The Portable Antiquities Scheme

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Roman Patera with the following dimensions: Depth of bowl internal 78mm Depth of bowl external 93mm Diameter of bowl external at top 160mm Diameter of bowl at base 102mm Length of handle 144mm Thickness of metal varies considerably. The object is a copper alloy saucepan. The bowl has a thick rim that is turned outwards so that it is at a right angle to the wall of the bowl. There is a pattern of concentric rings on the base of the pan, visible both on the inside but more markedly on the outside, the rings of the inside are not related to those of the outside. The sides of the handle are narrowed in the centre with a double linear border on either side, this border has beading in the centre. On the top side of the handle, in the centre, there is a rectangular makers stamp, unfortunately this was poorly struck and therefore no detail is discernible. The terminal of the handle is circular with a beaded border running around its circumference, the centre is pierced for suspension. Halfway down the wall of the of the patera bowl is a break that runs halfway around of the circumference, this is caused by corrosion.

The vessel would have been finished off on a lathe, this is shown by striations which run around the inside and outside of the pan. There is a good patina on the rim and the handle. When discovered, the patera was filled with clay. The patera was x-rayed by Cardiff University but revealed no metal or dense mineral-preserved objects. The possibility remains that organic material may survive within the clay (Parkes 2005). There was a wide range of copper alloy vessels available in the Roman Empire and patarae was just one type, still this type of vessel performed a number of functions. Some paterae are shallow, circular vessels, which were used to contain liquids for sacrificial or domestic purposes (Mills 2000). It seems likely that they were used for ceremonial purposes. They are often found with ornate metal jugs (British Museum 1922). The very elaborate vessels such as the Staffordshire moorlands pan (WMID-3FE965) were non-functional and are likely to have been souvenirs of Hadrian’s Wall or commemorative issues awarded to an individual. On the other hand, simpler forms such as this example were carried by roman soldiers as part of their standard kit and used as a general cooking and eating utensils. The pronounced concentric rings were a feature and may have added heating (Bishop and Coulston, 1993, 105) and the handles all had a hole in the end, probably for suspension. Finds such as this date to the first century AD, examples of which have been found in Caerleon and South Shields, the latter of which dates to the mid 1st century AD (Allason-Jones and Miket, 1984, 146-150). Sources Allason-Jones and Miket, 1984, The Catalogue of finds from south shields roman fort, Alan Sutton Publishing Limited. Bishop and Coulston, 1993, Roman Military Equipment, Batsford. British Museum, 1922, A Guide To The Antiquities of Roman Britain, Oxford University Press. Mills N, 2000, Roman Artefacts found in Britain, Greenlight publishing Parkes, P, 2005, unpublished conservation report.

• Allason-Jones, L. and Miket, R., 1984. Catalogue of small finds from South Shields Roman fort Gloucester : Society of Antiquaries of London, pp.
• Bishop, M C and Coulston, J C N, 1993. Roman Military Equipment, from the Punic Wars to the Fall of Rome United Kingdon : Batsford Ltd, pp.
• Mills, N, 1995. Roman Artefacts found in Britain Chelmsford : Greenlight Publishing, pp.

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Created: Thursday 8th September 2005
Updated: Thursday 24th February 2011