English: A Roman brick fragment with incised decoration (43-410 AD). The find consists of a corner fragment from a large Roman brick, probably a lydion or a pedalis. The tile has been made using an iron-rich clay heavily tempered with grog and quartz; the fabric has not been mixed evenly and these tempers gather in large striations. The fabric also contains a large number of air bubbles. The front surface of the brick has been decorated with a swirling pattern that was incised by the maker with a fingernail whilst the clay was still plastic. Such marks made pre-firing are usually known as signature marks, but they tend to be a small hemisphere or symbol, and restricted to one area of the brick. This decoration seems to cover the entire surface of the brick, and therefore is more likely to be a kind of graffiti than a signature mark. On the reverse of the brick, along with the two edges of the find where the sides of the object remain intact, a large amount of Roman mortar remains in situ. This mortar is a pale buff-brown colour with large gritty inclusions. Dimensions: length: 136.0mm; width: 199.0mm; thickness: 36.0mm; weight: 1415.0g.