MEDICAL IMPLEMENT

A cast copper-alloy Roman surgical instrument. The instrument resembles ear scoops from the same period, but it has been suggested that this instrument was used to help apply ointment to wounds. Crummy described them as 'spoon-probes' and states that they are not a common site find for Britain, 'they were employed not only as surgeon's curettes or sounds but also as toilet spoons in general' (Crummy, p60-1). She suggested they could have been used to extract cosmetics from containers or to apply or removed make-up. Ralph Jackson details similar examples in Jackson, 1986 fig 4 number 33 - 35 which he describes as spatula probes. The instrument has a long and slender shaft, with a long, bulbous knopped terminal. There is a spoon-like fitting on the opposite terminal, which is also long and slender, and tapers to a flat end, the reverse of the spoon has a ridge running along its length. The artefact has been bent upwards and the spoon has been bent upwards and has been cracked at the tip.

The implement is 128.7mm in length, 16.4wide and 8.55mm thick, it weighs 11.25 grams.