Details

COLEM:JOS.1115

Colchester Collections

pot, feeding bottle, tettina

The Child's Grave

Roman spouted ceramic vessel, probable tettina, from the early Roman burial group known as the 'Child's Grave'. The fabric is a fine white-grey colour and a yellow-green glaze survives in patches on the bottle. The body is biconical above a short pedestal base. The incomplete rim is very short and out-turned. The single handle missing with the handle scar to the right. The upper pointing spout is above the carination on the upper body and the end slightly damaged. ‘Feeding bottles’, also known as tettinae, are an unusual Roman vessel that usually have a small, upward pointing spout and handle on the body of the pot. They are commonly ceramic, and come in a range of fabrics, but can also be made of glass. They have been found in burials of children but remain slightly mysterious. Although they are often interpreted as feeding bottles for infants, others have argued that they are lamp-fillers or feeders for the sick. Future work on the Colchester collection hopes to involve specialists in undertaking residue analysis, a scientific technique that analyses the residues that have absorbed into the pot, especially lipids. Additional scientific techniques can be used to distinguish between dairy products or animal fats/vegetable oils, which would hopefully solve the mystery of these vessels’ function.

1940 - 1950

Roman

height: 79.50 mm
rim diameter: 24.70 mm
body diameter: 85.00 mm
base diameter: 38.20 mm
spout length: 14.00 mm
spout bore diameter: 2.10 mm