Colchester Archaeological Report 2: The Roman small finds

Fig 59 Combs (1:1)
inhumation. The poor state of preservation of the Butt
Road combs is the result of the site's acid soil
conditions. All the combs are composite and doublesided.
They are more likely to be made from red deer
antler than from bone.
1851 Fig 58 SF BKC 4295(C), N272. Topsoil? Probably Period 6.
Two fragments of a broad connecting plate from a comb.
Length (incomplete) 51.0mm, width 20.0mm. Two iron
rivets are still in place and the plate has broken across a hole
for a third. The plate has a stepped profile and is decorated
with double diagonal grooves across the topmost step
between the rivets. The long edges are notched from the
cutting of the teeth.
1852 CAR 1, fig 10, 2. SF CPS 188(C), 405 F100. Occupation.
Period 4. Fragment of a comb with zoomorphic ends and
broad connecting plates. Length (incomplete) 28.5mm, total
width 55.5mm, width of plates 18.0mm. Each plate has a
stepped profile and decorative grooving. A report by Dr
Patricia Galloway accompanies the illustration. The comb is
almost certainly mid to late 4th-century in date.
1853 Fig 58 SF BUC 325(C), B570/571 G109. Grave deposit.
Period 2. Badly decayed fragments of a comb with narrow
connecting plates. Length (incomplete) 69.5 mm, width of
plates 12.5 mm. Each plate has a rounded profile and is
plain. There are slight notches from the cutting of the teeth.
Five iron rivets survive. Nothing remains of the ends of the
comb.
1854 Fig 58 SF BUC 399(C), B1126 G174. Grave deposit. Period 2.
56
Badly decayed fragments of a comb with broad connecting
plates. Length (incomplete) 69.0mm. The surviving teeth
indicate a total width of 60.0mm. Width of plates 19.0mm.
Each plate has slight marginal steps, convex moulding and
grooves flanking a flat central area. Four iron rivets survive.
The decayed surviving end appears to be undecorated.
1855 Fig 58 SF BUC 487(C), C483 G258. Grave deposit. Period 2.
A fairly well-preserved comb. Length 11.0mm, total width
54.5 mm. The connecting plates are relatively narrow,
15.0mm across, plain, and fixed by only four iron rivets.
Each is flat and rectangular, with bevelled edges scarred
when the teeth were cut. The end segments of the comb are
in comparatively poor condition. Of the eight areas available
for decoration, three are definitely plain, two are pitted by
decay, one, also decayed, bears a small dot, possibly from
ring-and-dot decoration, and the remaining two, obverse
and reverse, are pierced by a hole 2.5 mm in diameter The
centre of the tooth segment at each end is diagonally fluted.
1856 Fig 58 SF BUC 586(C), C1192 G377. Grave deposit. Period 2.
Fragment of a comb. Length (incomplete) 44.0mm. The
surviving teeth indicate a total width of approximately
53.0mm. One connecting plate is quite well-preserved and
the other survives as a decayed fragment. The more
complete plate is 17.0mm across (possibly tapering from a
slightly broader centre), and rectangular in profile with two
stepped convex marginal mouldings on each long side. The
flat upper element of the plate bears diagonally-arranged
rows of ring-and-dot decoration. The iron rivets holding the
pieces of the comb together have been skilfully incorporated
into this pattern. Each long side is scarred from the cutting of