|
Date: |
|
Description: | Fragment of cast copper-alloy late Iron Age to early Roman knobbed terret dating to the 1st century AD. This terret would have originally been a loop, sub-circular in plan with three evenly spaced globular knobs, one to both side and one at the top. What remains is just under one half of the loop. The curved bar is subsquare in section. At what would have been the bottom of the terret is an integral oval disc or rove. To one side of this, set at the bottom of the disc, is a fraction of the wasted bar that would have been the point of fixing to the chariot or cart yoke. This has been truncated but would have run to meet a similar disc on the opposite side. The break edge is worn, but not smooth, suggesting this damage occurred in the more recent past. Extending from the other side of the disc is the main loop, which tapers as it extends around to the top of the object. The loop is truncated a small distance before it would have met the topmost knob. Again the break edge is worn, but not smooth, suggesting this damage occurred in the more recent past.
Approximately half way along the fragment is the only surviving globular knob. The knob is decorated around its circumference with a shallow, grooved line. Sitting to the top of this groove, is a raised line of a wave pattern with raised dots at the peaks around the circumference. The top of the knob is decorated with a central square of white enamel, flanked by a red square of enamel to left and right, a blue and white square and blue square to top and bottom. The loop itself is also decorated to either side with enamel. Moving from the bottom to the truncation point, one side face has a thin wedge-shaped line of blue and white enamel, a short rectangular portion of red enamel, a similar portion of blue enamel, a further red rectangle and then the further blue rectangle is bisected by the break point. The opposite side has a thin rectangular line of red enamel, a rectangular portion of blue enamel, a rectangular portion of red enamel and, similar to the other side, a blue and white rectangle followed by a red rectangle, the very end of which is truncated by the break point. The top face of the loop is also decorated beyond the knop. Here there is also a repeating pattern of a rectangle of blue and white enamel, a red rectangle and a further blue rectangle that is damaged by the break point. Incised line borders surround each cell of colour, though these are worn. The object is abraded, but much of the original surface survives with an even, shiny mid-green patina. Exposed surfaces are lighter green.
The fragment has a diameter of 46.18mm across its curve. The wasted fixing bar is 13.58mm long and 3.46mm wide. The fragment is 6.88mm wide and 9.28mm thick at the widest point and tapers to 5.24mm wide and 6.04mm thick at the narrowest. The integral disc or rove is 14.48mm high, 12.48mm wide and 4.4mm thick. The knob is 11.84mm in diameter and 9.56mm high. The object weighs 22.46g.
Knobbed terrets are well recorded in MacGregor, 1976, Early Celtic Art in Britain, Volume 1, page 46 (see also volume 2, 79, 80 for similar illustrated examples). MacGregor discusses that this form of terret ring may have a pre-Roman date, but that the majority are found in Roman contexts, a few dating to as late as the early 4th century. However, the peak of production appears to have been in the first half of the second century. Significantly, this terret fragment was found within twenty feet of a similar (not quite identical), though smaller terret ring fragment (ESS-309A31). It is extremely likely that they form part of a set of rings. Terret rings usually came in a group of five, four used as reign guides with a fifth larger one, of a still unknown use. The terret fragment recorded here may be the larger one of the set. | Format: | text/html | License: | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ | Publisher: | The Portable Antiquities Scheme | Rights holder: | The Portable Antiquities Scheme | Subjects: | archaeology | Temporal: | 1
100 | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Creator: | Caroline McDonald | Identifier: | http://www.finds.org.uk/database/artefac... | Language: | en-GB | Format: | text/html | Go to resource |
|
More Like this...
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
HOARD
Two copper alloy objects additional…
-
|