Iron Ladle from Barton Court Farm, Abingdon: 4th century AD

Most Roman cooking was done in earthenware jars or bronze pans, on iron tripods or gridirons over burning charcoal. Gaulish reliefs also show larger joints being cooked in metal cauldrons over a log fire.

The broken-off handle of this iron ladle with wide, shallow bowl, was probably originally much longer, useful for protecting the cooks' hands and arms from the open charcoals, and essential for dipping into a deep cauldron. A similar ladle from Great Chesterfield in Essex preserves a half-metre long handle ending in a flesh-hook.

The ladle was found in one of the ditches forming the paddock of the late Roman eight-room villa-style farmhouse here. None of the rooms was obviously a kitchen. Moveable tripods and gridirons over charcoal, and open fires, could have been located outside the house or in a courtyard, to avoid the risk of fire.