Large bronze bowls with hooks from which they could be hung over a fire have been found in graves in north-western Europe dating from the 5th to the 9th centuries AD. Their size and the fact that they were buried, and that many have been carefully repaired, suggest that they were highly valued. They may have been for ceremonial use, or perhaps held water at the table, but they were not ordinary cooking pots.

The bowls were usually made of a single sheet of bronze or silver. Plaques, called escutcheons, were attached to the outer rim of the bowls at regular intervals. They ended in hooks shaped like bird- or animal-heads. One of the finest examples of these large bronze vessels is the Castle Yard Bowl, from York, buried at a time when the city was part of the flourishing kingdom of Northumbria.