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Description: | Roman copper alloy Janus head terminal probably from a knife (a circular-sectioned iron projection is visible on the underside of the neck). It stands 25.6mm, is max.15.2mm wide (ear to ear) and 17.4mm thick (chin to chin). It weighs 22.85g. The metal has a very shiny silvery sheen to it, and is possibly tinned or silvered.Both faces are clean-shaven with pointed chins, expanding to the ears (the widest part) then curving over the top of the head. The mouths consist of two tiny horizontal grooves above which is a punched dot below a prominent triangular-shaped and projecting nose. The nose-to-chin area is a slightly upstanding triangular shape.The eyes are pointed ovals each with a punched dot at the centre and a curved rib and groove as an eyebrow over. A further groove follows horizontally from the corner of the eye to the side of the head. The hair lies up-standing above the brows, decorated with deep vertical (some curving) grooves. The two faces are separated here by a deep horizontal groove dividing the two tops of heads.The head sits on a circular terminal 13-14mm in diameter, with the iron projection extending from the middle of the underside. This 'shoulder area' is 5mm high. Neck is visible to either side of the chin and is c.10mm in diameter.Two similar terminals have been discovered in Suffolk, SF-6944 and SF-D0D636. Of these, Ralph Jackson (British Museum) compares to an example from Richborough (Bushe Fox 1949, fourth report, plate XLV) which has an integral copper alloy handle and is one of a series of distinctive knives highlighted by Annemarie Kaufmann-Heinimann in her Gotter und Lararien aus Augusta Raurica (Forschungen in Augst 26, Augst, 1998), 32-35, figs/ 9-11. Where iron blades survive they are Manning's type 1. The knife series adtes to the 1st/ 2nd century, so it seems likely this knife would be of a similar date.
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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