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Description: | An incomplete cast copper-alloy cosmetic mortar of Late Iron Age to Roman date. It is missing part of the suspension loop due to old breaks, now worn.It has a crescent shaped bow that is triangular in section with plain convex walls. On the interior surface is a central groove and corroded remains from an unknown object. One terminal is zoomorphic in the form of a bovid head with the horns, eyes and muzzle depicted. The other is a globular, phallic knob with a small circumferential groove around the outer face. At the centre of the bow are the remains of an integral suspension loop which is D-shaped in section.This cosmetic mortar measures 70.58mm in length, 9.05mm in width, 16.53mm in height, 2.45mm in thickness, 25.07g in weight.Cosmetic mortars such as this were utilised as part of a two-piece set to grind small quantities of powder and probably had an association with fertility, some having male and female animal head terminals. This mortar falls into Jackson type C and there are similar examples recorded by Jackson (Jackson, 2010, p. 123,159, no. 214, 357).
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
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