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Description: | A cast copper alloy pestle (length: 25.3mm; width of ovoid tip/ terminal: 18.4mm; thickness of ovoid tip/ terminal: 6.9mm; weight: 5.20g). Ralph Jackson has identified this artefact as a double-looped idiosyncratic version of a centre-looped type of pestle used as part of a two-piece cosmetic set. The double-loops (inner loop diameter: 3.7mm) seem to have been attached and soldered on to either side of the stem (length: 15.1mm; width: 4mm). The stem also seems to have been attached on to the ovoid or 'rugby-shaped' tip/ terminal. The pestle is in a worn and poor condition with a dark purple/ brown patchy patina. At present, there is no reliable typological sequence for the development of this category of artefact but most appear to belong to the 1st and 2nd centuries AD (R. Jackson; 1985; pp. 175). Only a few pestles of this type have been found, one of which is from Walsoken, Cambridgeshire. Additionally, two examples of the pestles of the centre-looped variety were found at Wicklewood, Norfolk. Both of these examples are, however, quite different due to their single central loop in comparison to this double-looped example (see reference numbers below). The usual plain appearance of the pestle has in the past made identification difficult and probably the cause of its rare appearance in print. In addition, some centre-looped pestles have in the past been identified as pendants. When not in use, cosmetic sets were intended to be hung or suspended by a leather lace or thong, perhaps hanging from the waist. The discovery of sets in inhumation burials at St. Albans, Chichester and Wanborough suggests they may have been Chatelaine-type instruments, similar to 'pocket sets' of toilet implements used during the Iron Age and Roman periods. Due to possibly being suspended from the waist, casual or accidental losses must have been a problem (Jackson, 1985, pages 169-172). The majority of centre-looped mortars and pestles have been found in the South-East of England with particularly large numbers from East Anglia and a massive concentration in Colchester. Few 'cosmetic sets', or their component parts, are closely and securely dated, but many do seem to fall in to the 1st/ 2nd century AD (Jackson, 1985, 172 & 175).
Reference: Jackson, R; 'Cosmetic sets from Late Iron Age and Roman Britain', in Britannia, Volume 16, 1985, pages 165-192. An identical example has previously been recorded from Lichfield, Staffordshire [WMID-8B2CO3]. | Format: | text/html | License: | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ | Publisher: | The Portable Antiquities Scheme | Rights holder: | The Portable Antiquities Scheme | Subjects: | archaeology | Temporal: | -100
1850 | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://www.finds.org.uk/database/artefac... | Language: | en-GB | Format: | text/html | Go to resource |
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