|
Date: |
|
Description: | A copper alloy Roman strap end, constructed of two separate flat plates joined by a rivet at one end. The terminals of the object are bifurcated and this suggests that the object may also have functioned as a nail cleaner. The trapezoidal upper part tapers and then widens to an oval body. A circular rivet joins the two ends at the top. One side is undecorated. The other side is divided into sections in the upper part with a pair of incised horizontal lines and a single line below. There are four impressed dots below this lower line and there are V-shaped notches at the side edges. In the centre of the oval section there is a dot and circle motif surrounded by a ring of smaller dots. There are three dots at each corner of this motif and six dots arranged in a triangle above and below this. On this side, the terminal appears to be zoomorphic, with a large dot indicating an eye and the bifurcated end forming a mouth or beak. There are notches in the side edges above and below this large dot. The strap end is similar in form to the late Roman 'amphora strap end'. Similar examples found at Richborough and Maiden Castle were interpreted as nail cleaners.
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
|
|