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Unique ID: BH-853037
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation
A complete copper-alloy knife handle of Roman date. This piece is an example of the 'hare and hound' series of folding-knife handles, an example of which was found in excavations at Richborough, Kent (Bushe-Fox; 1949; pp.129). Other examples can be seen on the P.A.S database - for example, SF-32AEB7 from Laxfield in Suffolk and NMS-328581 from East Winch in Norfolk. The three-dimensional piece depicts a hound catching a hare. Both animals are heavily stylised. The hound has well-moulded fore and hind quarters and a slender body. The head is elongated, the tip of the snout resting on the top of the hare's back. The ears are large and there an empty setting between them. The eyes are depicted by two small raised dots and there are other diagonal grooves on the head. The hare also has well-moulded limbs and a slender body which is angled downwards from front to back, perhaps to create the impression of movement. Behind the hound, where the knife would attach to the handle, the top has a man's face, with well defined features, and eyes depicted by recessed dots. Under the animals, at the bottom of the handle, there is a groove running the length of it, with the remains of the iron blade having corroded into it. The iron corrosion has also partly spread around the sides of the handle. The object has a mid green patina and it is slightly bent in the middle. It measures 66mm long, 15.5mm high and 5mm thick. The weight is 17.3g.
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Broad period: ROMAN
Period from: ROMAN
Period to: ROMAN
Date from: Circa AD 40
Date to: Circa AD 400
Quantity: 1
Length: 66 mm
Width: 15.5 mm
Thickness: 5 mm
Weight: 17.3 g
Date(s) of discovery: Thursday 15th November 2007
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Other reference: 07/130 - 72
Primary material: Copper alloy
Secondary material: Iron
Completeness: Complete
Author | Publication Year | Title | Publication Place | Publisher | Pages | Reference | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bushe-Fox, J.P. | 1949 | Fourth Report on the Excavations of the Roman Fort at Richborough, Kent | London | Society of Antiquaries of London | p. 129 |