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My parents were on a metal detecting rally near to Atherstone/ Mancetter recently and my dad found this object. Atherstone/ Mancetter is in an area of great historical interest, especially Roman, and they have previously found a few Roman artifacts around here such as earscoops and other bits of toiletry items. They've also found a few votive items such as spoons, coins, and a strange item in the shape of a sea serpent *(which has created a fair bit of interest and the item has been photographed and recorded)- these finds would probably indicate the site of a bath house.
However, they also found this item, made entirely of lead, which we cannot identify. I must admit, we are presuming it is Roman due to other finds at the same depth and the site's history. Can anyone identify, or guess what it is :?
P.S. I'll photograph and post some of their other finds later on.
Edited: * Just checked, the sea serpent was found at a different location, but the other items were all from around Atherstone/ Mancetter.
Mancetter/ Atherstone link
Memmia AKA Joanne Wenlock.
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Looks like fingers in a bowl...part of a statue?
Visne partem mei capere? Comminus agamus! * Me semper rogo, Quid faceret Iulius Caesar? * Confidence is a good thing! Overconfidence is too much of a good thing.
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Byron Angel
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Hi Byron, we initially thought this, the 'fingers' are very crude though- looking more like bent nails or even claws.
P.S. The whole item is made from one single cast of lead.
Memmia AKA Joanne Wenlock.
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Ahhh, the talons of an eagle? How big is it?
Visne partem mei capere? Comminus agamus! * Me semper rogo, Quid faceret Iulius Caesar? * Confidence is a good thing! Overconfidence is too much of a good thing.
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Byron Angel
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Quote:Ahhh, the talons of an eagle? How big is it?
It's 3- 4cm in diameter.
Memmia AKA Joanne Wenlock.
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Very interesting....
Visne partem mei capere? Comminus agamus! * Me semper rogo, Quid faceret Iulius Caesar? * Confidence is a good thing! Overconfidence is too much of a good thing.
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I was thinking along the same lines as Byron, the thing you are calling a sea serpent may well be a Dragonesque brooch. There are types that are known as west Brigantian with coloured inlays, these are Romano British infact I found one myself manyyears ago, indeed I still do a lot of metal detecting.
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But it's lead, so it's difficult to be a brooch.
What about a part of a piping, like a stopper or an faucet?
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Hi guys,
Just to clarify, the sea serpent find is a completely different object, it is also made of lead but nothing to do with this lead object (sorry my post isn't very clear) I will get a pic of that later along with the other items. If it is a typical Romano-British find, my mum will be absolutely thrilled to bits!
The theory about the lead object being a stopper or faucet is interesting though, especially as there seems to have been a bathhouse nearby. 
BTW All of these finds have been recorded through the detector club with the local finds liason officer.
Edited because of wrong info.
Memmia AKA Joanne Wenlock.
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Well, Memmia, no wonder all the water ran out of the bath! Gee whiz, go put it back and plug the drain at once!
:lol: :wink:
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Quote:Well, Memmia, no wonder all the water ran out of the bath! Gee whiz, go put it back and plug the drain at once!
:lol: :wink:
Well, we were worried that you were all getting a bit wrinkled after sitting in that bath house for two millenia :wink:
Memmia AKA Joanne Wenlock.
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:lol: :lol:
M. Demetrius Abicio
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...it is always difficult to tell from a couple of photos, but my guess would be 'votive object', because small statuettes cast in lead, parts of the body afflicted by illness etc are frequently found at ancient British (and other)water-sites which later became Roman Bath sites ( Bath/Aquae Sulis being the most famous.)
The 'votive object', symbolising the problem the worshipper wanted solved was 'sacrificed' to the resident water deities by being thrown in, with a prayer......
What we seem to have here - a bowl, with some fingers on the edge - fits this type of object well.
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It's rather finely crafted for a votive object, though I like that idea. The small, somehow stubby fingers hint (imho) to a figure of a little Eros as a fountain adornment; the non-corrosive material as a plus.
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I read this thread a couple of days ago and that thing has been bothering me since. I don't think the finger-like things are fingers...to start there are only three, the middle one is the shortest, and they have a wider area at their end that is completley unnaturalistic for a hand. By the time they were working with iron the Romans knew how many fingers they had...
I like the drain plug idea, but I can't come up with a use for those stupid fingers, unless they are a 'grip' by which to remove the plug. The inner end is really roughly cast...that could be from age but if it is the originaly shape I imagine it'd be hard to get that to seal something.
Memmia, do the backsides of the "fingers" appear to have been broken from something, or is that just a trick of the photograph?
-Travis
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