Iron spatulae with a bronze handle in the shape of a bust of Minerva – recognisable by her crested helmet – are found in small numbers across Roman Britain; so far 39 have been recorded on the PAS database.
These objects were used for smoothing out the waxed surface of a writing tablet and are therefore associated with the spread of literacy in the provinces. In my PhD research, I am looking at the transition between Late Iron Age and Roman Britain, which includes evidence for literacy such as wax spatulae, along with seal boxes and signet rings. Dating of these artefacts ranges from the late 2nd into the 3rd century AD.
Lincolnshire (6), Wiltshire (5), and Hampshire (5) have the highest concentrations of Minerva wax spatulae on the PAS database. Mapping these finds shows a broad swathe across the southern counties from Suffolk to Somerset, with hotspots in the Wessex area and outliers moving north through Lincolnshire into Yorkshire.
Spatulae are generally found at or near to urban centres, reinforcing the view that the need for written documentation and literacy was higher in the small towns and civitas capitals than the rural countryside.
There are two examples on the PAS database from Nottinghamshire: DENO-E3C427, from Cotham, near Newark, is a fairly standard example.
DENO-65109E from Cotgrave, just outside Nottingham, is rather more stylised and departs from the standard theme.
This handle was initially recorded as either Mars or Minerva, but as goddess of wisdom and learning, Minerva is the more likely candidate. This example is unusual in lacking the cuirassed (armoured) bust. It is possible that a British workshop existed which produced slightly more stylised local versions of these artefacts, which are found in Gallo-Belgica and the Rhineland as well as Roman Britain (Feugere 1995).
Representations of Minerva are often found at Romano-British temples and shrines, in her capacity as a goddess of healing, and on many intaglio rings which were used, in conjunction with bronze seal boxes, for sealing important documents and possibly vows to the gods. Nina Crummy (2002) also observes that once detached from the spatula blade, the handle would function as a votive offering or amulet bearing the goddess’s likeness.
References:
Crummy, N. 2002. Wax spatula handle from Yorkshire. Roman Finds Group Newsletter. Lucerna 23: 6-8.
Feugere, M. 1995. Les spatules à cire à manche figuré, 321-38 in W. Czysz et al (eds) Provinzialromische Forschungen: Festscrift fur Gunter Ulbert zum 65 Geburtstag. Munich: Marie Leidorf.
