Colchester Archaeological Report 2: The Roman small finds

the teeth.
1857 Fig 59 SF BUC 1529, H181 G487. grave deposit. Period 2.
Fragmentary comb. Length 118.0 mm, total width 53.5 mm.
The connecting plates are relatively narrow, 15.0mm
across, and have a complex profile of hollow chamfers and
grooves with transverse mouldings between the seven iron
rivets. The long sides are scarred from tooth-cutting. The
ends are quite badly decayed. The best preserved may be
zoomorphic with a ring-and-dot motif suggesting an 'eye'.
Opposite the ends of the connecting plates are additional
groups of three ring-and-dot motifs.
1860 Fig 59 SF BUC 1705, H1024 G685. Grave fill. Period 2.
Fragments of a decayed comb. Length (incomplete)
66.0mm, width at the surviving end 46.0mm. The
connecting plates are broad, 19.0mm across, and patterned
with lengthwise grooves and double-ring-and-dot
decoration. The surviving end may be zoomorphic and has
pairs of double-ring-and-dot motifs.
Patricia Galloway has kindly supplied the following
comments on the combs: Parallels for most of these
combs may be sought from late 4th-century
cemeteries in Britain (Lankhills, Poundbury) and on
the Continent (Künzing), but no comb in the present
group has an exact and complete parallel from
another site. The proportions and the spirit of
decoration in this group, however, are clearly in line
with the examples from similar sites.
Precise parallels can be sought for individual
decorative elements. The stepped connecting plate
found on combs 1851, 1856, and 1857 isa relatively
common stylistic device which appears in multiple
examples from the sites mentioned above, although
the incised motifs on 1851 and 1856 have no exact
parallel on a comb. The unusual vertical moulding on
1857 is echoed by vertical incised lines on a
connecting plate from Künzing, while the horizontal
row of double-ring-and-dot motifs on 1860 is a
decorative theme found also at Künzing and Trier. The
shaping of the 1860 connecting plate and the one on
comb 1854 may represent simply a deepening of the
very common horizontal grooves found on many
combs from late Roman sites. Even the broad flat
connecting plate of 1855 is not without parallel, this
time from Lankhills and Poundbury.
The combs from Butt Road are badly preserved, so
that in no case are the end tooth segments intact
enough to establish their shapes with certainty, but it
is quite evident in most cases that these end
segments were decoratively shaped. Such decorative
shaping is a part of the definition of the late Roman
provincial double-sided type; it might almost be said
that uniqueness in this shaping is part of the type
definition, so that where shaping is obvious, as on
1855, 1857 and 1860, we do not expect it to
conform to any one pattern. Decoration of the end
segments with ring-and-dot ornament is also
characteristic. All of the attributes cited, in fact,
confirm the membership of most of these combs in
this type classification.
There is one exception. Comb 1853 is clearly, even
from superficial observation, not a comfortable
member of the group. Its narrow convex connecting
plate and its carelessly-applied iron rivets suggest
possible local manufacture, although at least one
57
example, far more skilfully made and decorated, was
found in the Trier Kaiserthermen. The comb is,
however, so badly preserved that it is impossible to
judge its origin with much confidence except to say
that it was not the same as that of the others and
might conceivably fall into a later period.
STIRRING RODS (Fig 60; 1861-1864)
Glass rods (Isings 1957, form 79) were used to stir
perfumes and cosmetics stored in small glass flasks,
aryballoi or unguentaria. Thin oil-based cosmetics
and perfumes separate and need to be re-emulsified
before use, while thicker ones may dry out and
require softening with extra oil at intervals. Stirring
rods may date only to the 1st and 2nd centuries (ibid),
but seem to be found throughout the Roman period
(Charlesworth 1972, 215). Four rod fragments are
catalogued here. All are of translucent glass drawn
out in a tight spiral. Two are green, each with a
distinct air hole visible as a dark thread in the glass,
and two are bluey-green, each with two narrower air
holes. The two bluey-green fragments are 1.0mm
thicker than the green examples. These similarities
may be coincidence.
1861 Fig 60 SF BKC 2224, G126. Uncertain. Period 3? Length
28.0mm, diameter 7.0mm. Corroding translucent blueygreen
glass.
1862 Fig 60 SF BKC 4611, T213 F95. Slot? Period 3. Length
19.0mm, diameter 6.0mm. Translucent green glass.
Fig 60 Stirring rod fragments (1:1)
MIXING PALETTES (Fig 61; 1865-1868)
Small slabs of stone were used as palettes on which
to mix cosmetics or medicines (Milne 1970, 171).
These palettes have bevelled edges, and were
probably kept with the more decorative bevelled side
up. This is suggested by our illustrated examples
where it is the undersurface that has been worn by
the action of mixing. Palettes have been found with
edges worn by the sharpening of scalpels (ibid).
1865 Fig 61 SF LWC 732, B F70. Probably cellar backfill. Period 5.
Onyx marble. Length (incomplete) 81.0mm, width
(incomplete) 59.5 mm.
1867 Fig 61 SF BKC 4883, T17 L5. Destruction debris of Period 3.
Period 3 (end). Greenstone. Length (incomplete) 59.5 mm,
width 58.0mm. This palette is very worn on the underside,
and also shows signs that some mixing has been done on
the upper surface.
NAIL-CLEANERS
Despite the low number of nail-cleaners recovered, it
has been possible to suggest a rough typology for
these objects. Types 1 to 3 are cast, Type 4 is beaten
out. All are of copper alloy.
Type 1 a (Fig 62; 1869-1870). A simple type with a
more or less straight flat, thickish shaft. The
suspension loop rises directly from the shaft, and is
on the same plane. A mid to late 1st-century type,