FIGURINE

Romano-Celtic bronze figurine, possibly dating from the late Iron Age to the Early Roman period, c. 1^st century BC to 2^nd century AD

The figurine was picked-up from the surface within Culver Hole Cave[1]; the finder stated that that he believed that recent encroachment by the sea had resulted in erosion of deposits. The finder had entered the cave previously and collected a bone (radius), later identified as human remains, which was subsequently reported to South Wales Police. The Police, accompanied by the finder and Paul Huckfield[2] visited the cave but did not enter because of safety concerns. The finder returned to the cave later (on his own) and found the figurine, he also identified and photographed more human remains, including a femur, other long bones and possible cranial fragments. The find was delivered to PAS Cymru at AC-NMW, Cardiff in mid-August for recording and collected by the finder in October 16.

The anthropomorphic figurine is cast in the round and depicts a standing figure with straight arms positioned against the sides and with the legs together. The figurine is near-complete (with an overall length of 84.0mm and a weight of 63.2g) but is corroded and pitted, consistent with the harsh marine environment.  Around the top of the head is a lunate headdress (with a width of 25.0mm and thickness of 2.5mm). None of the scratches or marks on the headdress can be suggested as being contemporary with the manufacture or use of the figurine with any confidence. The ovate head (18.5mm long, 16.8mm wide and 14.3mm thick) is over-proportioned in relation to the body. There is a subtle curved brow-ridge, above which are possible subtle ridges across the head, possibly depicting hair. Below the brow ridge are lentoid eyes, which are angled downwards, following the line of the brow-ridge. The eyes are defined by prominent encircling grooves. The straight wedge nose is raised (1mm high and 4.1mm wide), now damaged.  There is a comparatively large space between the base of the nose and the top of the mouth (4.1mm). The incised mouth is straight (8.0mm x 2.2mm). There is no clear evidence for any surviving detail on the rear of the head. The figurine is narrowed at the neck (7.1mm wide and 6.8mm thick), below which less detail is depicted on the body of the figurine. The shoulders (with a width of 15.2mm, where the body has a thickness of 9.6mm) are rounded to the straight short arms. It is unclear if the arms have ben truncated by corrosion but now only extend as far as the top of the abdomen.  Both the front of the chest and the back are flat with no discernible surviving detail. The legs are defined by a central groove on both front and back and have a curved narrowing at the backside. The feet project forward and the toes are depicted by crude incised lines. The feet have a circular perforation (3.0mm diameter), positioned near the centre at the base of the legs and presumably would have held an attachment, perhaps for a base. The figurine is depicted with no discernible gender attributes.

The surface is heavily-corroded and pitted with areas of orange to red-brown corrosion and some raised corrosion products. There is a green-brown patina surviving along the upper part of one side, possibly suggesting the figurine was lying in the deposit with this area covered or protected. Non-destructive metallurgical analysis was conducted using X-ray fluorescence[3]. The results indicated that the alloy is a leaded bronze with trace levels of antimony detected.

The figurine is difficult to closely parallel in archaeological finds of the British or European Iron Age, the notable exception is the figurine found as one of a pair at Aust, in Southern Gloucester (115km to the east of Culver Hole Cave), on the opposite shores of the Severn and now in the British Museum[4].  The Aust figurine is clearly female but has a very similar crescentric headdress and a pin for attachment at the foot.

Culver Hole Cave was excavated during c. 1923 to 31 and produced archaeological material[5] comprising undated human remains of up to 41 individuals, a Middle to Late Bronze Age pottery assemblage, Roman coins and brooches in addition to an Early Medieval brooch. Also at Amgueddfa Cymru and possibly from Culver Hole Cave but ascribed a ‘Blue Pool Cave’ provenance (adjacent to Culver Hole) is a figurine of a female[6] of a more Romanised style.

[1] SAM: GM087

[2] Outreach Officer at Glamorgan Gwent Archaeological Trust

[3] By Mary Davis; XRF no. 1485

[4] Accession Number: 1900,1019.1

[5] Amgueddfa Cymru accession numbers: 25.221.1, 31.118.5-15

[6] Accession Number: 89.14H/2