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Description: | Roman cast copper-alloy key. The key has a circular bow, cylindrical shank and a bit which is perpendicular to the bow. Starting at the bow end, the bow is D-shaped in section with a flat inner side. It is plain apart from the sections adjacent to the shank which are slightly widened and cusped on each face with concave indents leaving a ridge down the centre of the outer side. The cusps are defined by a slight raised ridge at the outer side and incised diagonal lines adjacent to the bow. The shank is a plain cylinder, 5.8mm in diameter, with an open, hollow, end, now filled with compacted material. The bit projects from this cylindrical end at 90 degrees to the bow. The bit is sub-rectangular in plan and section with slightly cut off, rounded corners at the bow end. The edge of the bit, opposite the shank, and the end opposite the bow are also rounded but this may be due to wear or damage. These areas are so pitted it is unclear if the bit was originally bigger. There is a rectangular cut out adjacent to the shank from the end opposite the bow. There are grooves either side of the bow at the base running the length of the bit.The key is 51.5mm long, 22.6mm wide, 6.5mm thick excluding the bit and 9.4mm including. It weighs 6.99 grams.Crummy (1983, 125-126; fig. 141) illustrates a similar key, no. 4156, from Colchester although with different decoration between the bow and shank, and with the bit in the same plane as the bow, from a 4th-century dump, so possibly residual. She identifies it as a lever lock key.
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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