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Description: | Incomplete cast copper alloy Roman key. This object represents the handle of the key. The shank and bit are entirely missing. The handle is formed from an openwork trilobate or ??Fleur de lis??, which is 7.8mm thick, with a higher central lobe, 30.66mm high, flanked by two smaller lobes, 17mm high. On top of the central lobe is an integral globular knop, which is 7.88mm high. The lobes sit upon a rectangular block, which is 21.12mm wide, 8.1mm high and 10.72mm thick, that is decorated with two parallel incised lines around all sides, now almost worn away. Beneath this, the block is waisted into a ??neck??, which is heavily damaged, with a large gouged section running through it up into the rectangular portion. The neck probably incorporated the circular recess that accommodated the key shank, making it a point prone to damage. The break edges are worn smooth suggesting damage occurred in antiquity. The object is abraded and none of the original surface survives. The exposed surface has an even, dull, mid green colour. The damaged area shows patches of orangey-brown corrosion product. The object has an overall length of 59.98mm, is 31mm wide and weighs 39.69g. A similar, but not exact example was excavated in Colchester (Crummy 1983, The Roman small finds from excavations in Colchester 1971-9, figure 142, number 4161). Keys of this type have been dated to post 150AD. | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Creator: | McDonald, Caroline - Portable Antiquities Scheme | Identifier: | http://www.findsdatabase.org.uk/hms/pas_... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
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