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Archaeologia
Cantiana - Vol. 69 1955 page 24 |
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The bronze fittings and iron ring (Pl.
IV b) of a bronze bound wooden object between the knees. There was
considerable leather staining around. The bronze fittings show this object
to have been about 7 in. long, 2 in. wide and ¼ in. thick, and it was
carried by the iron ring, 1 ½ in. in diameter, attached to the central
bronze binding. Each binding was secured by three bronze rivets. Possibly the object was a wooden strutted, leather covered, bronze bound pouch (cf. The similar object found in grave 5). GRAVE 32. A man; 5 ft. 10 in.; 15-12 years of age; supine, full length, right arm across pelvis; 64 deg.; 2 ft. 9 in. deep. Finds. An iron knife at the left arm. A silver-plated iron buckle and a bronze kidney-shaped attachment-plate (Pl. IX, No 3) at the waist, tongue pointing left. The buckle and the tongue are plated on their upper surfaces only. The belt was joined to the buckle by being clamped between the ends of a silver plate which was bent round the stem of the buckle with a gap to accommodate the tongue. The attachment-plate consists of a flanged casing of bronze, 3/16 in. deep, to which a bronze plate is attached by three bronze rivets. It had an iron back-plate, the corrosion from which had crept over the whole plate, necessitating the stripping down and re-assembling of the plate and inlays in order to facilitate cleaning. The surface of the plate is cloisonné set with thin slices of ruby coloured glass, which are, on their curved edges, chipped and, on |
their
straight edges, cut. The central oval shaped cell is set with an
intaglio, probably of red jasper. The intaglio is doubtless from a
late Roman seal ring. It is cut with the figure of Athene, left hand on
shield and bird in the right (the figure would, of course, be reversed
on a resulting impression). The intaglio in its present position was
quite functionless and merely decorative. We have no means of knowing
whether its owner ever understood its real use and the whole find
provides a charming commentary upon the two differing civilisations
represented. |
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Page 24 (This page prepared for the Website by Christine Pantrey) |
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