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Description: | An incomplete cast copper alloy Roman key, probably a tumbler lock slide key or perhaps a finger ring rotary lock key. The key is missing the integral finger ring and only the shank and bit survive. The shank is square in section measuring 17.17mm in width by 7.01mm in thickness and 14.05mm in surviving length. The upper surface of the shank is decorated with two transverse grooves followed by faceting. The bit is set at right angles to the shank, is rectangular in section and projects downwards, measuring 12.73mm in thickness, 26.13mm in length and 7.56mm in width. There are eight projecting triangular teeth that are arranged together in two groups of four. In each group the four triangular teeth face inwards in a square shaped arrangement that in plan gives the impression of an incised saltire cross. The two groups are separated by an incised groove, and there are vertical grooves around the outside surfaces of the bit that extend downwards from the incisions separating the triangular teeth. The entire object has a dark green patina with some surface corrosion and weighs 16.57g. This is probably a fragment from a Roman tumbler lock slide key rather than a finger ring key due to the size of the shank and the form of the bit, although a finger ring key cannot be ruled out entirely (see Crummy, 1983: pp. 84 for finger ring keys from Roman Colchester). Closer parallels are noted from Roman Colchester in the slightly larger tumbler lock slide keys both in terms of size, and the shape of the bit and its orientation at right angles to the shank (Crummy, 1983: pp. 125-126, nos. 4150-4154). Crummy notes that slide lock keys would have raised the tumblers of a lock by engaging them from underneath, thus enabling the key to engage and slide the bolt (Crummy, 1983: pp. 125). Similar examples are also noted on the Portable Antiquities database, for example from Hampshire (HAMP-0F0F74), Derbyshire (DENO-919B36), Berkshire (BERK-C52405) and Norfolk (NMS-F361A7).
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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