12-08-2007, 04:45 PM
Jim: Oh so true! The Victorians have a lot to answer for! Even something simple like samian pottery has sometimes been so thoroughly 'cleaned' (with a scrubbing brush, it would seem) that there is little detail remaining.
There is also the problem that some of these 'finds' have been 'improved' to make them more saleable to collectors. We have an 'Etruscan' helmet, made of copper alloy with gold additions, in Cardiff that X-ray analysis has shown is made of Etruscan bits, all right - just not from the same helmet!
I can easily see someone painting 'eyes' beneath those eyebrows on the Gallics, just because it looked good there. Did the Romans do it? We'll probably never know for sure.
There is also the problem that some of these 'finds' have been 'improved' to make them more saleable to collectors. We have an 'Etruscan' helmet, made of copper alloy with gold additions, in Cardiff that X-ray analysis has shown is made of Etruscan bits, all right - just not from the same helmet!
I can easily see someone painting 'eyes' beneath those eyebrows on the Gallics, just because it looked good there. Did the Romans do it? We'll probably never know for sure.
visne scire quod credam? credo orbes volantes exstare.
