Hello,
I couldn't find an "identifying finds"-thread, therefore I start this one.
find No. 1:
This find was one of the finds for my Magister thesis. I called it "fitting".
Maybe you can help. Thank you!
Marco
[attachment=4001]find1.JPG[/attachment]
Ciao Marco,
Do you have any information about the context? It is bronze...?
Hello Stefano,
I have some context information (for example findspot, dating of the site and so on) but I would like to withhold most of it at the moment in order to get objective opinions.
The object is a find from a Roman military site.
Your question about the material is legitimate and I simply forgot to write it in my first post.
Your guess was completely right and the object is made of bronze.
I also have already some ideas what it might be but I hold my tongue for the same reasons as mentioned above.
Marco
Looks like a repair piece to a patera handle?
Or something else..
The object is fairly small. For some reason I get a "rope" association, like something used to fix a line with a loop to tighten it. Or a three way split for a mule harnas. It looks very utilitarian, so for everyday camp use.
Hello Robert,
your ideas exactly match my thoughts.
1) Maybe it is a device to tighten a rope e.g. of a tent.
modern type:
http://www.carafun.eu/abilder/610602_01.jpg
2) Maybe it is a piece of a bridle. At the end of the bit are pieces which are in German called "Dreipaß" (a device to put through three ropes/ three times the same rope = ?trefoil?). But the Roman pieces I found were more angled and asymmetric.
Marco
PS: Please don't stop to suggest my fellow Romans.
Hello Byron,
you think of the end of a patera handel, aren't you?
This may be possible but why should someone repair the end of a handle by such a part.
Furthermore I don't know any patera handle ends with three holes in it, do you?
Maybe some of the holes where made for riveting.
Marco
Hello Marco. No I was thinking of a rivited repair to a handle. But i think the ones i have seen were just riveted back on. I had been thinking it was with a stiffener...but this hole set-up would more than likely not really be strong enough.
so...hmmmmm
mile:
Hello Byron,
ok, now I've got your point. You were thinking of a "connecting device" for a fractured patera handle.
A solution with two riveting-holes on each side would be better because the handle piece which would be fixed by the single rivet maybe could be turned around the rivet.
Marco
I would consider it too small for a functional piece of a bridle (ie a bit) unless it was the backing plate to something decorative.
But without a context of any kind it really could be any thing!
Isn't a Dreipaß a completely different shape though? with the three circles of the trefoli being contained within a larger circle? (I am attempting to add a picture here!)
Whoo-hoo! you did it! :-P
Hello Moi,
I found a piece called "Dreipaß" which nearly looks like the piece I marked in your picture:
[attachment=4015]54fc7be7b64df99612865aa7.jpg[/attachment]
Marco
Quote:Hello Byron,
ok, now I've got your point. You were thinking of a "connecting device" for a fractured patera handle.
A solution with two riveting-holes on each side would be better because the handle piece which would be fixed by the single rivet maybe could be turned around the rivet.
Marco
Yes indeed, i was already abandoning my idea as i wrote. Doesn't mean it might not be a repair thingy for somwthing else, though..
mile:
Quote:Whoo-hoo! you did it! :-P
Won't let me upload my other pictures though :roll:
Edit: Marco - I'll take your word for it although I would have thought for practical purposes the three straps would have to be kept seperate to stop them slipping (as in the buckle/fitting on my horse's head collar).
A secondary thought is that apart from the size of your artefact ie only 4.5cm, I've seen similar things called bucket fittings. Two rivets into the bucket and the top hole for the handle.
Second edit - which will only work if I can upload a photograph.
In a recent review of finds from a British Roman site, what was classed as bucket fittings was actually a Roman bit. Just shows you how confusing these things can be without the context. But this find was civilian not military (alledgedly...but then they thought it was a bucket and not a bit!)
On a roll now...
Here is a horse harness piece from Arbeia which looks more like an "inverse" Dreipaß. (Bit dark - the museum lighting isn't very good!)