The little grey nodules all over the surface of this cup led to its strange name, even though grapes wouldn’t have been grown in the Bronze Age in England, where this object was found.

The cups were named by Sir Richard Colt Hoare of Stourhead in his book Ancient Wiltshire published in 1812. Colt Hoare described the cups as:

“too diminutive to have contained the ashes of the deceased. We frequently find them perforated on the sides, and one of them in the bottom, like a cullender (sic) which circumstance induces me to think that they were filled with balsams and precious ointments, and suspended over the funeral pile”.

Some have speculated that they may have been used as burners for inducing trance-inducing or fumigating smoke. However, this has yet to be proved scientifically. For me, that’s one of the great parts of pre-historic objects – they leave us with as many questions as they do answers.

There’s more on grape cups here.

Image: Wiltshire Museums