INTRODUCTION

The next eleven chapters explore the utensils and ingredients we have evidence for, and what the general patterns in the data are. This chapter concentrates on the objects used to prepare and cook food, the types of heat sources available, and how the food was served. By examining the types of sites things are found on, it is possible to start developing a picture of how cooking practices varied over time, and between different groups of the population. These objects also provide a salutary warning against assuming that vessels of similar shape will necessarily have the same function in different cultural milieus.

POTS AND PANS

In many areas of Roman Britain, though not in all, pottery vessels were central to cooking. As will be discussed in Chapter 16, this in itself marks a major change with what had been common practice in the Iron Age. Unfortunately, despite the tons of pottery excavated and published each year, this is not as helpful a source of information as it could be. The concentration on using it to date sites means that considerations of what it was actually used for are often overlooked. Vessels that are regularly used to cook food on hearths and over open fires can be expected to develop coatings of sooty deposits. Vessels used as kettles to heat water can be expected to build up deposits of limescale in hard water areas. However, it is a rare report that systematically records this.