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Date: |
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Description: | Unidentified object, perhaps in the shape of a bull's head with horns. The object is made of cast copper alloy which is corroded, resulting in a slightly pitted surface with traces of red copper corrosion.The object was originally T-shaped, but the right-hand horizontal arm is now missing (the break is not recent). The left-hand arm of the T tapers to a point, is oval in cross-section, and is slightly curved downwards, resembling a horn. The stem of the T, perhaps the bull's nose, is a long sub-triangle in shape, tapering to a rounded lower terminal which has a bulbous knop projecting outwards (resembling nostrils). At the tip of this terminal, on the reverse, there is a probable broken edge; the surface is slightly irregular here. The nose is decorated with an interlace design in worn low relief.There is a rounded knop protruding upwards in the centre of the bull's head. This itself appears to form a triangular zoomorphic head, with two bulbous eyes, one on either side. At the base of this knop there are two semi-circular ridges.The reverse of the object is undecorated and is slightly concave across the horizontal part (the horns). All the edges of the object are rounded, by design, not wear. The total length of the object is 27.9mm and the surviving width across the horns is 24.6mm.The zoomorphic feature and interlace decoration suggests the object is of an Early Medieval date.Tania Dickinson has seen the images and comments that the object may be a model ox- or bull-head, with projecting horns, possible eyes, interlace on its muzzle and nostrils. The slightly concave reverse might mean it fitted on to something, despite the lack of rivets or other means of attachment.
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
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