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Description: | An incomplete copper alloy slide key for a Roman tumbler lock. At its terminal it has a circular loop leading into a trapezoidal stem. Below, the stem contracts to a width of 6mm from 8mm. The bit of the key is missing. Similar slide keys can be found illustrated in Manning (1995, 266, 267; refs. 8-10); at Usk they were found in pre-Flavian contexts. Crummy (1983, 125) explains that slide keys raised the tumblers engaged in the bolt by pushing them up from underneath. When the teeth of the key lifted the tumblers they were themselves engaged in the bolt and thus the key rather than a cord could be used to slide the bolt.
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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