the vessels from the Roman kitchen at Broadstairs that can be reconstructed. The large jar is shown in the ground during excavation and on the right in the sand tray we use to hold the sherds in place while they are glued together. All of the vessels from the same site shown in the previous VM_365 posts over the last few days have been through this method of reconstruction.

First each sherd must be recovered, located and fitted together in a dry run, to see what order they need to be glued in. The process of sticking the sherds together must be carried out very precisely and in small stages as otherwise the pieces of the vessel may not meet in the middle when the last piece is added.  When the glue is applied the sherds must be held in exact position until the bond is made. Any errors will mean that the next pieces can’t be properly fitted.

The large jar was one of the most obvious near complete vessels within the thick deposit of sherds, however once it was lifted it was clear that it had been broken before it was thrown in and the jar came apart into a number of large pieces. Some of the sherds from one side of the vessel had been spread elsewhere in the deposit and had to be picked out from the spare pieces left over after we had matched as many as possible. We may still be missing a few in the end!

We’ll post more on this vessel once the glue has dried and we can take a proper photograph of the result.

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