Tankards of the British Iron Age

Abstract

Iron Age tankards are stave-built wooden vessels completely covered or bound in copper-alloy sheet. The distinctive copper-alloy handles of these vessels frequently display intricate 'Celtic' or La Tène art styles. They are characterised by their often highly original designs, complex manufacturing processes, and variety of find contexts. No systematic analysis of this artefact class has been undertaken since Corcoran's (1952a) original study was published in Volume 18 of these Proceedings. New evidence from the Portable Antiquities Scheme for England and Wales and recent excavations have more than quadrupled the number of known examples (139 currently). It is therefore necessary and timely to re-examine tankards, and to reintegrate them into current debates surrounding material culture in later prehistory. Tankards originate in the later Iron Age and their use continued throughout much of the Roman period. As such, their design was subject to varying influences over time, both social and aesthetic. Their often highly individual form and decoration is testament to this fact and has created challenges in developing a workable typology (Corcoran 1952a;1952b;1957; Spratling 1972;Jackson 1990). A full examination of the decoration, construction, wear and repair, dating, and deposition contexts will allow for a reassessment of the role of tankards within the social and cultural milieu of later prehistoric and early Roman Britain.

Bring Me Three Large Beers: Wooden Tankards at Roman Vindolanda

“…). Both the Trawsfynydd and the Carrickfergus examples have a perforation at the very centre of the base, which would have required some form of sealing before use (see discussion in Horn , 313). In all of the other tankard examples, the ornamentation is bolder and more extensive than that shown on the Vindolanda base.…”

“…They vary somewhat in size but are often slightly wider than they are deep, with a mean internal depth and diameter of the surviving complete examples ( n = 10) of approximately 13 cm x 15 cm, giving a capacity of around 2.3 litres (4 imperial pints). These would have been heavy when full and it is likely that they were held in both hands, with fingers passing through the handle loop for additional support (Corcoran , 87–8; Horn , 312). Evidence for these vessels survives in a variety of contexts including Iron Age settlements, shrines, Romano‐British sites and hoards.…”

“…Evidence for these vessels survives in a variety of contexts including Iron Age settlements, shrines, Romano‐British sites and hoards. The discoveries from Vindolanda are part of a broader pattern, with 22 other examples from Roman military sites and 14 from what might be regarded as civilian sites (Horn ).…”

“…Tankards were also the focus of a short paper by Webster () in which he drew parallels with the Iron Age ceramic tankards of Durotrigian and Severn Valley wares. Tankards have most recently been the subject of a major review by one of the authors (JH) who, in addition to an in‐depth discussion of the type and their chronology, has increased the total number now known to 139, predominantly represented by surviving metal fittings (Horn ). They have a wide distribution across Britain but with a higher number being found in the southern regions of England and Wales (see Fig.…”

“…As a type they have a relatively restricted period of production and use, between c .75 bc and c . ad 200 (Horn , 328).…”