ROMAN FIGURINE

43

Roman figurine: a cast copper alloy miniature horse, in Roman style, and measuring 79mm (height) x 91mm (length) x 24mm (deep), with a mass of 155g. The figurine was reported by Brian Dix (1986: 126-127), whose description read as follows:"Statuette of a horse which can be reconstructed as originally having stood some 80mm high to the tope of the mane. The body swells to 24mm across at its widest point and is 91mm long between the tip of the snout and the surviving end of the tail. Modern abrasive cleaning has removed most of the dark green patina which covered the object when it was found, although it is unlikely that any significant surface details has been lost. A hole recently drilled into the underside of the belly to provide a means of mounting for display has revealed that the object was originally cast around a solid core which remains in place. The iron chaplets by which this was formerly suspended in the mould are preserved at the front and rear of the casting, where they have been filed down to the level of the surrounding metal.While the horse is not as naturalistically rendered as other similar objects reported from the site, it is no less vigorously characterized. The slender head, only 7mm. wide and proportionally smaller than the rest of the body, is held naturally and twisted slightly to the right. It terminates in a pronounced snout and is featureless apart from a slight know which projects at the middle of the forehead; pointed ears extend backwards at either side. The broad mane drops almost vertically onto the back of the horse behind its long, thick neck and the simple delineation of its features is more pronounced on the right side. The plain back is fairly straight and is not even slightly depressed, as might be expected if the horse had originally been designed to carry a rider. The tail rises above the rump before falling and is bent towards the end, which may, however, be incomplete; it is scored by a series of transverse grooves. All the legs except for that of the right hindquarter are broken. Of those at the front, the left was slightly curved while the right foreleg appears to have been raised and was probably bent at the knee as in the previously published examples".Finds from the same fields, also reported by Dix, include a small figurine of a goat, two copper alloy handles, miniature axe, and a cosmetic grinder (recorded with the PAS as RAH 1498). Investigation by S. Ashby is in agreement with the above, and a Roman date seem likely.