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| Question:
How did Romans serve food at meal times? |
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| Pottery cup |
| This small cup is a copy of an imported samian cup, and would have been used for drinks such as wine or water. |
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| Pottery flagon |
| This black jug or flagon has been polished to give it a shiny metallic finish, called burnishing. It could have been used for serving drinks such as wine or water. It was normal for wine to be mixed with water, and archaeologists believe that Roman wine was stronger than the wine we have today. |
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| Poppyhead beaker |
| This decorated cup is called a poppyhead beaker because of its shape. It is similar to other beakers which were made near London in the 2nd century AD. |
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| Decorated bowl |
| A decorated serving bowl. Small dots of clay were added to the bowl after it had been made on a potter’s wheel. |
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| Wooden bowl |
| This small bowl was made on a lathe. It could have been used as a small serving dish. Wooden bowls were probably very common, but usually do not survive. This bowl was preserved by being underwater in Chichester Harbour. |
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| Spoons |
| Food was often cut up at the beginning of a meal, and then eaten with the fingers, or spoons like these. Some spoons had a pointed end to take snails and shellfish out of their shells. Forks were not used for eating in the Roman period. |
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| Knife |
| This decorated bone and iron knife would have been a general all-purpose knife, perhaps carried by its owner much as we carry pen-knives today. It would have been used for cutting up food, amongst other uses. |
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| Pottery dish |
| A serving dish or plate. |
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| Pottery wine jar |
| This is a type of wine jar called an ampulla. |
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