Pottery, vessel, mortarium

A samian mortarium, form Dragendorff 45, made at Lezoux, central Gaul. The upper wall is upright and the spout, applied to the outside of the upper wall, is in the form of a moulded, open-mouthed lion, surrounded by incised and radiating lines. The trituration grits occupy the lower part of the vessel and the grits had been applied before slipping and are unworn because the vessel is unused. Approximately half the vessel remains.

It was used in the kitchen to pound spices and chop herbs on the rough surface or to mix sauces which could then be poured off using the pouring lip. Many of the excavated mortaria are obviously well-used, their bases worn thin or sometimes even worn all the way through and then discarded. No ceramic pestle has been found in London although angular stone examples are known and wooden pestles of simply large smooth pebbles may also have been used to pound and mix the ingredients.