ROMAN TESSERA

43

Limestone of a creamy buff tint, possible tessera. Neat flat rectangular object with four smoothed sides and flat faces, one more dished and lightly eroded - perhaps dissolved by natural acid action - than the other. If anything, this object is more neatly finished than might be expected for a fragment from a typical insular mosaic, and its solitary appearance is also unusual, as disturbance of a paved floor would generate large numbers of such pieces. It may have been reused, perhaps as a game piece or counter, a context in which wear through handling might impart the appearance of fine finishing. Suggested date: possibly Roman, 43-410.Length: 19.1mm, Width: 16.4mm, Thickness: 9.5mm, Weight: 6.66gms.