Stamped mortarium rim

This mortarium rim was excavated from the recent excavation on the site of the Roman fort at Dwr-y-Felin school, Neath (Nidum). The mortarium (a bowl for grinding and mixing food) was found within the intervallum area of the fortress that contained the camp ovens (the intervallum is the area within a Roman fortress that lies between the rampart and the barrack blocks). A roadway (the via sagularis), that extended around the inner circuit of the fortress, and the latrines can also be found within the intervallum area.

The letters S and N can clearly be seen on the maker's stamp. It is likely that this stamp can be attributed to Secundus who was known to have worked in the Verulamium region (St. Albans), around the 1st century AD. A similar stamp was found during excavations in the 1980s at the Roman fort in Loughor (Leucarum).

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