Food vessels are an Early Bronze Age, c. 2400-1500 BC (Needham 1996),

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and por ...

type. It is not known what food vessels were used for and they only received their name as antiquarians decided they were not beakers (regarded as drinking-vessels) and so it provided a good contrast. Recently, the concept of the food vessels was questioned by many archaeologists in favour of a concept of two different traditions: the bowl tradition and the vase tradition. Vases are tall vessels with their height being greater than their largest diameter, while bowls are short vessels with their height being less than or equal to their greatest diameter (Gibson 2002, 95).

Description

Food vessel fabric is coarse and thick and sometimes has elaborate rims in comparison to beakers, which have fine fabrics and simple rims (Gibson & Woods 1997, 158). Food vessels generally have complex decoration, and are of a similar form to other second millennium vessels, such as collared urns and accessory vessels, suggesting they all stemmed from the same type of

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

vessel (Gibson & Woods 1997, 162). The earliest food vessels are of the bowl form and first appear in Ireland during the Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age transition (~2400 BC). It is a possibility that vessels discovered in Scotland and Ireland dated to the Early/Middle Neolithic, known as impressed wares, are the precursor of the food vessel (Gibson 2002, 95). The single-burial tradition dominate and together with the pottery the feature is cited to have strong roots in the beaker tradition that dominates in many areas of western Europe. They may have reached Ireland via Britain from the lowland areas around the Rhine or farther north. In Ireland food vessels coincide with beakers and have been found all over.''Britannica'' 15th edition, History: Early Ireland, Bronze Age
/ref> In Britain food vessels are attested around 2200 BC and are most prevalent at the time beaker pottery was being replaced by other types of ceramic, such as cordoned urns and collared urns. In Britain they have a distinct focus in the north. Food vessels occur frequently with both

inhumation Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

s and

cremation Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a Cadaver, dead body through Combustion, burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India ...

s in Britain and Ireland (Burgess 1980, 82).

Food Vessel culture

The Food Vessel culture is a name given by some

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

s to a

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...

of northern

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

and Ireland during the Early

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

c.2100-1700 BC (Burgess 1995, 145) due to the material culture of the people. The term Food Vessel culture is not generally used in modern archaeological reports as the term is seen as rather outdated due to changes in

archaeological theory Archaeological theory refers to the various intellectual frameworks through which archaeologists interpret archaeological data. Archaeological theory functions as the application of philosophy of science to archaeology, and is occasionally referre ...

References

*Burgess, C. (1980) ''The Age of Stonehenge''. London: Phoenix Press. *Gibson, A & Woods, A. (1997). ''Prehistoric Pottery For the Archaeologist''. (Second Edition) London: Leicester University Press. *Gibson, A. (2002) ''Prehistoric Pottery in Britain & Ireland''. Stroud: Tempus Publishing Ltd. {{ISBN, 0-7524-1930-7 *Needham, S. (1996) "Chronology and Periodisation in the British Bronze Age" ''

Acta Archaeologica ''Acta Archaeologica'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering new discoveries of archaeological analysis. The journal is published in English, French, German, and Italian and is published by Denmark. Abstracting and indexing The journal ...

'' 67, pp121–140. Archaeological cultures of Europe Bronze Age Europe Bronze Age Britain European archaeology Stone Age Europe Copper Age Europe