Journal - Comune di Monteleone di Spoleto

V.65 eagle head from the end
of the pole, right profile
94
Condition. The longer sheet is broken into two pieces.
The numerous cracks and metal losses were filled in during
the recent restoration. For unknown reasons, a corner
of the sheet of the shorter piece was removed in ancient
times from near the join attaching it to the longer piece.
The sheet is primarily yellow metal with transitions to thin
brown tarnish and black corrosion. Scattered areas of massive
green corrosion are also evident overall. a pattern of
diagonal banding along the front end of the pole shows
significantly less green corrosion and indicates a wrapping
that protected the metallic surface. There is an accumulation
of iron corrosion at the bottom center edge, near the
area where the pole is attached.
Technical observations. The area where the pole and the
boar protome joined was carefully examined during the
recent restoration. The placement and correspondence of
all the nail holes on the sheathing and the protome were
recorded, revealing that in antiquity there were three different
positions for the boar on the pole (see also cat. 2a). in
the earliest position, the protome was all the way back, its
rear edge flush with the edge of the sheet of the pole. The
edge of the sheet of the pole is hammered and wavy, not
cut. The second position is with the boar farther forward and
covering a later, chisel-cut opening in the pole under the
boar’s snout. The back of the boar protome was cut with a
chisel to establish a different angle for the pole. The third
position for the boar — the final one before the chariot was
buried — is a slight modification of the second. The same
nail holes were used on the proper right side of the pole, but
on the proper left side the protome was set a little lower
down on the pole, creating a new set of nail holes. a further
modification to the boar protome was observed. its crest
was cut to create a slightly concave profile so it could fit
over the deer on the front panel, suggesting that in the first
position the boar protome slightly overlapped the deer. The
angle of the pole in the first position was less acute than in
the other two positions — that is, the pole was lower — and,
in the first instance, perhaps no horses were yoked to it;
they would have had to be very small. Thus, the chariot was
used with the pole in the two later positions, possibly with
two pairs of horses taking turns drawing it. The last pair may
have measured between 44 1⁄8 in. and 45 ¼ in. (112 cm and
115 cm) at the withers. Traces of diagonal bands around the
shorter piece of the pole revetment were left by the straps,
perhaps of rawhide, that lashed the yoke to the pole.
Inlay. The fragments in cat. 23a (Figure V.76), which are
provided with holes for bronze nails, may belong to the
ivory segments attached to the underside of the pole’s revetment.
Traces left on the bronze indicate how the strip was
attached. on one edge the ivory was placed between the
bronze sheet and the wooden pole (or between the sheet
and the leather layer covering the wood) and attached by
nails. on the other edge, where only the sheet was attached
with nails, the segments of the ivory overlapped freely to
prevent them from breaking under stress. if this reconstruction
is correct, the entire ivory strip was probably about
1 5⁄8 in. (4 cm) wide, and only 1 1⁄8 in. (3 cm) of it was visible.
17. Eagle head (Figures V.65– V.67)
l. 5 1⁄8 in. (13 cm), diam. 2 1⁄2 – 2 3⁄4 in. (6.5 – 7 cm)
Description. The embossed finial decorating the front end of
the pole is made from a single piece of bronze. nail holes,