Previous owner: Previously owned by
Date Made/Found: 2500-900 BC
, British, 1821 - 1861
Material and Medium: Pottery
Dimensions: Height 51mm, 63 diameter at rim, maximum diameter 77mm.
Accession Number: J93.877
Small pottery cups are often found buried in Bronze Age graves alongside other pots. They are sometimes called accessory vessels. Archaeologists are not sure what the function of these tiny pots was. Accessory vessels vary greatly in size, shape and decoration.
Prehistoric pots were coil-built. This means they were made by building up rings of clay and smoothing the sides to flatten the bumpy surface. Bronze Age potters liked to decorate their creations. Elaborate, repeating incised or impressed patterns, like the lines seen here, are common. These were pushed into the soft, damp clay before firing.