Bowl, hanging bowl

Roman hanging bowl, discovered by archaeologists on excavations at Drapers' Gardens, City of London, in 2007. It is the largest hanging bowl to be found in Britain and a very early example of the type (most examples are Saxon in date). Originally it had three lion-headed hooks with rings for hanging the bowl, but two are missing as only half of the bowl has survived (the rest had been destroyed by a modern concrete pile that cut down into the Roman layers). It was probably used to hold water to mix with wine during feasting, or for washing.
The bowl 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 a ritual deposition, 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.