54 THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
silt, laid down by the sea; the present writer suggested that
rainwash might account for the existence of the thinner bands—
1 to 2 inches thick—and that is still his opinion; the heavier
layers—5 to 10 inches thick—found on the Canvey sites are
thought to be domestic or industrial "floors," laid down on an
uneven, friable surface of burnt earth. This view is supported
by evidence furnished by an examination of the physical character
of the burnt earth itself, and by a classification of the pottery
associated therewith at critical depths.
It will be seen from the Graph that at Hole DVI on the Ferndale
Crescent site, a clay "floor" 6 to 7 inches thick, separates two
distinctive layers of burnt earth. The waste material in the
upper layer is of "domestic" character, and the pottery as-
sociated with it is predominantly kiln-fired Romano-British of
better quality, whilst that in the lower layer has the character of
unstratified, "industrial" waste, tipped indiscriminately, and
contains only fragments of crude red pottery.
CRUDE RED WARE—NOMENCLATURE AND
CHARACTER.
The term "briquetage" is used to denote fragments of burned
clay which are characterised by a very high porosity due to
admixture of the clay with vegetable matter prior to heating it.
The term was applied by the Red Hills Committee (1906-7)5 to
distinguish a material found on the mainland and composed of
fragments made by heating a mixture of clay and "grass," the
latter disappearing in the firing and leaving a highly porous and
friable mass of burned clay.
The author has no desire either to ignore or abandon accepted
nomenclature, but it would appear from a careful consideration
of the facts that the term "briquetage" cannot be employed
without qualification for the precise classification of the crude red
ware found on the Canvey sites.
Many of the fragments found on the mainland were of such
indefinite nature that Mr. Reader himself could see no purpose
whatever which they could have served. On the other hand,
the fragments recovered from the Canvey sites for the most part
are clearly recognisable as having been derived from pots and
5 Proc. Soc. Antiqu, March 19th, 1908.