ROMAN INTAGLIO

122

Roman carnelian intaglio depicting the goddess Minerva facing left. Probably from a ring. The sides are bevelled, the two main surfaces are convex and the reverse is plain.It is almost certainly second-century AD in date on the ground of its composition and the style of engraving (from what I can make out). It's fairly similar to a very finely cut carnelian from the military supply base at Holt, Denbeighshire (Henig 'A Corpus of Roman Engraved Gems from British Sites') No. 242, and a carnelian in an iron ring from the fortress at Caerleon No. 234, a carnelian from the lead working settlement at Charterhouse-on-Mendip, Somerset No. 237, a carnelian in a silver ring from a small villa at Slay Hill Saltings, Kent No. 236, a carnelian from the fort at Newstead, Roxburghshire No. 243, , a nicolo gem in an iron ring from the cremation burial of a possible Roman soldier at High Torrs, Wigtownshire No. 235, tandem finally there is also a similar, but more crudely executed gem from the unpublished excavations on the fort beneath Birmingham University at Metchley, West Midlands. All of these, excluding the final object, which is late first-century, date to the second-century AD.Evidently it was a type that was favoured by the military community, as opposed to other depictions of Minerva that do not include the Victory. See also GLO-EB93D3.Length is 14mm, width 12mm, depth 4mm, and the weight 0.67g.Found by a local famer in a molehill on his land and given to Mr Ryan.