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Description: | Complete cast copper alloy Roman amulet or charm. This charm takes the form of a three dimensional boar’s head from which extends a curved representation of a boar’s tusk. The boar head is simply rendered. It has a integral, subcircular ‘back plate’ from which extends the head of the animal that is pentagonal in section, having a flat underneath and peaked top. The peaked brow of the animal extends into the snout, which is subtriangular in section. Beneath the snout is a wedge shaped indent (with rounded narrow end) that forms the open mouth and short lower jaw of the boar. The ears of the animal rise vertically, on the same plain, from the back of the head and are subtriangular in section. They have a circular indent to the front face to represent the folds of the ear. Apart from this slight attention to detail, the head of the boar is plain, with no attempts to render the eyes or any other realistic features. Extending from the back face of the head is the representation of the tusk which is subrectangular in section. It extends horizontally from the head and then sweeps upwards and slightly back on itself, slightly tapering to a blunt point. Beneath the tusk, just after it has extended away from the head, is a transverse, circular loop, presumably for suspension. The object is 105.62mm long, of which 36.9mm is the boar’s head. The head is 23.32mm wide across the back plate and 12.04mm wide at the snout. The tusk is 18mm wide at the broadest point and 9.5mm thick. It is 5.98mm wide at the tapered end and 4.36mm wide. The loop has an external diameter 20.06mm. The object weighs 182.39g. The object has lost a significant proportion of its original surface and has a mid green patina with significant patches of lighter green where new surfaces are exposed. There is corrosion build up to the rear of the ears. The boar had particular significance to both the Late Iron Age and Roman peoples. Real boar tusks were often suspended around the neck as amulets and were thought to have connections to the crescent moon and the Roman goddess Diana. Menzel, 1986 (Die R??mischen Bronzen Aus Deutschland III, Bonn, number 226) illustrates a boar’s head with copper alloy tusk and suspension loop, though the boar’s head is much more realistically portrayed and more artistically competent than the object recorded here. This type of object was presumably designed to be portable (though it seems to heavy and robust to have been suspended at the neck or from clothing). Menzel illustrates another boar’s head (number 480), this time mounted on a pedestal and fitted with a real tusk which illustrates a less portable version of an amulet. | 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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