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Description: | A copper-alloy cosmetic mortar of Romano-British date with a crescent shaped bow and an end loop. It measures 67.2mm in length, 8.9mm in thickness and 9mm in width across the centre of the bow. The bow has a central longitudinal groove which is 2.5mm in depth. Inside the groove has an encrusted reddish coloured deposit adhering to it, which appears to be iron. The outer faces of the bow have enrusted patches of corrosion products adhering to them. The end loop has a worn oval shaped perforation above another possible hole, the top of edge of which survives only, the lower half of this hole appears to be missing due to old breaks now extremely worn. The other terminal end tapers to a small rounded knob, which may represent a phallus. The mortar has a silvery colouration perhaps indicating a high lead or tin content.
Cosmetic mortars are unique to Romano-Britain, only one example has been found outside Britain in Northern France. They are believed to have been used in the late Iron Age and Roman period to grind small quantities of powder or cosmetics. They have an association with fertility due to their crescent shaped bow and the occurrance of animal heads, sometimes both male and female heads are represented at either terminal. | 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: | -300
410 | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://www.finds.org.uk/database/artefac... | Language: | en-GB | Format: | text/html | Go to resource |
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