90 THE POTTERY 



is the so-called mortarium or pelvis, an open vessel with 

 large rim and spout, which was apparently used as a mortar 

 since the inside is set with tiny pieces of flint and potsherds 

 to give a rough surface for trituration. The rim fre- 

 quently bore a potter's stamp, but in many cases the letters 

 are undecipherable or meaningless. The following frag- 

 ments with stamps have been found at Melandra : — 



1. Fragments reconstructed to form a complete vessel. 

 Stamp on rim at either side IIY. (Plate YI., 2). 



2. Fragment with stamp FECIT in good letters. 



3. Three fragments with doubtful stamps (Plate V., 1 — 3). 

 Red Ware. The clay is usually soft in texture and of a 



brick-red colour. The principal shapes of vessels are : — 



(1) "Amphorae," large vessels chiefly used for holding 

 wine. The bases are pointed for sticking the vase upright 

 in the ground. Plain vertical handles on either side of 

 the neck reach from rim to shoulder. The fragments 

 come from vessels of very large size, the diameter of the 

 mouth being as much as 1\ inches, and the girth of the 

 handles 6 inches. On one handle is a rough stamp SGA. 

 Some of the large fragments may have come from open- 

 mouthed storage jars (dolia) rather than from amphorae. 

 Many fragments are of pale clay. 



(2) Jugs or bottles, of which two chief types occur. 

 One is that of a flat-sided lenticular flask with foot and 

 two handles, probably rightly identified with the "ampulla" 

 (Plate VI., 1). The other is a jug with globular body, tall 

 neck and single handle, probably a "lagena" (Plate III., 4). 

 These jugs occur in pale as well as red clay and show 

 much variety in the shape of the lip, in several cases the 

 soft clay having been pinched together across the mouth 

 so as to form a covered spout (Plate Y., 4 & 5). 



A few thinly moulded fragments in red clay seem to 

 come from square-sided bottles with pressed-in sides. 



