For richer, for poorer A study of pottery distribution in medieval Southampton within its socio-economic context Summary A discussion of the distribution of pottery types in high medieval (c1250–1350) and late medieval (c1350– 1500) Southampton is presented, drawing on recently analysed assemblages from the east of Southampton and previously published material. By placing the Introduction and background Southampton has produced a large and varied assemblage of medieval pottery, which has been periodically studied and reviewed as excavations have taken place in the city. The earliest work, by Colin Platt and Richard Coleman-Smith (1975), demonstrated the range of sources of the pottery represented in Southampton. More recent work by Duncan Brown (2002), focussed on assemblages from the western half of the town. He produced a detailed discussion of the pottery, backed up by quantitative methods for the first time. This paper is a natural development, introducing sites from the east of the town into the discussion. These have generally been excavated over the last 25–30 years, with most of the pottery being recovered from the large site at York Buildings (SOU 175), excavated in the late 1980s. The aim of this work is not to duplicate that of previous scholars in the characterisation of the pottery, but to question and further their conclusions regarding the social role of pottery in the town, principally through a broad discussion of the distribution of ceramic forms in the high and late medieval periods. Southampton holds a strong position for trade, located on a peninsula at the confluence of the Rivers Test and Itchen. The south west of the town is located at the mouth of the Test, making this area a suitable harbour. This area was occupied for much of the medieval period by merchants both from England and abroad; first from France and later the Mediterranean, principally Italy. Their presence in the town is well documented, both from historical and ceramic perspectives (Platt 1973, Brown 2002). To the north of this area stood the Ben Jervis 73 pottery within a national and international context it is demonstrated that different ware types and vessel forms have varying degrees of utility as tools for understanding the social dynamics of a medieval town. Norman castle, which is also well understood thanks to major excavations (SOUs 29, 124 and 125) (Oxley 1986) (Figure 1). The eastern side of the High Street is more enigmatic. To the south east of the Bargate, the main entrance to the medieval town, lies the largest site considered in this paper, York Buildings (SOU 175), excavated in the 1980s. Historically this area of Southampton High Street (English Street as it was known in the medieval period) was known as the ‘Street of the Smiths’ (Platt 1973, 52). Excavations revealed evidence of metal working to support this. Evidence of other craft activities, such as leather working and pottery manufacture was also identified. Excavations revealed a mass of archaeological evidence dating from the late Saxon to post medieval periods. High medieval settlement (c AD 1250–1350) was aligned along English St and the yards of several tenements were identified during excavation, principally that of 4 English Street. Excavations also focussed on understanding the construction of the defences, built in the early 13th-century as an earthen rampart and later strengthened in stone. The build up of layers of dumped material and historical evidence from the Southampton Terrier of 1454 (Burgess 1976), suggest large areas of the site remained unoccupied during the late 14th- or early 15th-centuries following the French raid in 1338. Excavations south of East Street, at Holy Rood Place (SOU 106) and High Street (SOU 105) during the 1970s by Robert Thomson, revealed evidence of medieval occupation; however, there are few surviving records of these excavations. Holy Rood church was constructed in the 14th-century on the site of at least two earlier phases of timber construction. During the 16th-century a large building was constructed on the site. There is evidence of pottery production at the High Street site (Brown 2002, 144), where wasters of Southampton Whiteware have been excavated. Historical context and the sites considered