ROMAN CALLIPERS

43

Possibly a Roman miniature votive pair of copper alloy callipers. Measuring 28.3mm in length the two jaws open and close freely and pivot on a 5.8mm pin. The pin is significantly wider than the two arms together which may suggest a component is missing. The two claws curve like a crab claw to meet precisely so it is likely this was used as, or modelled on, a measuring tool. Each arm consists of a flat, roughly circular head approximately 10.5mm diameter with a hole for the pin closer to the top edge. An incised line followed by a raised ridge forms a small neck from which the upper claw, with a sub-triangular section (ridge to the front), extends. The back of this arm is completely flat. The lower arm is the same shape but is flat front and back with no defined marking at the neck. The object has an even mid-green patina.Philip Kiernan, author of Miniature Votive Offerings in the Roman North-West, had not seen one before and agrees it probably is a miniature votive.