MOUNT

A solid copper-alloy late Iron Age or Roman head of a sheep, ram or possibly goat from a mount or figurine. The head is cast in three dimensions and is triangular in shape with one horn each side. The head measures 18.7mm in length from the top to the end of the nose; it is 9.8mm thick and 12.4 mm wide at the widest point, 24.7mm wide including the horns. The head tapers to a rounded nose with no sign of nostrils. The eyes are represented by indentations on each side of the head with a raised central pupil visible in the left eye. The horns start from the side of the head and curve out and down; both are missing their tips. There appear to be several incised lines running around each horn, dividing them into bands although the degree of wear makes this unclear. The horns are round in cross section and 2.7mm in diameter. The head is a greenish grey in colour. Slight ridges from casting run down each side of the nose. The back of the head is plain but moulded, not flat. There is a hole in the back of the head which is 4.7mm long and 4.1mm wide. The hole is shallow and around it the metal is rough and darker in colour suggesting there was a further part of the model or an attachment here, which broke off in antiquity. No parallel could be found for a sheeps head exactly like this example but a wide range of other animal figurines and mounts are known from this period.