Bronze Age Baby Feeding Vessel

'Add To Cart' items are ready to send straight away. Please be aware that if bought alongside 'Pre-order' items, your order will be sent when all items are ready. 

'Pre-order' items are made to order, and we will dispatch them as soon as we have handcrafted them for you; this usually takes 90 days, but international orders can take a little longer.

Details
These fascinating vessels are featured in a paper by Dr Julie Dunne et al., University of Bristol. The research looked at burials that included these pipes that dated from the Bronze to the Iron Ages, although the earliest known clay feeding vessels of this kind are said to be from Neolithic Europe. 

Chemical analysis of these objects indicated they had contained ruminant milk products, and due to their location in infant graves, it is believed that these little pipes were used to feed milk to infants. Although, it is also possible they were used to feed sick of all ages.

The introduction of this type of vessel to help wean a baby could mark an important change in the way our ancestors cared for their children and the number of children a family could support. Enabling a mother to stop or reduce breastfeeding a baby or small child would then allow her the time and energy to have another child. This change could have significantly altered the population of a community, allowing it to grow much faster.

Materials

Smoke fired Terracotta

Dimensions

Short tubed Vessel - Bowl height 40mm, bowl diameter 50mm. tube length 18 mm

Long tubed Vessel - Bowl height 40mm, bowl diameter 50mm. tube length 50 mm

Production

As with all my Museum Quality Replicas this pot has been made, as the original would have been,  entirely by hand from natural clay and using replicas of the types of tool that the Bronze-Age makers would have used.  

Firing

It has been fired to emulate the ancient firing conditions. The original pot would have been fired in an open wood fire, in close contact with the fuel, a process that leaves its mark on the clay as variations in the surface colour. However the very low temperatures achieved in open firings, also results in pots that are relatively weak, so this pot has been fired to a somewhat higher temperature to strengthen it, in a special firing process that allows me to achieve an authentic appearance to the pot.

 Health & Safety

This is a Museum Quality Replica and is not intended for use.  Under no circumstances do we recommend this should be use to feed a baby or ill person.  Years of research and technology have gone into the production of modern, safe products for the care of babies and the ill.  Use those instead! 

Postage
All items are sent using a second class postal service, if you wish to have an item sent first class please contact my for a quote. Many Thanks