Bucket, wine bucket

Wine bucket, discovered by archaeologists during the excavation of a Roman well at Drapers' Gardens, City of London, in 2007. This bucket has a carinated shape and is of a 'Hemmor' type. It has triangular lugs on the rim for securing the handle, and a splayed footring attached to the base. Examples of this type of bucket are known from the 3rd century and earlier, so it was probably an antique when it was placed in the well.
The wine bucket was part of a hoard of 20 high-quality vessels and utensils deposited in a late Roman well. Evidence from coins found with the hoard suggested the vessels were placed there sometime between 375 CE and the early 400s. This was a time when Roman London was falling into decline and slowly being abandoned. The hoard is likely to have been the ritual deposition of a set of tableware, perhaps an offering to the gods to close the well and bring good luck to the people that owned the vessels before they left London to live elsewhere. The ceremony can be guessed at, due to the layers of objects in the well: first some coins were thrown in, then broken pieces of the well's bucket, then a woman deliberately broke her bracelet and dropped it in. On top of that were stacked the vessels, perhaps after a final feast in which they were used, and then part of a carcass of a young deer was added.