A rare type of pottery, found in four single graves under earthen mounds in the Carnac region of Brittany, consists of a circular, flat-based vessel with a near-vertical wall. On the basis of the equipment known from elsewhere in the world, it is possible that the morphology of these dishes is related to processes involved in the production of salt. To help us in exploring their function, we chose to compare these vessels with another enigmatic class of pottery from the Cyclades – the socalled ‘frying pans’ – which seems to have functioned in a similar way, as an object-sign, and has been found in a maritime milieu and in high-status contexts.