Used in the kitchen, laboratory, and pharmacy, a mortar and pestle are a set of two basic tools that has been used since the Stone Age to prepare foods or substances by smashing and grinding them into a thin paste or powder.

The mortar is often shaped like a bowl and is composed of hard stone, such as granite, metal, ceramic, or hard wood. The pestle is a blunt tool with a club-like form. The mortar and pestle’s purpose are to pound, press, and rotate the food until it has the proper texture. Food is placed in the mortar for this function.

The development of mortars and pestles appears to have been influenced by the development of quern-stones, which prepare food and plant materials using hard, durable stone bases that are naturally indented and mallets made of stone or wood.

There have been discovered a number of different stone mortars and pestles, but wooden or clay ones would deteriorate much more quickly over time. In Southwest Asia, archaeologists discovered mortars and pestles that were made around 35000 BC. Mortars and pestles were used by ancient Africans, Sumerians, Egyptians, Polynesians, Native Americans, Chinese, Indians, Greeks, and Celts to process ingredients and substances for cooking, ceramics, and medicine.

Look out for new pestle and mortars coming soon to Artisan Furniture.