Another fine example in our collection of a large coarseware pot or jug. The term "coarseware" refers to the texture and composition of the ceramic - many types of coarseware will have deliberate inclusions of tiny granules of stone such as flint - in a mortaria (grinding bowl) these inclusions help when grinding up whatever was put inside the bowl, but in a pot such as this we have discovered that it most likely meant that the pot's primary use was for heating things. The stone particles in the fabric of the pot helped the pot to withstand higher temperatures without cracking - clever!
The shoulder of this jug has a small piece of decoration but as these jugs and pots were mostly used in kitchen settings there was little need for them to be aesthetically pleasing. Function over form.
