Mortar

Part of an ancient device for processing plant foods; usually used with a pestle. It was a stone or wooden receptacle with a cup-shaped depression. Mortars were frequently made of special rocks, which might be traded over considerable distances. The mortars of the medieval period in Europe have been studied at length; the first stone mortars occur in 8th century Dore-Stad and have origins in the Moselle Valley, while the French Carolingians at this time were using pottery mortars.

A vessel, usually of stone but sometimes of other materials, used in conjunction with a pestle or grinder for crushing up food. Mortars were frequently made of special rocks, which might be traded over considerable distances. Much study has been devoted to the mortars of the medieval period in Europe. The first stone mortars occur in 8th century Dore-stad and have origins in the Moselle Valley, while the French Carolingians at this time were using pottery mortars. In the 12th century Caen stone mortars were traded around the North Sea in competition with Quam and Purbeck stone mortars from central England. Millstone grit mortars were first used in the 13th century and like the others were widely was found to overlie a settlement of the 1st bc.