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Description: | An incomplete cast copper-alloy nail cleaner dating to the late Roman period. The object has lost both of its terminal elements. At one broken end are what appears to be the limited remains of a broken suspension loop. This loop is in the same plane as the blade. Below it is the thickest section of the artefact (at 2.4mm) which is decorated on both faces with a pair of incised transverse lines at each end. The section is 6mm in length and flares slightly at the end opposite the loop. Beyond the second pair of incisions this collar turns into a section in the form of a truncated oval. The sides continue to flare to a waist 8.4mm wide before decreasing to 4.6mm over a total length of 15mm. This ovoid element is decorated on both faces with an incised border just inside the edge. On the obverse is a central motif (see image). This consists of a rectangular depression aligned lengthwise featuring a raised 'M' on its end insected by a pair of longitudinal parallel lines. From the oval the blade tapers to a width of 3.7mmm at the point of break. The blade similarly features an incised border on both of its faces. On the obverse the blade features the expanding groove which would have turned into the two points of the nail cleaner; these latter have been lost. As well as the losses, the nail cleaner has been bent through c. 100 degrees at the junction of the ovoid element and blade. The complete artefact would have been around 40mm in length. It is worn and pitted with a light green patina. The narrowness of this example, its distinctiveness of decoration and the fact that the suspension loop is in the same plane as the blade would suggest that this object dates to the late 4th century AD (Crummy 2001, 6). | 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: | 350
410 | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Creator: | Robert Webley | Identifier: | http://www.finds.org.uk/database/artefac... | Language: | en-GB | Format: | text/html | Go to resource |
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