Colchester Archaeological Report 2: The Roman small finds

CATEGORY 14: OBJECTS ASSOCIATED WITH RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND
PRACTICES
This category includes figurines, model objects, a
votive plaque, metal letters from inscriptions, and
amulets, though the religious associations or
significance of some of these items are possibly
minimal. Some, for example the jet hare from Butt
Road, could simply be toys. For the sake of simplicity
they have been dealt with as a group. Other finds in
this category are the fragments of textiles and some
possible coffin fittings from graves in the Butt Road
cemeteries. A list of grave deposits from Butt Road
with catalogue numbers for this volume where
applicable is given on microfiche (Appendix 2).
General discussion of the grave goods will be dealt
with in the site report. Grave goods from all the
excavated cemetery areas (Butt Road, Maldon Road,
Inner Relief Road Site B) have been catalogued as
individual finds.
FIGURINES
The figurines have been divided into two groups,
human and animal.
Human figurines (Figs 166-170; 4260-4267)
4260 Fig 166 SF LWC 4341, B173/321 F70. Cellar backfill. Period
5. Two fragments of a pipeclay bust. Approximate height
120.0mm. The larger fragment is a hollow torso on a
pedestal base. There has been a rough attempt to indicate
folds of drapery across the chest. The smaller fragment is of
the lower part of a beardless face. There is a trace of red
paint between the lips, indicating that at least the features of
the bust were originally coloured. The base and the sides
have been knife-trimmed at the leather-hard stage to
remove marks left by the mould. It is difficult to be sure of the
age or sex of the subject, but the thick neck and heavy
features could be those of an adult male (cf the bald man
from York, North Yorkshire in RCHM 1962, 69b, pl 31).
However, most of the pipeclay busts of infants and females
illustrated in Rouvier-Jeanlin 1972 have thick necksand full
lips so the identification should remain open.
This bust lacks the button (or bulla) of the Gallo-Roman
figurines and so may come from the Rhineland (RCHM
1962, 69b). Professor Toynbee (1964, 423) has suggested
that busts of this type could be images representing dead
family members and were probably either deposited in
tombs or set up in domestic shrines.
4261 Fig 167 SF LWC 667, B267 F105. Pit. Period 5. A terracotta
head from a figurine, possibly Venus. The back of the head is
missing. The features of the face and the hair as seen from
the front are well executed. However, the sides of the head
where the two halves of the mould met have been roughly
trimmed at the leather-hard stage. The eyebrows are
indicated by fine incised lines radiating around the eyes. The
hairstyle, with the hair gathered into two bows on the
crown, is similarto that of pipeclay Venuses (eg Green 1976,
pl 14, c) and of the copper-alloy Venus from Verulamium (St
Albans, Hertfordshire) (Waugh and Goodburn 1972, pl 42),
though without more positive evidence the identification of
this piece as Venus must remain tentative. Height 40.5 mm.
4262 Fig 167 SF LWC 4207, J1. Rubble. Modern. A fragment of a
pipeclay Venus. This piece and 4263 come from the series
of pipeclay pseudo-Venus figurines which have been
discussed by F Jenkins (1959, 60-76). The figures were
manufactured in Central Gaul and Cologne in the 1st and
2nd centuries (Green 1976, 20). This fragment runs from
' the waist to the knees and is of Jenkins's second type, where
the goddess appears naked, holding a discarded garment or
piece of drapery in her left hand close to her left leg. The back
of the figure is missing. Height 50.0mm. Numerous
complete and fragmentary pseudo-Venuses are illustrated
in Rouvier-Jeanlin 1972.
4263 Fig 167 SF BUC 1741, H588 G543. Grave fill. Period 2. A
fragment of a pipeclay pseudo-Venus figure of the same type
as 4262. This piece runs from the neck to the top of the
thighs. The back is missing, as is most of the right arm,
which would have been raised so that the right hand was in
the act of arranging the hair (Jenkins 1959, 60). Height
65.5mm.
4264 Fig 168 SF CPS 766(C), 778 F132. Occupation or make-up.
Period 4. A copper-alloy figurine identified by Professor
Toynbee' as Abundantia or Fortuna. In her left hand she
holds a double cornucopia, the top of the outer piece is
Fig 166 Pipeclay bust (1:2) Fig 167 Fragments from Venus figurines (1:2)
141