Roman flask

A small Roman pottery flask found by amateur divers near the entrance to Lulworth Cove in Dorset, in the vicinity of a stone anchor. The body is conical with a flattened, slightly indented, base and a small hole at the top. When originally catalogued it was described as a 'lachrymatory' (a small spindle-shaped glass or earthen vessel, supposedly used to hold the tears of mourners for the dead but generally found containing perfumes and ungents in tombs with the urn containing their ashes): more recent opinion suggests this is unlikely and its purpose is still uncertain.