Dales ware is a type of pottery produced in the South Yorkshire and Lincolnshire[1] areas of England and widely distributed across northern Britain during the 3rd and 4th centuries AD.[2]
Dales ware was predominantly produced in north Lincolnshire,[3] but had other production centres in Yorkshire,[4] and was traded northwards, east of the Pennines in the 3rd and 4th Centuries AD. It most commonly occurs as jars.[5]
Dales ware is a handmade, shell-tempered coarseware ceramic with a distinctive rim, often wheel-formed. The fabric is rough and coloured brown-grey. It often includes irregular finger indentations around the lower body, but is generally smoothed towards the shoulder and over the rim and lip.
The Dales-type ware was defined by Loughlin. The fabric differs in being hard-fired and grey, in comparison to the above. Dales-type jars are always more numerous than true Dales ware and were popular as burial urns in Roman York.[6]