A mortar is a vessel made from a hard material such marble, stone or metal, having a cup-shaped cavity, in which ingredients used in pharmacy, cookery, etc., are pounded with a pestle. Evidence of early mortars and pestles has been found in souther France, dating to around 10,000 BC and used by the Azilian culture. These were used for grinding grain which would have been used for a type of crude porridge, but became the precursors of mahcinery for grounding corn and the advent of breads.