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Date: |
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Description: | A cast copper alloy terminal in the form of a three-dimensional ram's head. The terminal has deeply knurled horns that curl around small downturned ears that project from the side of the head; the tips of the horns also point slightly outwards. The eyes are worn but sit within a slight recess either side of the animal's head leading into the nose that extends down to the mouth; the lower jaw juts out slightly but no detail of the animal's mouth or nostrils is depicted. The underside of the animal is plain. The worn remains of what may be fleece detail is present behind and between the horns on the back of the head. At the back of the head, just behind the horns is a raised curcumferential band forming a collar around an internal recess; it appears that initially the ram's head may have been hollow, having been filled with a heavy off-white substance (probably a lead alloy) that in turn holds in place an iron shank. A small hole on the underside of the ram's head may be a pouring hole in which the lead-like substance was poured, as it does not appear to be a rivet hole. The iron shank or tang has a rectangular cross section and extends 38.57mm before a right angled turn in the iron forms a short, thinner and flatter tang. This iron tang may be the means of attachment into the handle of a tool or possibly an item of furniture such as the arm of a chair. Rams' heads were also popular teminals for patera (saucepan) handles, such as LON-B47821.In Roman religion the ram was the symbol of Mercury, who was the protector of merchants and travellers as well as shepherds. A small number of rams' head fitting terminals have been recorded on this database (see ESS-BE2B07, ESS-683963 and HAMP-452878), although this is the first example with an iron shank.
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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