Collection Item – Teece Museum of Classical Antiquities

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From:UC Teece Museum of Classical Antiquities

Name/TitleMortar

About this objectMortars were used for crushing and grinding foodstuffs and other materials. The mortar is made of a hard substance like stone, metal or ceramic and has a bowl-like depression that is filled with what is to be ground. A heavy, often club-like, blunt-ended pestle is used to crush the desired substance into the surface of the mortar, grinding it into smaller pieces or a paste.

This part of a mortar is made of a sandy limestone and has been broken almost in half. It was found in a pit-tomb near Nicosia in Cyprus. The piece appears to have been worn by water, possibly in a river or the sea, before being shaped for use. The working surface is curved along the sides and the end, resembling a bath. There is no flat resting surface on the remaining stone, and the exterior is rough and randomly shaped. No pestle has been recorded as being found in the tomb.

Date Made21st Century BC

PeriodEarly Cypriote

Place MadeCyprus

Place NotesExcavated from Ayia Paraskevi, tomb 11

Medium and MaterialsStone: Limestone

TechniqueCarving (processes)

MeasurementsLength ca. 165mm (preserved); Width ca. 135mm

Subject and Association KeywordsMourning customs

Subject and Association KeywordsFood history

Named CollectionThe James Logie Memorial Collection, University of Canterbury, New Zealand

Credit LineDonated by the Melbourne University Cyprus Expedition, 1961.

Object TypeMortars (grinding tools)

Object number63.61