This large marble mortar (bowl) and pestle was used to grind or pound foodstuffs into granules or a paste for use in cooking. It was and still is a fundamental kitchen tool in West Africa and around the world. Often made of hardwood, foods like corn and cassava would be pounded in mortars to make flour and spices can also be crushed to release their flavours. In this 19^th century image, an enslaved woman is portrayed pounding cassava in the Caribbean. The enslaved people on the plantations owned by the Homes would have processed their food in the same way as their ancestors had done for thousands of years in West Africa.