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Description: | Cast copper alloy Roman snake bracelet fragment. The fragment represents approximately one third of the complete bracelet, with one of the snake head terminals. The hoop is semicircular in section, having a flat back and convex front. At the terminal end it flares into the flattened snake head, expanding slightly before culminating in a blunt point. The hoop of the bracelet is plain. The snake head is decorated with punched dots in a 'V' (pointing away from the terminal, back onto the hoop). Beyond this are two parallel punched dots to represent eyes. There is a double arch of punched dots, over the eyes that extend between and down to the pointed terminal end.
The fragment survives in good condition with an even mid green patina. Small areas of damage show as lighter green. The break edge, though not fresh, is worn but not smooth, suggesting damage occurred in the more recent past. The fragment is 55.52 in diameter from end to end across the curve. The snake head terminal is 22.82mm long, 8.66mm wide and 2.06mm thick. The hoop is 4.26mm wide and 3.08mm thick. The fragment weighs 6.72g.
Following Johns?? classification of snake head jewellery (1996,The Jewellery of Roman Britain", UCL Press, page 45), this bracelet is a type Bii. She dates these objects from the first to third centuries. A similar example can be seen in Crummy, 1983, The Roman small finds from excavations in Colchester 1971-1979, figure 45, number 1711. This example came from a grave deposit of the 3rd to 4th century suggesting that the fashion may have been slightly longer lived than Johns suggests. | Subjects: | Snake head (Type Bii) | 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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BRACELET
Terminal from a snake bracelet.…
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