Backyard Birdbath Identified as Roman Pottery

REDDITCH, ENGLAND—The Redditch Standard reports that a Roman mortarium has been identified in Alcester, a town that grew from a Roman military camp in the first century A.D. The pottery bowl dates to the second or third century and would have been used to grind herbs, spices, and other ingredients for sauces. An Alcester resident discovered the bowl in his yard, and used it as a bird bath until his daughter realized it resembled pottery she’d seen on display during the town’s Roman Festival. The family donated the bowl, thought to have been made at a mortaria production site about 40 miles away, to the Warwickshire Museum. For more on Roman artifacts found in England, go to “A Villa under the Garden.”