Mortarium
A mortarium (pl. "mortaria") was one of a class of Ancient Roman pottery kitchen vessels, specifically a type of mortar. They are bowls with thick sides that were likely used for crushing and grinding foodstuffs. They sometimes had grit embedded in the inner surface and a spout. Less commonly, some mortaria also had handles. They were used for pounding or mixing foods.Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor_id_list' not found. Stamps on some early Roman mortaria record the name of the potter, from which it is possible to trace their movement between workshops.[1] Some vessels produced in Italy and Gaul are transported long distances but local factories dominate at most periods.
Mortaria are an important indicator of the spread of Romanized food preparation methods;Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor_id_list' not found. rather than an adoption of Roman food practices and foodways, the growing use of mortaria may also reflect adaptation of existing food preparation techniques to new material cultures.Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor_id_list' not found. Many fancy red mortaria had a small hole near the top to allow the discharge of liquids, which was artistically made to appear as the mouth of a lion, mouse, or bat.
Etymology
The English word mortar derives from classical Latin mortarium, possibly with some influence from the French mortier. The Latin term means, among several other usages, "receptacle for pounding" and "product of grinding or pounding".Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor_id_list' not found.
References
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- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Class:mortaria". Potsherd. Archived from the original on 30 August 2004.
Bibliography
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- Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."mortar (n.1)". Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. 2024. doi:10.1093/OED/7771393343.
- Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Cramp, Lucy J. E.; Evershed, Richard P.; Eckardt, Hella (2011). "What was a mortarium used for? Organic residues and cultural change in Iron Age and Roman Britain". Antiquity. 85 (330): 1339–1352. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00062098.
- Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Symonds, Robin P. (2012). "A brief history of the ceramic mortarium in antiquity". Journal of Roman Pottery Studies. 15: 169–214. Template:Free access
External links
- Page Template:Sister-inline/styles.css has no content.Script error: No such module "Sister project logo". Media related to Script error: No such module "Commons link". at Wikimedia Commons
- Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Kay Hartley Mortarium Archive Project". Archaeology Data Service. doi:10.5284/1090785.
- A partial list of mortaria finds, mostly in Britain
