EMSC - Early Medieval Shell and Chalk

Very coarse sand and chalk-tempered ware with other coarse inclusions such as shell, flint and quartz.

TS sample description (Patrick Quinn): Coarse fabric characterised by poorly-sorted inclusions reaching up to 1.5 mm in size including sub-angular to well-rounded quartz and polycrystalline quartz and a significant calcareous component. The latter is dominated by micritic calcite inclusions containing foraminifera microfossils that could be chalk and rare quartz clasts, sparry limestone and elongate laminated fossil shell of probable fossil origin. Other rarer sand-sized inclusions include ironstained chert, fine feldspathic sandstone and rounded opaques. The silt-sized inclusions are more angular and are dominated by quartz and micrite, but also contain chert, muscovite mica, opaques, plagioclase and amphibole. The sand sized inclusions could represent temper. Non-vitrified, well oxidised non-calcareous clay matrix. Occasional macro and meso-elongate drying voids.

Example from Haverhill, rare elsewhere.