Statuette of a mother-goddess
Roman Britain, 2nd century AD
from a Roman cemetery at Welwyn Grange, Hertfordshire
This statuette was made in a mould from a fine white clay called
pipeclay. It shows a mother-goddess sitting in a basketwork chair
suckling a baby.
In an age without sterile conditions, any substitute for
mother's milk, other than that of a wet-nurse, was potentially
harmful, if not lethal. Nursing was critical, and Roman medical
authors recommended that the child should not be weaned before the
age of eighteen months to two years.