Faces From the Past: A Study of Roman Face Pots from Italy and the Western Provinces of the Roman Empire 9781407300856, 9781407331225

Table of contents :
Front Cover
Title Page
Copyright
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FOREWORD
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Museums visited that possess Roman face pots
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER ONE The pre-Roman anthropomorphic pottery and masks of Greece, the Balkans and the East Mediterranean from the Neolithic to the Roman period
CHAPTER TWO The pre-Roman anthropomorphic pottery and face masks of Western Europe from the Neolithic to the Roman period
CHAPTER THREE The face pots of Roman Italy
CHAPTER FOUR The face pots of the Lower and Middle Rhineland
CHAPTER FOUR, PART II Rhineland face pots of Period Two: c. AD 90 to 260
CHAPTER FOUR, PART III Rhineland face pots of Period Three: the later third to the fourth century
CHAPTER FIVE The face pots of France, Belgium and Spain
CHAPTER SIX The face pots of the Rhine-Danube Corner
CHAPTER SEVEN The face pots of the Upper Danube
CHAPTER EIGHT The face pots of Pannonia, Moesia and Dacia.
CHAPTER NINE The face jars and face beakers of Roman Britain
CHAPTER NINE, PART II Period two: the later first to the early third century
CHAPTER NINE, PART III Period Three: the later second to fourth century
CHAPTER NINE, PART IV SOME UNUSUAL TYPES OF ROMANO-BRITISH ANTHROPOMORPHIC POTTERY
CHAPTER TEN FACE JARS AND FACE BEAKERS: ONE TRADITION OR TWO
CHAPTER XI THE MILITARY CONNECTION
CHAPTER XI, PART II Second to fourth century face pots: Military or civilian?
CHAPTER TWELVE Whose were the faces? An attempt to identify the face pot masks
CHAPTER XIII HOW WERE FACE POTS USED? An attempt to identify their function
CONCLUSION
Appendices I-VI
APPENDIX ONE. NOTES ON DIONYSUS-BACCHUS-LIBER AND OTHER DEITIES ASSOCIATED WITH HIM
APPENDIX TWO. A ROUGH GUIDE TO THE MOVEMENTS OF THE LEGIONS THAT WERE STATIONED IN THE RHINELAND, THE DANUBIAN PROVINCES AND BRITAIN FROM THE FIRST TO THE THIRD CENTURIES, AND TO THE FORTRESSES THEY OCCUPIED
APPENDIX THREE. THE BUST VASES OF NORTH EAST GALLIA BELGICA
APPENDIX FOUR. ROMAN HEAD VASES, BALSAMARIA AND STEELYARD WEIGHTS
APPENDIX FIVE. MASKS FROM THE ROMAN PERIOD: AS THEY APPEAR ON MASK BEAKERS, ANTEFIXES AND MARBLE RELIEFS, OR AS FREE-STANDING MASKS MADE OF TERRACOTTA OR METAL
APPENDIX SIX. SNAKE POTS: WITH TWO OR THREE HANDLES, WITH OR WITHOUT SPOUTS
Index of sites mentioned in the Catalogues to Chapters III-IX and the face pot Types found on them
Sources for the Drawings in Chapters I-II, and Appendices III-V
Bibliography
Photographs

Citation preview

BAR S1651 2007 BRAITHWAITE

Faces from the Past: A Study of Roman Face Pots from Italy and the Western Provinces of the Roman Empire

FACES FROM THE PAST

Gillian Braithwaite

BAR International Series 1651 B A R

2007

Faces From the Past: A Study of Roman Face Pots from Italy and the Western Provinces of the Roman Empire Gillian Braithwaite

BAR International Series 1651 2007

Published in 2016 by BAR Publishing, Oxford BAR International Series 1651 Faces From the Past: A Study of Roman Face Pots from Italy and the Western Provinces of the Roman Empire © G Braithwaite and the Publisher 2007 The author's moral rights under the 1988 UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act are hereby expressly asserted. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be copied, reproduced, stored, sold, distributed, scanned, saved in any form of digital format or transmitted in any form digitally, without the written permission of the Publisher. ISBN 9781407300856 paperback ISBN 9781407331225 e-format DOI https://doi.org/10.30861/9781407300856 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library BAR Publishing is the trading name of British Archaeological Reports (Oxford) Ltd. British Archaeological Reports was first incorporated in 1974 to publish the BAR Series, International and British. In 1992 Hadrian Books Ltd became part of the BAR group. This volume was originally published by Archaeopress in conjunction with British Archaeological Reports (Oxford) Ltd / Hadrian Books Ltd, the Series principal publisher, in 2007. This present volume is published by BAR Publishing, 2016.

BAR PUBLISHING BAR titles are available from: BAR Publishing 122 Banbury Rd, Oxford, OX2 7BP, UK E MAIL [email protected] P HONE +44 (0)1865 310431 F AX +44 (0)1865 316916 www.barpublishing.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword Acknowledgements List of museums visited which possess Roman face pots Introduction

iii iv viii xi

Chapter I

The pre-Roman face anthropomorphic pottery and masks of Greece, the Balkans and the East Mediterranean from the Neolithic to the Roman Period

Chapter II

The pre-Roman anthropomorphic pottery and face masks of Western Europe from the Neolithic to the Roman period Part I, Italy and the western Mediterranean Part II, Northern Europe around the southern Baltic Sea Part III, Face masks of Celtic Europe

15 15 29 32

Chapter III

The face pots of Roman Italy

39

Chapter IV

The face pots of the Lower and Middle Rhineland Part I, c. AD 30-110 Part II, c. AD 90-260 Part III, The later third to the fourth century

71 73 95 127

Chapter V

The face pots of France, Belgium and Spain

141

Chapter VI

The face pots of the Rhine-Danube corner

159

Chapter VII

The face pots of the Upper Danube Part I, Raetia Part II, Noricum

179 180 190

Chapter VIII

The face pots of Pannonia, Moesia and Dacia

205

Chapter IX

The face pots of Roman Britain Part I, The conquest campaigns of 43-85 Part II, The later first to early third century Part III, The later second to fourth century Part IV, Some unusual types of anthropomorphic pottery

237 239 253 275 305

Chapter X

Face jars and face beakers: one tradition or two

315

1

i

Chapter XI

The military Connection Part I, Early links between face pots and the Roman legions and auxiliary units Part II, Second to fourth century face pots: military or civilian?

325

Chapter XII

Whose were the faces?

351

Chapter XIII

How were face pots used?

385

Appendix I

Notes on Dionysus-Bacchus-Liber and other deities associated with him

407

A rough guide to the movements of the legions stationed in the Rhineland, the Danubian provinces and in Britain

423

Appendix II

325

337

Appendices III-VI

Comparative Material

Appendix III

The bust vases of north-east Gallia Belgica

429

Appendix IV

Roman head vases, balsamaria and steelyard weights

439

Appendix V

Masks from the Roman period

457

Appendix V1

Roman snake pots

481

Index of sites where face pots have been found, and the face pot Types found on them

489

Sources for the drawings in Chapter I-II and Appendices III-V

493

Bibliography

497

ii

FOREWORD This monograph, based on a Ph. D thesis submitted to the University of London in 2000, is a follow-up to a paper published in 1984 on the face pots and head pots of Roman Britain. That paper had revealed the impossibility of making any serious study of Roman face pots on the basis of the British material alone. It had been possible to say for the most part where the pots had been found in Britain, and to describe to some extent the role of the army in their introduction into this province and the regional groups that had developed. But it had proved impossible to answer the four questions that everyone always asked: what were their origins, where else had they been found, what or who did the face masks represent, and for what were they used. This study is an attempt to answer those questions. To do so it has been necessary to identify and analyse as many as possible of the face pots1 found on the Continent, creating a type series for each province or region (Chapters III-VIII). The British face pots have also been updated, and a similar type series created (Chapter IX). Such evidence as could be found for earlier face pot traditions from which the Roman face pots could be descended is analysed in Chapters I and II. Of the four questions, the last two are the most difficult, and as yet few answers can be offered with any real degree of certainty. The attempt to identify the face pot masks entailed a lengthy search for similar but recognisable faces and masks that occur on other types of Roman pottery and terracottas, and to some extent in sculpture, mosaics and wall-painting. To avoid the necessity of having to constantly refer to a whole series of publications, reports and museum collections, the various groups of comparative material are briefly described in Appendices III to VI. Also included in the Appendices are some notes on the enigmatic figure of Dionysus-Bacchus, the archetypal mask god, and his role in the art and religion of Greece, Etruria and Rome (Appendix I). Lastly, given the many references to legionary bases and troop movements in the Empire, a rough summary of the known legionary movements in the western provinces is provided in Appendix II in narrative and tabular form. Expanding the survey to include all the Danubian provinces inevitably meant that these provinces could not be covered in the same detail as the others, but it was clear right from the beginning that only by broadening the parameters of the study to include all the western provinces of the Empire could enough material be brought together to make any real sense of the development of Roman face pots, and to understand the inter-reaction between the provinces. Without the benefit of the Continental material, the British face pots, as had earlier been discovered, made very little sense. Knowledge of the north Italian face beakers proved to be essential for the understanding of the Danubian face beakers and of many of the face beakers and face pots of the Rhineland and Britain, while the first appearance of face jars in forts and fortresses in Pannonia and Moesia around the beginning of the second century, following the arrival of the new legions and auxiliary units transferred by Domitian and Trajan from the Rhineland and Britain, clearly indicated the key role of the army in the spread of face pot traditions across the Western Empire. A wide-ranging survey of this nature cannot hope to be all-comprehensive, and in many areas it is bound to be superficial and under-informed. Much of the museum research was done twenty years ago, and therefore some of the more recent pots are bound to have been missed. But at least some steps will have been made towards a better understanding of these now quite numerous if widely scattered pots which in so many reports tend to be classified as anonymous “cult vessels” or as “face urns” along with most other types of pottery with human faces on them. In a world where pottery studies have tended to become increasingly insular as the volume of excavated pottery grows ever greater, Roman face pots do in fact provide a discrete body of material that is clearly inter-related and stretches across many Roman provincial boundaries and modern national frontiers, offering a particular insight into the movement of ideas and traditions within the Roman world.

1

Head pots or head vases have not been included in this monograph because they require a separate, in-depth study. However there are clear links between the face pot and head vase traditions, and a brief summary of the most important groups of head vases in the Greek Mediterranean, North Africa and Western Europe has been included in Appendix IV.

iii

Notes on the different Type Series Chapters III to IX each cover a region or province of the Empire in which face pots have been found, and each have a separate Type Series or Catalogue. These have been made as succinct as possible. Gaps have been left in the numbering to allow for extra Types to be included later, though this has not been done in the Danubian Type Series, as this will inevitably needed serious revision as and when more detailed research can be done in this area. The different Types have been identified on the basis of form, fabric, surface coating (if any), and facial characteristics, and a very brief description is given as a heading for each Type, indicating its main distinguishing features. Where form is concerned, it tends to be the overall vessel profile and external rim, and the presence or absence of spouts or handles that is most important for the identification of face pot Types. Decorative grooves and cordons and any other kind of surface decoration are normally mentioned under the sub-heading “Decoration”. For the most part it has not been possible to provide detailed technical fabric analysis, just general indications of fabric colour and texture and of the surface coating, if any, though wherever possible details of publications which give more technical fabric descriptions are included. In some cases a particular fabric from one or more production centres may be an indicator for a Type or sub-Type, in which case a more detailed fabric description is given if possible. Under “Distribution” are listed all the examples of the Type in question which have been identified during this survey, stating whether complete2 (shortened to “c” or “comp.”) or fragments (“f” or “frags.”), with publication references or museum inventory numbers for each example. Under “Context” are listed the different types of context (such as graves, kilns, votive deposits etc.) where vessels of each Type have been found, if known. The purpose of this is not to give detailed contextual information from excavation reports, but to provide some form of quantifiable information concerning the places and the types of sites or buildings where face pots have been found. As for the dating for each Type, when a large number of face pots are known, the general date range is given. If this cannot be anchored to well dated examples, this is made clear. When only a few or just one example is known, the dating information, if any, is included. If an estimated date is given, based on stylistic or other grounds, “probably” or a question mark is added. Notes on the pot drawings and photographic plates Given the difficulty of obtaining representative photographs or drawings that can be reproduced in a standardised format, I have made my own basic drawings, taken from the objects themselves or from photos. Just occasionally a published drawing has been copied or photo-copied to the same scale as the other drawings. This is also the case in Chapters I and II. These are all drawn to scale where this is known, generally 1:4 for face jars and 1:2 for face beakers (except in the Rhineland and in Britain, where face beakers have been drawn at 1:4). Where whole vessels are concerned, the internal rim and wall sections have not been drawn, as, though a great many of the pots have been individually examined by the author, quite a number of drawings have been done from photos. On the whole it has been found that the details of the inner rim, wall, and base are not of major importance when identifying face pot Types. References in the text to the pot drawings are made in italics to avoid confusion with the bibliographical references. The sources for the drawings in Chapters I and II and in Appendices III-V are listed at the end. The photographs are by the author unless otherwise specified. In the Catalogues to Chapters III – IX, the drawing number has been entered in bold in square brackets against the relevant entry in the distribution list if it is not clear which of several examples has been illustrated, and sometimes also the plate number. Site names It has been found simplest to use the names by which Roman sites are best known in British archaeological literature. This has meant that sites in western Europe as far east as Vienna have been called by their modern place names, with an exception made for Vindonissa in Switzerland, Lauriacum and Virunum in Austria, and Vindolanda in Britain, while those in eastern Europe, east of Vienna, have been called by their Latin names except where these are not known or generally recognised.

2

Complete can mean reconstructed from fragments, even if a few of them are missing.

iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Due to the shortage of published information on face pots and the difficulties of access to Continental literature, particularly in eastern Europe, a great deal of the material for this study has been collected through correspondence and through personal contacts and recommendations, where possible followed up with visits in person. Photographs, drawings, photocopies, boxes of precious face fragments, and now of course e-mail photos, have all been generously sent to me, even while I was in Washington and Moscow, keeping my interest alive and nagging at my conscience. There are so many people who have helped with information, advice and encouragement or with arranging museum visits that it is impossible to thank them all properly, and for some it is sadly now too late. But I would at least like to record as many of their names as possible and take the opportunity here to express my very sincere thanks to all of them, as without their help this monograph could never have been written. I am extremely grateful to the Institute of Archaeology in London and to London University who allowed me to remain a registered external student for so many years and who awarded me a travel grant during the first three years from 1983-6, enabling me to make three crucial study trips to Europe which formed the basis of all my subsequent research. And I would like to warmly thank my two examiners, Professor John Wilkes and Dr Ingeborg Huld-Zetsche for their forbearance in reading my over-long thesis and for all their good advice. Most of all, I wish to thank my supervisor Dr Richard Reece, whose memorable slide of a comic-looking Colchester face pot during a lecture on Roman pottery in 1980 first aroused my interest, and who has been the greatest possible source of help, encouragement and stimulating information and dialogue ever since. In Britain I owe a big debt of gratitude to Maggi Darling and Vivien Swan, who have been a great support from the beginning, and have provided invaluable advice and information for the British chapters and read the first drafts of them. I would also like to specially thank Paul Austen, Joanna Bird, Paul Booth, Jeremy Evans, Jude Plouviez, Grace Simpson (whose wise advice to take a look at the mask beakers from Lezoux I took a while to appreciate), Robin Symonds and Colin Wallace who have all been extremely helpful and kind, as have, more recently, Andrew Savage of the Canterbury Archaeological Trust and Fiona Seeley, Louise Rayner, Robin Symonds and Rupert Featherby of MOLAS, finding me new or long buried material which has been most useful. Two other people to whom I am very indebted are the late Graham Webster whose enthusiasm and encouragement in the early stages of this study made all the difference, and Lawrence Keppie, whose two excellent books – “Colonisation and Veteran Settlement in Italy 47-14 BC” and “The Making of the Roman Army” I regretfully didn’t know when I visited the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow in 1982, but which I have made great use of since then. In addition I would like to give my warmest thanks to all the following for the generous help they have given me over the years: Lindsey Allason Jones, Anne and Scott Anderson, Bernard Barr, Anthony Bell, Paul Bidwell, Edward Biddulf, David Bird, Robin Birley, Paul Booth, Maurice Brassington, David Brown, Peter Cheer, Hilary Cool, Kevin Crouch, John Dore, Sheila Elsdon, Jane Evans, Rupert Featherby, P R Field, Roy Friendship Taylor, John Fulcher, Brian Gilmour, Chris Going, Miranda Green, Kevin Greene, David Gurney, Peter Halcon, W S Hanson, Elizabeth Hartley, Brenda Heywood, Robin Jackson, Alison Jones, Margaret Jones, Ric Jones, Simon Keay, Edna King, Keith Knowles, G. Lloyd Morgan, Malcolm Lyne, Alice Lyons, Jason Monaghan, Geoff Marsh, Valerie Maxfield, Elizabeth Owles, Steven Penney, Rob Perrin, Richard Pollard, Andrew Poulter, Barbara Precious, Mark Redknap, Helen Rees, Valerie Rigby, Rita Roberts, William Roberts, Hilary Ross, Paul Sealey, Jeff Taylor, Jane Timby, Bob Trett, Percival Turnbull, Sue Wade, Bryn Walters, Margaret Warhurst, Malcolm Watkins, and Charmian Woodfield3. In Holland I would like to thank Dr Stuart, former director of the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden, Dr A V M Hubrechts of the Rijksmuseum G.M Kam, Nijmegen, Dr H E Frenkel of the Allard Pierson Museum Amsterdam and Dr J T J Jamar of the Thermenmuseum in Heerlen for all their help and for making my visit to their museums so profitable and enjoyable. I would also like to thank Professor Clasina Isings, Professor J H F Bloemens and Dr T A S M Panhuysen for their very helpful letters. In Belgium I am particularly grateful to the late Dr Marcel Amand of Tournai, who took me round Bavay and Tournai told me so much about the Gallo-Belgic planetary vases; and I would like to thank Annie Verbanck-Piérard of the Musee Royal de Mariemont at Morlanwelz, Marie Claire Gueury of the Musée 3 I apologise for the omission of the title of Dr where colleagues in Britain are concerned, but there are just too many cases where I do not have the correct information.

v

D’Archéologie at Liège, Prof Hugo Thoen of Ghent University and Dr Marleen Martens of the Archaeological Institute at Hasselt for all the help and information they have given me. In Germany I owe a huge debt of thanks to Clive Bridger from Xanten who was a great source of new material over the years; to Stefan Pfahl who has generously shared his knowledge of Rhineland face pots with me and read my Rhineland chapter; to Hannelore Rose of Köln , who most generously sent me a copy of her excellent and pioneering thesis on the Roman terracotta masks of the Rhineland and opened up for me a whole new field of comparative material for Roman face pot masks; to Dr Jochen Garbsch, from Munich, who gave me much information and support in the 1980s and again in the last few years; to Dr Michael Eckstein and Dr Joseph Weizenegger who both gave me such a warm welcome to their museums at Neuburg and Günzburg on the Danube; and most of all to Franziska Dövener, now of Trier, who has been an invaluable informant on new German face pots, and a wonderful correspondent and proof-reader over the years. I would also like to thank all the following for their help during my visits to Germany in 1983-85 and for information since then: Dr Dietwulf Baatz (Saalburg), Herr Bernard Bienert (Trier), Herr Walter Boss (Dieburg), Dr Anita Büttner (Darmstadt), Dr Gerhard Christmann-Jacoby (Berlin), Dr Wolfgang Czysz (Augsburg), Dr K V Decker (Mainz), Chr. Dittmar (Ingolstadt), Dr Walter Dür and Angelika Ehmer (Schwäbisch Gmünd), Dr Ph. Filtzinger (Stuttgart - Bad Cannstatt), Dr A B Follmann-Schulz (Bonn), Dr Karin Goethert-Polaschek (Trier), Dr Mathilde Grünewald (Worms), Dr Andrea Hampel (Frankfurt), Dr P. Heinzelmann (Heidenheim an der Brenz); Dr Berndmark Heukemes (Heidelberg), Eduard Hofmann (Grosskrotzenburg), Dr Kliesz (Wiesbaden), Dr Richard Klotz (Welzheim), Prof. Dr Kolling (Saarbruchen), Dr H P Kuhnen (Weissenburg), Dr Ernst Künzl (Mainz),Dr Rudolf Maier (München), Dr Hiltrud Merten (Trier), Dr Müsch (Mayen), Dr Renate Pirling (Krefeld), Dr J Prammer (Straubing), Dr Reutti, Terra-Sigillata Forschungstelle, Rheinzabern, Dr Sabine RieckhoffPauli (Regensburg), Dr Matthias Riedel (Köln), Dr K H Rieder (Ingolstadt), Herr H J Seitz (Lauingen), Dr H J Schalles (Xanten),Dr Georg Spitzlberger (Landshut), Dr Tauch (Neuss), Dr Manfred Treml (Dillingen), Dr Gunter Ulbert (München) and Dr Paul Wagner (Köln). In Switzerland I have been helped enormously by Christine Meyer Freuler from Lucerne who not only added many more find spots to my previously rather empty map but also corrected and proof-read the Swiss section of my Chapter VI. I am also most grateful to Dr Verena Müller-Vogel of the Römermuseum Augst who went to a great deal of trouble to send me excellent photos and details of the face pot fragments from Augst and Dr C Holliger of the Vindonissa-Museum who arranged a very profitable visit for me to the museum, as well as to the following who have given me invaluable help and information: Dr Walter Drack, Director of the Seeb excavations, Dr Anne Hochuli-Gysel of the Musée Romain d’Avenches, Dr Felix Müller of the Bernisches Historisches Museum, Dr Katrin Roth-Rubi of Bern and Dr François Wiblé of Martigny. In Italy I would like to thank Dr Maria-Luisa Bertacchi and Dr Maurizio Buora of the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Aquileia; Dr Serena Vitri from the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici del Friuli; Dr Grazia Bravar, Civici Musei di Storia ed Arte, Trieste; Dr Michele Tobolani, Museo Archeologico di Altino; Dr Lanfranco Franzoni, Museo Archeologico del Teatro Romano, Verona; Dr Marco Tizzoni, Dr L. Passi Pitcher and Dr Ceresa of the Civiche Raccolte Archeologiche e Numismatiche, Milano; Dr Elisabetta Roffia, of the Soprintendenza Archeologica della Lombardia, Milano; the custodian of the Museo Civico di Como; Dr Alessandro Guerroni, Museo Civico di Sestre Calende; Dr Liliana Mercando, Museo di Antichità di Torino; Dr Cristiana Morigi Govi, Museo Civico Archeologico di Bologna; Dr Francesco Nicosia, Museo Archeologico di Firenze; Dr Adriana Emiliozzi Morandi, Centro di Studio per L’Archeologia Etrusco-Italica in Viterbo; and Dr Enrica Pozzi, Museo Nazionale di Napoli. In France I am very grateful to Dr Eric Belot, Chateau-Musée, Boulogne; Dr Colette Bémont (Paris); Dr J C Carmelez, Musée Archéologique de Bavay; Dr Michel Reddé (Paris); Dr Bernadette Schnitzler, Musée Archéologique de Strasbourg; Dr Geneviève Sennequier, Musée Départementale des Antiquités, Rouen; Dr Gabrielle Schmitt (Strasbourg); and Dr Marie Tuffreau-Libre, (Berles au Bois). In Spain I am very indebted to Blanca Esther Fernández Freile for informing about the face pots from the kiln site at Melgar de Tera, León, and sending me a copy of her paper on the pottery from the site, and to Alberto López Mullor for letting me have a copy of his unpublished paper on the thin-walled pottery of Cataluña. I would also like to thank Dr Mercedes Vegas for her advice on thin-walled pottery in Spain and M.Aurora Martin, director of the Museu Arqueològic de Sant Pere de Galligans, Girona for sending me photos of two face beakers from Ampurias. In Austria I owe a great many thanks to Dr Erwin Ruprechtsberger, Stadtmuseum Linz for much helpful advice on face pots in Austria and a most enjoyable visit to Linz and Enns in 1984, to Dr Eleni Schindler vi

Kaudelka for information on the face beakers of Magdalensberg; and to Dr Otto Urban for sending me his paper on the excavations at Kematen and the Kematen face jar. I am also very grateful to the following for all the generous help they have given me: Dr Alfred Bernhard-Walcher, Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien; Dr Stefan Groh, Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz; Dr Ortolf Harl, Museen der Stadt Wien; Dr Norbert Heger, Salzburg; Dr Verena Gassner, Limes-Commission, Wien ; Dr Anne Marie Kendler, Niederösterreichisches Landesmuseum, Wien; Dr Herbert Kneifel, Lauriacum Museum der Stadt Enns; Dr Gernot Piccottini, Landesmuseum für Kärten, Klagenfuhrt; and Dr Eduard Vorbeck, Museum Carnuntinum.. When it came to eastern Europe, mainly to the former Yugoslavia, Hungary and Romania, I was even more dependant on correspondence, and I am deeply grateful to all those who took the time and trouble to send me information, photographs and drawings. In Hungary I am particularly indebted to Dr Árpád Nagy, Director of the Budapest Fine Arts Museum, for his friendship and many long and informative letters. I am also much indebted to Professor Dénes Gabler of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, to Dr Jéno Fitz of the István Király Museum in Székesfehérvar, to Dr Visy Zsolt of the University of Pécs, to Dr Eva Bónis and Dr Tibor Kemenczei of the Magyar Nemzeti Muzeum, Budapest and to Dr Judit Topal, of BTM Régeszet Budapest for all their help and kindness. I unfortunately left my research in the former Yugoslavia until the 1990s when the Balkan wars made both travel and correspondence very difficult, but in difficult times Dr Tatjana Cvjeticanin of the Belgrade National Museum was most helpful and so were Dr Olga Brukner of Novi Sad-Petrovaradin, Prof. J Sasel of Ljubljana, Dr Verena Vidrih Perko of the Mestni Muzej Ljubljana and Janka Istenic of the Narodni Muzej, Ljubljana. I am most grateful to them all. In Romania I owe a special debt of gratitude to Dr Victor Bauman for organising a most interesting and memorable visit in 1994 to the Delta Museum at Tulcea and to the to archeological sites in the vicintiy as well as to the magical waterways of the Danube Delta itself. I am also most grateful to Dr Nikolae Gudea for all the drawings of face pot fragments he sent me from forts in north-west Dacia, and to the following colleagues who have so generously given or sent me information and photos: Prof. Ion Mitrofan of the Museul National de Istorie al Transilvaniei, Cluj-Napoca; Dr Viorica Rusu Bolindet, of the Muzeul National al Unirii, also at Cluj-Napoca; Dr Anna Catinas, of the Museul de Istorie Turda; Dr Andrei Opait, of the Delta Museum, Tulcea; Dr Crisan Museteanu, of the Muzeul National de Istorie, Bucharest; and Dr Adrian Radulescu of the Muzeul de Istorie Nationala si Arta, Constantia. Finally, I would like to say thank you to my husband Rodric, to whom this monograph is dedicated and without whom it could never have been written, who has had to live with this apparently never-ending research project for so many years that he has forgotten what life was like before it, and has never ever complained. He has always given me great support and encouragement and also much help in all sorts of ways, but, particularly where computers and technology are concerned, rescuing me from disaster on countless occasions. I owe him the biggest debt of gratitude of all.

vii

Museums visited that possess Roman face pots Musée National d’Histoire et d’Art, Luxembourg.

Museums in Austria Archäologisches Ausgrabungsmuseum Magdalensberg; Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien; Landesmuseum für Kärten, Klagenfuhrt; Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz; Museum der Stadt Enns; Museen der Stadt Wien; Museum Carnuntinum, Bad-Deutch Altenberg; Niederösterreichischesmuseum,Wien; Stadtmuseum Linz.

Museums in Germany: Clemens-Sels-Museum Neuss; Eifeler Landschaftmuseum Mayen; Gäubodenmuseum Straubing; Heimatmuseum Bingen; Heimatmuseum Dillingen; Heimatmuseum Lauingen; Heimatmuseum Neuburg an Donau; Heimatmuseum Günzburg: Heimatmuseum Heidenheim an der Brenz; Hessisches Museum Darmstadt; Historischises Museum der Pfalz, Speyer; Kreis-und-Stadtmuseum Dieburg; Limesmuseum Aalen; Mittelrheinisches Landesmuseum Mainz; Mittelrhein-Museum Koblenz; Museum Burg Linn, Krefeld; Museum der Gemeinde, Grosskrotzenburg; Museum der Stadt Aschaffenburg; Museum der Stadt Regensburg; Museum der Stadt Worms; Museum für Vor-und-Frügeschichte, Berlin; Museum für Vor-und-Frügeschichte, Frankfurt am Mein; Museum Schloss Hellenstein, Heidenheim an der Brenz; Museum Wiesbaden; Praetorium Kellermuseum, Neuwieder Becken, Köln; Prähistorische Staatssammlung, Museum für Vor-und-Frügeschichte, München; Regionalmuseum Xanten; Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn; Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier; Römermuseum Weissenburg; Römisch-Germanisches Museum Köln; Romisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz; Saalburgmuseum, Bad Homburg; Städitsches Mittelrhein-museum, Koblenz; Städitsches Museum Schwäbisch Gmund; Stadtmuseum Andernach; Stadt-und-Kreismuseum Landshut; Ur-und-Frühgeschichtliches Museum Eichstatt; Wetteraumuseum, Friedberg; Württembergisches Landesmuseum Stuttgart.

Museums in Belgium Musée d’Archéologie Curtius, Liège; Musée des Beaux Arts, Bruxelles. Museums in Britain Ashmoleum Museum; Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle; British Museum; Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology; The Castle Museum, Carlisle; Castle Museum Norwich; Chesters Museum; Colchester and Essex Museum; Corbridge Museum; Grosvenor Museum, Chester; Hadrian’s Wall Museums, Corbridge Roman Site; Hunterian Museum, Glasgow; Ipswich Museum; Malton Museum; Mildenhall Museum; Moyses Hall Museum, Bury St Edmunds; Museum of Antiquities, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne; Museum of London; National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland, Edinburgh; National Museum of Wales, Cardiff; Nottingham University Museum; Old Millhouse Museum, Hatfield; Passmore House Museum, Harlow; Southshields Museum; Verulamium Museum, St Albans; Vindolanda Museum; Wallsend Museum; Wroxeter Baths; Yorkshire Museum, York.

Museums in Holland Allard Pierson Museum, Amsterdam; Rijksmuseum G M Kam, Nijmegen; Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden; Thermenmuseum, Heerlen;

Museums in France and Luxembourg Musée Archéologique de Bavay; Musée Archéologique de Strasbourg; Chateau-Musée, Boulogne;

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Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Aquileia, Udine; Museo Archeologico, Firenze; Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Napoli; Museo Archeologico del Teatro Romano, Verona; Museo Civico Archeologico, Bologna; Museo Civico di Varese; Museo Civico di Sestre Calende; Museo E Eusebio, Alba.

Museums in Hungary Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum (Hungarian National Museum), Budapest; Tortonéti Múzeum (History Museum), Budapest; Szépmüvészeti Múzeum (Museum of fine Arts) Budapest; Aquincum Múzeum, BTM Regeszet Budapest. Museums in Italy Museo di Antichita, Castello Sforzesco, Milano; Civici Musei, Castello Visconteo, Pavia; Civici Musei di Storia ed Arte, Trieste; Museo di Antichità, Torino; Museo Archeologico, Altino;

Museums in Switzerland Römermuseum Augst; Vindonissa-Museum, Brugg; Musée Romain d’Avenches.

Museum Abbreviations used in the face pot Catalogues Frankfurt Mus. HM Darmstadt MdS Wien MOLAS RGM Köln RGZM Mainz RLM Bonn RLM Trier Nijmegen Mus. SM Budapest

Museum für Vor-und-Frügeschichte, Frankfurt am Mein Hessisches Museum Darmstadt Museum der Stadt Wien Museum of London’s Archaeological Service Römisch-Germanische Museum Köln Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier Rijksmuseum G M Kam, Nijmegen; Szépmüvészeti Múzeum, Budapest;

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Face pot with three spouts of RL Type 20A in light orange-buff ware from Nida-Heddernheim; height 25 cm.

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INTRODUCTION Roman face pots are among the most unusual and interesting types of pottery produced in the Roman period, yet they are also the ones about which least seems to be known. With their strange, enigmatic, rather comic-looking faces, each one individually modelled by the potter, sometimes crudely, often with meticulous care, they seem to belong to another age and to have nothing to do with the more classical and naturalistic images that we associate with the Roman period. Though never frequent finds they are found in most provinces of the Western Roman Empire from the first to the fourth centuries AD. On the Continent they start in Italy, but soon spread to military sites along the Rhine and Danube frontiers and from there into Britain and Dacia as and when these two provinces were conquered and absorbed into the Roman Empire. Few however have been found to the west of the Rhineland, except for one or two isolated groups located mainly in Belgium and Spain. No comprehensive study of Roman face pots from all the different provinces has been attempted before, though a number of short surveys have been published on face pots from different regions, the first of which was by Schumacher (1911) on the face pots of the Rhineland. Since then the Rhineland face pots have been discussed briefly by Erich Gose in his survey of Roman pottery of the Rhineland (1976, Nos 522-529), and recently a valuable study of the face pots of Nida-Heddernheim has been published by Stefan Pfahl (2000). Schorgendorfer (1944) dealt with many of the Austrian face pots, and Frova in a short study (1969) identified and discussed a number of the North Italian face beakers4. In eastern Europe, Arpad Nagy, in an article published in 1986 on a face pot from Brigetio, produced a valuable compilation of sources for face pots found in Pannonia. Otherwise Roman face pots have attracted little attention, apart from various mentions in reports on excavations where they have been found, with occasional attempts to draw some general conclusions. One of the major problems up until now has been that so many of the face pots have never been published, and are virtually unknown even within their own regions, so that access to comparative material has been very limited. Face pots in isolation are hard to classify, and it is only when dealing with a large group of them that specific types can be identified, and the regional characteristics can be distinguished from those common to face pots in other areas. The aims of this study have been the following: to examine the evidence for face pots in Europe before the Roman period; to establish the distribution of Roman face pots; to identify and classify the different types found and outline their development during the Roman period; to examine their links with the Roman army; to try and make some sense of the different faces represented on these vessels; and lastly to analyse the little evidence available that might help to identify their function. Definitions The term face pot covers two different types of vessel, a larger face jar5 and a smaller face beaker. Face jars are similar in shape to a cooking pot or storage jar; they are generally in coarse pottery and between 20-25 cm tall, but they can be smaller or larger, occasionally 35 cm tall or more. Some face jars, particularly in the Rhineland, have two or three “spouts” or little tiny cups on the shoulder or attached to the rim, but never the face beakers. The latter are smaller and in the shape of drinking cups or beakers; they are generally, but not always, made in fine-wares, and are mostly between 9-12 cm tall. Some of them however may be quite tall, up to 20 cm, and they have been classified as “large face beakers” in this study rather than as small face jars either because they correspond to other very similar, large beaker forms, mostly of second to third century date, which are common in the same region, or, as is the case with most of the early face beakers in Britain, because they appear to be large copies of small Italian face beakers. The faces on both face jars and face beakers are always somewhat stylised and schematic, and the features are applied and modelled by hand, not with a mould. Occasionally some of the features may be incised, and, very rarely, painted. The wall of the pot is normally quite unaffected by the modelling of the face, but in a few, rare instances the eye sockets may be pressed in slightly, or a chin pressed out. On face 4

This has since been supplemented by a paper by E. Schindler Kaudelka, F. Butti Ronchetti, and G. Schneider, published in 2000 (271-277). 5 Face jars have up until now been described in Britain as face pots, and face beakers have often been included with them under the same name. In German the two terms Gesichtsgefäss and Gesichtsbecher are generally both used;. in other countries where far fewer face pots of either kind exist, the distinction between the two types is often not appreciated.

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jars the faces are on the upper half of the pot, and often quite high up on the shoulder or just below the rim or neck On face beakers the face is relatively-speaking much larger and covers most of the body of the vessel. As is suggested in Chapter X, Roman face pots and face beakers may have developed from two separate traditions, rather than being larger or smaller versions of each other. However the two traditions undoubtably merged to some extent during the Roman period, and some face jars do occur which are clearly large-sized versions of face beakers, and vice versa. A clear distinction needs to be made between face pots and the two other most common types of anthropomorphic pottery of the Roman period, head vases and face-neck flagons (or face jugs), which were, and occasionally still are, often classed together with face jars and face beakers under the misleading title "face urns". For the purposes of this study the latter term is used only for face jars that served as cremation urns. Roman head vases, as their name implies, are mostly moulded in the shape of a human head, either male or female, and have more classical, naturalistic features than face pots, with the wall of the pot being pushed in and out to model the features, rather than left unaffected as it is on face pots. With the exception of those made in Britain, which tend to be known as “head pots” and appear to have been freely modelled by hand, head vases are generally made with two-piece moulds. They are often painted, and there seems little doubt that they are descended from east Mediterranean head vase traditions which have their origins in the Bronze Age, and which continued in the eastern and western Mediterranean and in north Africa into Roman times. In the European provinces, one or two rare Roman examples have been found in the Rhineland and in France6, and rather more in the Danubian provinces, but so far they are known in largest numbers in Britain, though not much if at all before the third century. Their greatest popularity in the western half of the Empire however was without much doubt in north Africa. It has not been possible to deal fully with Roman head vases in this study, but they are a parallel tradition inter-related with face pots that cannot be ignored. To some extent head vases and face pots may be two sides of the same coin, representing the two contending traditions in European art, the tendency towards stylisation and abstraction which is so strong in Celtic and pre-historic European art, and the striving towards idealised realism and the natural image which developed in the Near East and Greece and was inherited by classical Rome. Some of the pre-Roman head vases of the eastern Mediterranean, Magna Grecia and Etruria are discussed in Chapters I and II, while those of the Roman period are briefly surveyed in Appendix IV. Roman face-neck flagons or face jugs (Gesichtskrüge in German) are flagon-shaped vessels, with a mould-made face applied to the narrow neck which is almost always female, except for a few exceptions, most of them from Trier7. Like head vases, they too are descended from east Mediterranean traditions, but this time ones that were brought westwards by the Phoenicians rather than by the Greeks. Closely connected to these are figurine jugs or flagons, which differ only in that the neck of the jug or flagon is moulded in the shape of a female head (i.e. not just the addition of an appliqué moulded face) and the globular body of the vase has thin, plastically modelled arms applied above the girth, and often schematic breasts and details of female dress. Face jugs and figurine jugs appear to have had little influence on the development of Roman face pots, and are not described here. But in Britain there is also a rare type of face flagon, described in this study as a cup-necked flagon with a face on the neck, face-sherds of which can sometimes be confused with face beaker sherds, though the two types are almost certainly quite unrelated. These unusual vessels have been included at the end of Chapter IX (Part IV) on British face pots, together with one or two other very rare forms of anthropomorphic pottery, found mainly in the later Roman period in the north of Britain which have some features in common with face pots (RB Types 4144). There is also one other less common type of beaker or jar with a face that is not a face pot, called in this study a mask vase or beaker. These are fine-ware vessels with one or more appliqué mould-made masks on the shoulder or girth, sometimes with other applied or barbotine decoration as well. These are described in Appendix V, A. Mention should also be made here of the Gallo-Belgic bust vases or planetary vases. These distinctive fine-ware cult vessels have up to seven appliqué mould-made busts of classical-looking deities around the

6

Glass head vases however were produced in the Rhineland. A pioneering study of the Roman face jugs of the north western Provinces has recently been published by Franziska Dövener (2000). 7

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girth. Though they are of very limited distribution geographically, these vases are perhaps the closest type of cult vessel to face pots. They are described in Appendix III. The faces, or face masks It is important at this stage to outline clearly what is meant in this context by the word mask. A mask or face mask does not have to mean a wearable mask, or a terracotta copy of one, with holes cut out for the eyes and mouth. It can also mean the representation of a face, viewed frontally, with eyes, nose, mouth and ears, but without any bust or neck attached8. In the case of very schematic masks, they may not necessarily even have all these four features, sometimes it can be just two eyes and a nose, or even just two eyes. The more naturalistic face masks that occur on Greek, Etruscan or Roman antefixes, in sculpture, mosaics, wall paintings, or on metal or ceramic vessels such as the mask vases mentioned above, generally have hair around the face, allowing room for other features such as diadems, horns, wings or snakes to be included, and for the most part they can be quite easily identified. Where face pot masks are concerned however, this is rarely if ever possible with any degree of certainty. Their stylised, often very schematic faces are unlike almost any other known images or masks of the Roman period. In all likelihood they belong to the area of popular art and folk tradition, whether in Roman Italy or in the provinces, on which there is little or no information in contemporary literature and equally little evidence in the archaeological record given that such art tends to be expressed in organic materials such as wood, paint, leather and textiles which very rarely survive. Only the particular circumstances that led to these masks being used on durable pottery vessels has ensured their survival, a unique corpus of ancient faces and masks from popular tradition about which almost nothing is known except what can be gleaned from the vessels themselves and the places where they were found. An important aim of this study therefore has been to seek for contemporary parallels that might provide clues to the identity of the face pot masks, such as head vases, mask beakers, stone or terracotta antefixes and free-standing masks, and this is the purpose of Appendices III – V. Almost all the comparable face masks that have survived from the Roman period are realistically or recognisably portrayed, even if the subject is a caricature theatrical mask. Their survival is due to the fact that they were made in expensive, non-perishable materials such as bronze, silver and gold, marble, mosaics, painted plaster, or fine ceramic pottery, designed for the more educated and hellenised (or would be hellenised) ranks of society, and as such beyond the everyday reach of most ordinary people. Just a few Roman antefixes and terracotta masks, mainly from the provinces but also on occasion from Italy, appear to have somewhat similar stylised faces, and where these can be identified, they provide some of the best contemporary clues to the identity of the face pot masks. In Chapters I and II, as already mentioned in the Foreword, a search for identifiable faces or masks is also made among the face pot, face mask and head vase traditions of the pre-Roman period, in both the eastern Mediterranean and in western Europe. This monograph then is a study of Roman face pots, but it is also a study of masks, as the defining feature of face pots is their mask. Any evidence that can be found to help identify the faces will help towards an understanding of face pots and of the ways in they were used.

8

Such masks are quite distinct from the busts of deities that are portrayed on the Gallo-Belgic planetary vases or “vases à bustes” (see Appendix III) or on the painted Göttervasen from Trier (Cüppers 1990, Pl. 16).

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PRE-ROMAN ANTHROPORMORPHIC POTTERY IN GREECE AND THE EAST MEDITERRANEAN

CHAPTER ONE The pre-Roman anthropomorphic pottery and masks of Greece, the Balkans and the East Mediterranean from the Neolithic to the Roman period

Pl. A1. Attic black figure amphora with the mask of Dionysus from Tarquinia, in the Tarquinia Museum, later sixth century BC; height c. 36 cm.. (Boardman 1974,109, cover photo)

someone’s face can give the owner of the portrait or photograph power over that person. The creation of an image or mask representing a deity or demon can be more serious still, and only to be undertaken by a select cadre of artists or priests, particularly in the case of masks, as the powers of the deity are thought to be reflected in the mask, and if this is worn, they can be transferred to the wearer. There is no reason to believe that this was not the case in many ancient cultures also. The placing of a face on a pot therefore, even a comic or tragic mask, is very unlikely to be the casual whim of a potter, and must almost always have had some symbolic significance. This would seem to explain why in most countries of the world face pots and head pots have always been rare, and when they occur, they seem to have been reserved for special purposes.

The idea of making a ceramic pot in the form of a head or of a human body, or with a human face moulded or painted on the neck or shoulder, is probably almost as old as the idea of pottery itself, but this does not mean to say that anthropomorphic pottery occurs everywhere and at all periods. Indeed this is far from the case, and it would seem that such pots were only made at times and in regions where the concept of anthropomorphic representation, and in particular the representation of gods in human form, was culturally acceptable. There were large areas of the prehistoric world where this appears not to have been the case, and indeed such a taboo still exists in much of the Muslim world today. There are still societies where the soul or spirit of a person is thought to reside in the head, giving rise to fears that the portrayal or photographing of

1

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER I NEOLITHIC AND EARLY BRONZE AGE FACE POTS Nos 1-6, Neolithic; Nos 7-12, Early Bronze Age

Fig. B1. 1, Hacilar (Turkey); 2, Bekasmegyar (Hung.); 3, Scaloria (It.); 4, Los Millares (Spain); 5, Trefontane (It.); 6, Denmark; 7-9, Center (Hung.); 10-12, Troy. (Scale: Nos 1-4 and 7-10 at c. 1:6; Nos 4,6,11 and12 at c. 1:4). 2

PRE-ROMAN ANTHROPORMORPHIC POTTERY IN GREECE AND THE EAST MEDITERRANEAN As already mentioned, face pots are only one of four distinct types of anthropomorphic pottery which are found during the Roman period in many of the provinces of the Empire, namely face pots, head vases, face-neck flagons and figurine jugs. These different forms only evolved gradually, as pottery itself developed and ceramic forms changed in line with new cultural and religious traditions. This is not the place for a detailed study of the anthropomorphic pottery of the ancient world, but it is impossible to understand the history of the face pots and other anthropomorphic pottery of the Roman period without having some idea of the various ceramic traditions in both the eastern Mediterranean and in western Europe that led to their development.

B.

THE BRONZE AGE

B.1. Face urns and face pots (Fig. B1: 7-12) The close of the Neolithic period brought an end to the long-lived tell settlements of the Balkan cultures with their wealth of anthropomorphic pottery, idols and figurines, and an end to their face pot traditions as well. Just a few very schematic tall face urns of Early Bronze Age date seem to linger on in the northern Balkans, of which the best known are probably the small group from the cemetery at Center in northern Hungary (Fig. B1: 7-9, Pl. A2), all of which are cremation urns, possibly the first known “face urns” in Europe4.

The purpose of these two first chapters therefore is to outline very briefly the development of the different types of pre-Roman anthropomorphic pottery as they emerge after the Neolithic period. Chapter One looks at the pottery of the eastern Mediterranean, while Chapter Two deals with the two main regions in western Europe where pre-Roman face pots have so far been found, namely Etruscan Italy and northern Europe in the vicinity of the Baltic (see map on Fig. B6). An attempt is also made to identify pre-Roman mask traditions, particularly in classical Greece and Etruscan Italy, the two areas which had the most immediate influence on the development of Roman cultural and ceramic traditions, but also in Celtic Europe. A.

THE NEOLITHIC PERIOD (Fig. B1: 1-2)

The earliest anthropomorphic ceramic pots known go back to the very beginning of the Neolithic period and are found on European sites in the central and eastern Balkans, and in Anatolia and Mesopotamia1. They tend to be either figurine pots loosely modelled in the shape of a fat female figure (Fig. B1: 1), or face pots, with a schematic, plastically modelled face on a cylindrical neck, often with small pointed arms or breasts applied to the otherwise unaffected body of the pot (Fig. B1: 1-2). Sometimes, in the case of both types of vessel, the facial features are portrayed upon a head-lid rather than on the neck of the jar, while the pot itself represents just the human body. Some of the face pots were very large indeed, from around three to four feet high, and seem to have served for the storage of grain, while others were of a more normal jar size, varying from 15 to 60 cm high. The abstract faces or face masks on these vessels tend to be similar to the many contemporary clay or stone female idols found on the same sites2, and like them it has been generally assumed that they are in some way connected with a mother goddess cult3.

Pl. A2. Early Bronze Age face urn in brown burnished ware from Center, Hungary in the Maguar Nemzeti Múzeum; height: 40.6 cm

The only other well known face pots of the Early Bronze Age are from Troy on the Anatolian coast (Fig. B1: 10-12, Pl. A3), to where it is possible some inhabitants of the Balkans tell settlements may have migrated5. More face pots have been found in Troy than on any other site in the ancient world. They occur in the layers of all the first five cities on the site, over a period of nearly two thousand years6. They are of a fairly similar type to the earlier Balkan ones representing a female form, with schematic faces, arms and breasts. Some have head lids, others not. They too seem to have represented a female goddess, and their stylised, owl-like faces lead Schliemann to believe that she must have been a fore-runner of the Greek goddess Athena. As regards the function of these face pots, little is known except that most of them, as was the case with the

1

There are also some very large Neolithic jars from Upper Egypt, some of which have human features thought to represent the ancient cow goddess Hathor. 2 Gimbutas 1974, 264. 3 ibid 1982, 152; Nilsson 1950, 290.

4

Kalicz, 1970, 67, Pls. 65-70. Hodinott 1985, 35-7. 6 Blegen 1963, Figs. 14, 19, 22-3, 26 and 29. 5

3

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER I on Cyprus11 (Fig. B4: 3). What is so surprising is that these beautifully made and strongly characterised head vases should suddenly appear as it were out of nowhere during the Middle Bronze Age, and the likelihood is that they are copies of precious cult vessels made of silver, gold, or bronze of which virtually no trace survives as they were long since melted down. A very fragmentary sheet bronze head vase has been found on Crete, in the cave sanctuary of Mount Ida, possibly the earliest Greek metal head vase known, but this has proved very hard to date and could be sub Minoan or later12. A re-constructed version of this vase is illustrated in Fig. B4: 4.

Neolithic ones, seem to have been found in settlement contexts rather than in graves. As so many face pots were found relatively complete, it is possible that they were deliberately buried, as votive or foundation deposits. We do know however that one of the smaller face pots contained “quite a treasure of gold ornaments”7.

B.3. Face jugs and figurine jugs (Fig. B2: 1-2) Somewhat more common, particularly in the later Bronze Age, are the jugs or flasks modelled in the shape of a human form, or just with a face on the narrow neck. One of the earliest examples known, of Early Bronze Age date, comes from Cyprus, a handle-less flask representing an unmistakably male figure with a phallic pouring spout and three tripod legs13 (Fig. B2: 1). It would seem to be a prototype for the wide-bellied face jugs and figurine jugs that are to become so popular in Cyprus in the first millenium BC. Other more slender types, generally representing a female figure, spread from Egypt across the eastern Mediterranean to Minoan Crete, in particular a narrow alabastron form made of soft stone or pottery, designed to hold perfume or special oils. In the Late Bronze Age, face and figurine jugs become more common and are found on Mycenaean sites as well, sometimes with a handle at the back, sometimes not14. Quite a number of the narrower type, without handles, come from Late Bronze Age graves in Cyprus15, in black and white painted ware (Fig. B2: 2), with two arms on the body beneath pointed breasts, very similar to local clay figurines of the period thought to represent the Cypriot mother goddess AphroditeAstarte.

Pl. A3. Early Bronze Age face pot in ochre-buff ware from Troy (level II) in the Pushkin Museum Moscow; height c.14 cm.

Towards the end of the third millenium BC, new influences come to the fore in the eastern Mediterranean. The longlived tradition of Balkan and Trojan plump, globular, mother-goddess face pots comes to an end, and elements from the more naturalistic art traditions of the Sumerian and Egyptian cultures are much more in evidence, particularly further south in the Levant and in Minoan Crete. An ithyphallic male deity becomes increasingly prominent, and new pottery vessel forms develop, particularly drinking cups and jugs for holding and pouring liquids, probably reflecting the growing popularity of wine among the wealthy classes.

C. THE FIRST MILLENIUM BC A Dark Age descends on the eastern Mediterranean at the end of the second millenium, following the collapse of the Minoan and Mycenaean civilisations, the Dorian invasions of Achaean Greece, and the raids by the Sea Peoples on Syria, Palestine, Cyprus and Egypt. Anthropomorphic pottery seems to disappear completely from the Aegean and from much of the Levantine coast. During the ninth and eighth centuries however new types start appearing, or rather old types begin to re-emerge. At first the modelling of the human features is rather stiff and stylised, but it becomes increasingly naturalistic towards the middle of the millenium.

B.2. Head vases (Fig. B4: 1-4) Ceramic head vases with a pedestal base suddenly appear in the Middle Bronze Age quite naturalistically modelled in the shape of a male head. A very fine example has survived from a tomb at Jericho8 (Fig. B4:1) dated to the early second millenium, and two other somewhat similar vases in black and white painted ware dating to c.1500 are known from Tell Brak in Syria9 and from Phaistos in Crete10. The latter, with typical Minoan eyes heavily outlined in black, appears to have had horns or possibly animal ears, of which only the base now survives (Fig. B4: 2). In the Late Bronze Age rather different head vases with female faces and wide funnel necks occur which are thought to have been made

11

Maximova 1916, Pl. IV: 33-35. Boardman 1961, 79 ff, No 378, Fig. 35. 13 This is a type which continues to crop up every so often in different forms across the eastern and later the western Mediterranean from this time until the end of the Roman period. Examples have been found on several west Roman military sites (see Chapter IV, II, RL Type 33, Fig. D16). 14 Wace,1921-3, 47, Pl. VII: c. 15 Pieridou, 1968, 25, Pl. VIII: 8-11. 12

7

Schliemann 1880, 341 Garstang 1932, 45, Pl. XLII, Fig. 9. Bossert 1951, No 640. 10 Bossert 1937, No 294. 8 9

4

PRE-ROMAN ANTHROPORMORPHIC POTTERY IN GREECE AND THE EAST MEDITERRANEAN FIGURINE JUGS AND FACE JUGS No 1, EBA; No 2, LBA; Nos 3-6, c. 750-500 BC

Fig. B2.

1, Cyprus; 2, Larnaca (Cyp.); 3, Knossos (Crete); 4, Beth Shemesh (Palestine); 5-6, Cyprus. (Scale: Nos 1-2 at 1:3; Nos 3 and 6 at 1:2; No 5 at c. 1:4; No 4, unspecified) 5

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER I C.2. Male phallic spout jugs (Fig. B2: 3-4)

C.1. Phoenician and Cypriot face and figurine jugs (Pl. A4, Fig. B2: 5)

A number spout jugs with a bearded face, which seem to be a continuation of the earlier figurine pots with phallic spout such as the one in Fig. B2: 1, also appear c.800-600 in Greece and the Levant, though now with a wider neck, a flat base and a handle at the back. They all have a male face on the neck with projecting, pointed beard and a spout on the shoulder or girth (Fig. B2: 3-4). Some but not all examples have plastically moulded arms holding the spout.

First to make their appearance are face jugs and figurine jugs introduced by the Phoenicians c. 900-800, first at Kition, their colony on Cyprus, and then further west, as their network of colonies and trading posts spread across the Mediterranean. During the three centuries of the Cypriot Archaic period, from c.750-475 BC, a huge number of face jugs were produced in Cyprus, often with a pouring spout or spouts on the shoulder, sometimes in the shape of a bull’s head or of a woman’s breasts (Pl. A4) as well as figurine jugs similar to the one in Fig. B2: 5, with sculpted arms and hands holding a small cup which also serves as a spout hole16.

C.3 The first face jars and painted mask jars (Fig. B3: 1-4 and Fig. B5: 1-2) In the eighth century the first face jars emerge that are directly comparable to Roman face jars, in that they are of standard storage jar form with a stylised face on the neck, shoulder or girth, and with no arms or breasts on the body of the vessel (Fig. B3: 1-4). The forms are: a flat-bottomed amphora, a hydria, and a hybrid-type of vessel with two horizontal loop handles on the shoulders but no handle at the back. They all seem to be in the typical black and white painted ware of the period. The schematic faces are modelled in relief, but often over-painted as well. Some have beards but others do not. They occur sporadically between c.800-600 in mainland Greece and across the Aegean from Crete to Samos19, and also, in rather larger numbers, in Cyprus20. Many of the face jars, like the face jugs, have come from graves or tombs, particularly in Cyprus, though there seems to be no evidence that any of them were used as cremation urns. Others, such as a face-amphora (Fig. B3: 2) and a phallic face jug from Samos21 appear to have been buried in votive deposits. In the sixth century quite a number of Greek or Cypriot black-figure vases appear with large painted masks on the shoulder or neck as the dominant decoration, either just one mask, or two identical masks, one on each side. These are in the same forms as the earlier face jars, but also include the occasional wide-necked jug. They are not strictly face pots as the features of the mask are painted and naturalistically portrayed, not plastically modelled and stylised. However given that the mask or masks constitute the main decoration on the vessel, they are very similar to face pots, and would seem to stand in a close relationship to them. They are of particular significance as for the first time we have faces or masks on ceramic vessels to which we can put a name.

Pl. A4. Cypro- Archaic face jug in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, 6th century BC.

The Cypriot jugs are mostly female, and are thought to be associated with the cult of the Cypriot mother goddess Aphrodite, and very probably to represent her, whereas in Phoenician and Punic colonies further west they almost certainly represent Astarte-Tanit17. Few if any of these face jugs or figurine jugs appear to have been made in Greece, with the exception of some tiny perfume flasks of the seventh century of Corinthian origin with lion heads18. Tall plastic jugs made in the form of a head with a handle at the back (see C. 6. below, Fig. B3: 7-8), which were clearly designed for pouring and probably used for libations, may have fulfilled the same function.

In Greece they seem to be almost all either Bacchic masks of Dionysus himself (Pl. A1, Fig. B5: 1) or of his satyrs and maenads (Fig. B5: 3), or Gorgon masks, which also have a close association with the Bacchic mask tradition (see section C.7 below). One other rarer mask type that occurs at this time on painted mask jars is that of the Egyptian mother goddess Hathor with her out-curling tresses, usually two identical masks, one on each side (Pl. A5, Fig. B5: 2).

16

Ibid, Pl. X: 1-9; Gjerstadt 1948, IV, II, Pls. XXX-LV An example from the Phoenician colony of Jalissos on Rhodes portrays the goddess holding a bird and what appear to be the torn remains of a dolllike figure (a sacrificed child?) (Jacobi, G, 1929, 92, Fig. 87). 18 Boardman 1974, 50, Fig. 37 17

19

Levi 1927-9, 507, Note 2, Fig. 598; Walter 1957, 44, Pl. 62: 2. Pieridou 1968, 25-26, Pls. IX: 1-8 and X: 8. 21 Buschor, 1951, 32-41, Pl. 8. 20

6

PRE-ROMAN ANTHROPORMORPHIC POTTERY IN GREECE AND THE EAST MEDITERRANEAN FACE POTS AND SNAKE VASES Nos 1-4, c.800-600; Nos 5-6, c. 750-500 BC

Fig. B3.

1, Boetia; 2, Samos; 3-4, Cyprus; 5, Milatos (Crete); 6, Jalissos (Rhodes). (Scale: Nos 1-3 at 1:3; No 4 at 1:2; Nos 5 and 6 unspecified)

7

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER I storage jars, jugs and drinking vessels such as the already mentioned eye cups. Sometimes, as on the cup in Fig. B5: 3, a mask may be added in between the eyes. Occasionally a mask could be formed from a double loop handle on the shoulder of the pot which serves as as the eyebrows, with two eyes painted or modelled below it, as on a hydria from Athens26, or a handle or a spout may serve as a nose, as on the little jug from Cyprus in Fig. B2: 6.

These latter vessels seem to be limited to Cyprus and the Ionian coast and may have all been made at Amathus which was then under Egyptian domination22.

The re-introduction from the East of the mould into Greece at the end of the eighth century for the making of terracottas and ceramic plastic vases was to provide a great stimulus for the production of such vases across the Mediterranean, though not all were made with moulds and some were made on the wheel. Among the earliest of these were the small polychrome balsamaria used as scent bottles or incense containers which were moulded in the form of human heads (mostly Dionysus and his companions, the Gorgon and a helmeted warrior (Fig. B5: 6-7), though other shapes occur as well, such as monkeys, sphinxes or a sandled foot27). They appear in the later half of the seventh century and last through most of the sixth. Pl. A 5 A Cypro-Archaic “hydria” from Phocaea, Ionia with the mask of Hathor on either side, in the British Museum, 6th century BC; height c.24 cm.

C.5 Head vases (Fig. B4: 5-8) Towards the end of the sixth century ceramic head vases, last seen in the Late Bronze Age, re-appear, particularly in Greece, made by Attic potters in the new red-figure technique28. The tradition may have been kept alive in the meantime through metal vases of the kind found in the cave on Mount Ida. The earliest group, with a face on each side dating from the last quarter of the sixth century, are not in fact true head vases, in that they are not moulded in the shape of a head, and the two identical, plastically modelled faces have been put like a mask on each side of the vessel (Fig, B2: 5). Beazley describes them as face kantharoi29. These either have the face of a young man with slanting eyes and sometimes a thin moustache, thought to represent the young Dionysus (Fig. B4: 5) or the face of a satyr.

C.4. Other vessels with masks or just two eyes (Fig. B5: 3 and Fig. B2: 6) Painted Bacchic masks also occur on the outside of drinking vessels, often on both sides, while the Gorgon mask is frequently painted on the inside of the shallow eye cups and on plates. The eye cup illustrated on Fig. B5: 3 has a Gorgon mask on the inside and a satyr’s mask on the outside, with in addition a plastically moulded phallus on the pedestal foot23. Dionysus may have been the Greek god of wine, but he was first and foremost a fertility god, and it was the phallus, together with the mask, that were the two most important symbols of his cult24. Some vessels just have two eyes in lieu of a face. The idea of placing two eyes on the rim or neck of pottery vessels is very old, and is found in the earliest levels at Troy25. It became widespread in Archaic and Classical Greece, on

They are followed by true head vases, made using moulds, with sculpted features representing a male or female head. Two types predominate: a wide-necked krater which often has two faces, one on each side, which may be either identical (as in Pl. A6) or quite different, often one male and the other female, such as a satyr and a maenad (Fig.B4: 6); and a fairly narrow-necked jug or oinochoe, with just one face that can be male or female or a satyr (Fig. B4: 7-8)) .

22 Karageorghis 1973, No 67. Hathor, the cow goddess and one of the most ancient of the Egyptian deities was also, like Dionysus, often portrayed just as a mask. Her recognisable features, with cows ears and curling horns (which later turn into curling tresses as on the vase in Fig. B5: 2) appear on large storage jars in Upper Egypt dating to the Early Bronze Age if not earlier, and her mask was also carved on columns in temples dedicated to her worship, such as her temple at Dendera or at Abu Simbel (see Chapter II, Fig. B13: 1). Hathor pillars with two masks, one on each side, occur in Cyprus in the sixth century BC, contemporary with these mask vases. Burkert (2004, 74) sees a parallel between the Hathor pillars and the rather similar free-standing columns decorated with two masks of Dionysus which appear in a number of Attic vase paintings at around this time. “In the absence of texts the links with Dionysus cannot be spelled out further. But the closeness of iconography and possible ritual cannot be disregarded”. The Hathor mask may have been brought to the western Mediterranean at this time, if not before, by Phoenician traders from Cyprus. 23 A similar eye cup with phallic foot is illustrated by Catherine Johns (1982, Fig. 76). 24 See Appendix I, B.1. 25 Blegen, 1963, Fig. 14.

There are only a limited number of face types, almost all of which, if not all, belong to the Bacchic tradition: a youth (the young Dionysus), a bearded man, who can be variously interpreted as either Dionysus or Hercules30, a satyr, a black

26

Riccione, 1959-60, Fig. 12. They were made at centres in Rhodes, Corinth, Sicily, Etruria and others not as yet identified in the East (Higgins 1959, 7ff). 28 Beazley 1929, 38-78. 29 Ibid 40. 30 Hercules was closely associated with Dionysos, and often occurs in Bacchic scenes on Attic vases (see Appendix I, D.4). 27

8

PRE-ROMAN ANTHROPORMORPHIC POTTERY IN GREECE AND THE EAST MEDITERRANEAN

EAST MEDITERRANEAN HEAD VASES Nos 1-2, MBA; No 3, LBA; No 4, c.700? BC; Nos 5-7, c.530-450 BC.

Fig. B4. 1, Jericho; 2, Phaistos (Crete); 3, Enkomi (Cyprus); 4, Mt. Ida (Crete); 5-8 Unprovenanced (Attic). (Scale: No 1 at 1:4; Nos 2-8 at c. 1:3)

9

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER I Nubian31 and a young woman/maiden (who may represent the consort of Dionysus - Persephone, Kore, Ariadne - or his mother Semele, or Demeter with whom he was associated at Eleusis, or a maenad). The space on the neck of the vase is often used for a pictorial scene, as in Pl. A632, mainly if not always of Bacchic inspiration.

chosen more for their connection with death and salvation than for their suitability as decoration on containers of wine as has often been suggested thanks to the role of Dionysus as the Greek God of Wine. C.6 Terracotta face masks (Fig. B5: 4-5) The invention of the mould also seems to have stimulated the production of terracotta face masks, which are found in Greek tombs and sanctuaries across the Aegean and into Italy during the Archaic and Classical periods and to a somewhat lesser extent after that. These are almost all Bacchic masks (including the Gorgoneion), similar to those found on the mask vases, the head vases and balsamaria discussed above34. They appear to be votive masks, not ones to be worn, but to judge by the holes made for the eyes and mouth and the string holes for attaching the mask to the wearer’s head35, some at least must be close copies of lighter-weight masks made of organic materials that would have been worn. These terracotta copies therefore are one of the only sources of evidence for the important maskwearing traditions of ancient Greece. Traditions involving the use and the wearing of masks in the eastern Mediterranean almost certainly go back to long before the Greek Archaic period, but evidence for this is very limited. Some of the earliest known examples are the votive terracotta masks representing a man or a bull dating to the end of the second millenium which have been found on temple sites at Kition and Enkomi on Cyprus36. Other terracotta masks of more varied types, of early first millenium date, have been found in tombs and sanctuaries in Palestine, Lebanon and Cyprus37.

Pl. A6. Attic red-figure head vase with two identical faces from Capua in the Metropolitan Museum, New York; early 5th century BC; height c. 22 cm.

Like the Bacchic masks, these too are limited to a standard set of face types: a bearded older man, a youth, a young woman38, a helmeted warrior, a very wrinkled mask possibly representing an underworld demon (Pl. A7) or in some cases perhaps a wrinkled old hag; and a variety of grotesque gargoyle-like masks. The first three types are very similar to the Bacchic masks but the others differ. Virtually identical masks are also found on Phoenician and Punic sites in southern Italy, Spain and north Africa39.

Greek ceramic head vases were exported to southern Italy, Sicily and Etruria, where they were later copied locally33. The head vase tradition continued in Greece, the eastern Mediterranean and north Africa into Roman times, though fewer examples are known except in north Africa, and many are no longer in polychrome wares. As far as can be seen, very similar face-types continued to be portrayed, and the association with the Bacchic cult appears to have continued. However other deities from oriental mystery cults such as Isis and Sarapis and possibly Attis and Cybele are now included, supporting the impression that the Bacchic figures represented on Greek head vases may always have been

34 Examples in Greece, apart from the ones found at the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia in Sparta, have been found on Samos (Culican 1975, 72), Rhodes (ibid, 64), Crete (ibid 55), Athens (ibid 83) and Boeotia (Wrede 1928, 90, and Farnell 1909, Pls XXXVIII and XXXIV: a). In southern Italy, a great many have been found of different sizes in tombs in Sicily (as can be seen in the National Archaeological Museum in Syracuse) and in Campania (Wrede 1928, 91; British Museum, Campanian collections). 35 Though such holes may have been used for suspending the masks, or attaching them to walls as was the case with the Roman terracotta masks (see Appendix V, C.2.3 and C.4.2) 36 Karagheorghis 1982, 127, Fig. 98 37 Culican 1975, 55-8, 64-5 38 The terracotta maiden masks, unlike all the other mask types, rarely if ever seem to occur as replicas of masks that were worn, with holes cut out for eyes and mouths. Instead they occur as so-called protome masks which are oblong-shaped plaques, with a female face or bust moulded in relief on one side and a flat surface on the other. 39 Cintas 1946, 4 ff, and Culican 1975, 38 and 47 ff. Many are in the Bardo Museum in Carthage.

31 Dionysos, as a salvation god and lord of the Underworld, was also addressed as the “Dark God” and might therefore have been portrayed as a black Nubian. Some head vases have two faces with identical features, with one face completely black and the other completely white, possibly representing his dual nature. However a male Nubian can also be paired with a maenad on two-faced head veases, in place of a satyr, so a Nubian may have been seen as an underworld attendant or companion of Dionysus, rather than the god himself.. 32 As a beardless youth, the young Dionysus can easily be mistaken for a maiden, and it is not clear whether it is him or his consort who is represented by this vase with its two virtually identical faces, attributed to the Brygos vase painter. The faces look female, but on the base of the vase are inscribed the words “the boy is fair”. 33 See Chapter II, Part II, B.3.e, and C.3.

10

PRE-ROMAN ANTHROPORMORPHIC POTTERY IN GREECE AND THE EAST MEDITERRANEAN

GREEK AND CYPRIOT MASKED VASES AND TERRACOTTA MASKS, c. 700-500 BC.

Fig. B5. 1, Tarquinia; 2, Phocaea (Ionia); 3, Unprovenanced (Attic); 4, Boetia;5, Sparta; 6, Vulci; 7, Unprovenanced (Rhodian). (Scale: Nos 1-2 at c. 1:5; Nos 3 and 5 at c.1:3; No 4 at 1:2; Nos 6-7 at 1:1) 11

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER I demons) and grotesques46. Surprisingly perhaps, there are no recognisable maenads and maidens47. As there seems to be no obvious connection between Sparta and Phoenician colonists, it is possible that the so-called Phoenician masks may in fact have once been equally well known in parts of Greece, but gradually came to be supplanted by the Bacchic ones.

There are obvious parallels between this LevantinePhoenician mask tradition and the Greek Bacchic one. Earlier, before the Levantine masks had become known, it was thought that most of the Punic masks were borrowed from Greece40. It is now clear that there were two separate but quite closely connected traditions, with many points of similarity and overlap. Mask types may be borrowed by either side: satyr and gorgon masks occasionally turn up in the Levant and on Punic sites41, while helmeted, wrinkled and gargoyle-type masks can also occur in Greece42. The likelihood is that the two traditions were both connected with the worship of very similar deities, and may well have had a common ancestry pre-dating the Aegean Dark Age.

As fertility festivals are essentially of a protective nature, designed to ward off evil forces and to ensure the health of the livestock and the success of the harvest, the masks worn by those who took part, as well as their terracotta copies, seem to have come to be credited with the same protective and beneficient properties as the mask of the god himself. By the Classical period similar properties were evidently also attributed to the tragic and comic masks of the Theatre of Dionysus which developed in Athens out of two of the major Dionysiac festivals held in the city48.

The Bacchic masks, and in particular the satyr and maenad masks are generally thought to have developed out of the ritualised dancing and singing that took place at the various fertility festivals held in honour of Dionysus at different times of the year43.

As a result copies of Bacchic masks, including theatrical masks, seem to have been hung, or painted or carved, in all places where evil spirits might get in, such as over doorways, on gables and beneath the eaves, and wherever special protection was needed for the home and its occupants, such as over bed-heads, hearths and ovens, as well as on the walls of temples and public buildings. These practices continued into Roman times, as can be seen at Pompeii where stone, terracotta and painted Bacchic masks adorn all the houses and gardens. Terracotta copies were also placed in tombs and graves and there is evidence that light weight masks were hung in the trees to protect the crops and the livestock49. In sanctuaries they may have been hung on temple walls, but they also appear to have been buried as votive gifts within the temple precincts. Dionysus, like the other year gods who died and were re-born each year, was believed to have powers in the afterworld, and by the sixth century if not before, was worshipped as a salvation god who could promise salvation and eternal life50.

Pl. A7. Punic terracotta demon mask from Carthage in the Bardo Museum, Tunis; 6th –5th century BC; height c. 15 cm.

C.8. Antefixes.

Other similar festivals involving dancing and masked rituals also seem to have taken place in Greece during the Archaic period and afterwards, in honour of different fertility deities, and in particular of Artemis, one of the most ancient of Greek goddesses44. The largest collection of votive masks in Greece of this period comes from the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia in Sparta45. These are thought to be replicas of masks worn by dancers at the seasonal festivals held at the sanctuary. Of particular interest is the presence of both Bacchic and Phoenician mask types: older men, generally bearded; youths; a few satyrs and Gorgons; and rather larger numbers of helmeted warriors, wrinkled masks (“hags” or

The rapid expansion in the production of mould-made terracottas also included antefixes, for many of which the same Bacchic masks were used. In Greece and Italy the most popular mask type seems always to have been the Gorgon, but the masks of Bacchus, of Persephone/ Kore/Ariadne, and of satyrs and maenads all occur. The

46

“Old hag” masks may have been worn by male dancers who are known to have dressed up as women to enact bawdy dances, perhaps with other men wearing the grotesque masks, as part of the protective rituals performed at fertility festivals (See Dawkins 1929, 173 and Burkert 1985, 103-5). 47 This may be less surprising than it appears, as the Orthia masks all seem to be replicas of masks that were worn, with cut out eyes and mouths, and female protome masks, so often found in graves and tombs, would here have been out of place (see Note 32 above). Burkert (1985, 151) suggests that young girls may have worn the Gorgon masks in specific dances as nymphs of the goddess who could herself be represented with a Gorgon head. 48 See Appendix I, A.6. 49 Ibid, I.B.1. 50 See Appendix I. A.3.

40

Culican 1975, 55 Ibid, Fig. 8 42 The helmeted warrior mask is however a very popular type for the Archaic Greek plastic balsamaria (see Fig. B5: 6), though most of these may in fact have been produced on Rhodes where there was a flourishing Phoenician colony at Jalissos. 43 See Appendix I, C.1-2. 44 Burkert 1985, 149-152. 45 Dawkins 1929, 165. 41

12

PRE-ROMAN ANTHROPORMORPHIC POTTERY IN GREECE AND THE EAST MEDITERRANEAN bull-horned mask of Achelous51, so easily confused with that of the bull-horned Dionysus, seems early to have been included with the Bacchic masks, to be joined by Oceanus and other river gods sometime during the Hellenistic period if not before52.

This survey does however serve to show how more specialised ceramic types started to develop during the Middle Bronze Age, once the long-lived globular “mother goddess” pots of the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age had finally come to an end. The two main types of anthropomorphic pottery of the Middle and Late Bronze Age, namely face or figurine jugs and head vases, appear to have had little connection or interaction with each other, though both appear to have been found mainly in tombs. Both almost certainly represent deities, but only in a few cases, such as the alabastron-type figurine jugs with pointed, up-held breasts thought to represent AstarteAphrodite, discussed in B.3 above, can any names be put to them. As far as can be seen there are few if any vessels that can be described as true face pots during this period. During the eighth century BC however face pots again emerge, now very different from the earlier “mother goddess” pots and in standard jar or jug forms with no human features other than mask-like faces on the neck. The appearance of painted mask jars in very similar forms one or two hundred years later bearing recognisable painted Bacchic masks suggests that the more primitive masks on the earlier face jars of the seventh and eighth centuries may also have belonged to the cult of Dionysus which just at that time was spreading rapidly through Greece54. The face jugs with male faces and phallic spouts which appear at this time could also have had some connection with the same cult55. They would have been ideal for pouring libations of wine, just then becoming increasingly popular as stability returned, particularly in rituals connected with fertility.

Pl. A8. Large Greek terracotta Gorgon antefix from Megara Hyblaea, in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Syracuse; end 6th century BC. (photo by James Wessner)

C.9. Snake vases (Fig. B4: 5-6) Occasional pottery vessels with long snakes draped around them are known from the Neolithic period onwards becoming more common in the Middle Bronze Age in Minoan Crete where they appear to be connected with the Cretan Snake Goddess53. On the whole it is rare for snakes to occur on vessels with faces or made in the shape of a human figure. For the most part snakes are shown creeping towards or peering into the opening of the vessel or into cup-like spouts placed on the shoulder of the pot. Two snake vases from sub-Minoan tombs are illustrated here, one from Milatos on Crete with an unusual, spider-like face and phallic opening (Fig. B4: 5), and the other from Jalissos on Rhodes, the latter being one of the earliest examples with a snake or snakes (in this instance there are two snakes, one on each side) creeping towards a cup-like spout (Fig. B4: 6).

Such masks, painted or applied, could have been intended for the protection of the contents of the pottery vessels, particularly storage jars, but they are also likely to have designated vessels designed for cult use. They would have been very appropriate for use on vessels designed to accompany the dead in their tombs. As has been seen, the Greek terracotta masks that appear in the Archaic period belong to this same Bacchic tradition, and the head vases too are closely connected. Both are frequently found in tombs and graves. The fact that Dionysus became the Greek God of Wine may have been of particular relevance in the case of vessels used for the drinking, pouring and storing of wine, though when such vessels were buried with the dead, his role as underworld and salvation god may well have been more important than his role as God of Wine.

CONCLUSION Such a brief survey of pre-Roman anthro-pomorphic pottery in the eastern Mediteranean is inevitably very selective and incomplete. All Sumerian, Babylonian and Egyptian material has been excluded (for reasons of space but also for lack of direct influence on the evolution of Greek and Roman face pots and related pottery), as has the whole range of plastic figurine vases naturalistically moulded in the shape of a human figure which developed during the Hellenistic period (as opposed to the earlier flask-shaped figurine jugs with applied breasts and arms that were common in Cyprus and on Phoenician sites).

The female face jugs and round-bellied figurine jugs of this period, of which relatively few are known in Greece itself or in Magna Grecia, particularly after the Archaic period except in or near Phoenician colonies, seem to remain a separate Cypro-Phoenician tradition, associated with the mother goddesses Astarte, Aphrodite and Tanit.

54

See Appendix I, 2. The three-legged figurine flask with phallic spout from Cyprus of the Middle Bronze Age (Fig. B3: 1) may well have represented some male fertility deity similar to, or ancestral to, Dionysos.

51

55

God of the longest river in Greece. 52 Appendix I, D.7. 53 See Appendix VI, A.1.

13

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER I

14

PRE-ROMAN ANTHROPOMORPHIC POTTERY IN WESTERN EUROPE

CHAPTER TWO The pre-Roman anthropomorphic pottery and face masks of Western Europe from the Neolithic to the Roman period

Pl. B1. P Unprovenenced Etruscan head vase thought to represent the underworld deity Charun, in the Staatliche Antikensammlungen, Munich, 4th century BC; height 17.5 cm (photo: courtesy of museum0

Anthropomorphic pottery in Europe West of the Balkans is much less common than in the eastern Mediterranean, and is limited almost entirely to two areas, Italy and northern Europe in the vicinity of the southern Baltic. It is also limited to two periods: the Neolithic and the first millenium BC. In the second half of the first millenium however, face masks, though no face pots as such, appear in the Early La Tène art of Celtic central Europe, and later spread into France, Britain and Spain.

PART I ITALY AND THE WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN. A. THE NEOLITHIC PERIOD (Fig. B1: 3-6) In comparison with the Neolithic period in Greece and the Balkans, anthropomorphic representation and indeed figurative art of any kind is much less common in western Europe, while anthropomorphic pottery is rarer still. What there is appears to be limited to the coasts of Italy and Spain in the south, and to Denmark and Prussia in the north.

This chapter therefore is divided into three parts; Part I deals with Italy, Part II with the north, and Part III with Celtic Europe from 500 BC.

15

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER II TERREMARE BOWLS (1-2), LAUGEN-WARE JUG (4),VILLANOVAN HELMETS (4-5), VILLANOVANETRUSCAN HOUSE URN (6), FACE POT FOUND IN ETRURIA (7)

Fig. B7.

1, Bovolone (Verona); 2, Monte Lonato (Mantua); 3, Feldkirch (Liechtenstein); 4-5, Tarquinia; 6, probably Chiusi region; 7,Etruria. (Scale: Nos 1-2, and 6, unspecified; No 3 at 1: 4; No 4 at c.1:8; No 5 at 1:5; No 7 at 1:3)

16

PRE-ROMAN ANTHROPOMORPHIC POTTERY IN WESTERN EUROPE or understood about these people who lived in tell-like settlements in the Po valley in northern Italy. Their tells and some of their metal artefacts suggest influences from outside Italy, possibly from the Danube region. Their culture disappears some time around the turn of the millenium almost as suddenly and inexplicably as it had appeared, and for the next three hundred years or so there appears to be no evidence for faces on pottery vessels in Italy until the Etruscan period. The only other vessels which might represent some kind of continuation of the Terremare face bowls with their circular or semi-circular cordons around or below boss-shaped eyes, are the “face jugs” found further north belonging to the Laughen culture of the inner Alpine region, dated to c. 1,000 BC, and of the slightly later Melaun culture which continued into the second half of the first millenium BC5. These jugs have a notched handle at the back, and bands of notched and unnotched cordons around the neck and shoulders above two eye-like bossses on the girth with semi-circular cordons beneath them (Fig. B7: 3 a-b).

A number of face jar fragments have been found in southern Italy and Sicily, most of which come from large storage vessels with cylindrical necks. The faces are very schematic and abbreviated, often just two round eyes and a nose, or sometimes no eyes and just bird-wing eyebrows attached to an applied nose (Fig. B1: 3 and 5). The few vessels with face masks found in Spain seem to come mainly from the megalithic tombs of the Los Millares complex in the Almeria region in the south east, (Fig. B1: 4). They are mainly bowl forms rather than face pots, with two close-set eyes incised below the rim with notched radial eyelashes1. Small stone figurines and bone idols on which similar schematic, owl-like faces or "occuli motifs" are carved were found in the same tombs. A few very similar face bowls have been found in northern Europe (see Part II. A, Fig. B1: 6). In the rest of southern and western Europe, anthropomorphic pottery seems to be unknown. In the British Isles owl-like faces occasionally occur on objects other than pottery in the Neolithic period, as on the little chalk cylinder from a grave at Folkton Wold in Yorkshire2. More schematic faces can be found in France, on stone megaliths in Neolithic tombs around the Atlantic coast of Britanny while rather more recognisable ones, some with two breasts beneath the face, are found further inland in the region of the Marne3. But with the end of the Neolithic cultures in Europe, anthropomorphic pottery and human representation of any kind seems to virtually disappear from western and central Europe until the first millenium BC. There are just a few exceptions to this general rule, almost all associated with rock art in Scandinavia, northern Russia, south Spain and the Italian Alps, or with carved menhirs in south France and Corsica4. B.

2. While no face pots appear to be known in Italy during the Villanovan period, possible evidence for the use of schematic face masks in areas other than pottery comes from some of the Villanovan house urns which have what appears to be a schematic face on the roof or above the door6, suggesting the use of apotropaic faces to protect the entrances and roofs of houses. One house urn, this one of stone, has a large face mask on the door itself. This is thought to be from the Chiusi region, and to be of late Villanovan or early Etruscan date (Fig. B7: 6). There are also one or two bronze helmets with barely recognisable, owl-like masks that have survived thanks to their being placed in graves as the cover for cremation urns (Fig. B7: 5). Occasionally other helmets without faces were similarly used as urn lids (Fig. B7: 4). This use of helmets on cremation urns could indicate the initial stage leading to the concept of anthropomorphic burial urns.

CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ITALY IN THE FIRST MILLENIUM BC

The Minoan and Mycenaean civilisations of the Greek Middle and Late Bronze Ages seem to have had surprisingly little effect on the art or pottery of contemporary western Europe, and it is not until the arrival of Phoenician and Greek colonists in southern Italy and around the Mediterranean coasts of Spain and France in the eighth and seventh centuries BC that figurative art and anthropomorphic pottery begin to make an appearance. Virtually none of this however penetrates Europe north of the Alps until the second half of the millenium, when the central European Celts cross over the Alps into northern Italy and come into close contact with the Etruscans. B.1.

B.2.

ETRUSCAN ITALY

Greek colonisation of the western Mediterranean began in the middle of the eighth century with the colony founded by Euboeans at Cumae or Cyme, just north of the Bay of Naples, and by the end of the seventh century, the coasts of southern Italy and Sicily were studded with Greek colonies, though Etruria itself was never colonised. The Phoenicians expanded their network of trading posts into the western Mediterranean at much the same time or slightly earlier, competing with the Greeks in Sicily and Italy, and going beyond to Ibiza and Spain as well as further south to Carthage. From then on such was the volume of trade and contacts between the old world in the east and the colonists

PRE-ETRUSCAN ITALY (Fig. B7: 1-6)

1. The only examples of anthropomorphic pottery in Italy during the Bronze Age are a few bowls with barely recognisable faces belonging to the Terremare culture of the later second millenium(Fig. B7: 1-2). Very little is known

5 The Laughen-Melaun culture is thought to represent the people known in Roman times as the Raeti, believed by both Pliny (Nat Hist 3, 133) and Livy (Hist. Rom. 5, 33, 11) to be in some way related to the Etruscans. The inner-Alpine distribution of these jugs, both south and north of the main divide, is reckoned to indicate the extent of their settlement in the first half of the first millenium BC (Pauli 1980,23, Fig. 9). 6 Spivey and Stoddart 1990, Fig. 35. Iron Age house urns with similar evidence for protective face masks have been found in Germany (La Baume 1956, 105).

1

Leisner 1943, Pls. 28: 34 and 156: 1 and 4. Megaw and Simpson 1979, Fig. 4.29. Piggott, 1965, Pl. VI. 4 Kuhn 1956. 2 3

17

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER II ETRUSCAN FACE MASK, CANOPIC URNS, AND BLACK BUCCHERO FACE JARS

Fig. B8. 1-2, Chiusi region; 3,Castiglione del Lago; 4-6, Chiusi region. (Scale: No 1 at c.1:3; No 2 at 1:8; No 3 and 6 at c. 1:5; Nos 4-5 at 1:3)

18

PRE-ROMAN ANTHROPOMORPHIC POTTERY IN WESTERN EUROPE stylised features, but by the sixth century they develop increasingly realistic life-like faces.

in the new world of the west, that cultural changes taking place on the parent side in the east seem to have been almost immediately reflected in the western colonies, and through trade contacts in Etruria as well. A huge volume of Archaic Greek pottery was imported by the Etruscans, and with it Greek concepts of anthropomorphic representation and figurative art. It is possible that some of the Greek and Cypriot Geometric face jars of the eighth and seventh centuries7 may have been imported at this time as there is an unusual, unprovenanced vessel from the National Archeological Museum in Florence (Fig. B7: 7), published as Villanovan by Undset8, with a face on either side of the neck, which could be derived from these. Its squared-off handles suggest that it may have been copied from a metal vessel, an indication that such jars could have been made in both pottery and metal. In Etruria, the main stimulus for anthropomorphism and the use of face masks must almost certainly have come from Greece and the eastern Mediterranean, but the evidence of the Villanovan helmets and house urns suggests that the tradition of using abstract human masks as apotropaic symbols already existed in this area, and this could explain why the Etruscans, if indeed they were an indigenous Italian people, so readily espoused the use of human masks on pottery, on shields, and on a host of other objects as well as on houses, temples and tombs, far more than any of the other peoples in Italy outside the Greek colonies in the south. B.3. THE FACE POTS OF ETRURIA

Pl. B2. Unprovenanced Etruscan Canopic urn in the Metropolitan Museum, New York; first half 6th century BC; height c. 60 cm.

a) Etruscan Canopic face urns; mid seventh to mid sixth century (Fig. B8: 1-3)

They are often seen as the beginning of Italian portraiture, but such is the similarity of many of the later head-lids portraying a young-looking man (Fig. B8: 2 and Pl. B2)11, that it seems improbable that they can all be portraits of the dead. More likely perhaps is that they represent some deity or idealised figure into whose care the deceased has been entrusted and with whom they have been personified, as the dead Pharaohs were with Osiris. Many of the faces have pierced ears for metal ear rings which just occasionally survive. They are all fairly large, and with the head-lids on can be from 50 to 60 cm tall. Quite a number of the urns have, or had, detachable arms, or sometimes the arms were sculpted on the urn itself. Very few show signs of being female, and the one with breast bosses from Castiglione del Lago near Chiusi (Fig. B8: 3) is a rare example. They appear to have come to an end around the middle of the sixth century12.

Face masks first start appearing on Etruscan vessels around the middle of the seventh century, on large jars or jugs of black bucchero-ware and on the head lids of Canopic urns. These are cremation urns, with a stylised face plastically modelled on the lid, and are so named due to an early misconception that they were copies of the Canopic jars with head lids found in many Egyptian tombs which were used for preserving the inner organs of mummified bodies 9. The Etruscan Canopic urns could have developed from the Villanovan tradition mentioned above of placing a helmet lid on cremation urns. However it seems that in the earlier seventh century, before the Etruscan head-lids start appearing, some of the urns of Villanovan form had bronze or terracotta abstract face masks attached to the neck by bronze wires (Fig. B8: 1). Such a practice could imply a connection with a death mask tradition inherited from a different, inhumation burial rite, or a mask tradition similar to that of the Greek terracotta masks many of which have been found in graves10. The urns with head lids, which are limited to the Chiusi region, are thought to begin somewhat later in the seventh century, at first with rather primitive,

b) Etruscan black bucchero face jars; late seventh to sixth century (Fig. B8: 4 and 6) At the end of the seventh century, again in the Chiusi region, simple, plain face masks and an abundance of smaller decorative masks start appearing on the large, black bucchero vessels, know as bucchero pesante. Some of the vessels are elaborate versions of the earlier Villanovan

7

See Chapter 1, C.3, Fig. B3: 1-4 Undset 1890, 118, Fig. 9. 9 The head-of these Egyptian jars represented the four deities responsible for the different internal organs concerned. 10 See Chapter I, C.7. 8

11 12

19

Brendel 1978, Figs. 83-4. Ibid, 130.

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER II ETRUSCAN FACE BEAKERS IN PAINTED AND BLACK BUCCHERO WARES

Fig. B9. 1, Unprovenanced (Vulci workshop); 2-3 Rome; 4, Unprovenanced (Louvre) (Scale 1:2)

20

PRE-ROMAN ANTHROPOMORPHIC POTTERY IN WESTERN EUROPE bucchero ones, and is associated with a workshop at Vulci thought to have been in operation between 560-540.

biconical urns, but with domed lids with a bird on the top and a mask on the neck (Fig. B8: 6). Others are amphorae or wide necked jugs with a handle at the back as in Fig. B8: 4, again with bird lids. There are also portable hearths or cooking trays decorated with faces and smaller masks. The face masks are very like the long pear-shaped faces of the bronze face mask in Fig. B8: 1, but now they often have what appear to be long locks of hair around the face curving down and outwards, similar to those found on contemporary images of the Egyptian goddess Hathor. The presence of panther-like animals on the vase in Fig. B8: 4 could imply a Bacchic connection13. The many small masks used as decoration are more obviously of Greek or eastern inspiration, most of them Gorgons or female faces with a simple draped head-dress like those of the Greek and Phoenician terracotta protome masks (Fig. B8: 6). All these bucchero vessels are likely to have come from graves, but that does not necessarily mean that they were designed only for funerary use.

Pl. B4. Etruscan face beaker from Lazio in black bucchero ware with a handle at the back in the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien; second half 6th century BC; height c. 11 cm.

It is conceivable that some of the face beakers, of either type, may have come from graves, but all those that are from known contexts seem to have been found in votive or ritual deposits apparently buried on the occasions of templerebuilding, either at Rome or Veii. Both types of face beakers appear to be restricted to the south western corner of Etruria, or to Rome which the Etruscan Tarquins controlled in the sixth century. This was the area where pottery and other cultural traditions were most influenced by the trade from Greece and the eastern Mediterranean, unlike the inland Chiusi region where the Canopic urns and black bucchero face jars were made.

Pl. B3. Detail of face mask on large black bucchero vessel (see Fig. B8: 6) in the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore; late 7th to early 6th century BC. .

Beazley15 noted the similarity between the Etruscan face beakers, like the one in Fig. B9: 3 with two faces and two high looped handles, and the earliest Attic head vases which are of very similar date, the ones he called “face kantharoi”, which have a face on both sides representing either the young Dionysus or a satyr (Fig. B4: 5). It would seem quite possible that the former are stylised copies of these Greek vases and represent the Etruscan Dionysus, though Beazley rather surprisingly suggests that the influences could have been the other way round. Either way, the Greek and Etruscan “face kantharoi” appear to be connected with very similar cults, and provide a fascinating glimpse of the close inter-reactive relationship that existed across the Mediterranean between the potters of Attic Greece and of Etruria. The painted face beakers with the swans could also represent the same deity, and the boat-like swans may symbolise the journey over the sea to the land of the blessed, a concept very common in the cult of Dionysus, though the swans seem to be an Etruscan addition16.

c) Etruscan face beakers; second half of the sixth century (Fig. B9: 1-4) Some time in the later half of the sixth century, small face beakers appear, with very different faces, with small round button eyes. They are of around 8-12 cm high and are in either black bucchero ware or black and white painted “Etrusco-Corinthian ware”. The bucchero ones are of two forms: either with a handle at the back and a plastically modelled face on the front (Fig. B9: 4), or with two loop handles and two faces, one on either side (Fig. B9: 3). The black-and- white painted ones are all of the same form with just one handle at the back, and a plastically modelled face over-painted in black on the front. There is painted decoration on either side of the face, frequently depicting two swans, together with various symbols such as circles and crosses, which could be astral or solar signs14. This latter group can be more closely dated than the black

15

Beazley 1929, 41. One other instance for the occurrence of swans in a sepuchral context is on one of the two Etruscan terracotta masks, now in the British Museum, found in graves at Chiusi,. These look very like terracotta copies of metal masks, and are reminiscent of Roman parade masks. They are covered all 16

13 14

For the introduction of the Bacchic cult into Etruria see below under e). Colonna, 1960, 27ff; Eggar 1903, 66-8.

21

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER II are closely connected with the Bacchic tradition: satyrs, maenads, maidens (Persephone/Ariadne), youths (young Bacchus) bearded men (older Bacchus or Hercules) and Nubians (the dark Bacchus of the underworld, or his attendant). Again, some male head vases have two identical faces, but one is black and the other white, as in Pl . B3 below.

What happens to these face beakers afterwards is not clear, as they disappear from the archaeological record by the fifth century. However, as the earliest identified fragments of Roman face beakers, of apparently similar size and shape, are found in very much this same area, dating to the second century BC17, it seems possible that some kind of face beaker tradition may have continued here unnoticed, into the Roman period.

Evidence for the introduction of the Greek Bacchic cult into Etruria appears around the end of the sixth century21, about the time when the first Attic head vases would have been imported. From then on satyrs and maenads, as well as the familiar bull-horned “Achelous”22, frequently feature on antefixes, terracotta roof ornaments and on the large bronze circular plaques found in graves and known as “grave shields”23. So too does the Gorgon, though she now has outward-spiralling “horns” or tresses around her head similar to those of the Egyptian goddess Hathor and she often has a beard. Dionysiac scenes occur frequently on Etruscan mirrors and painted vases. Dionysus is portrayed in typical classical guise, though now more frequently as a rather effeminate youth carrying a kantharos and the thyrsus (his pine-cone-headed staff) than as an older bearded god. The young Dionysus seems to have been easily equated with an Etruscan deity called Fufluns whose name is frequently written beside his images, and who appears to have inherited all his iconography24.

d) Black bucchero “head jugs” with a face on the girth; fifth to fourth century (Fig. B8: 5) These jugs, with a trefoil pouring lip with eyes on either side, and a large face modelled on the body, appear to be the successors of the large ornate face jars in bucchero pesante ware, and like them come from the Chiusi area. Like the earlier face beakers, these too now seem to be stylised versions of imported head vases, but this time of the fifth century Attic head jugs, such as the ones illustrated in Fig. B4: 7-8. For the most part the faces are beardless, but there is at least one example in the Chiusi Museum with a short, neat beard. Meanwhile naturalistic, painted copies of Greek head vases were also produced in Etruria, at much the same time as these stylised copies, as can be seen below. e) Head vases, face masks, antefixes and the Etruscan Bacchic tradition (Fig. B10: 1 a-b)

There is one Etruscan head vase which is quite different from all the others so far known, and instead of portraying one of the usual stock figures, represents a fierce-looking, beak-nosed demon with a sharply pointed beard and animal ears rising above human ears25 (Pl. B1, Fig. B10: 1 a-b). He has ear-rings in his human ears, as well as three circular “studs”, and a ring in his nose from which hangs a small gem-stone. There is a handle at the back, at the base of which is a small relief-modelled mask of a satyr. Round the neck of the vase is a garland of ivy leaves. The satyr and the ivy garland indicate a continuing connection with the Dionysiac tradition26, but this is a totally new face27. So similar is this face to representations of the Etruscan underworld demon or deity Charun, who appears in tomb Pl. B5. Two unprovenanced Etruscan head vases in the Metropolitan Museum New York; 4th century BC.

21

Spivvey and Stoddart, 1990, 123. As in Greece there is a confusion between the bull-horned Achelous masks and those of the bull-horned Dionysus (Brendel 978, 213-4), but as the two are so closely associated, the Bacchic connection is not in doubt (see Appendix 1.C). 23 Brendel 1978, 233-5 and 247-8, Figs. 140, 161-2, and 172. 24 Ibid, Fig. 281; Cristofani 1985, 331, Cat. No14.2.3.1 25 His right animal ear is now missing (see Pl. B4 above). 26 Ivy is the plant most particularly associated with Dionysus and occurs in virtually all Bacchic imagery (see Burkert 2004, 84). 27 Perhaps not totally new, as there is one mid fifth century Attic head vase (also unique) of the same shape though 4.5 cm taller, found at Spina and attributed to the workshop of the vase-painter Sotades, which portrays a rather similar-looking face, though painted all over in red, and without the animal ears and grotesque, pierced, beaked nose (Hoffmann 1984, 66, Figs. 1-3). It is thought that this Greek vase may represent the ferryman of the underworld Charon. Red is the characteristic colour for many of the terracotta Dionysus masks (Wrede 1928, 90), and it could also denote a connection with the underworld. Beazley suggests that the mould for the Etruscan vase may have originally been taken, or copied from this head vase, with various modifications then added (1963, 766, 5). As with the “face kantharoi” however, the influences could have been the other way round. 22

A great many of the Attic head vases have been found in Etruscan tombs and graves, and it is possible that many of them may even have been made specifically for this market18. But by the early fourth century if not before, good, naturalistic copies were being produced in Etruria, at Chiusi and possibly elsewhere19. The faces are rather fuller and more rounded, and some are very finely modelled. Much the same figures are represented as on the Attic head vases20 and there seems little reason to doubt that these too over with meticulously incised drawings of mythological figures, panthers and swans, as well as astral signs such as crosses and spoked wheels (Benndorf 1878, Pl. XI: 1-2). 17 See Chapter III, IT Type 1. 18 Beazley 1929, 41. 19 Beazley 1947, 118. 20 Cristofani 1985, 335, Cat. Nos 14. 2. 3. 6-7.

22

PRE-ROMAN ANTHROPOMORPHIC POTTERY IN WESTERN EUROPE and vase paintings and on relief-sculpted sarcophagi from the fourth century onwards with his name XARU often written beside him (Fig. B10: 3-4), that there can be little doubt that this is his portrait. As so often, the vase is unprovenanced, and there is no indication as to where it might have been produced, though it must presumably have been somewhere in Etruria.

3. As with the Greek Gorgon, his image seems to combine elements from many other deities and demons. The nose ring is very distinctive, but such rings also occur on a number of Punic masks, mostly of the wrinkled demon kind such as the one from San Sperate in Sardinia (Fig. B11: 4). Ear-rings are more common, and may have been a regular item of male jewelry, at any rate in the Etruscan underworld, for they occur on tomb paintings of Hades/Aita and on some of the male Canopic urns, as well as on many apparently male Punic terracotta masks found in tombs at Carthage and elsewhere. The protruding fangs could have been borrowed from the Gorgon, and also the snakes, though the latter are the attributes of many other underworld figures. The blue face is an interesting feature, and recalls the blue face of the Indian god Krishnar, but it is not present in all his images (though as a colour blue may not have survived well or have been easy to reproduce, particularly on pottery). His two most distinguishing characteristics however, rendering him instantly recognisable wherever his figure occurs, are the grotesque hooked or beak-shaped nose and the long-handled croquetstyle mallet. De Ruyt31 sees the latter, along with hammers and double axes, as a classic attribute of smith gods and volcanic deities such as Hephaestus of Lemnos or the Kabeiroi of Thebes, and perhaps like them Charun too was originally a smith god from some volcanic region in Asia Minor32. The nose however may be more distinctive. None of the Near Eastern, Greek or Punic deities or demons previous to this seem to have had such a nose, though the Middle Bronze Age head vase from Jericho (Fig. 4: 1) does have quite an appreciable hooked nose, if thinner and less grotesque. The demon mask from Taranto (Fig. B11: 5) has a very similar nose, though without the beard, but this dates from the second century BC and therefore could have been influenced by Charun. Similar masks are also known from Alexandria in Egypt at this time33, but again it is not impossible that this powerful Etruscan image may have spread around the Mediterranean during the intervening two hundred years.

B.4. THE ETRUSCAN CHARUN (Fig. B10: 1-3) 1. Charun is probably the most strongly characterised and least Greek of all the figures known to us in Etruscan art. He doesn’t occur much if at all before the fourth century, when the fortunes of the Etruscan Empire were already on the wane, and when a marked change can be felt in the atmosphere of tomb paintings. The sunny land of games and dancing, where the banquet of the blessed took place amongst birds and trees, is now a dark and gloomy underground world, with Charun and a host of other demons in attendance. Just as the Gorgon was a Greek creation of the Archaic period, so Charun seems to have been an Etruscan creation of the fourth century BC. Armed with a long-handled mallet and with a fierce grimacing face that is often painted blue with pointed fangs, this Etruscan demon is a very different figure from the aged ferryman of the Greek underworld, Charon, and is much closer to the devils and demons of mediaeval paintings and passion plays. He is frequently accompanied by winged female Furies carrying torches, known as Vanths, Lasas or other names, or by another, bird-beaked and snake-haired demon called Tuchulcha. He too often has wings, and also snakes, held in his hands or knotted round his waist, as in many of the Archaic Greek full-figure portrayals of Gorgons28. 2. Like Hermes, he acts as psychopomp, but with less decorum, often dragging or driving the dead down into the underworld. He is also present at the banquets with Hades and Persephone (Aita and Persipne) or painted on or beside tomb doors, often as a pair of identical figures, one on each door, barring the way with their mallets. A pair of Charun figures may also appear in relief scenes on the sides of sarcophagi, despatching a victim with their mallets, as on an example from Tarquinia29 or accompanying funeral processions. It is impossible to imagine that such a wellrounded and colourful figure could have evolved over-night at the beginning of the fourth century BC when he first appears with his mallet and all his standard features on the painted walls of Etruscan tombs, and he must have been well known in Etruscan mythology long before that. It could be that the arrival of the Greek Bacchic cult together with the Greek concept of Hades had usurped his position in the pantheon of Etruscan underworld gods, but then the waning of Etruscan fortunes sufficed to bring him again to the fore, if in a different role. The Charun figure continues to appear on carved sarcophagi into the second century BC30.

4. There is a definite hint of theatricality in all the depictions of Charun. Like the Gorgon, his is a horrific, apotropaic image, but there is also a lighter more comic side to him as well. This is clear from the red-figure vase from Vulci (Fig. B10: 3) where he waits with an evil grin, brandishing his mallet, while Ajax slays a Trojan prisoner or, on the other side of the same vase, where he leans on his upside-down mallet leering at one of his female victims34. This element of exaggeration and comic grotesque could well reflect a tradition of theatrical performances with masked actors and dancers that were put on at funerals and at other times of the year. There are two 31

De Ruyt 1934, 183. The island of Lemnos, where the cult of Hephaestus was centred, was inhabited by non-Greek-speaking people known by the Greeks as Tyrsenoi, who they associated with the Italian Etruscans. The mysterious blacksmith gods, the Kabeiroi (or Cabiri), who in Greek mythology were the sons or grandsons of Hephaestus, were also worshipped there, as well as in their major sanctuary at Thebes. Both Hephaestus and the Kaberoi however may originally have been associated with fire-god cults which had their beginnings in Asia Minor. (Burkert 1985, 167 and 281). . 33 Boardman 1964, Fig. 213. 34 Ibid, Figs. 4-5. 32

28

De Ruyt 1934, 141 ff. Ibid, Fig. 39, No 97. 30 Brendel 1978, 419. 29

23

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER II IMAGES OF THE ETRUSCAN CHARUN

Fig. B10. 1, Unprovenanced; 2, Orvieto; 3-4, Vulci. (Scale: No 1 at c.1: 2; No 2 at 2:5; Nos 3-4 at c. 1:5).

24

PRE-ROMAN ANTHROPOMORPHIC POTTERY IN WESTERN EUROPE nosed mask (or head) with no beard and little or no hair42 starts to make its appearance on Roman head vases and head flagons made in the eastern Mediterranean, on fineware mask beakers made at Lezoux and Lyon, and on terracotta masks and glass head vases made in the Rhineland, always in the company of other Bacchic masks, and along with one or two other new-comers such as Isis and Sarapis and Cybele and Attis43. Could these Roman masks or heads be descended from the Etruscan Charun? This question is further examined in Chapter XII, A.2.

terracotta copies of what appear to be wearable masks from Orvieto which clearly represent Charun (Fig. B10: 2). There are also Charun masks carved in relief on some stone sarcophagi35 and on a terracotta mural frieze now in the Villa Giulia in Rome36. B.4.2 Charun and the Bacchic tradition Like the Gorgon in Greece, Charun some how becomes a part of the Etruscan Bacchic tradition. His portrayal on a head vase is in itself an indication of this. Further evidence is provided by the ivy leaf garland around the neck of the vase, the satyr mask at the base of the handle at the back, and the pricked animal ears, similar to the ears of satyrs and even found on some early Roman portraits of Bacchus37. On the Orvieto masks, the ears are shaped in the form of leaves, as can be the case with some satyr masks, emphasising the connection with vegetation and fertility. There are also several Etruscan vase paintings where Charun or the person he is accompanying to the underworld carry the Dionysiac thyrsus or pine-cone-headed staff, while on the vase from Vulci illustrated in Fig. B10: 4, he wears a diadem and a Bacchic gown38, and is carrying a wreath. Such a fierce underworld demon and probable former smith god seems an odd figure to be included in the Bacchic company, but in Greece Hepahestus the smith god was also closely associated with Dionysus, 39 while the Kabeiroi at Thebes, were at the centre of a mystery cult with many similarities to that of Dionysus40. Pausanias41, who refuses to reveal the essential mysteries, says only that it was associated with Demeter and involved a father called Prometheus and his son Aitnaios. The wine cups excavated from the Kabeirion at Thebes show an older man very similar to the Greek bearded Dionysus and a boy (his son?), and a great many grotesque dwarf-like dancing figures, executed in a burlesque, impressionistic style reminiscent of some of the more caricature figures of Charun and his fellow demons. As with so much of Etruscan pre-history and mythology, it is a great loss that we know nothing of Charun’s origins. It may well have been that his association with Bacchus reflected an earlier relationship with the ever-youthful Etruscan Fufluns.

C.

SOUTHERN ITALY AND THE GREEK COLONIES (Fig. B11: 1-5)

There seem to be two parallel trends in south Italian pottery production, one based in the Greek cities, closely following the forms and decoration of the Greek homelands, and the other more rurally based, representing a mixture of Greek and local ceramic traditions which culminates in some of the most baroque and exuberant pottery of the Ancient World44. C.1.

Face Jars.

It is not clear if the Greek colonies in southern Italy shared the black and white painted face jars or male spout jugs of Early Archaic Greece45 and many of them could have been founded too late. But a tradition for putting schematic faces on large storage vessels seems to have existed, in Campania at least, by the fourth century if not before. A large face fragment from a huge jar was found placed like a death mask over the face of the deceased in an inhumation grave at Alife in Campania thought to date to the fourth century (Fig. B11: 3). Interestingly enough, to judge by the features of the face with its applied bird-wing eyebrows and by what can be seen of the neck of the vessel, it is not unlike some of the much earlier face jars of southern Italy from the Neolithic period (Fig. B1: 3-4), though the cut-out eyes are unusual. C.2.

Fair Medusa mask vases

From the sixth century, the most popular face mask on south Italian pottery seems to be the fair Medusa. One typical type of vessel with this mask is a local black-andwhite painted jar or askos with two openings and a handle on top, and simple, decorative, painted patterns on the body and neck, which lasts from around the later sixth century into the fourth. An early version of the fair Medusa mask is painted on one side, or on both sides, below the handle (Fig. B11: 1). These seem to give way in the third century or possibly slightly earlier to the much more elaborate and sometimes quite absurdly ornate, white-slipped vases known as Canosa ware, though they may not all have come from there. Here the double-mouthed askos often becomes treble-mouthed, but the mouths are then blocked and

6. Outside Etruria however, there seems to be little evidence for the image of Charun being included with other Bacchic figures or masks during the next three hundred years. But from the first century AD, if not earlier in some regions, following Rome’s expansion eastwards across the Mediterranean and northwards across the Alps, a beak35

De Ruyt 1934, Nos 84 and 124 Ibid, No 130. Ward Perkins and Claridge 1978, 68 and 169, No 141. 38 This Bacchic gown was called the baddara, and was worn only by Dionysus and his priests (Farnell 1909, 161). According to Apollodorus (3.5.1), he borrowed the gown from Cybele, the goddess ”from whom he learnt his mysteries”, and by putting it on he could harness the female reproductive force and thus increase his fertility powers. This concept may lie behind the strange, enigmatic tradition for cross-dressing that runs all through the Dionysiac festivals and theatre, and was an important element in the fertility dances. 39 See Appendix I, D.6. 40 Burkert 1985, 281-2. 41 Book IX, 25.5-9. 36 37

42

Not dissimilar in fact to the second century BC Italo-Punic mask from Taranto in Fig. B11: 5. 43 See Appendices IV, Fig. S5: 11 and V, Fig. S6: 7-11. 44 Walters 1905, 325-9. 45 See Chapter I, C.3 and C.4.

25

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER II SOUTH ITALIAN MASKED VASES AND FACE MASKS

Fig. B11.

1-2, Apulia; 3, Alife (Campania); 4; San Sperate (Cagliari, Sardinia); 5, Taranto. (Scale: Nos 1-2 at c. 1:6; No 3 at 2:5; Nos 4-5 at c. 1:3) 26

PRE-ROMAN ANTHROPOMORPHIC POTTERY IN WESTERN EUROPE The fair Medusa masks which became increasingly popular in the Hellenistic period seem to have been by far the most common face mask used on Apulian pottery, and on antefixes. They also appear on the volute handles of the large kraters, clearly copied from metal vases, which became very popular in the third century, and which may also have been designed to be used in graves.

terracotta statuettes of young women more than half as tall as the vase itself, often with wings or praying with up-lifted arms, are placed on top. On the front of the vase a large, plastically modelled Medusa mask is applied (and generally another at the back), which may be flanked by two rearing horses emerging out of the pot wall, probably representing Pegasus the winged horse born of the Medusa as she lay dying. Below the horses, on the vase in Pl. B6, are paintings of the tamed Pegasus with Belerophon on his back. Some of these vases are enormous, and are just imitation vases with false bottoms. It is quite probable that they were designed only for funerary use46. There are also other forms, such as a huge head vase on top of which is perched a winged figure much taller than the body of the vase, precariously tall loop handle at the back, and with two other free-standing heads on either side47.

C.3.

Head vases

Pl. B7. Unprovenanced Apulian head vase in the Metropolitan Museum New York, early 3rd century (lekythos with neck and handle missing).

As in Etruria, head vases were first been imported from Greece, and then produced locally in polychrome painted wares in Apulia and elsewhere in southern Italy and Sicily in the fourth and third centuries. Again we have much the same cast of characters, though there seems little sign of the beak-nosed Charun figure in this Greek dominated region. The hair on some of these Apulian head vases is very elaborately modelled, and must have been sculpted by hand after the leather-hard vase was removed from the two-piece mould, as on the head vase in Pl. B7. In the last two centuries BC, head vases, perhaps mainly in the form of jugs, are produced in plain red wares in Apulia and probably elsewhere in southern Italy, as well as a variety of plastic figurine vases. It is not clear to what extent they continue during the Roman period, but they appear to be less frequent finds than in the eastern Mediterranean and around the Black Sea.

Pl. B.6 Huge Canosa-ware vase with a fair Medusa mask at the front and at the back, in the British Museum, 3rd century BC.

More moderate in size and scope is the tall-necked vase with a typical Hellenistic fair Medusa mask on either side, with wings sprouting out of her hair illustrated in Fig. B11: 2. This has a bronze foot ring. The pink and orange decorative painting is unfortunately too abraded to reproduce.

46 47

C.4.

Terracotta masks

The cult of Dionysus was wide-spread throughout southern Italy and Sicily, as was Greek theatre. Apart from the theatres themselves, the main evidence comes from stone cut tombs and graves in which terracotta Bacchic and

Walters 1905, 118-9, Pl. VI: b. Ibid, Pl. VI: a.

27

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER II “theatrical” masks are frequently found48. Bacchic scenes also occur on city-made Campanian painted vases. Small, painted terracotta plaque masks belonging to the same tradition are frequently found nailed to the walls in Campanian tombs of early to mid fifth century date49 and elsewhere in southern Italy50. As mentioned above in relation to the mask from Taranto, rather different terracotta masks of Phoenician and Punic origin occur in Sicily, Sardinia and in the heel of Italy, which include many demonic or grotesque types that are not present among the colonial Greek masks, some of which have affinities with the Etruscan Charun51 (Fig. B11: 4-5). C.5.

Antefixes

The same mask types prevail as in Greece and Etruria, with Gorgon ever popular along with other Bacchic types. The stone satyr mask below very probably came from a tomb, and may not have served as an actual antefix.

Pl. B8 Unprovenanced stone Gorgon antefix from Campania or Taranto in the Fitzwilliam museum Cambridge; 5-4th century BC.

C.6. Face or figurine jugs Flagon-shaped face jugs with faces on the neck, sometimes with two small, thin arms attached, occasionally occur on Punic sites in southern Italy, Sicily and Sardinia52. They are clearly related to the more frequent and very similar figurine jugs found on Punic sites in north Africa which have larger arms which are often placed beneath little button breasts in the pose typical of Astarte-Tanit53.

48 A good selection are on display in the National Archaeological Museum at Syracuse, particularly from Megara Hyblaea. 49 Wrede 1928, 91. 50 There is a good selection of them in the British Museum and the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. 51 See Cintas, 1946, Mask Groups 1-5, in particular Pl. IX: 69, Pl.X: 76-7, Pl. XI: 82, and Pl. XIII: 88 52 I. Undset, Zeitschrift für Ethnologie XXII, 1890, 141, Fig. 36. 53 Cintas, 1950, Pl. LVIII: 20; Musées et Colls. de l’Algérie et la Tunisie, Mus. Constantine (1893), 63, Pl. XII: 1-3; Mus. d’Alger (1927), Pl. II: 1.

28

PRE-ROMAN ANTHROPOMORPHIC POTTERY IN WESTERN EUROPE

PART II THE PRE-ROMAN ANTHROPOMORPHIC POTTERY OF NORTHERN EUROPE AROUND THE SOUTHERN SHORES OF THE BALTIC SEA A.

THE NEOLITHIC PERIOD

The exact dating for these face urns is still somewhat imprecise. The Scandinavian face urns and possibly the German ones as well are thought to begin sometime in Period V of the Scandinavian Bronze Age, c. 900 to 650 BC58, though there have been suggestions that they could go back to Period IV, c.1200-900 BC59, while the Polish face urns are generally believed to start in the Early European Iron Age, during the Hallstatt C period, c. 750 600 BC60. It is possible therefore that the Scandinavian ones are the earliest. The Polish face urns however are the most numerous (around 2,000 or more), whereas considerably less are known from Germany and Scandinavia61.

Far fewer Neolithic pots with faces have been found in northern Europe. Most of them come from passage graves in Denmark (Fig. B1: 6), but at least one example is known from Germany, near Berlin54. They appear to be roughly contemporary with the examples found at Los Millares in Almeria in south east Spain, and like them they seem to be mainly bowl forms, with round owl-like eyes below the rim with radial, daisy-like eyelashes and applied noses and eyebrows55. After the end of the Neolithic period however, as was the case in Italy and Spain, all evidence for anthropomorphic pottery seems to vanish until some time in the first half of the first millenium BC, when face pots again re-appear in roughly this same corner of northern Europe56. B.

B.1 The German and Scandinavian face urns of the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age (Fig. B12: 1-3) These are all of the type described by La Baume as “primitive” face urns, without ears or ear-rings or any other anthropomorphic features or details of decoration except for a schematic face62. They tend to be of a simple globular shape, with virtually no shaping of the neck (Fig. B12: 3). Many have lids, either rounded, bowl-shaped ones, often with an inner ridge or rim, or flat, platter-shaped lids. It is this type which is by far the most wide-spread, and is found in Poland and east Germany in the Hallstatt C period, as well as in north Germany and Scandinavia. The faces are very abbreviated, often just two perforated eye-holes on the neck (Fig. B12: 3), with sometimes the addition of a nose blob. Some of the flat lids may have eye-holes as well as the urn, or instead of it (Fig. B12: 4). On others, particularly in Denmark and Schleswig Holstein, a handle or lug-handle serves as the nose with eyes on either side and sometimes this is widened out at the bottom to form a mouth (Fig. B12: 2). There are also some with applied, bird-wing eyebrows with or without small applied eyes beneath (Fig. B12: 1). These face urns have much less in the way of grave goods than the Polish ones; half of them have nothing, while others have just a bronze or later an iron knife, or bronze buttons or brooches.

THE FIRST MILLENIUM BC

The earliest face pots start appearing in northern Europe in the vicinity of the southern Baltic Sea towards the end of the Scandinavian Bronze Age, sometime in the first three centuries of the first millenium BC. They occur in north west Poland (Pomerania and Silesia), in east-central Germany (Anhalt Saxony), in north Germany (in the area of the Lower Elbe and in Schleswig Holstein), in most of Denmark and in the southern tip of Norway (see map on Fig. B6). These are all cremation urns, buried in flat urnfield cemeteries, almost invariably in stone-lined cist graves. In north Poland the large numbers of face urns found in Early Iron Age graves led to the Early Iron Age culture of that region being called the Face Urn Culture. House urns - pots made in the shape of a house or hut, some rather less hut-like than others, but all with a rectangular door on the front, which may or may not open - are often found in the same cemeteries and graves as the face urns, and some even have face-urn faces above or on the door, or placed on the ridge of the roof. These house urns occur in all the regions where face urns are found, and they are clearly closely associated with them57. This has given rise to theories that there could be some connection, perhaps via the amber route, with the Villanovan-early Etruscan peoples of Italy, who also buried some of their dead in hut urns and face urns. The two cultures are roughly contemporary, but it seems possible that the northern face urns may have started before the Italian ones.

B.2. The Polish face urns of the Early and Middle Iron Age (Fig. B12: 4-6) In Poland and what used to be Silesia the stone-lined graves often had several cremation urns in each grave, and sometimes other pottery vessels as well. They may have

54

58

Crawford 1957, Fig. 38: a-b, Pl. 31a; La Baume 1963, 3. Crawford 1957, 108. 56 It does not seem impossible that face mask traditions may have continued undetected in this relatively remote region of Europe during the Bronze Age, but were rarely if ever recorded in ceramic form until the first millenium BC. 57 La Baume 1956, 105-7, Figs. 2-3; Behn 1924, 58 ff.

Haavaldsen 1985, 28-9. Baudou 1960, 104-5. Kostrzewski 1958. 61 La Baume 1956, 105-9; Broholm 1953, Nos 377-395; Haavaldsen 1985, 25-31. 62 La Baume 1956, Abb. 4: 1-14 and Abb.5: 3-8; Broholm 1953, Nos 37795

55

59 60

29

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER II NORTH EUROPEAN FACE POTS Nos 1-6, Iron Age; Nos 7-9, Roman Period

Fig. B12.

1-2, Jutland; 3, Stavanger (Norway); 4, Wulfen (Saxony); 5, Grabova (Poland); 6, Poblocie (Pol.); 7, Maden (North Hessen); 8, Fünen (Denmark); 9, Nijmegen. (Scale: all at c. 1:6 except No 7 at 1:3) 30

PRE-ROMAN ANTHROPOMORPHIC POTTERY IN WESTERN EUROPE central shaft pole drawn by two horses yoked in a team67. There may also be rather stylised pine trees, drawn singly or in a network pattern as on the one from Grabowa illustrated in Fig. B12: 5. Other urns have spoked wheels thought to represent solar symbols, or sun disks raised on stelae. Similar drawings also occur on urns of the same form but without faces found in the same cemeteries in Pomerania and Silesia68, but they do not seem to occur on any of the German or Scandinavian face urns or urns found further west69.

been used for family burials over a number of years. Sometimes all the urns in a grave will have faces, or just one, or none at all. Cemeteries in the core area of Pomerania have the largest numbers of face urns, with the numbers declining the further they are from the centre. However, even in the core area not all cemeteries necessarily have face pots63.The urns are large and well made in dark brown burnished ware, and are from around 28 - 40 cm tall. Apart from cremated bones, they often contained articles of bronze jewelry which had presumably belonged to the deceased, such as pins, rings, brooches, bracelets and neck rings, and occasionally bronze axe heads, and later iron spear heads and knives64.

By the end of the fifth century the Polish face urn culture spreads south-eastwards, and the urns revert to being mainly eye urns again. They cease to be tall, biconical urns, and become “egg-shaped or terrine shaped”70. They last on in Poland until the third century, though no longer in the northern part of the country.

Most of the earliest face pots of Hallstatt C period are similar to the “primitive” face pots described above, but there are also some which are of a more biconical shape and with more obvious faces with a plastically modelled nose (not just a blob) and incised or applied eyes and sometimes mouths.

B.3. Face pots in northern Europe from the later Iron Age to the Roman period (Fig. B12: 7-9)

From these evolve what La Baume describes as the “developed” face pots of the Hallstatt D period (sixth to fifth century) which occur only in Poland. These are tall urns, around 30-35 cm high without their lids, with globular or biconical bodies and tall cylindrical necks. They generally have either shallow, domed lids or higher conical lids, mostly without eyes. There seem to have been male urns for men and female urns for women. The female ones have vertical lug ears with two or three holes into which wire ear-rings were looped, generally with pendant beads. A few even have bronze or iron rings around the necks of the urn. There are often incised lines or patterns round the neck representing necklaces, and dress pins may be incised on the body (Fig. B12: 6). The faces are still very simple and standardised on both types - an applied nose and round, incised eyes, and sometime a small, slit mouth. There may also be applied eyebrows. The male urns generally, but not always, have applied, crescent shaped ears, with no earrings or incised neck rings, though occasionally fragments of bronze or iron neck rings and bracelets have been found inside male urns65. They may also contain razors and axe heads. Occasionally some of the urns have applied or incised arms and hands66. The decoration on the outside of the urn relates to the gender of the deceased, and it seems possible that the jewelry depicted on the female urns, and probably some of drawings on the male ones, may have been personalised in some way for the deceased. Portraiture however can hardly have been envisaged with such standardised faces.

There is very little evidence for face urns in northern Europe from the fifth century until the end of the millenium apart from the Polish ones mentioned above of La Tène A and B. They must almost certainly have continued in Denmark however, as several are known from there of Early Roman Iron Age date, mostly it seems still cremation urns, and probably also in west Germany to judge by one face jar fragment of second to third century AD date found at Maden in north Hessen (Fig. B12: 7). These can be either bowl-shaped vessels or wide-bellied flasks with a face on the neck or girth. The faces are quite varied: with a handle nose (Fig. B12: 8); with large incised eyes and nose and sometimes mouth71; with compact m-shaped faces with down-curving eyebrows (Fig. B12: 7) or small, round, applied “Celtic” faces, similar to those on the two handled pot from Novo Mesto, but not in such high relief72. “Eye urns” or very schematic face urns, with just two eye dents on the shoulder below the rim are also found, and in far greater numbers, on the coastal plain on either side of the Rhine delta in northern Holland and Belgium and north east France73 (Fig. B12: 9). In Belgium they are thought to date from the second to the fourth century AD, but they also occur in the cemetery of the legionary fortress at Nijmegen of probable Flavian date74. 67

Ibid, Fig. 12: A1-5 and B1-2, and Fig. 15: 1-3. La Baume 1949-50, Fig. 5: 1-4, and Fig. 9. 69 The figurative drawings on the male pots bear a surprisingly close resemblance to some of the rock carvings in the Val Camonica in the Italian Alps attributed to the end of the second millenium BC (Anati 1961, 50 and 114), which have the same pin men with spears and shields, and, in particular, the same four-wheeled wagons depicted as from above with the spoked wheels laid out flat at each corner, while the men and horses are drawn in silhouette. Together with the sun disks, solar symbols and pine trees there are also strong affinities with the rock carvings of southern Scandinavia and the repoussé work on vessels and other objects made of sheet bronze found in central Europe, associated with urn-field cemeteries of the Hallstatt period. 70 La Baume 1956, 103. 71 Glob, 1937, Figs. 29-35. 72 See below, part III, A.3, Fig. B13: 2. 73 See Chapter V, FS Type 27, Fig. E3: 3-4 74 Stuart 1963, 73, Type 201 C. 68

The most interesting features of the male urns, though only of some of them, are the incised drawings, often executed with a rouletting wheel, possibly in imitation of the impressed dot drawings on bronze sheet metal work. These show pin men, sometimes with shields, swords and spears, on foot or on horses, or driving four-wheeled wagons with a 63

La Baume 1963, 4. Ibid, 9. Ibid, 103. 66 Ibid, Pl. 37: 4-5. 64 65

31

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER II

PART III THE FACES AND FACE MASKS OF CELTIC EUROPE. hundreds if not thousands of years occurring on a wide range of objects from column capitals to amulets, bed heads and pottery jars. A good example of the Etruscan version of the mask set between two lion-like felines occurs on the handle from an Etruscan jug now in the Newcastle Museum of Antiquities (No 2), but masks with Hathor-like locks also occur on Etruscan black bucchero jars, such as the one in Fig. B8: 4. The bronze plaque from Hallstatt (No 4) and the linchpin from Niederweis (No 7) are examples of what are probably the commonest Celtic adaptations of the mask, and the most long-lived. The gold plaque from Weisskirchen (No 3) which has four such heads around a central gem stone and the bronze plaque from Wadalgesheim (No 5) are more developed variations on the theme, and don’t appear to have lasted long. What they do illustrate is the Celtic love of notching which, like the repoussé dots of the earlier metal-work artists on the Danube, could have originated from wood-working techniques. The face on the Malborough vat (No 8) and the profile faces on the Rynkeby cauldron (No 5) are later, more naturalistic versions. Face masks which are very close to this “Hathor-locks” type are found on a number of face pots, most of which come from the Upper Danube77. The locks are drawn either in tiny dots or with notched cordons. One example comes from south of the Alps, on one of the earliest Italian face beakers, which is unprovenanced but thought to come from northern Italy, with a face on either side with long out-curving notched eyebrows78.

A. CENTRAL EUROPE OF THE EARLY LA TÈNE PERIOD (Figs. B13: 2-8 and B14: 2-5) During the second half of the first millenium BC human images (though no true face pots) also occur in central Europe on either side of the Alps, in the region of the upper Rhine and upper Danube north of the Alps, and from northern Italy to Slovenia on the south side (see map on Fig. B6). This is the core region where Celtic Early La Tène art developed from the fifth to the third centuries BC, an art style known almost entirely from metal work, but which must also have been expressed in organic materials such as wood, leather and textiles of which little if any trace remains. This area is at the hub of the overland routes coming into Europe from the eastern and western Mediterranean and from the steppes beyond the Black Sea. Elements of Etruscan, Greek and Scythian art - in particular Etruscan masks, Greek decorative motifs and Scythian-style animals - are combined in a fluid, curvilinear abstract art form which is quite unlike anything that has gone before. Elusive, barely perceived, and enigmatic human faces woven into the overall decorative design are an essential characteristic of Early La Tène art, but they are hard if not impossible to categorise and for the most part do not appear to have had much connection with Roman face pot masks. There are however other, larger, more obvious faces or masks which occur either as a central motif in a decorative design or standing alone. There is little evidence that the Celts used these masks to any significant extent on ceramic face pots, or as terracotta masks or antefixes in the way that the Greeks and Etruscans did, though we cannot know what use may have been made of them in wood and other organic materials. But they do quite often occur on metal vessels, not as a large centrally placed mask, but rather less conspicuously positioned, to decorate a jug handle or a mount on a hanging bowl or cauldron. A.1.

A.2.

This face or mask does not seem to emerge much before the third century BC, but it then continued to be used on Celtic metal work for over a millenium as can be seen from the enamelled mount on a Celtic hanging bowl found in a Viking grave in Norway in the tenth century AD (Fig. B14: 3). Nine very similar heads occur on the third century BC gold plaque from Manerbio in northern Italy, one of four found in the same deposit (Fig. B14: 4). They all have typically notched Celtic eye-lids and short notched hair. The down-turned mouth could denote the Celtic moustache, and there is no beard. These mask-like heads are very similar to the life-size stone head with a curling moustache and a torc around the neck which was found in a third century BC sacred enclosure in the Slany region near Prague (Fig. B14: 5). This was probably a cult image intended to be placed on the top of a stone or wooden pillar similar to the ones found at Holzgerlingen in Baden Würtemburg or at Bichl, Matrei, in the Tyrol79.

The “Hathor-locks” mask (Fig. B13: 1-8)

This mask with horns or locks of hair curling down and spiralling out on either side of the face similar to the mask of the Egyptian goddess Hathor75 is the most distinctive of the Celtic metalwork masks and dates from the beginnings of Early La Tène art76. The Celts received versions of this mask from the Etruscans., who may in turn have received it from the Phoenicians. Fig. B13 shows how this mask seems to have evolved over four or five hundred years at the hands of Celtic metal smiths. A typical version of the Egyptian mask is carved on the capitals of the six columns of the Late Bronze Age temple of Hathor at Abu Simbel (No 1). This standardised mask continued little changed for many 75 76

The rounded, egg-shaped mask (Fig. B14: 2-5)

77 Chapter VII, UD Types 2-4, Fig. G3: 1, 2 and 4, Fig. G4: 4, and Fig. G5: 1-2. 78 Chapter III, IT Type 3, Fig. C2: 2. 79 Torbrügge 1968, 240 and 235

See Chapter I, Pl. A3 and Note 22. Frey 1980, 81.

32

PRE-ROMAN ANTHROPOMORPHIC POTTERY IN WESTERN EUROPE THE EGYPTIAN HATHOR MASK AND ITS REFLECTIONS IN ETRUSCAN AND CELTIC METAL-WORK DESIGN, c.500-100 BC

Fig. B13. 1, Abu Simbel; 2, Unprovenanced (Etruscan); 3, Weisskirchen (Saarland); 4, Hallstatt (Austria); 5, Waldalgesheim (Mosel); 6, Malborough (Brit.); 7, Niederweis (Mosel); 8, Rynkeby (Denmark). (Scale: various)

33

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER II cauldrons, both found in Denmark though probably not made there, and the wooden Malborough vat with silver decorative mounts and bands from Britain (Fig. B13: 6 and 8). Both these cauldons and the “masks” provide some indication for the Celtic portrayal of divinities in the late La Tène period.

There is one Early La Tène ceramic jar with two handles and two small, projecting masks or heads of this type on the shoulder, one on each side, which is probably the Celtic vessel that comes closest to a face pot (Fig. B14: 2). It comes from Novo Mesto in Slovenia, from a grave of third century BC date and is very probably a copy of a metal vessel80. The two handles with their lightly etched, faintly zoomorphic curvilinear pattern and with double-headed snakes with duck-bills along the edges are distinctly reminiscent of bronze handles, while the two small appliqué egg-shaped heads are very like the mounts on hanging bowls or cauldrons. Somewhat similar though cruder twohandled jars with applied projecting masks were made at Brampton in Norfolk in the later Roman period which could also have been copied from metal vessels81.

It is not possible to identify any very close connection between these Celtic vessels and masks and Roman face pots, though there are a number of face pot faces that reveal traces of somewhat similar Celtic influences. The m-shaped eyebrows and nose of the Borgholm mask (Fig. B14: 7) are a recurring feature on face pots from many different provinces. The frowning, T-shaped eyebrows of the Skogsby mask (Fig. B14: 8) is reminiscent of the Janusfaced Iron-Age cult statue from Holzgerlingen near Stuttgart, and it is possible that such a frowning mask was well known in this region of south west Germany and is reflected in the faces of several of the upper Rhineland face pots87, while a very similar down-turned mouth suddenly crops up on some Late Roman face pots in north east Britain88. The down-drooping almond-shaped eyes of the unprovenanced mask in the Tarbes museum (Fig. B14: 6) are a feature often found on Celtic stone heads and metalwork masks89, and can be recognised on a small group of face pots from the Nijmegen-Xanten area of the lower Rhineland90.

There are a number of face pots, particularly in Britain, with small, medallion-type faces that could be related to this mask82. It is also possible that the Roman m-shaped mask type with the semi-circular eyebrows framing the face, which occurs from time to time in most of the provinces where face pots are found, might also be a version of this mask 83.

B.

WESTERN EUROPE OF THE LATE LA TÈNE PERIOD

By the second and first centuries BC, as Mediterranean influences spread through western Europe, anthropomorphic imagery, hitherto so rare, gradually becomes more common, and in some regions, and particularly in southern France, there is growing evidence for the portrayal of the gods in human form. B.1.

The halo of spiral curls of the Tarbes mask and of several of the masks found in France is of particular interest as it provides a link with the Gallo-Belgic planetary vases or vases à bustes, a unique group of Roman ceramic cult vessels from the Meuse-Sambre region of Belgium and north east France decorated with mould-made busts believed to represent Gallo-Roman deities. Most of these have (or rather had, for most are very fragmentary) between six to seven busts but a few had only two or three. They are described in Appendix III. The most striking feature of these deity busts is the arrangement of spiral curls around their faces. The origins of these vases are little understood, but one theory is that they are derived from precious metal vessels such as the Celtic silver cauldrons of the Gundestrup type. They do not fit into the category of face pots but they do appear to have influenced and interacted with the face pots made in the region of Gallia Belgica where they occur, which almost all have a circle of schematic “curls” around the face, often in the form of spiral bosses91. Similar faces surrounded with spiral or stamped bosses occur on Late Roman face pots in north east Britain92, though as yet no obvious connection can be discerned between the two regions.

Metal masks and cauldrons

In France, a number of silver or bronze “masks” have been found belonging to this period84, many if not most of which may have been cult images from statues like the crosslegged figure found at Bouray in the region of the Seine and Oise rivers85. Virtually all of them now have naturalistic features and many have a halo of spiral curls around the face (Fig. B14: 6).Their mask-like appearance with holes cut out for the eyes is probably due to the fact that the holes originally held precious stones representing the eyes. A number of much smaller bronze masks with rather different, more austere and schematic features have also been found in the Öland region of Denmark86 (Fig. B14: 7-8). These are more like plaques with nail holes for attachment to walls or perhaps to small shrines or whatever. There are also a few very elaborate silver cauldrons or bowls, clearly precious cult vessels, that are decorated with human faces and sometimes figures, such as the Gundestrup and Rynkeby 80

Knez, 1990, 132-3, Figs. 90-91. See Chapter IX, Pt IV, RB Type 44, Fig. J19: 4-6. 82 See for instance Chapter IX, Figs. J5: 4; J12: 1,2 and 7; J14: 8; and J16: 10-11. 83 See Figs. C5: 1; D6: 4; G2: 3-4; G5: 3; H12: 1 and 3; J7: 2; J10: 5; J14: 5 and J16: 2-3 84 Lantier 1940, 104 ff. 85 Powell, 1980, 163, Fig. 112. 86 Halbert 1961, 107-122. 81

87

See Chapter IV, Figs, D6: 2, D7: 4, and D17: 8-9). See Chapter IX, Fig. J13: 5-6. 89 For example Ross, 1967, Pls. 24c-d, 40a and 64c. 90 See Chapter IV, Figs. D6: 1 and D7: 5-6. 91 See Chapter V, FS Type 21, Fig. E5: 1-3. 92 See Chapter IX, Fig J13. 88

34

PRE-ROMAN ANTHROPOMORPHIC POTTERY IN WESTERN EUROPE

CELTIC FACE POTS (1-2) AND CELTIC MASKS AND CULT IMAGES No 1, 5th century BC, Nos 2-7, c. 3rd –2nd century B.C.

Fig. B14. 1, Avila (Spain); 2, Novo Mesto (Slovenia); 3, Myklebostad (Norway); 4, Manerbio (N. Italy); 5, Mcecké Zehrovice, Slany (Bohemia); 6, Tarbes? (Pyrenees); 7, Borgholm (Denmark); 8, Skogsby (Denmark). (Scale: No 1 at 1:4; No 2 at c. 1:6; No4 at 1:2; Nos 5-6 at c. 1:3; Nos 7-8 at c. 3:4)

35

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER II B.2

There is little evidence for kernoi in central and western Europe after the Hallstatt period, but in the eastern Mediterranean and around the Black Sea they appear to continue without interruption into the Roman period. They re-appear in western Europe in the Roman period in a less globular, more jar-like form, sometimes with handles, sometimes without, and with just three or sometimes only two spouts on the shoulder or attached to the rim. There are three main types: face jars with two or three spouts; snake pots, with applied snakes on the body and rim, which generally have three spouts but occasionally have two101; and plain jars with three spouts and sometimes three handles as well. The spouts may be pierced or blind (i.e. with no holes in the base connecting with the interior of the pot). As with the earlier kernoi, there is no clear understanding of the function of the spouts, and they may have served a variety of purposes102.

Face masks on ceramic vessels

As in the Early La Tène period in central Europe, there seems to be no evidence for any true Celtic face pots. Vessels decorated with faces or masks may occasionally turn up, as for instance a bowl of La Tène II period found near Ávila in Spain with a long-nosed face rather buried in the decorative scheme93 (Fig. B14: 1). But like the Novo Mesto vessel described above, there is no evidence that these were part of well established face pot or face urn traditions like those of Etruscan Italy or northern Baltic Europe. C. THE KERNOS A European Iron Age vessel form related to Roman face pots (Fig. B12: 10). There is one other vessel type from Iron Age Europe which is not a face pot but has features in common with many Roman face pots, and that is the kernos or cauldron-shaped vessel with a number of cup-shaped “spouts” or little cups on the shoulder or around the rim. The pre-Roman examples all seem to come from central Europe and to belong to the Hallstatt D period. There is one well-known example from Monzernheim near Worms in the upper Rhineland with eight spouts around the rim94 (Fig. B12: 10), but there are also examples with just four spouts as in the case of three almost identical vessels from the Hallstatt period cemetery at Novo Mesto in Slovenia95 and another very similar vessel from Sticna in Slovenia96. These are all dark brown or black and highly burnished, which suggests that they may have been copies of bronze vessels.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS There are two clear areas of Europe west of the Balkans where well developed pre-Roman face pot traditions existed during the first millenium – Etruscan Italy and northern Europe in the vicinity of the southern Baltic. The fact that it was more or less in these two same areas that the only other pre-Roman pottery with face masks is known, namely the few pieces from the Neolithic period, is a rather surprising coincidence, and it is conceivable that some kind of face mask tradition may have continued in perishable, organic materials in these two regions during the Bronze Age. But it is also possible that in both regions and at both times, the use of face masks was the result of imported influences, brought by traders or settlers from the eastern Mediterranean. The sea routes to Italy and Spain are obvious. The overland (or sea) routes to the Baltic were more dangerous and difficult, but at the end of them was Baltic amber.

Ceramic kernoi with varying numbers of spouts, generally but not always with holes in the base connecting with the interior of the pot, have their origins in the East, and go back as far as the fourth millenium BC97. Like the ring vases, which also have similar spouts or inter-connecting cups, they are found in Minoan Crete98. In the first millenium BC they seem to have been particularly associated with various mystery cults; large numbers of fragments of them have been found at the sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone at Eleusis, and also on the slopes of the Acropolis in Athens, in the vicinity of the Eleusinion. There are varying accounts of how these vessels were used. Nilsson quotes various ancient sources describing the use of these vessels, some indicating that a lamp was placed in or on them, or that incense was burnt in them, or that fruits or seeds of different kinds were placed in the spouts99. A kernos is also said to have been used to contain the bull’s genitals during the taurobolium in the cult of Cybele100.

In neither of these two areas can direct continuity of local face pot traditions into the Roman period be clearly demonstrated in the archaeological record. However, the earliest Roman face pots known so far are a few small fragments of thin-walled face beakers found in almost exactly the same area of central Italy as the Etruscan face beakers, bearing what appear to be very similar face masks and of much the same shape and size to judge by slightly later complete examples103. The likelihood that there was some continuity, possibly in other materials, seems to be very high. In the north, the later Polish face urns of the La Tène period seem to tail off into obscurity in south east Poland. But in northern Germany and Denmark eye urns and face urns with schematic faces appear to continue into the Roman period, though the main focus has now apparently shifted westwards to either side of the Rhine delta. It is not impossible that during the migrations that took place in Europe in the later part of the first millenium, some of the

93 The applied or incised object near the base of the pot that looks like a hammer or mallet, could possibly imply some connection with a local smith god or the Celtic Sucellos. 94 Dechelette 1927, II, 2, 811,Fig. 325: 1. 95 Knez 1986, Pl. T.78: IV/20. 96 Musem für Vor-und Frühgeschichte, Berlin, Inv. No UE.3. 97 In the Pergamum Museum in Berlin there is a large amphora-sized Sumerian jar from Uruk with four pierced spouts on the shoulder attached to the rim, said to be of early fourth millenium date. 98 Nilsson 1950, 134-40. 99 Ibid, 450-2 100 Walton 1949, 246b.

101

See Appendix VI. Face pots with spouts are discussed in Chapter XIII, B. 103 See Chapter III, IT Type 1, Fig. C3: 1. 102

36

PRE-ROMAN ANTHROPOMORPHIC POTTERY IN WESTERN EUROPE Pre-Roman Celtic Europe that lies in between these two face urn-using regions appears to have had no well established face pot traditions. However, after the fifth century BC, as a result of contacts with the Greek and Etruscan Mediterranean, human faces and masks do start to appear on Celtic metalwork, and, in central Europe at least, they may have come to play an important part in local popular tradition, though no doubt expressed in organic, perishable materials such as wood, leather and textiles far more than in durable metalwork, stone or pottery.

face-urn-using people of Germany and Scandinavia moved or were pushed westwards towards the Rhine and beyond it, and settled in the marshy, marginal lands of the delta and along the coast in what was to be northern Holland and Belgium. The presence of a latent face urn tradition in the northern Rhineland could explain why the Roman face pot tradition of Italy which was limited almost entirely to face beakers and which followed the Roman army relatively unchanged as it advanced down the Sava and Drava rivers to the Danube during the conquest of Illyricum, should have been so quickly converted into a face urn and face jar tradition once it crossed over the Alps into the occupied Rhineland104. When it comes to the identities of the face masks on these two groups of pre-Roman face pots, the evidence is more limited than for the Greek face pots and mask vases. Where the Etruscan face beakers are concerned however, there does appear to be some connection with the Attic head vases, and thus with the Greek Bacchic tradition with which they are associated. The same may be the case with tall black bucchero face jars with their Hathor-like locks, some of them decorated with “panthers”, or the later black bucchero head jugs. It is not possible, unfortunately, to show any clear link between the Etruscan face beakers and head vases, though in fact the latter, being a century or two later, may have replaced them in the luxury market. There are few clues as to the identity of the masks and head-lids on the Canopic urns. Perhaps it is Dionysus-Fufluns again, or some other deity with protective powers in the Underworld. Given the relatively standardised “young man” heads of the later urns, identification of the deceased with some idealised youth or salvation deity seems more likely than that they were intended as portraits of the deceased, though elements of individual portraiture could exist within this concept. The one original contribution that the Etruscans bring to the otherwise unchanged group of Bacchic masks that they inherited from Greece, is the underworld deity or demon Charun. His colourful image does not appear to have been current when the sixth century face beakers were in use, but he is included in the later Etruscan head vase tradition, which in all other respects appears to adhere closely to the Bacchic tradition of the Greek head vases. And although there appear to be no Etruscan face beakers with his distinctive features, there are many Roman face beakers from northern Italy, as well as face pots and terracotta masks from the provinces that have face masks that are strikingly similar to his, and which may well represent the mask of a closely related Roman deity. There are few if any clues to the identity of the northern face urn masks. As they occur on cremation urns, it seems possible that they too, like the Etruscan Canopic urns, may have represented a protective deity and his consort associated with the Afterworld. The protective or apotropaic mask may have safeguarded not only the dead on their passage into the world beyond, but also the grave itself ensuring that evil spirits did not slip out, or in. 104

This question is further discussed in Chapter X.

37

THE FACE POTS OF ROMAN ITALY

CHAPTER THREE The face pots of Roman Italy

walls3. It marks the beginning of a long tradition of handthrown Roman fine wares which are separate from, yet complementary to, the contemporary ranges of mould-made sigillata pottery. It seems to have been essentially a native, central Italian development, owing relatively little to Hellenistic ceramic traditions, unlike the Arretine and other sigillata wares which were closely related to the preceding Campanian or “black glazed” industries of Magna Grecia and employed the same high-gloss surface coating and a great many related forms4.

A. THE GENERAL DEVELOPMENT OF ROMAN THIN-WALLED FACE BEAKERS IN ITALY As mentioned in the last chapter, the earliest Roman face pots, all of them face beakers, have been found in Italy, and from there they spread into the provinces (see maps on Figs C1 and C11). Face beakers far outnumber face jars in Roman Italy, and only two face jars have been identified in the course of this survey, one thought to be from Milan of IT Type 31, and the other from Aquileia of IT Type 321. Both of these, but particularly the second, are of similar form and with similar faces to local face beakers, only twice as tall.

The two earliest thin-walled forms are tall, situla-shaped beakers and a more ovoid beaker, which often has a characteristic high, concave rim rather like a miniature collared urn (Cosa forms i, ii, and vii). Both forms feature as early face beakers (IT Types 3, 15 and 26, Figs. C3: 2, C5: 1-3 and C10: 1), though the Augustan-Tiberian face beakers of IT Type 15 have already become less tall. Thinwalled wares rapidly spread to other areas of Italy, and to Spain and south Gaul, at first as exports, and later, particularly as far as the convex-rimmed beaker is concerned, as local copies5. A number of Campanian or silverware-derived cup and goblet forms with two handles come in towards the end of the Republic, while beakers become lower and more ovoid. During the Augustan period, bowl or cup forms, with or without handles, are increasingly popular, and surface coatings of varying success and colour gradually become more common, along with sand-casting, rouletting and barbotine decoration with limited floral motifs. Decorated, mould-made beakers such as the Aco-beakers6 and Sarius cups also appear at this time, based on thin-walled pottery forms, made in the same fashion as the Italo-Megarion bowls7. These constitute yet a third range of fine wares half way between the GrecoItalian Arretine wares and the Italo-Celtic thin-walled pottery.

The earliest face beakers found so far in dateable deposits, unfortunately just three small face sherds, are of Republican date (IT Type 1). All three come from much the same area as the Etruscan face beakers. One was found at Cosa (Fig. C3: 1), the Latin colony founded by Rome on the Etruscan coast in 273 BC, which is dated to the second half of the second century BC, and two are from Rome, dated to the middle of the first century BC. There is also a complete, unprovenanced face beaker in the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum in Mainz which is clearly of Italian origin, though sadly there appears to be no evidence as to where it was found. It is in a very characteristic late Republican form with an ovoid body and tall, convex, collared rim2. It is a very unusual beaker with two identical faces, one on each side, with long, downward-curving eyebrows and miraculously preserved, long, pendant clay ear-rings hanging from tiny ring-lugs (IT Type 3, Fig. C3: 2). Over the next hundred years face beakers extend into north Italy and southwards into Campania. One of their most important characteristics is that they are virtually all made in what is known as “Roman thin-walled ware”. This delicate, beautifully made pottery, which starts in central Italy in the first half of the second century BC and continues in ever greater abundance into the early Empire, consists entirely of small pots or drinking vessels, all handthrown, in plain fabrics, and later in colour-coated and occasionally glazed fabrics, with extremely thin, hard

Until the turn of the first century B.C. the various production centres making thin-walled pottery in the north and south of Italy, in Sicily and possibly in the south of France and in north east Spain, seem to have closely followed the central Italian forms and decoration and the difference between exports and local copies is often hard to 3 Italian thin-walled wares are the subject of an important study by Marabini Moevs (1973) who analysed the thin-walled pottery from Cosa. There is also a very useful description in Greene (1979, 4-7). 4 See Lamboglia, 1943, 139-206. 5 F.Mayet 1975, 126-130, Maps I and II; P. Pelagati 1969, 78 and Fig. 4. 6 Variations of the tall beaker form with a high “collared” neck as on the Siscia face beaker of IT Type 27 (Fig. C10: 2) were a favourite for Aco Beakers. 7 K. Greene, 1979, 7, Pl. 2; Vegas 1969; Klumbach 1966, 173.

1

There is a face pot in the Museo Civico Archeologico at Bologna (inv No Rom 1467), but this is unprovenanced, and an old acquisition with no information as to how it had come into the museum collection. It has two phalli on the cheeks, and is so similar to face pots of the central Rhineland of RL Type 34A, that it must have been made there. It is very unlikely that it would have been imported into Italy in Roman times, and it was probably brought to Bologna by a collector and then given or sold to the museum. 2 Marabini Moevs 1973, Form vii and Greene 1979, 4.

39

CHAPTER THREE detect (Mayet 1975, 125). But from now on there is a notable increase in local or regional variation, both in the selection of forms and in the variety of decoration.

drinking vessel, face beakers, as a rule, do not follow, and there are only one or two rare examples from the Claudian period that could be considered bowl-shaped (IT Types 21 B and 22, Fig. C8: 4-6).

In northern Italy potteries producing thin-walled wares were already established in the Po Valley by the end of the Republic8. By the Tiberian period, the repertoire of north Italian thin-walled wares is clearly distinguishable from that of central Italy, with shallow, handle-less bowls or cups in grey wares predominating throughout the Po valley, the ratio of bowls to beakers being suddenly reversed in favour of bowls around this time according to the evidence from Magdalensberg9. The preference for grey wares in the north, which is in such marked contrast to the rest of Italy, is generally thought to reflect Celtic influences in this area, as is the absence of handles which appear to be alien to Celtic tradition. Grey wares are particularly common towards the west and in the Ticino region, while at the other end of the Po valley, in Emilia and along the Adriatic coast towards Aquileia the ratio of grey to oxidised wares is more equal10. However, the production of grey wares, as indeed of thin-walled bowls in general, more or less ceases in northern Italy after the Flavian period, possibly being replaced with glass vessels (ibid, 395), as seems to have happened also in Campania11 and all that is left are oxidised beakers and one handled-jugs which soon lose all right to be called thin-walled12.

While face beakers, like the earliest thin-walled wares, seem to have originated in central Italy, their spread into the rest of Italy and into the Roman provinces, did not automatically follow in the wake of the spread of thinwalled wares, but was more restricted and must have been influenced by other factors as well. By the Late Republican or early Augustan period face beakers were being produced in northern Italy, and towards the end of the century a few exported examples appear, almost all of them to the east on sites on the Sava and Drava rivers, while as yet only one early face beaker, of Late Republican or early Augustan date is known to the west of Italy, at Ensérune in Narbonensis (IT Type 26, Fig. C10: 1). One other possible export, probably of slightly later date and very likely from central Italy has been found at Ampurias on the Catalonian coast (IT Type 10, Fig. C4: 5). But these two examples and two or three local copies in the vicinity of Tarragona to the south of Ampurias15 are the only face beakers known in either eastern Spain or Provence, despite the enormous quantity of thin-walled pottery that was first exported to, and then manufactured in the provinces of Taraconensis and Narbonensis. In southern Italy they do not seem to have spread further south than Campania where quite a number have been found at Pompeii and Herculaneum. Just one face beaker exported from this region has been identified during this survey, of IT Type 7 (Fig. C4: 4), which was found at Mainz-Weisenau in the Rhineland.

The most common form of decoration in the first century AD is sand rough-casting, followed by rouletting, scaledecoration and floral barbotine. The latter becomes increasingly common in the north in the Claudio-Neronian period, almost always combined with a band of rouletting on the lower half of the bowl13, while scale decoration in a variety of techniques, appearing on beakers as well as bowls, also becomes very popular at this time14. Very similar thin-walled forms and decorative techniques were used by potters at the earliest production centres for Roman finewares in France, Spain, the Rhineland, Dalmatia and Pannonia, and while gradually mingling with local, native pottery traditions their influence continues strongly in the production of fineware pottery in Europe throughout the Roman period.

There is quite a division between the face beakers of south and central Italy and those of the north. The former all seem to have one or two handles, and rather simple, applied facial features with widely-arched, notched eyebrows and smallish eyes, ears, noses and mouths (Figs. C3 and C4)16. These faces, apart from the notched eyebrows, are not so very different from the face masks of the Etruscan face beakers in black bucchero ware (Fig B9: 3-4), particularly those of IT Type 4 (Fig. C3: 3-4). Those in the north of Italy have no handles, with the exception of one tiny glazed face beaker from Alba which has a handle at the back (IT Type 23, Fig. C9: 1), and though the faces to begin with are somewhat similar to those further south, other face-types soon emerge with large, grotesque or comic grinning mouths. The northern face beakers are also, to judge from this survey, much more numerous than those further south, and there is evidence of regional groupings. As a result the face pots of central Italy and Campania have been treated separately from those of northern Italy, in sections B and C of this chapter, each followed by their own section of the of Italian Face Pot Catalogue or Type Series.

Face beakers, though always very much a rarity compared to the enormous volume of thin-walled pottery produced in Italy, occur in more or less all of the main thin-walled beaker forms which evolve during the first centuries BC and AD, and most of the common varieties of decoration and surface treatment are found on one or more of the face beaker Types. In the late Augustan period, the taller, narrower Republican face beaker forms are replaced by shallower, more globular beakers, but when bowls take over from beakers in north Italy as the preferred fine-ware 8

Siena Chiesa 1985, 422. Schindler Kaudelka 1975, 214. 10 Siena Chiesa 1985, 391 and 406. 11 Carandini, 1977, 25. 12 Siena Chiesa 1985, 421. 13 Ibid, 402. 14 Ibid, 405. 9

15

See Chapter V, FS Type 7, Fig. E2: 4-5. The one exception is the taller face beaker from Pompeii of IT Type 6 which has a comic expression and large grinning mouth (Fig. C4: 1). 16

40

THE FACE POTS OF ROMAN ITALY

41

CHAPTER THREE

42

THE FACE POTS OF ROMAN ITALY

B.

Types are a later development, which could have evolved some time in the Neronian-Flavian period, not long before the eruption18.

THE FACE BEAKERS OF CENTRAL ITALY AND CAMPANIA

Given that the earliest face beaker fragments found so far come from Rome and Cosa, and that it seems quite likely that the Roman face beakers of Italy are a continuation of the Etruscan face beaker tradition, frustratingly few provenanced face beakers have as yet been found in central Italy, and most come either from northern Italy or from Campania. While greater numbers have been found in the north, by far the largest group of face beakers from one site within Italy (or rather from two neighbouring sites) comes from the Vesuvian towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum, of which twelve are identified in this survey17. These are exceptional sites however, and it does not necessarily mean that face beakers were more popular here than anywhere else. The standard faces of the Pompeian face beakers, with their widely-arched eyebrows, button eyes, and small noses and mouths are very like the standard faces of the Rhineland face pots, and one might have expected to find quite a number of exported Campanian face beakers in the Rhineland, but so far only the one example mentioned above of IT Type 7, from MainzWeisenau, has been identified outside Italy (Fig. C4: 4), which is listed below and in Chapter IV under RL Type 15 (Fig. D8: 1).

Pl. C1. Reddish-brown face beaker of IT Type 7 from Pompeii in the National Archaeological Museum, Naples; height 11 cm.

DECORATION

FORMS AND DATING

There is no decoration, apart from the faces and ear-rings, on any of these face beakers, except for surface coatings on some of the ones from Pompeii: either a dark brown colourcoat or pseudo-rough casting (see under IT Type 6, Note 7).

No forms can be identified from the earliest fragments found at Rome and Cosa, and the only complete example that could be of Republican date is the unprovenanced twofaced beaker of IT Type 3 with the high concave rim (Fig. C3: 2). There is no concrete evidence for face beaker forms from central Italy until some time around the beginning of the first century AD when the two-handled face beakers of IT Type 4 appear (Fig. C3: 3-4). These ovoid beakers, with their ring-lugs and clay ear-rings would seem to be related to the two-faced beaker, and could be descended from it, as this thin-walled form with its high, concave rim gives way to a number of different but related forms with ever lower and more everted rim, some of which have two handles ((Mayet 1975, Form III, Nos 1-6, and Map 2). IT Type 4 then seems to develop further into the higher-shouldered IT Type 5, where the ring-lugs have disappeared and the clay ear-rings are now looped through the handles. Here at last we have some kind of a date or terminus post quem, as one of the examples (Fig C3: 6) comes from Pompeii. This face beaker could however have been made some time before the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD. It is the only one from Pompeii with two handles and clay ear-rings, while all the others found there are one-handled beakers or cups (IT Types 6 and 7, as in Pl. C1) with no clay ear-rings but pierced ears instead, which would most probably have held silver or copper wire ear-rings which rarely survive excavation. It seems quite possible that these latter two

FACES Fairly similar faces appear on many of the face beakers from central Italy and Pompeii, with arched, notched eyebrows, small round eyes, tiny pinched noses, and small slit mouths. The Republican face sherds may also have had rather similar faces, to judge by the few features that have survived, namely notched eyebrows, small applied eyes and a small protuberant nose19. The main difference is the ears, which do not feature on the central Italian face beakers, where the ring lugs or the handles with their clay earrings seem to stand instead, while most of the Pompeian ones have applied, pierced, crescent-shaped ears. As already mentioned, these faces are not unlike those on the Etruscan face beakers described in Chapter II, Part II, B.3, Fig. B9. The exceptions to this are: 1. the two owl-faced beakers of IT Types 5 and 6, with ringed handles, but no mouths (Fig. C3: 5-6), which are reminiscent of the first century BC “owl beakers” of the eastern Mediterranean (See Appendix IV, A.5, Fig. S1: 11); 2. the more grotesque, comic-looking face with gaping, notched mouth on the ovoid beaker from Pompeii of IT Type 6 (Fig. C4: 1);

17

It has proved very difficult to find out which face beakers were found at Pompeii and which ones at Herculaneum, and so Pompeii is used to cover both sites. A useful report on these face beakers and on the boccalini from Pompeii has been published by Carandini ( 1977, 25-31, Pls. VII-XIX).

18 Undset (1890,139) mentions another central Italian face pot from Grosseto, in Umbria, which I have not been able to trace. 19 Marabini Moevs 1973, 64-6.

43

CHAPTER THREE 3. the unprovenanced two-faced beaker with its downdrooping eyebrows, long nose and notched eyelids. This last face mask seems to be descended from a different type from all the others, and given its carefully notched eyebrows and eyelids, a feature of many of the later north Italian face beakers and also of pre-Roman Celtic masks from north and south of the Alps, it is possible that it comes from somewhere in the regions of northern Italy formerly occupied by the Celts rather than Etruria or Rome.

Context: Date:

Just tiny fragments survive from all three vessels, and it is impossible to classify them adequately. A gap has been left in the Type Series to allow for further Types to be entered if more, reconstructable vessels come to light. The importance of the Cosa fragment lies in its date, which in accordance with all material found in the lowest level of the rubbish dump, (level IV), makes it the earliest dated Roman face beaker sherd in Italy, and in Europe.

CONTEXTS Unfortunately there is very little information about the actual contexts in which most of the central Italian and Campanian face beakers were found. Pompeii is the great disappointment, as so much could have been learnt if the contexts of the 12 face beakers found there had been recorded and published. The normal assumption is that a whole pot has probably come from a grave, but in Pompeii and Herculaeum this cannot be taken for granted, and is probably unlikely in most cases. In the case of the three Republican sherds, they were all found in domestic or civic contexts, not in graves. Only one face beaker is actually reported as coming from a grave, the one from Viterbo, which was found in the one inhumation grave in a cemetery Exactly the opposite picture of cremation burials20. emerges in the north, where all the provenanced face beakers except one, from Bergamo of IT Type 15, come from graves. The discrepancy could however be due more to the accident of archaeological survival and excavation than to a major difference in tradition. What the limited evidence does appear to indicate in both regions is that these vessels were designed for the living as well as for the dead.

One of the Rome fragments, which was not illustrated by Marabini Moevs, was found in the Forum, in the drain of the Basilica Julia, and shows a small protruding nose, and what looks like the base of a handle. Marabini Moevs suggests it may have belonged to her Cosa Form LI, which is very similar to IT Type 4, though with only one handle. The other fragment from Rome (ibid, Pl. 100: 8) was found in the House of Livia, and shows a notched eyebrow and part of an eye, and the start of an everted rim. IT Type 2

Height: Fabric: Faces:

Distribution:

CATALOGUE

Context: Date:

THE FACE BEAKERS OF CENTRAL ITALY AND CAMPANIA

Distribution:

20

13 cm. Plain, hard, fine, reddish brown. Two very similar faces; widely-arched and down-curving notched eyebrows; notched eyelids; small applied nose and mouth; no ears but two ring-lugs just below the rim to which clay pendant ear-rings are attached. Unprovenanced, from central or north Italy 1c. (Behn 1910, 43, Fig. 4: 3; display cabinet of RGM Mainz). Unknown. Probably first century BC.

As already mentioned, this beautifully made beaker, one of the finest of the Italian face beakers, is approximately dated on the basis of its characteristic Late Republican form to the first century BC, though it could conceivably be older. It is the only face beaker known in this form, though some of the fragments listed above under IT Type 1 could also come from such a vessel. Notched eye-lids are relatively rare on face pots but are characteristic of the Ticino Group face beakers of IT Type 18, (Fig. C6; 2-4) and of the Aquileia Group face beakers and face jar (IT Types 19 and 36, Figs. C7: 3 and C11: 2), and they also feature on the twofaced cup from Ampurias of IT Type 10 discussed below. They are also a feature of some of the face masks on preRoman Celtic metalwork (Fig. B13: 4 and 6), as are the down-curling eyebrows (Fig. B14: 3 and 6). These all suggest an origin for this face beaker in northern Italy. The clay pendant ear-rings however would seem to be a feature belonging to central Italy and Campania (see IT Types 4

IT Type 1 Face beaker with applied eye and corded eyebrow, possibly with everted rim and handle(s) (Fig. C3: 1)

Face:

Gap left in Type Series

IT Type 3 Ovoid face beaker with tall, collared, concave rim, with two faces and two ring-lugs with long pendant clay ear rings attached (Fig. C3: 2, Pl. C 2).

……………………

Height: Fabric:

Rubbish dump (Cosa); drain (Rome). 2nd half of 2nd century to mid 1st century BC.

Max. Diameter: c 9-10 cm. “Hard gritty greyish clay, reddish on the exterior” (Cosa sherd only; fabrics of the other fragments not described). Applied eye with indented pupil; notched or corded eyebrow, fashioned with a rouletting tool. Central Italy 3f. Cosa: 1f. (Marabini Moevs, 1973, 64-66, Pl. 6: 68); Rome: 2f (ibid, 65, Pl. 100: 8).

Emiliozzi, 1974, 72.

44

THE FACE POTS OF ROMAN ITALY and 5 below), so no conclusions can be drawn as to its provenance.

Fabric: Face: Distribution:

Context: Date:

Not enough of the rim of the unprovenanced fragment in the Amsterdam museum (Fig. C3: 3) survives to say whether this pot had handles, but as it is so like the Viterbo face beaker (No 4; Pl. C3), it seems likely. The latter was excavated with pendant ear-rings still attached, but these have since disappeared. Dating is very difficult. The form of the Viterbo face beaker is similar to the Cosa form xlvi, which can have one or two handles. It lasts at Cosa from the Augustan to the Tiberian period. Of more use perhaps are the ring-lugs and the ear-rings which seem to place this Type somewhere between IT Types 3 and 5. As mentioned above, it was found in the only inhumation grave (No XXXVIII) in an otherwise cremation cemetery (Emiliozzi, ibid).

Pl. C2. Early, unprovenanced red face beaker of IT Type 3 in the Romisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz; height 13cm

Two-faced Roman beakers and jars are rare, and the few examples are mostly either Italian or from the Middle Rhineland21. One other example is known from Italy, the large two-faced face jar of IT Type 35 which may have come from Milan (Fig. C11: 1), while another, a twohandled beaker or cup was found at Ampurias, but is very probably an Italian import (IT Type 8, Fig. C4: 5). Several examples of two-faced face jars have been found in the Middle Rhineland, in all three periods, mostly jars with two handles on the girth of RL Types 30, 31, 44B, 51 and 52, but also the occasional face jar with no handles of RL Types 4B (Fig. D4: 6), 21B (Fig. D12:2), and 42 (Fig D19:4). Two have been found in Britain, one very unusual face jar from London, with two spouts each of which is placed immediately above one of the faces, rather than in between them (RB Type 1D, Fig. J5: 4) and another one from Stanwix (RB Type 21E, Fig. J12: 6). One other twofaced beaker of the later Roman period comes from Flavia Solva, near Graz in Austria of UD Type 30 (not illustrated). There are also face jars with three faces where the faces elide into a tricephalic mask. These are all from the Middle Rhineland, and are discussed in Chapter XII, B.8. Separate from these is a large indented beaker with three separate faces from Virunum in Upper Austria, listed in Chapter VII under UD Type 25 (Fig. G9: 1).

Pl. C3. Reddish-brown face beaker of IT Type 4 from Viterbo; height 9 cm. (photo: Archaeological Museum Florence)

IT Type 5 Two-handled globular face beakers with owllike face and clay pendant ear-rings attached to the handles (Fig. C3: 5 and 6)

IT Type 4 Two-handled globular face beaker with 2 ring-lugs with ear-rings attached (Fig. C3: 3-4) Height:

Dark reddish brown (Viterbo); glossy red (unprovenanced fragment). Notched eyebrows, applied circular eyes with ring-stamped pupils; coffee-bean mouth. Central Italy 2 (1c. and 1f.). Examples have been found at: Viterbo 1c (Emiliozzi, 1974, 72; Museo Archeologico di Firenze No 11764); unprovenanced 1f. (Alfred Pierson Museum, Amsterdam, No 2793). Inhumation grave (Viterbo, Necropoli di Musarno ). Probably early first century.

Height: Fabric:

9-10 cm. Face:

21

In Attic Greece and Etruria vessels with two faces or masks were more common, particularly those with two handles such as the head kantharoi (Fig. B: 5-6), or the two handled Etruscan face beakers (Fig. B9: 3), or the Greek and Etruscan painted face jars (Figs. B4: 2 and B7: 7).

45

c. 9cm. Orange buff with dark brown colour-coat (Pompeii); reddish brown with a whitish surface (unprovenanced e.g.). Widely notched eyebrows, with applied pellet eyes in indented eye-sockets or thin barbotine eyebrows, nose and eyelids with

CHAPTER THREE

Distribution:

Context: Date:

dot pupils; no mouth or ears. Campania and possibly central Italy, 2c. One example has been found at Pompeii (Naples National Museum, no number) and there is one unprovenanced example in the British Museum (Townley Coll. No GR 1814.7-4.646). Unknown. First century.

The so-called “boccalini” or one-handled thin-walled beakers are by far the most common vessels found on the Vesuvian sites22. They are either plain or “pseudo-roughcast”23, and come in three forms, bag-shaped, ovoid, and globular. Each form seems to come in three heights: 78cm, 9-10 cm and 11-12cm. The bag-shaped ones are the most common, over 360 examples, none with faces. Then come the ovoid ones, over 190 examples with just one face beaker among them (IT Type 6); and lastly the globular ones with 19 examples, of which 10 have faces (IT Type 7). The first two were obviously very common everyday vessels, which served as the all-purpose drinking cup and small container, holding anything from paint to tooth picks. Despite the apparent delicacy of the pottery, they seem to be surprisingly resilient; they must have been produced in their thousands.

This Type with its two handles and owl-shaped eyes and nose is reminiscent of the Hellenistic or early Roman “owl vases” of the east Mediterranean and north Africa which generally have a yellowish-green glaze (see Appendix IV, A.5, Fig. S1: 11 ).

Pl. C4. Reddish-brown, unprovenanced face beaker of IT Type 5 in the British Museum; height c. 9 cm

Pl. C5. Reddish-brown face beaker of IT Type 6 from Pompeii with comic face mask in the National Archaeological Museum, Naples; height 10.2 cm.

The unprovenanced face beaker in Pl. C4 above now in the British Museum could come from either Campania or central Italy. The fabric, which is masked by some pale greyish surface deposit, seems to be very different from the Pompeii face beakers, so is the face, so it is unlikely that it comes from the same production centre.

The face on this face beaker with its clown-like features and open, grinning mouth is similar to some of the faces on north Italian face beakers, particularly those with barbotine features and decoration (Types 20-21, Fig. C8: 1,3, 4 and 5) and appears to be a schematic rendering of a comic actor mask. Graffiti masks not unlike these are found on walls at Pompeii24.

As already mentioned, the Pompeii example is the only one of its kind from this site, and could pre-date the others from Pompeii, most of which are likely to have been in use in 79 AD.

IT Type 7

IT Type 6 One-handled ovoid face beaker (Fig. C4: 1) Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

Height: Fabric:

10 cm. Fine, plain, reddish brown Crudely applied comic features: crooked eyebrows; applied open lips with notched “teeth” on upper lip; flattened pellet eyes. Pompeii, 1c. (Carandini 1977, 26, B.6, Pl. 1X: 9). Unknown. Pre AD 79; probably Claudio-Neronian.

Face:

22

One-handled globular face beakers (Fig C4: 2-4, Pl. C1 and C6) Varying from 7 to 11cm. Reddish-brown, either plain, or “pseudorough cast” with a dark brown colour coat. Pushed in eye sockets and occasionally mouth; widely arched, notched eyebrows and small pinched nose; round applied

Carandini 1977, 26. This treatment must have involved the use of some resinous substance as they are slightly sticky to the touch. 24 The comic mask is further discussed in Chapter XII, A.3. 23

46

THE FACE POTS OF ROMAN ITALY

Distribution:

Context: Date:

eyes with a pin-hole in the centre; coffeebean mouth, or applied open lips; often pierced ears. Pompeii 10c. (Carandini 1977, 26, Pl. IX: 13-15; Naples National Museum, no numbers); Mainz 1c. (Mittelrheinisches Landesmuseum Mainz, No F.4206). Unknown. Pre Ad 79; probably Claudio-Neronian.

These globular beakers, which are more accurately described as cups, presumably had a more limited purpose than the others, and it is most unfortunate that no information is available as to where they were found. But they too seem to have been very cheap and ordinary vessels, and where faces have been applied, they have been rather carelessly fashioned, very different from the beautifully made face beaker of IT Type 3. IT Types 8-9 Gap left in Type Series FACE BEAKER FOUND IN CATALONIA, BUT PROBABLY AN IMPORT FROM CENTRAL ITALY IT Type 10 Two-handled face cup, with two faces (Fig. C4: 5) Height: Fabric: Faces: Distribution: Context: Date:

PL. C6. Reddish-brown face beaker of IT Type 7 from Pompeii in the National Archaeological Museum, Naples; height 7.5 cm

8.2 cm. Fine dark grey. Applied notched cordons around the eyes; notched eyebrows and mouth; no ears or chin. Ampurias, 1c. (Arribas and Trias, 1961, 213). Unknown. Claudio-Neronian?

Here, as in the north of Italy, we have evidence for standardised face beaker production. But in comparison with the exuberance and variety of forms, fabrics, surface treatment and decoration of the north Italian face beakers (see Section C below), these are very plain and simple. As already mentioned, only one example of this Type (No 4 and left insert) has been found outside Italy, at MainzWeisenau in the central Rhineland. This is listed in the Rhineland Type Series in Chapter IV, Pt. I, as RL Type 15 (Fig. D8:1; Pl. D14). It must almost certainly have come from Campania.

Pl. C7. Grey two-faced beaker of IT Type 10 from Ampurias in Catalonia in the Museu Arqueològic, Girona; height 8.2 cm. (photo:courtesy of Dr M. Aurora Martin)

This face cup was found in Ampurias, the former Greek colony and early Roman military base and colonia on the Catalonian coast; it is also entered in the Franco-Spanish Type Series in Chapter V under FS Type 5. As it is very different from the few locally produced Catalonian face beakers (see Chapter V, FS Type 7, Fig. E2: 3-4) and from the normal Spanish thin-walled forms25, it seems probable that it is an Italian import and so it has provisionally been listed here. It is something of an enigma as its form is similar to IT Type 7 above, except for having two handles, but it is in thin-walled grey ware, which is much commoner

Several examples have pierced ears, which presumably once held little wire ear-rings. It is interesting how ear-rings continue to be a feature of the Italian face beakers, in the north as well as here, and though the pendant clay ones are discontinued, pierced ears quite often occur on face beakers made in the Danubian provinces and on some face jars and face beakers in the Rhineland and in Britain. As has been seen in Chapter II, pierced ears, often with metal ear-rings still attached, are a feature of the Etruscan Canopic urns, both male and female, and they are also found on Punic terracotta masks (Fig. B11: 4).

25

47

Mayet 1975, Pls.LXXVIII and LXXIX.

CHAPTER THREE The Ticino Group29 IT Types 17-18, Fig. C6: 1-4 This is a more localised group, found only in the Ticino region around lakes Como and Maggiore. They are all in a fine pinkish buff fabric, often with a blackened exterior surface. The one example of IT Type 17, from Giubiasco, (Fig. C6: 1) which could be the earliest, is more conical in shape with a band of herring bone rouletting on the carinated shoulder, and has a smaller face with “Celticstyle” down-curving eyebrows and spiral eyes. The others of IT Type 18 are more globular in form, with several grooves on their sloping shoulders, and they all have a grotesque face with large twisted nose, thick closed lips, curvy, Y-shaped eyebrows, large round or oval eyes with notched eyelids and large ears pierced with small holes presumably for metal earrings (none of which seem to have survived). Both Types, with the exception of one example of Type 18 from San Giorgio su Legnano, have a small,

in the north of Italy, and rare in the south. Two-handled forms however are virtually unknown in the north. The most likely possibility therefore, if in fact it was exported from Italy, is that it was made somewhere in central Italy where both grey wares and two-handles are not uncommon. The carefully notched eyebrows and eyelids and the double face recall the earlier face beaker of IT Type 3, and this face cup could be a later version of the same tradition. The two faces are almost identical, except that one has a single notched strip for a mouth, and the other has two thinner parallel strips which are un-notched IT Types 11-14 Gap left in type Series

C.

THE FACE POTS OF NORTHERN ITALY THE FACE BEAKERS Regional groups

The north Italian face beakers found so far divide up quite easily into three main groups, all in thin-walled wares26, with a fourth group consisting almost entirely of exported examples, found at Magdalensberg, Emona and Salzburg, with just one face beaker found in Italy at Pozzuolo close to Aquileia27. As with the Campanian and central Italian face beakers, they are all in thin-walled wares, but in a variety of different fabrics. Each group has a fairly standardised form and face. Two of the groups extend across the Po Valley region while the other two are at the western and eastern ends of the north Italian plain. Po Valley Group I28 IT Type 15, Fig.C5: 1-3 This is the largest group of face beakers found in Italy and consists of conical, uncoated, orange-buff face beakers with everted rim which are found across the Po basin. They all have the same bland, serene-looking masks, with widely arched, notched eyebrows, round or coffee-bean eyes, slit mouths and crescent ears, which are very similar to the faces of the central Italian and Campanian face beakers, though their noses are less small and pinched. This group probably dates from the Augustan period. Two other somewhat similar face beakers in greyish-buff wares are listed under IT Types 16 A-B (Fig. C5: 4-5)..

Pl. C8. Unprovenanced red colour-coated face beaker of IT Type 21, possibly from Pavia, in the Museo Civico, Pavia; height 8.2 cm.

applied, mould-made Bacchic mask on the reverse, though in the case of the example from Muralto where the back of the beaker is damaged, there is the remains of what may have been a phallus instead of a Bacchic mask. It is assumed they were all made in the Ticino region30. There is also one further beaker from Arsago Seprio, just to the west of Como, which could be related to this group on account of its similar form and modelling, but instead of a face there is vulva placed between two large ears. There is no Bacchic mask at the back however31.

26 These face beakers have been the subject of three very useful short studies, the first by Frova in 1958-9, the second by Siena Chiesa within her general study of the thin-walled pottery of Angera and northern Italy in 1985 (389-426) and the most recent by Butti Ronchetti in a joint paper published in the RCRF Acta 36, 2000 by Schindler Kaudelka , Butti Ronchetti and Schneider (274-277, Fig. 6). 27 The face beakers from Magdalensberg have been studied by Schindler Kaudelka, and were first published in her general study of the thin-walled pottery from the site in 1975 (130-132, Pl. 27), and again in the joint paper mentioned in the footnote above (271-274). 28 Butti Ronchetti 2000, Group I “con lavorazione a stecca molto semplificata” .

29

Butti Ronchetti’s Group 3 “del tipo plastico”. Ibid, 275. 31 Ibid, Fig. 6, No 6. 30

48

THE FACE POTS OF ROMAN ITALY somewhere in the Po valley but there are some doubts as to its authenticity; the other comes from a grave at Aquileia (IT Type 36, Fig. C11: 2), and is a large-size version of the Aquileia face beakers of IT Type 19 with similar form and face. The former, if stripped of its unlikely ear-ring(s) which are not thought to be original, could be a large version of the Po Valley face beakers of IT Type 15, perhaps with dangling clay earrings like the other much smaller two-faced beaker of IT Type 3 .

The Aquileia Group IT Type 19, Fig. C7 This group is composed almost entirely of exported examples, most of them found in the Roman settlement at Magdalensberg32, but also a few from sites further east. The group is named after the one example found in Italy at Pozzuolo near Aquileia and after a face jar from Aquileia itself of IT Type 36 which is strikingly similar to these face beakers in face and form, only twice the size. There is no evidence as yet however that either the face jar or the face beakers were actually made at Aquileia. These are similar in shape to the Giubiasco face beaker with high shoulders and grooved rims, but they have a reddish brown or black colour coat. Some of the faces, particularly on the exported examples found at Magdalensberg, are even more grotesque than those of the Ticino beakers, with huge twisted or hooked noses, heavy notched eyebrows and wide, sometimes gaping mouths with thick lips. The eyes can be coffee bean-shaped or large and round with raised, notched eyelids, and the ears are generally also large and sometimes pierced.

Roman face jars belong essentially to the Roman provinces north of the Alps, and these two large face jars here in northern Italy are a puzzle. It is just conceivable that a face jar tradition may have continued, like the face beakers, from the Etruscan period into Roman times, undetected in the archaeological record, though these two vessels are very different from any Etruscan face pot. Another possibility is that they might be associated with returning veterans from the Rhineland, who are still recorded in northern Italy up to the end of the first century AD and later, particularly in Aquileia (Mann 1983, 31, Table 18.1). However, neither of these two face jars are at all like north European ones, so they cannot have been physically brought back from the Rhineland, though they might perhaps have been specially produced for a returning veteran accustomed to northern face jars. However face jars do not seem to start appearing in Rhineland contexts much if at all before the second quarter of the first century AD, though already by 43 AD they had become popular enough with the Rhine army for face jar traditions, though not the pots themselves, to have been taken with the invading army to Britain. On the basis of this dating, it would seem unlikely that any face jar traditions could have been brought back to Italy from the Rhineland much, if at all, before 30 AD. The Aquileia face jar is likely to be of similar date to the face beakers of IT Typpe 19, which are dated by the stratigraphic evidence from Magdalensberg to the later Tiberian and Claudian periods, and might therefore just fit into this time-span, but the Milan face jar, on the basis of stylistic evidence, appears to be of Augustan or early Tiberian date.

Po Valley Group II33 IT Types 20-22, Fig. C8. The face beakers of this group have a very similar distribution to Po Valley Group I, but they are of later, mainly Claudian-Neronian date to judge by their shallower, more globular forms and barbotine decoration34, and may have replaced them. One or two are bowls rather than beakers. They are in a variety of different fabrics but mainly grey or with a glossy red colour coat, and must have been produced in several different potteries. The features of the face, apart from the nose, are drawn in barbotine, and they mostly have barbotine decoration on the reverse or, occasionally, bands of rouletting round the shoulder. The faces are almost all have a wide, grinning mouth, generally with dotted teeth inside the lips, and sometimes a dotted beard. Other Types Apart from these there are just a few isolated examples which fit into no specific group, five of them of Types that have so far been found only outside Italy in Provence, the Swiss Alps, southern Austria, Slovenia, and Serbia, but which are thought to be imports from northern Italy (Types 26-30, Fig. C10: 1-5).

FACES Each group of face beakers has a fairly standardised face mask, which is recognisably different from those of the other groups, though the Ticino and Aquileia groups both have grotesque faces that are probably just regional versions of a single Italian prototype. The three most common face mask types therefore are:

THE FACE JARS Only two face jars, as opposed to face beakers, have been found so far in Italy, both in the north. One of them, an unprovenanced two-faced jar with an identical face on each side (IT Type 35, Fig. C11: 1), is said to have come from

1. The “serene” mask. This is the bland serene-looking mask that characterises the face beakers of IT Types 15-16 of Po valley Group 1 and also occurs on most of the central Italian and Campanian face beakers. It has widely arched and generally notched eyebrows, round, coffee-bean or almondshaped eyes, and small (or smallish) nose, mouth and crescent ears. Versions of the “serene” mask also occur on the early exported face beakers of IT Types 26-27.

32 There is also another large group of exported face beakers which has been found at Magdalensberg, all of one particular Type and all from the ruins of a burnt shop. However these cannot be paralleled by any of the face beakers found so far in Italy, and they are listed under IT Type 28 (Fig. C10: 3) together with the other north Italian face beaker Types known only from examples exported to the provinces. 33 Butti Ronchetti’s Group 2, with barbotine decoration. 34 Cf Sena Chiesa 1985, 413.

49

CHAPTER THREE virtually all colour-coated, except for two which are greenglazed (IT Types 23 and 30, Figs. C9: 1 and 10: 5). The two face jars are uncoated.

2. The grotesque, beak-nosed mask. Such masks with heavy grimacing features occur on the Ticino and Aquileia face beakers of IT Types 17-19 and on the Aquileia face jar of IT Type 36. They are quite different from any of the face masks on the central Italian and Campanian face beakers. They are reminiscent of the Etruscan Charun mask and could represent its continuation in the Roman period at a popular level. The Ticino mask is different from the Aquileia one, being more fluid and curvilinear in style, and this may be due to Celtic influence and the fact that many Celts were still living in this region in the first centuries BC and AD. The probably earlier Giubiasco beaker, as already mentioned, with its smaller, less grotesque face, even has spiral eyes. The later, greenglazed face beaker from Chur which is also thought to have come from this region has a yet more stylised and abstract version of this mask. The potters of the Aquileia group, who are likely to have had a more Roman and military background, produced an altogether cruder and more comic mask, not unlike a large, grotesque terracotta mask or antefix now in the Aquileia Archeological Museum or some of the smaller, life-size terracotta masks produced in the Rhineland35.

Only the face beakers of Po Valley Group II have bands of decoration on the body of the pot, mostly with barbotine motifs but sometimes with rouletting (IT Types 20-22, Fig. C8). As already mentioned, the face beakers of the Ticino region all, except for one, have a small, applied, Bacchic mask at the back, either a satyr/silenus, maenad or theatrical mask36. On the beaker from Cadra Minusio a satyr mask has been placed upside down (Fig. C6: 4). DATING Most of the face beakers come from graves and few if any apart from those from Magdalensberg, can be closely dated. The dating for most of the different Types can therefore only be approximate, based mainly on the form, surface coating and decoration. The earliest north Italian face beaker is almost certainly the tall narrow beaker found at Ensérune of IT Type 26 which could be of Late Republican date, while another early export found at Siscia of IT Type 27 could be Augustan. As we have seen the less tall but still quite situla-shaped face beakers of Po Valley group I (IT Type 15) probably start in the Augustan period and continue into the Tiberian period, and are then superseded by the barbotine face beakers of Po Valley Group II in the Claudian-Neronian period. The Ticino group are thought to be mainly of Tiberian date, possibly continuing into the Claudian period, though the one from Giubiasco of IT Type 17 could be slightly earlier. The Aquileia Group can be dated on the stratigraphic evidence from Magdalensberg and Strasbourg to the late TiberianClaudian period. The latest thin-walled face beakers in the north seems to have been in green-glazed ware, namely the tiny one-handled beaker from Alba (IT Type 23, Fig.C8: 1) which was found in a cremation grave of probable Flavian date (Filippi, 1982, 28 , and the much larger and fragmentary face beaker found in the Alps at Chur in Switzerland but probably made in the Ticino region, which is thought to be of much the same period (IT Type 30, Fig. C10: 5). Face beakers seem to disappear in Italy at much the same time as the rest of the thin-walled pottery, and one reason for this could be that these fine, delicate vessels were replaced by glass.

The faces on the glazed face beaker from Alba and the large face beaker from Milan (of IT Types 23-24, Fig. C9: 1-2) may represent less grotesque versions of this beak-nosed mask, as may the sharp-nosed faces on the exported face beakers of IT Type 28. 3. The grinning mask This only occurs on the face beakers of IT Types 20-22 and 29, which all have barbotine features, almond shaped eyes and a grinning, toothy mouth, often with what seems to be a beard on the cheeks (Fig. C8: 1-5). A similar mask, though not in barbotine, occurs on the tall Pompeian face beaker of IT Type 6 (Fig. C4: 1), though without a beard. FORMS Apart from one glazed face beaker from Alba (IT Type 23, Fig. C8: 1), none of the north Italian face beakers have handles. They are in a variety of beaker forms, starting with a tall, narrow, situla-shaped beaker found at Ensérune in Provence of probable Late Republican date (IT Type 26, Fig. C10: 1), and getting progressively less tall, ending with one or two barbotine-decorated examples of IT Types 21-22 (Fig. C7: 5-6) which are basically bowls. As already mentioned the two face jars appear to be double-size versions of face beakers.

CONTEXTS

The earlier face beakers, those of IT Types 15 and 26-7, are all in uncoated red, orange or orange buff fabrics. The pinkish beige Ticino beakers also appear to be uncoated though their exterior surfaces are often blackened, perhaps a result of their being burnt on the funeral pyre. The rest are

Most of the face beaker Types listed in the Catalogue below are represented by complete vessels found in graves, and it has been suggested in the past that these north Italian face beakers were specially made for burials. However the large numbers of face beakers found in the settlement at Magdalensberg show that this was not always the case. Those of IT Type 28 were all found in a burnt shop selling general goods and pottery and were clearly a newly arrived consignment that had not yet been put up for sale, but those of IT Type 19 have been found in various locations inside

35

36

FABRICS AND DECORATION

See Appendix V, Figs. S8: 2-3 and S9: 1-2.

50

On the question of Bacchic masks, see Appendix I, Sections B and C.2.

THE FACE POTS OF ROMAN ITALY the early Roman settlement, and in particular in the area guarded by the Roman troops where gold working took place where they generally occcur in pairs37. At Aquileia face sherds, apparently similar to these IT Type 19 face beakers have been found in domestic contexts inside the Roman town but have not been published38. In addition two examples of other Types are reported to have come from “domestic contexts”: the one from Bergamo of IT Type 1539, and the large fragmentary glazed face beaker found at Chur in the Swiss Alps40, while the large face beaker fragment from Milan of It Type 24 was found under an amphora heap in the city.

Tarragona on the Catalonian coast, and these peter out before the end of the first century AD43.

………………………..

CATALOGUE

As already mentioned, those from graves tend to be from cremation burials, though one is reported from an inhumation grave at Cadra Minusio, near Locarno at the northern end of Lake Maggiore, of IT Type 18 (Fig. C6: 4)41. All the other provenanced examples of the Ticino group however, have come from cremation graves. Two of them, from Mercallo dei Sassi at the southern end of Lake Como, were found together in one cremation grave, standing beside a rectangular stone cremation chest. Similar chests are found at Aquileia, though the one face beaker actually found in the Aquileia region, in a grave at Pozzuolo, (IT Type 19, Fig. C7: 1) was in a cremation grave covered by a huge cooking pot42.

THE FACE POTS OF NORTHERN ITALY FACE BEAKERS PO VALLEY GROUP I (undecorated) (IT Types 15 and 16A and B) IT Type 15 High-shouldered face beakers with everted rims in orange-buff fabric (Fig. C5: 1-3). Height: Fabric: Face:

FACE POT DISTRIBUTION As can be seen from the map on Fig.C1, face beakers occur on many more sites in northern Italy than in the rest of the country, though what the map can’t indicate is the unusually high number found at Pompeii (and Herculaneum), 12 in all, far more than from any other site in Italy.

Distribution:

The map on Fig. C2 shows the find spots of all the exported Italian face beakers of IT Types 7-8, 19, and 26-30 (Figs. C3: 4-5. C7: 2-4 and C10) and the first century copies produced in the provinces. As can be seen, just two exports have been identified to the west of Italy (one at Ensérune and the other of IT Type 10 at Ampurias), two to the north (one in the Alps at Chur and the other of IT Type 7 at Mainz), while the rest have all been found to the east along the Drava and Sava rivers or just to the north of them, on sites that had, or are presumed to have had, military garrisons. Most of the locally produced face beakers of first century date come from Pannonia, with just a few from the Rhineland and Britain, many of them of larger size. Again all are from military sites. No locally produced copies are known from Provence, and just two or three from Spain, all from the vicinity of the Roman colonia and military base at

Context: Date:

7-12 cm, mostly c.10 cm. Sandy orange buff. Applied features, in shallow relief except for sharp nose; notched eyebrows; round, flat, slightly concave eyes (applied squashed pellets) or barbotine rings; thin narrow mouth, occasionally just an incised line or absent all together. Po Valley, 11+c. Examples have been found at: Villa Bartolomeo 1c. (Museo Nazionale, Este, Inv. No MNA 1262); Legnano, Stanghelle di Franzine 1c. (Museo Fondazione Fiorini, Legnano, No 39762); Calvatone 1c. (Siena Chiesa 1985, 414, Note 139); Olgiate Comasco 3c. (Siena Chiesa ibid and Frova, 1958-9, 13, Fig. 17); Garlasco 1c. (Butti Ronchetti 2000, 277, Fig. 6, No 9); Valeggio Lomellino 2+c. (Museo Archeologico Lomellino, Gambolo; Siena Chiesa ibid;); Bergamo 1c. (Siena Chiesa, ibid); Validone Ic. (Museo Civico, Pavia, No 112,9, Frova 1958-9, Fig. 14: C). Graves; settlement site (Bergamo). Probably Late Augustan-Tiberian

There is very little dating evidence for this group, but there seems little doubt that they precede the barbotine face beakers of Po Valley Group II (IT Types 20-22), whose distribution they share, but the two groups may have overlapped for a time.

37

Schindler Kaudelka 2000, 273-4, and pers.comm. 2001. Dr. M L Bertacchi 1984, pers comm. Siena Chiesa, 1985, 414, Note 139. 40 Hochuli Gysel et al 1986, 300. 41 In Italy in the first century AD, and particularly in the sub-alpine regions, cremation and inhumation graves occur along side each other with apparently no perceptible chronological or cultural divisions (Lamboglia 1943, 164). 42 M. Buora, 1985, pers comm. 38 39

43

51

See Chapter V, Group A, FS Type 7.

CHAPTER THREE Museo E.Eusebio, Alba, No 3411). Grave. Probably Tiberian.

Context: Date:

Pl. C10. Dark grey face beaker of IT Type 16B from Alba in the Museo E. Eusebio, Alba,; height 11 cm.

Pl. C9. Orange-buff face beaker of IT Type15 from Validone in the Museo Civico Pavia; height 10 cm.

IT Type 16

While the beaker form is still similar to that of the Alba face beaker above, the face now combines features from two other slightly later Groups listed below: the almondshaped eyes drawn in barbotine of IT Types 20-22 and the protruding hooked nose, mouth and chin blob of the Ticino Group, in particular of the face beaker of IT Type 17 from Giubiasco, which is possibly the earliest in that Group.

Globular face beakers in grey wares

The two beakers listed below may mark an intermediate stage between the orange buff beakers of Type 15 above and the barbotine beakers of Po Valley Group II. IT Type 16A Globular face beaker with short, everted rim (Fig. C5: 4) Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution: Context: Date:

TICINO GROUP (IT Types 17 and 18) IT Type 17 Face beaker with carinated shoulder, short, cylindrical, grooved rim, and appliqué mask at the back (Fig. C6: 1)

10 cm. Sandy grey buff, no colour-coat. Features similar to Type 15 above, but even shallower eyebrows; eyes are barbotine rings; slight chin blob under the mouth. Nave (near Brescia) 1c. (Soprintendeza Archeologica, Milan, no number). Cremation grave. Tiberian .

Height: Fabric: Decoration: Face:

This has almost the same “serene” mask as the IT Type 15 face beakers, but the round eyes are now drawn in barbotine. This beaker was found with one coin dated to 22 BC and another to the Tiberian period44.

Distribution: Context: Date:

IT Type 16B Similar shaped face beaker but with more upright rim, and more grotesque face (Fig. C5: 5) Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: 44

9.5 cm. Unspecified. An appliqué mask of a Gorgon at the back; a band of herring-bone rouletting round the shoulder. Similar to IT Type 16B above, but with applied, spiral eyes, and down-curved eyebrows. Giubiasco, near Bellinzona 1c. (Ulrich 1914, 475, Pl. LXXXIV; Biaggio Simona and Buti Ronchetti 1999, Fig. 10). Grave 72 of Giubiasco cemetery. Early first century AD.

This was found in the latest Gallo-Roman levels of the Celtic cemetery of Giubiasco, famous for its Late La Tène warrior graves45. In form and face it seems to be half-way between Type 16B above and Type 18 below. The band of herring-bone rouletting round the shoulder is an unusual feature unknown on any other Italian face beaker.

11 cm. Dark brownish grey, with slight sandcasting. Unnotched eyebrows; barbotine, almondshaped eyes; hooked nose; pronounced lips and chin blob. Alba 1c. (Scaffile, 1972, 141, Pl. XI;

45

L. Passi Pitcher, 1986, pers comm.

52

R.Ulrich 1914, 475.

THE FACE POTS OF ROMAN ITALY IT Type 18 Buff globular face beakers with multiple grooves on the shoulder, grotesque face with twisted nose and appliqué mask at the back (Fig. C6: 2-4) Height: 8.7-12 cm. Fabric: Pale, pinkish buff, slightly soft fabric, sometimes with blackened exterior. Decoration: Appliqué mask at the back; 4-5 grooves round the shoulder. One example, from San Giorgio su Legnano with green glaze above the face. Face: Similar to the above but more grotesque; big, twisted nose, squashed down onto thick lips with a chin blob directly below; large, pierced, crescent-shaped ears; sharply raised Y-shaped eyebrows; applied circular or almond-shaped eyes with ringstamped pupils and rouletted eyelashes. Distribution: Ticino/Adige region 7c and 1f. Examples have been found at: Cadra Minusio (Locarno) 1c. (Simonett, 1941, 160, Fig. 138: 31, Pl. 15: 3 and 9); Muralto 1c. (Butti Ronchetti 2000, 275, Fig. 6, No 1); San Carpaforo di Camerlata (Como) 1c. (Museo Civico, Como, No 392; Frova 1958-9, 12, Fig. 16:A); Mercallo dei Sassi 2c. (Museo Civico, Varese, no number; Frova ibid, Figs 12 and 13); Abbiategrasso 1c. (Frova, ibid, 12, Fig. 14 a and b; Soprintendenza Archeologica, Milan, no number); San Georgio su Legnano 1c. (Butti Ronchetti 2000, 275, Fig. 6, No 14); Milan 1f. (Butti Ronchetti 2000, 275, Fig. 6, No 12). Context: Cremation graves, except Cadra Minusio (inhumation) Date: 25-40 AD (Lamboglia, 1943, 180)

Pl. C11. One of the two buff face beakers of IT Type 18 found in the same grave at Mercallo dei Sassi (Lake Como) in the Museo Civico di Varese; height 9.6 cm.

These face beakers all have very similar though never identical applied features with a grotesque, grimacing expression. With the exception of the one from San Georgio su Legnano, they all have a small appliqué mask at the back. In the case of the beaker from Cadra Minusio, this has been applied upside down (No 4). As mentioned above it is assumed that they were were all made in the Ticino region and, given their striking similarity and the unusual technique of modelling the eye-lashes with some kind of a rouletting instrument, it seems possible that they were all made by the same potter, or group of potters.

Pl. C12 Reverse side of the other face beaker from Mercallo dei Sassi in the Museo Civico di Varese, with an appliqué satyr mask; height 10.5 cm.

As already mentioned, all of the provenanced examples have come from graves. The two from Mercallo dei Sassi were found together standing beside a stone cremation chest. The one beaker that has no appliqué mask at the back, namely the one from Legnano, is also unique in having a coat of green glaze on the front above the face46. This is of interest as it helps to support suggestions that the thinwalled pottery industry at the western end of the Po valley moved over to glazed pottery in the Claudio-Flavian period. It also helps to establish a link with one other face jar which is thought to have been made in this area, namely the large green-glazed face beaker of Flavian date found at Chur of IT Type 30 (Fig. C10: 5) on the other side of the Alps, just inside the province of Raetia, which has a very

The masks at the back, as on the Giubiasco beaker above, all seem to be of Bacchic type - satyrs, maidens/maenads, theatrical masks and Gorgons. The most obvious parallel is the Etruscan Charun head vase with its small satyr mask at the back, at the base of the handle described Chapter II, B.3.e, (Fig. B10: 1). It is however difficult to imagine that such a tradition could have survived for four hundred years, unless some other similar vessels, possibly of silver or bronze (or wood), had bridged the gap.

46

53

Butti Ronchetti 2000, 275

CHAPTER THREE similar if more stylised face. The tiny green-glazed face beaker from Alba of IT Type 23 (Fig. C9: 1) might also be a product of this same industry, though it is suggested that it may have been made slightly further to the south at Bra (see below).

(No1), though fragments of such face beakers are said to have been excavated in Aquileia itself.

As already mentioned, there is also one other very unusual beaker from Arsago Seprio, near Angera and Mercallo, which appears to be related to the face beakers of this Group. This does not have an appliqué mask at the back, and instead of a face there is what has been interpreted as a vulva between two large ears47. AQUILEIA GROUP (IT Type 19)48 IT Type 19 Colour-coated ovoid face beakers with grooved cylindrical rim, large protruding nose and ears, and heavy, notched eyebrows (Fig. C7: 1-4) Height: Fabric: Decoration: Face:

Distribution:

Context:

Date:

8-10 cm, occasionally up to 12.5 cm. Fine ochre or pinkish buff fabric; glossy reddish brown or black colour-coat. None Very protruding, hooked and often twisted nose; heavy notched eyebrows; either large round/oval eyes with thick applied notched eyelids, or coffee-bean eyes; wide mouths with thick lips, occasionally gaping; large protruding ears, sometimes pierced. North east Italy, south and central Austria, and Slovenia, 36+ examples (6c.and 30+ f.). One example has been found in Italy, at Pozzuolo (Aquileia) 1c. (Museo Arch. Nazionale di Aquileia, No 115.543) [1]. Other egs. found at: Magdalensberg 4c. and 28+f. (Schindler Kaudelka 1975, 130, Pl. 27; ibid et al, 2000, 271-4 [2-3]; Salzburg 2f. (Hegar 1986, 146, Fig. 12: 76); Emona 1c. (Plesnicar-Gec 1972, 123, Pl. 206:2) [4]; Poetovio 1f. (Mikl Curk 1976, Pl. VI: 11). Cremation graves (Pozzuolo and Emona); gold workshops and other settlement contexts (Magdalensberg); refuse pit (Salzburg). Late Tiberian-Claudian.

Pl. C13. Face beaker of IT Type 19 from Pozzuolo in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Aquileia.; height 9.5 cm

This face beaker was found beside a cremation urn, together with two silver ring-shaped ear-rings, an iron key, and a coin of Augustus of AD 10-12, in a pit grave covered with a large jar of Auerberg type with impressed design49. The faces on the beaker from Pozzuolo and on those from Emona and Salzburg are less grotesque than on the examples of this Type found at Magdalensberg (see insert and other examples in Chapter VII, Pl. G12 and G14), but in form and fabric they all appear to be very similar. The large face jar from Aquileia however of IT Type 36 (Fig. C11: 2 and Pl. C20), which is of the same form as these face beakers only twice as large, has (or had) a face that is every bit as absurd and grotesque as the Magdalensberg beakers. No kilns making such thin-walled pottery have so far been identified at the eastern end of the Po basin, and recent fabric analysis of examples from Magdalensberg provided no clear indication as to where they might have been produced other than somewhere at the eastern end of the Po valley50.

Exported examples of this Type have been found in Austria and Slovenia, and are listed in Chapters VII and VIII as UD Type 21 and DAN Type 2. Just the one example of this Type has so far been identified by this author in Italy, from a cremation grave at Pozzuolo del Friuli close to Aquileia

As already mentioned, a number of unpublished sherds from face beakers and possibly also from face jars with

47

Ibid, Fig. 6, No 6. This Type includes Schindler Kaudelka’s Group 2 and Group 3 face beakers from Magdalensberg (Schindler Kaudelka et al 2000, Figs 4-5). They are both in the same fabric and form, but the beakers of Group 3, which are very fragmentary, have more exaggerated and twisted faces and some, at least, appear to be slightly larger than those of Group 2. 48

49 50

54

M. Buora, 1985, pers comm. Schindler Kaudelka 2000, 271-4.

THE FACE POTS OF ROMAN ITALY apparently similar faces have been found in settlement deposits in Aquileia51.

was a “stray find”, the only face beaker recorded from the cemetery. It is the only one of these barbotine face beakers without a comic, grinning mouth. The band of rouletting around the upper half of the body is a common feature of many of the north Italian thin-walled beakers and bowls.

PO VALLEY GROUP II (barbotine) (IT Types 20 - 22)

The Pigozzo beaker is rare in having no decoration apart from the face. The whitish surface deposit that occurs on both these beakers and on one or two others in this group could perhaps be the effects of burial in the Po alluvial gravels, or the remains of a particular surface treatment that did not survive well.

The facial features on these beakers or bowls are all drawn in barbotine except for the nose which is applied. Some of them also have barbotine decoration at the back. These are all short, cup-shaped forms, apart from one of IT Type 22 which is closer to a bowl. IT Type 20A Short, wide-necked grey beakers with everted rim and barbotine face (Fig. C8: 1-2 and Pl. C8)) Height: Fabric: Decoration: Face:

Distribution:

Context: Date:

IT Type 20B Larger, orange face beaker of similar form with vertical rim and barbotine decoration on the back (Fig. C8: 3)

8.5-9 cm. Fine medium grey, with whitish surface deposit. Thick band of rouletting around the girth (Altino). Barbotine features, except for thin, protruding nose; almond-shaped eyes; barbotine dashes on eyebrows and grinning mouth (Pigozzo). Eastern end of Po valley 2c. Examples have been found at: Pigozzo (Verona) 1c. (Museo del Teatro Romano, no number; Bologna Exhibition Cat. 196552, Pl. CXLI: 298); Altino (Veneto) 1c. (Museo Archeologico di Altino, No AL 6118). Grave (Altino).. Claudian-Neronian.+

Height: Fabric: Decoration: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

11.2 cm Pale orange with remains of dark red colour-coat. Barbotine lines in herring-bone pattern between two rows of dots at the back. Similar face to Type 20A, but with plain eyebrows and two rows of barbotine dots below the eyes Bologna? 1c. (Museo Civico Bologna, Coll. Pelagi, No 1500; Undset, 1890, 139, Fig. 33). Unknown Possibly Claudian to Flavian.

This beaker is unprovenanced, but must have come from somewhere in the Po valley, and could quite possibly have come from Bologna. It is larger than the others and less thin-walled, and could therefore be of slightly later date. The double row of dots across the cheeks are a new feature, which recurs on face beakers of IT Type 21, and also on a face beaker from Vindonissa which combines a number of features from different north Italian face mask types53. The dots presumably denote a beard, the only beards known on Italian face pots. IT Type 21 Short face beakers with in-turned neck, grooved rim and barbotine face (Fig. C8: 4, Pl. C8) Height: Fabric:

Decoration: Pl. C14. Grey face beaker of IT Type 20A from Altino in the Museo Archeologico di Altino; height 8.5 cm.

Face:

Over 1,800 Roman graves have been found in the Roman cemetery at Altino, evidence of this once flourishing, but now land-locked and long deserted port. The face beaker 51 52

Distribution:

ML Bertacchi, pers.comm. 1984. “Arte e Civilta Romana nell’Italia settentrionale”, Vol 1.

53

55

8-9.5 cm. Fine mushroom beige (Angera); very fine light buff fabric, with red colour-coat, and whitish surface deposit (Pavia); fine grey fabric (Torino). Barbotine ears of wheat across the back of the pot between rows of dots (Pavia). Same as IT Type 20B above, but with barbotine dots in the mouth for teeth (Pavia and Torino); a row of shallow wavy lines below the eyes in place of a double row of dots (Angera). Upper Po Valley 3c.

See Chapter VI, RD Type 22, Fig. F4: 2.

CHAPTER THREE

Context: Date:

Angera 1c. ( Museo Civico Como; Siena Chiesa 1985, 413, Note 137, Pl. 82: 23). Pavia? 1c. (Museo Civico Pavia, No 393,55 [Pl. C8]; Frova 958-9, 13, Note 23, Fig. 15: D and E); Turin? 1c. (Scafile, 1972, 142). Unknown. Claudio-Neronian (Siena Chiesa, 1985, 180).

This is probably one of the latest of the barbotine face beakers or cups, and is the only example identified of the popular north Italian thin-walled bowls which has a face on the side, though this bowl hardly deserves to be called thinwalled. Unclassified fragments from barbotine face beakers A further four fragments from barbotine face beakers are listed by Butti Ronchetti, one each from Cremona and Bergamo and two from San Lorenzo di Pegognaga near Mantua54. These could not be assigned to the different Types or sub-Types in the Catalogue as it has not yet been possible to view them or to obtain drawings or descriptions of them.

The ears of wheat motif is one of the most popular barbotine designs on north Italian thin-walled pottery. It may also have been on the reverse of the face beaker from Turin, though the published description only mentions “vegetable motif” decoration (Scafile, ibid).

FACE BEAKERS FROM NO KNOWN GROUP (IT Types 23-24)

The Angera beaker is the only example from this group which seems to have penetrated the Ticino region. It is not clear from the published drawing if it had barbotine decoration at the back or not. The row of wavy lines across the cheeks are presumably another way of denoting the beard.

IT Type 23 Tiny green-glazed face beaker with a handle at the back (Fig. C9: 1) Height: Fabric:

IT Type 22 Face bowl with short vertical rim and barbotine face (Fig. C8: 6 and Pl. C14a)

Face: Height: Fabric:

Decoration: Face:

Distribution: Context: Date:

8 cm. Not quite so fine as the other barbotine examples; red fabric with remains of red colour-coat, much masked by a whitish surface deposit. None. Less carefully executed; no lips, just a curved row of dots indicating a toothy grin; tiny dots on right eyebrow only; no ears. Milan 1c. (Museo di Antichitá, Milan, No 17827). Unknown, found in the Foro Bonaparte in Milan. Claudio-Neronian, possibly early Flavian.

Distribution: Context: Date:

4.5cm. Dark orange fabric with thick yellowishgreen opaque glaze. Relatively large features; protruding eyes with applied eyelids. Alba 1c. (Filippi 1982, 28, Pl. XXII: 9 and Pl. XXIV: 3-4). Cemetery of San Cassiano di Alba in a rich cremation grave, Tomb 3. Probably second half of the first century.

This is very different from all the other Italian face beakers, not only because it is glazed, but also because of its minute size, and the handle at the back. The form is quite similar to the Etruscan face beakers with handles at the back, but this may be just coincidence. One-handled beakers of globular or bag-shaped profile are almost the only ceramic drinking vessel to continue in northern Italy after the disappearance of thin-walled wares, but they are considerably larger than this one, and have a longer, straighter handle55. However, the size of this tiny beaker hardly allows for this. The facial features are disproportionately large for the small beaker, but it is not clear if they are intended to be grotesque, or if the potter could not model them otherwise. Glazed vessels are comparatively rare in northern Italy, though they are more frequent in this western region56. It is possible that they may have been produced at Bra (former Pollenza), just to the west of Alba57. The glazed face beaker from Chur might also have been made here if it was not produced in the Ticino region (IT Type 30, Fig. C10: 5)58.

54

Butti Ronchetti 2000, 275, Fig. 6, Nos 15, 25 and 26. Siena Chiesa 1985, 418, Pl 83. Stenico 1965, 329. 57 Lamboglia, 1943, 183. 58 See also under IT Type 18 above with regard to the partly glazed face beaker from Legnano in the Ticino region 55 56

Pl. C14a. Face cup or bowl of IT Type 22 from Milan in red fabric with a whitish surface deposit in the Museo di Antichità, Milan; height 8 cm.

56

THE FACE POTS OF ROMAN ITALY There is reported to be one more glazed face beaker in the Como museum, which has not been published59.

This Milan face beaker was found under an amphora heap, not in a grave. It is possible that together with the large glazed face beaker of Flavian date found at Chur of IT Type 30, which also came from a domestic context, and the largish face beaker from Bologna (IT Type 20C, Fig. C8: 3), it belongs to a group of larger face beakers, possibly of Neronian-Flavian date, of which few have survived due to the fact that they were not much used in graves. The existence of such a group might explain the occurrence of early large face beakers of north Italian style at Vindonissa and Nijmegen in the Rhineland (RD Type 22, Fig. F4: 2 and RL Type 13, Fig. D6: 5)) and in Britain (RB Types 610, Fig. J4: 1-6).

IT Type 24 Large globular face beaker with tall, cylindrical neck with three grooves (Fig. C9: 2) Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution:

Context: Date:

c. 14.5 cm. Sandy reddish brown, not thin-walled. Applied features; large wedge-shaped nose; protruding round eyes with hollow centre; notched eyebrows, and wide slit mouth. Milan 1f (Museo di Antichitá, Milan, no number; found in Via San Paolo, 12, Milan, on 29/9/1970; Butti Ronchetti 2000, 277, No 12). Under an amphora heap. Mid first century?

IT Type 25

Gap left in Type Series

FACE BEAKER TYPES KNOWN ONLY FROM EXAMPLES EXPORTED TO THE PROVINCES

This is a very odd-looking large face beaker. It has been reconstructed from one large fragment, and one is tempted to suggest that those who did the reconstruction got it slightly wrong, but in fact sketches of the original piece show that enough survived to indicate this unusual profile. It is quite unlike any of the thin-walled forms, and bears no resemblance to any of the later coarse-ware forms illustrated by Siena Chiesa (1985, Pl. 83).

The following Types found in the provinces are unknown inside Italy, but are assumed to have come from the Italian north. They are listed here as well as under separate Type numbers in in the Catalogue of the provinces where they have been found. IT Type 26 Tall conical face beaker with everted rim and barbotine features (Fig. C10: 1) Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

c.12 cm. Pinkish buff.. Barbotine features, including notched eyebrows and eyelids; slightly pushed out chin. Ensérune (near Marseilles) 1c. (Jannory 1956, 210, Fig. 10, and published post card in the local Ensérune museum). In a disused water cistern, used as a rubbish pit. Late Republican to Augustan.

Pl. C15. Large, reconstructed, reddish brown face beaker of IT Type 24 from Milan in the Museo di Antiquità, Milan; height 14.5 cm.

The face with its huge nose seems to be a restrained version of the beak-nosed mask. A large face beaker that is somewhat reminiscent of this one has been found in Britain at Trent Vale, in an early Neronian kiln site where immigrant potters are thought to have been working60. Both vessels could be of the same Neronian date. 59 60

PL. C16. Buff face beaker of IT Type 26 found at Ensérune; height 12 cm. (photo: postcard from the Ensérune Museum)

Hochuli Gysel, 1986, 92. See Chapter IX, Pt I, RB Type 7, Fig. J4: 3.

57

CHAPTER THREE This beaker was found in the Celtic oppidum of Ensérune, in Provence. It is in the very popular tall, narrow, beaker form of the Republican and early Augustan periods described by Marabini Moevs as situla-shaped, which was produced in both north and central Italy and widely exported around the shores of the Mediterranean, though very rarely produced outside Italy61. This example however is the only one found so far with a face on it. Its carefully notched eyebrows and eyelids are a typically Celtic and north Italian feature62, though its sharply slanted eyes are more unusual. It was found in rubbish layers containing a lot of pottery from north Italy and the Catalonian coast inside one of the many disused water cisterns that had been hollowed out of the rock on which the oppidum was built. The use of some of the cisterns for rubbish occurred during the last phase of occupation of the site, dated to the last half of the first century BC and the first decades of the next63.

Again, only one example of this Type is known, from Siscia on the river Sava in Slovenia. The form with its high, wide “collared” neck is a typical Augustan thin-walled form thought to be of Celtic La Tène origin. A version of this form with a beaded rim was also much used for the very popular, decorated, mould-made Aco Beakers made in northern Italy and also at Lyon, which were widely exported during the Augustan period64. As Siscia was occupied by Rome from 35 BC, this could be an Augustan vessel. The slightly pushed-out chin on this face beaker and on the one from Ensérune above is unusual for Italian face beakers, where the wall of the pot is rarely distorted except in the case of the indented eye-sockets of the Pompeii face beakers.

This beaker is entered separately in Chapter V under FS Type 1 along with the thin-walled face beakers from Provence and Catalonia.

IT Type 28 Conical thin-walled face beakers with sharp, protruding nose (Fig. C10: 3)

This Type is also listed with the face pots found in the Danubian provinces in Chapter VIII under DAN Type 1.

Height: Fabric: Face:

IT Type 27 Tall conical thin-walled face beaker with high, wide neck, grooved rim, and barbotine face (Fig. C10: 2) Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

12.5cm. Unspecified. Barbotine features, pushed out chin. Siscia (Sisak) 1.c (Vikic-Belancic 1968, 509, Pl. 5:21). Unprovenanced, probably a grave. Augustan-Tiberian.

Distribution: Context: Date:

9.5 – 10 cm Fine hard orange with mat red colour-coat. Applied features; sharp, thin nose; coffee bean eyes; protruding lips; shallow ears, not pierced. Magdalensberg 38 (2c. and 36 f.) (Schindler Kaudelka, 1975, 130-2, and 2000, 271-4, Group I, Fig. 3). Burnt shop. Late Tiberian to early Claudian.

Pl. C18. Red, colour-coated face beaker of IT Type 28 found at Magdalensberg, in the Archeaologisches Ausgrabungsmuseum Magdalensberg; height 9.5 cm

These are quite similar to the orange-buff face beakers of IT Type 15 of Po Valley Group I, but with a more cylindrical neck, a sharper, more protruding nose and a red colour-coat. Fabric analysis has shown that they are in a

Pl. C17. Face beaker of IT Type 27 from Siscia in the Archeological Museum, Zagreb,; height 12.5 cm. (photo: courtesy of Dr V. Vidrih Perko) 61

Marabini Moevs 1973, Form 1; Mayet 1989, 126; Greene 1979, Fig. 1: 1-2. 62 See also the early two-faced beaker of IT Type 3 (Fig. C3: 2). 63 Jannoray, 1956, 210.

64

Marabini Moevs 1973, Form XXXII; Vegas 1969-70, 107-124, Greene 1979, 7, 10, Fig. 2: 2.

58

THE FACE POTS OF ROMAN ITALY slightly different fabric from the other imported face beakers found at Magdalensberg already listed under IT Type 19, but provides no clue as to where they may have been made other than in the eastern Po valley region65. Unlike the face beakers of IT Type 19, these ones were only found in the ruins of the burnt shop. Face beakers of this Type have so far only been found at Magdalensberg, but they may well have been exported to other sites, as face beakers either of this Type or IT Type 15 seem to have inspired a number of copies in local fabrics in Dalmatia and Pannonia, which are in very similar conical form, but with slightly differing faces (DAN Type 5, Fig. H2: 3-5).

eyebrows and eyes is very reminiscent of those of the Ticino face beakers. If, as seems likely, it is of north Italian origin, it is the only face beaker from Italy that has been found so far in a command post along one of the routes over the high Alps. Chur is situated just the other side of the Lepontine Alps, on the Alpine Rhine not far from its source, at the point where the route from the Ticino lake region to the Rhineland via the Splügen pass meets the road from Narbonensis that runs through Martigny over the Furka and Oberalp passes into the Alpine valley of the Rhine. Quite a number of sherds of first century fine wares have been found at Chur, both from Lyon and from northern Italy, including even one from the east Mediterranean, from an early first century ring-handled vase decorated with pine cones67, which seems an astonishing find considering how remote Chur must have been at that period, right in the centre of the Alps. Hochuli Gysel suggests that this vase, and two other similar vases found at Vindonissa and Kempten, were probably brought over the Alps for senior military personnel. A military unit, perhaps a legionary detachment from Vindonissa, would in all likelihood have been stationed at Chur, either on road-building duty or to control the route through the passes. This face beaker too may well have been brought here for military use, perhaps for legionaries recruited from the territories of Como or Milan.

This Type is also listed in Chapter VII under UD Type 22. IT Type 29 Thin-walled face beaker with grooved, everted rim and barbotine face (Fig. C10: 4) Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

10 cm Fine orange-brown, with orange, metallic colour coat. Barbotine features, no chin. Sirmium (near Belgrade) 1c. (Brukner 1981, 75, Pl. 47: 1). Unprovenanced, presumably grave. Probably Tiberian-Claudian

The features of the face have been drawn in barbotine, but applied with a fluted nozzle producing an unusual ribbed effect, very different from the barbotine face beakers of IT Types 20-22 above. The expression of the face however with its grinning mouth is quite similar. Brukner (ibid, 75) assumes that it is an import from north Italy.

Chur, Roman Curia, became a part of the province of Raetia c. 45 AD, and this face beaker therefore is also listed with the other Raetian face jars in Chapter VII under UD Type 9. IT Types 31-34 Gap left in Type Series

This Type is also listed in Chapter VIII as DAN Type 3.

FACE JARS

IT Type 30 Large green-glazed face beaker with SpiderMan face (Fig. C10: 5) Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

IT Type 35 Two-faced jar with slightly everted, collared, concave, rim, pierced lug ears and abstract, rectangular features (Fig. C11: 1)

Max. diameter c. 15cm Rather soft, beige fabric with yellowishgreen glaze. Applied features; up-swooping eyebrows, and eyes; nose and mouth combined in a hawk-like beak. Chur (central Switzerland) 1f. (Hochuli Gysel et al, 1986, 300, Pl. 20: 3). Domestic context. Probably Claudio-Neronian

Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution:

Just a few sherds of this remarkable vessel have survived, showing the left eye, nose and mouth. The form is unfortunately impossible to reconstruct, but it has a maximum diameter of c. 15 cm, which is much larger than any of the other Italian face beakers except the one from Milan (IT Type 24). Hochuli Gysel assumes that it must have come from the Ticino region, both because of its fabric and its face66. Certainly, the face with its Spider-Man 65 66

Context: Date:

23 cm. Coarse red, and covered with a whitish surface deposit. Two identical faces with applied features; rectangular slit eyes and mouth; smooth “chiselled” eyebrows and long thin nose; pierced lug ears. Unprovenanced, Po valley? 1c. (Museo di Antichitá, Civiche Raccolte Archeologici e Numismatici, Milan, No 21030). Unknown. Late Republican to Augustan period?

This pot is something of a mystery, and as mentioned above, it is possible that it is not Roman at all. It is an old acquisition of the Milan Antiquities Museum and unprovenanced, but said to come from Roman deposits in

Schindler Kaudelka 2000, 271. Hochuli Gysel 1986, 300 and in Siena Chiesa 1985, 414, Note 139.

67

59

Ibid 1986, 91, Pl. 20: 9.

CHAPTER THREE the Po valley. In the accession book there is a sketch of it with a very unusual lid on top, shaped like a coolie hat, with a tall, ridged “stalk” on top prompting doubts that such an exotic looking pot with these African-style ear-rings could ever have come out of Roman Italy. However, the lid has since disappeared, and may not have been related to the face pot at all. As for the face jar itself, if one ignores the ear-rings, whose authenticity is doubtful, then, apart from the pierced lug ears, the form of the pot is not so very different from some of the thin-walled, concave-rimmed beakers at Cosa that Marabini Moevs dates to the Republican period68. The early two-faced beaker with pendant clay ear-rings hanging from ring lugs (IT Type 3, Fig. C3: 2) is in another version of this form, with a taller rim and shorter body69. The Milan face pot could also originally have had clay pendant ear-rings dangling from its lug ears, which were lost long ago and replaced at some time after the pot’s excavation by the large metal ring(s). Looked at in this light, it is not so impossible to see the Milan face pot as a large-sized version of the early two-faced beaker of IT Type 3 or the slightly later face beakers of IT Type 15.

Distribution: Context: Date:

The face mask of this pot with its grotesque features and huge grinning mouth is the antithesis of the restrained, expressionless mask of the face jar above. It is most unfortunate that it has lost what must have been a remarkable nose, though it would undoubtably have been very easily broken.

Pl. C20. Orange-red face jar of IT type 36 from Aquileia (large ears and nose missing), in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Aquileia, Udine height 25 cm.

Pl. C19. Unprovenanced red face jar (with a white surface deposit) of IT Type 35, possibly from the Milan region in the Museo di Antichitá, Milan; height 23 cm.

Though much of the face is missing, enough survives to show a close resemblance to the grotesque face masks of the face beakers of IT Type 19 found at Magdalensberg (see insert and Fig. C7: 2-3). The vessel form is also very similar to these beakers, only twice as high. As already mentioned, part of a large terracotta antefix or mask with a somewhat similar face with s-shaped eyebrows is in the Aquileia museum71.

The inscrutable face mask on this jar could be a more abstract and geometricised version of the faces on the face beakers of IT Type 15. Rather similar faces are found on some of the head lids of Etruscan Canopic urns70, but this may just be coincidence. IT Type 36 Large high-shoulderd face jar from Aquileia with grooved rim and grotesque face (Fig. C11: 2) Height: Fabric: Face:

similar to the IT Type 19 face beakers from Magdalensberg; grinning mouth with straplike lips and the remains of what may have been a projecting tongue or tooth; semipierced ear surviving on right side; notched, S-curved eyebrows; round eyes with notched eyelids; nose missing. Aquileia 1c. (Museo Arch. Nazionale, Aquileia, no number). Unknown. Probably Tiberian.

25 cm. Coarse sandy orange-red fabric, with a whitish surface deposit. Very worn; massive, applied features very

At the back of the face jar is a thinly applied skin of clay with criss-cross hatching which have may been an attempt to portray hair.

68

In particular Marabini Moevs 1973, Form IV and Greene 1979, Fig. 1: 3-4. 69 Marabini Moevs Form VII. 70 See Chapter II, Fig B8: 2.

71

60

See Appendix V, Fig. S9: 1.

THE FACE POTS OF ROMAN ITALY IT Types 1, and 3-5

Fig. C3. Face beakers of central Italy and Campania. Type 1, No 1; Type 3, No 2; Type 4, Nos 3-4; Type 5, Nos 5-6. (Scale 1:2) 1, Cosa; 2-3, unprovenanced; 4, Viterbo; 5, unprovenanced; 6, Pompeii.

61

CHAPTER THREE IT Types 6-8

Fig. C4. Face beakers of Campania and exports. Type 6, No 1; Type 7, Nos 2-4; Type 8, No 5. 1-3, Pompeii; 4, Mainz-Weisenau (Rhineland); 5, Ampurias (Catalonia). (Scale 1:2)

62

THE FACE POTS OF ROMAN ITALY IT Types 15-16

Fig. C5. Face beakers of Po Valley Group I. Type 15, Nos 1-3; Type 16 A, No 4; Type 16B, No 5. 1, Villa Bartolomea; 2, Stanghelle di Franzine; 3, Validone; 4 Nave; 5, Alba. (Scale 1:2)

63

CHAPTER THREE IT Types 17-18

Fig. C6. Face beakers of the Ticino Group. Type 17, No 1; Type 18, Nos 2-4. (Scale 1:2) 1, Giubiasco; 2, Mercallo dei Sassi; 3, Abbiategrasso; 4, Cadro Minusio.

64

THE FACE POTS OF ROMAN ITALY IT Type 19

Fig. C7. Face beakers of the Aquileia Group in Italy and the provinces. 1, Pozzuolo; 2-3, Magdalensberg (Austria); 4, Emona (Slovenia). (Scale 1:2)

65

CHAPTER THREE IT Types 20-22

Fig. C8. Barbotine face beakers of Po Valley Group II Type 20A, Nos 1-2; Type 20B, No 3; Type 21 Nos 4-5; Type 22, No 6. (Scale 1:2) 1, Pigozzo; 2, Altino; 3, Bologna?; 4, Angera; 5, Pavia?; 6, Milan

66

THE FACE POTS OF ROMAN ITALY IT Types 23-24

Fig. C9. Miscellaneous face beakers of northern Italy. Type 23, No 1; Type 24, No 2. 1, Alba; 2, Milan. (Scale 1:2)

67

CHAPTER THREE IT Types 26-30

Fig. C10. Face beaker Types from northern Italy known only from exported examples. Type 26, No 1; Type 27, No 2; Type 28, No 3; Type 29, No 4; Type 30, No5. 1, Ensérune (Provence); 2, Siscia (Slovenia); 3, Magdalensberg (Austria); 4, Sirmium (Serbia); 5, Chur (Switzerland). (Scale 1:2)

68

THE FACE POTS OF ROMAN ITALY IT Types 35-36

Fig. C11. Face jars of northern Italy. Type 35, No 1; Type 36, No 2. 1, Po Valley?; 2, Aquileia

69

(Scale 1:4)

CHAPTER THREE

70

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART I

CHAPTER FOUR The face pots of the Lower and Middle Rhineland along the roads leading from Köln through Bavay to Boulogne, and a few isolated face pots have also been found along the Channel coast. These Belgian and French face pots are different to those of the Rhineland and are treated separately in Chapter V, along with two other isolated groups, one in north west Spain and the other along the Mediterranean coasts of Provence and Catalonia.

GEOGRAPHICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL DIVISIONS Far more complete face pots, and fragments of them, have been found in the lower and middle Rhineland region north of Strasbourg than in any other area of the Roman Empire. Included within this general region are also those areas to the east of the Rhine which were later enclosed within the frontiers of the Wetterau salient and the Upper German Limes, as well as the area to the west of the river between the lower Meuse in the north and the region around Trier and Luxembourg in the south. The area thus covered includes all of the Roman province of Lower Germany, and the northern, lowland regions of Upper Germany as far south as Rheinzabern. This whole area forms a roughly homogenous whole as far as face pot development is concerned, with no very marked evidence of separate regional groupings, or at any rate not until the late Roman period.

As mentioned in the previous chapter, very different face jar traditions develop north of the Alps from those to the south and south east, involving much larger vessels, some of them with "spouts" on the shoulder or rim, but often with very similar faces to the Italian face beakers. A small number of face beakers were also produced in the Rhineland, and these too continue right through into the fourth century, in different forms and fabrics. Many of them from this first period are just smaller versions of the large colour-coated face jars of RL Types 4 A and B, with a standard Rhineland face, but others are closer to the Italian or Danubian face beakers, including one, of RL Type 15 from Mainz-Weisenau (Fig. D8: 1), which is almost certainly an import from Campania, the only Italian face cup or beaker so far identified in the Rhineland.

From Strasbourg southwards however, in the area often known as the Rhine-Danube corner, with the exception of a few early face jars and face beakers from the legionary fortresses of Strasbourg and Vindonissa which are similar to early face pots found further north, rather separate and more localised face pot types developed. These seem to have as much in common with the face jar traditions of the upper and middle Danube to the east as with the those of the rest of the Rhineland to the north, though none of the Types identified so far appear to be directly similar to ones in either major region. This is due no doubt partly to geography, but also to the disposition of the Roman army along the Rhine in the first century, with relatively few forts between Mainz and Strasbourg before AD 70, and then the opening up of routes to the Danube through the mountainous Suebian forests during the later years of that century leading to the creation of the Upper GermanRaetian Limes, the defensive land frontier linking the Rhine and the Danube. The face pots of this upper Rhineland region fall into three main regional groups: Group A in and around Strasbourg; Group B in the LorchBad Cannstatt area at the southern corner of the Upper German Limes; and Group C along the Rhine in north Switzerland. These face pots have been placed in a separate catalogue in Chapter VI.

Chronologically, face pot production in the Rhineland area north of Strasbourg falls into three relatively distinct periods, with what appears to be only a small amount of overlapping. The first period covers the first century and includes a few types which continue on into the early second century; the second period runs from the end of the first century, when the forts of the Wetterau and the Upper German Limes were becoming established, and lasts until the barbarian invasions of 260-1; the third period covers the much fewer face pots of the later third and fourth centuries. This chapter has accordingly been divided into three Parts, each one followed by the relevant section of the Rhineland Catalogue. B. MILITARY OCCUPATION OF THE RHINELAND, AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE RHINE AND UPPER GERMAN FRONTIERS 1. The Roman annexation of most of the Rhineland took place at the same time as Caesar's conquest of Gaul in the mid first century BC, but Roman legions were not stationed permanently on the Rhine for another forty years or so, until around 16 or 15 BC when Augustus, free at last to turn his attention to the northern frontier of the Empire, subdued the Alpine tribes, and began moving his western legions up to the Rhine. The completion of the conquest of Spain by the second decade of the first century BC released most of the seven legions tied down there as well as a large body of auxiliary troops, while

The face pots of the Mosel region around Trier and Luxembourg, many of them of third and fourth century date, appear to mark the limit of the western spread of face pots from the middle Rhineland into civilian Gaul and Gallia Belgica. Virtually the same Types occur here as on sites along the Rhine and in the Wetterau area, and for this reason they have been included in this chapter. Further north a number of face pots occur outside Lower Germany

71

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART I periods, but so far little evidence of forts has come to light except in the region opposite Mainz where Wiesbaden and possibly Kastel and Hochst continued to be occupied, while the new auxiliary fort of Hofheim seems to have been founded about A.D. 40, probably in connection with Caligula's ineffective wars against the Chatti. Ritterling (1913, 81) believed that this early earth and timber fort had been destroyed by the invasion of the Chatti in 50-51, but it is now thought that it may have survived intact until the Civil War and the rebellion of the Batavian leader Civilis in 696, when wide-scale destruction took place along much of the Rhine frontier, until Cerialis, in the name of the new emperor Vespasian, forcefully restored order, disbanded the Batavian cohorts which had spear-headed the revolt, and set about repairing the defences. Under Vespasian Roman occupation of the upper Rhineland east of the river was now greatly reinforced by the addition of quite a number of new forts built during the construction of two new strategic roads in the upper Neckar region designed to link the Rhine and the Danube, one from Mainz to Heidelberg, which was later continued to Cannstatt and on to Faimingen on the Danube, and another through the Black Forest from Strasbourg to Raetia (see Chapter VI, Group B).

others would have been moved eastwards from their bases inside Gaul. The exact location of the earliest legionary forts on the Rhine is still not entirely clear, but bases appear to have been first established at Vechten, Nijmegen, Xanten, Neuss and Mainz prior to the launching of a three-pronged campaign in 12 BC under the command of Drusus across the Rhine into Germany. The Elbe was reached and a legionary base established at Haltern. But in AD 9 a German revolt destroyed the three legions under Varus’ command, and despite punitive campaigns by Tiberius and then Germanicus, the province of Germany across the Rhine was never restored. The legions were withdrawn to the west bank of the river, with just a small, auxiliary presence left in the TaunusWetterau area and along the North Sea coast to the east of the Rhine delta. Two legions were based at Xanten, two at Köln, two at Mainz, and one each at Strasbourg and Vindonissa, eight legions in all, four in Upper Germany and four in Lower Germany. Over the next 5060 years, the double fortresses were gradually broken up, first Köln, with legio XX Valeria Victrix moving to Neuss c. AD 35 and legio I Germanica to Bonn at the same time or shortly thereafter, and then the other two in AD 70, when single legion fortresses were built at Xanten and Mainz, and a new one was founded at Nijmegen1.

Occupation of the east bank of the Rhine, c. 80-260 4. Under Domitian, and as a result of his Chattan War of 83-85, the whole of the Wetterau region and much of the Taunus region east of the Rhine and north of the Main were brought under Roman control and a line of small forts set up along the new frontier line or limes, with larger forts for whole auxiliary cohorts and alae at Hofheim, Heddernheim, Okarben, Friedberg and Bad Nauheim. Construction of the forts along the Odenwald limes and the middle Neckar probably didn't take place until about A.D. 90, after the Saturninus Revolt, about the same time as the foundation of the forts north of the Danube in the Swabian Alp7. About this time, or within the next ten years a number of the fortlets along the Wetterau frontier were enlarged so that they could take a whole cohort or ala, and again under Hadrian who erected a wooden palisade along the entire length of the Upper German and Raetian limes8. Not content with this however, Antoninus Pius pushed the frontier in Upper Germany forward yet again, into its final position east of the Neckar. From now on this long frontier was to remain basically unaltered, apart from the construction of a rampart and ditch (Pfahlgraben) behind the palisade, until the disastrous invasions of the Alemanni in 259-60.

2. Already during the reign of Augustus a number of auxiliary forts were built along the left bank of the lower and middle Rhine, in between the legionary fortresses, and this policy was continued during the reign of Tiberius. Moers Asperg at the mouth of the Ruhr was the site of numerous earth forts between the Augustan and Flavian periods, and other early forts are thought to have existed at Kalkar, Neuss, Bonn, Urmitz and Bingen, and very probably at Andernach and Koblenz2. Almost no Augustan or Tiberian forts have so far been clearly identified further south of Mainz to link up with Strasbourg and Vindonissa, though they are suspected at Worms, Speyer, Basel and Augst, while the first fort at Sasbach3, south of Strasbourg on the right bank of the Rhine, may also date to this period4. Further forts were added during the Claudian period, mostly between Mainz and the junction of the Rhine and the Neckar, but including one at Rheingonheim. 3. In the very north of the Rhineland, the few troops east of the Rhine delta were brought back to the Waal under Claudius, and a new defensive frontier with forts at regular intervals of 7 to 8 km was established along that river from the North Sea to the junction with the Rhine, in an attempt to seal off the delta area from the tribes beyond5. Further south, between Ni jmegen and Mainz, it is generally assumed that some kind of Roman presence must have been maintained along the right bank during the Tiberian and Claudio-Neronain 1 A summary of legionary movements in the western provinces from c.AD 10-270 is given in Appendix II. 2 Horn 1987, 557, Fig. 30; Filtzinger et al, 1986, Fig. 8. 3 A larger but as yet unexcavated fort of probable Claudian date built just beside this one may have been of legionary fortress size (ibid, 537). 4 Ibid, 534, Fig. 8. 5 Maxfield 1987, 145.

6

Baatz and Herrmann 1982, 354. Schönberger 1969, 161-2. 8 Schönberger 1969, 166, and foot note 166.. 7

72

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART I

PART I Rhineland face pots of Period One - c. 30 to c. 110 A.D. FIRST CENTURY FACE POTS The earliest face pots have all been found on military sites. They do not seem to make an appearance much if at all before the second quarter of the first century AD, and so far no securely dated face pot has been found in contexts before this date9. Not surprisingly, considering the extensive and continuous troop movements that took place during the first century in the Rhineland, with new legions continuing to be raised, and auxiliary cohorts being drafted in from virtually all the provinces of the ever-expanding Empire, there is a wider variety of face pot forms, faces and decoration than at any other similar period of time during the succeeding three centuries. Twenty four different Types or sub-Types have been identified, but there could well be many more, given that in the case of the rarer Types often only one or two examples have been identified and a single new find can reveal a completely new Type10. What is surprising perhaps is how quickly standardised Types do emerge (probably by the middle of the century), which are found on sites up and down the Rhine from the Rhine delta to Mainz, though at this period not much beyond that except for one or two face pots found in the legionary fortresses at Strasbourg and Vindonissa.

Pl. D1. Face jar in Rhine Granular Grey ware of RL Type 1 from Mainz in the Mittelrheinisches Landesmuseum Mainz; height 16 cm. (photo MRLM Mainz)

The situation in the Rhineland is quite different from what seems to have occurred with the thin-walled face beakers of Italy, where distinctive regional groups developed, particularly in the north, each with differing faces, forms and fabrics. Here the three most common Types appear to exist alongside each other in the same general area, at the same time, in different forms and fabrics but with very similar standardised faces. The situation is also very different from the development of early face pot traditions in the Danubian provinces, which is limited to face beakers throughout the first century, starting with imported face beakers from northern Italy, some possibly of Augustan date if not earlier, and gradually changing to local copies (see Chapter VIII. B.1).

RL Type 1 (Fig. D2, Pls. D1 and D4) Jars of basic cooking pot or storage jar form from 20-30 cm high, generally with a wide, slightly constricted neck and plain everted, or occasionally grooved rim. The shoulder tends to have a characteristic hump or carination immediately below the rim, and quite deeply indented grooves may occur on the body of the pot. These are all in the characteristic, hard, Rhineland Granular Grey (RGG) ware with visible pale quartz inclusions11. RL Type2 A-C (Fig. D3) Face jars of fairly similar size but with sloping shoulders, a lower, wider girth, with two or three spouts on the shoulder close to, or attached to, the rim which is generally frilled. The spouts may be cup-shaped or tubular, and they can be pierced through the body of the vessel, or blind (unpierced). These are also in grey wares, but in the mostly darker grey “Belgic” wares of local origin with a smoother less grainy outer surface. An example of Type 2B occurs at Hofheim and is listed by Ritterling (1913) as Type 83. RL Type 4 A-B (Fig. D 4). Red, brown or black colour-coated face jars, of similar shape to RL Type 2 above, but with no spouts and with a plain everted cornice rim.

FORMS, FABRICS AND TYPES Face jars: There are three main face jar forms in this period, corresponding to the three dominant first century Types, each one made in one of the three most common pottery fabric types of the first century. The faces tend to be much the same on all of them except in the case of a few, probably earlier, examples.

9

For a discussion of the earliest face pots, see Chapter X, A.1. As in all the Type Series, gaps have been left in the numbering sequence to allow for new Types to be inserted. 10

11

73

Ritterling 1913, Hofheim Type 81.B; Gose 1976, Type 522.

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART I Most of the face jars identified from this period belong to these three main Types. The other four first century face jar Types including two with indented handles at the back (Types 8 A and B), are represented by just one or two examples. Face beakers: Face beakers are far less common, and are virtually all globular beakers of varying size with plain everted rims, a few of which have an indented handle at the back. The most numerous are the red and black colour-coated face beakers of RL Type 11 A and B (Fig. D7: 1-3), which are half-size versions of RL Type 4A and B. They are however quite similar to the one example of an imported Italian face beaker that has been identified so far, the small face cup with a handle at the side found at Mainz-Weisenau (RL Type 15, Fig. D8: 1) though they don’t have a handle. A number of the black colour-coated face pots are between 14 to 19 cm tall, half way between face jars and face beakers. As the other complete colour-coated face jars are between 30-32 cm tall, these intermediate size face pots have been classified as large face beakers. Though rather large for face beakers, they are not a great deal larger than some of the later Italian face beakers of the Flavian period, or the large face beaker from Vindonissa (see Chapter VI, Fig. F4: 2).

Pl D2. Grey face jar of RL Type 2B with two spouts and two incised phalli from Köln, in the Römisch-Germanischesmuseum Köln, height 29.3 cm. (photo: RGM Köln)

lower Rhineland, only in the Mainz-Wetterau area and as far south as the Stuttgart region. These occur mainly in the second century, though a few fragments are already present in the turf fort at Hofheim13. Spouts and their possible function are further discussed in Chapter XIII.

It is clear from the slight variations in the fabrics within the main face pot Types that, with the possible exception of the red colour-coated face beakers of RL Type 11A, they were not made just in one particular centre, but in potteries up and down the Rhine. It also appears that on some occasions two or more different types of face jar could be made during the same period in the same potteries and even in the same kiln, as seems to have been the case in the Marsilstein-Ecke Mauritiussteinweg kilns at Köln where sherds of grey face jars with spouts of Type 2B were found in the same kiln as fragments of red colour-coated face beakers of Type 4A (kiln No 1) while sherds in grey granular ware, including face jar sherds of RL Type 1, were found in the neighbouring kiln No 812.

DECORATION Decoration, which is almost unknown on face jars outside this period, or outside the Rhineland, occurs on the reverse side of some of the examples of RL Types 1, 2, 4 and 11. It may take the form of barbotine long-stem or shell decoration, or combed lattice, or an incised wavy line in between horizontal grooves. The barbotine motifs and the combed lattice are found on Italian thin-walled beakers and bowls, but the wavy line decoration is typical of local Belgic grey wares. FACES

SPOUTS AND FRILLED RIMS Of particular interest at this period are the faces, which are more varied than during any of the succeeding centuries. Unlike the first century face jars of Britain and the Upper Danube, where the faces are rather small and compact and are often put right up close to the rim, most of the faces on Rhineland face jars are spread out over the top half or two thirds of the vessel, while on the face beakers the face covers most of the body of the pot.

Spouts are a feature of early face jars in the Rhineland, on the Upper Danube and in Britain. They are not found on face beakers or face jars in the Danubian provinces. In Britain and Raetia they seem to disappear by the mid second century if not before, and in the Rhineland probably by the beginning of the third century. In some cases the “spouts” are pierced and seem to be functional, but in other cases just one or two spouts are pierced, or none at all. In the first century, the grey spouted face jars of RL Types 2 A-B are the most common, found between Mainz and the coast. In the second century, buff face jars with a narrower neck and more tubular-shaped spouts of RL Types 20 A and B become most popular, but these are not found in the

12

13

Ritterling 1913, Type 67. In the Rhineland grey jars with spouts and frilled rims always seem to be either face pots or cult vases with applied snakes on them (see Appendix VI). In this they differ from the buff or white-slipped jars with spouts of Types 20 A-B, which can occur with or without a face, though never, it seems, with snakes. A grey spout sherd therefore, if found on its own, has very probably come from a face jar or a snake pot, whereas this cannot be said of a buff or white-slipped spout sherd.

Strunk 1969, 94, Figs. 2-4 and 6

74

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART I A very striking and as yet unique face occurs on the red colour-coated face jar of RL Type 4A from Bergheim-Torr (Fig. D4: 5), with horns, phalli, bared teeth and a thick wavy beard. A somewhat similar face, a kind of hybrid satyr and gorgon, is found on a stone antefix from Brumath (see Appendix V, D, Fig. S11: 5).

There is clearly a strong element of Italian influence where faces are concerned. North Italian influences are most easily recognised in the faces with large noses and heavily notched eyebrows and eyelids which seem to be very similar to the “beak-nosed” or long-nosed faces of the north Italian face beakers of IT Types 18 and 19, particularly the latter. Such faces however are more common in Period Two, and are rare in this early period, occurring only on a large fragment from Hofheim of RL Type 5 and a large beaker from Nijmegen of RL Type 13 (see Figs D5:3 and D7:5, Pls. D9 and D12). They also occur on the Swiss Rhine at Vindonissa, on RD Types 2123, which are very similar to these two Rhineland Types, showing how close the ceramic contacts were between these three key sites at either end of the Rhine and in the middle Rhineland at this early period.

There are also traces of other, non-Italian mask-types such as the Celtic-looking m-shaped face with rounded downcurving eyebrows coming down below the ears, often with down-drooping eyes as well, which appears on several different Types of this period in the Rhineland, from Nijmegen to Wiesbaden, but particularly it seems along the lower Rhine between Nijmegen and Xanten15 (see Figs D3: 2 and 7, D6: 1, and D8: 5-6), or the tricephalic face, with three faces elided into one, as on the unique face jar from Köln (see Pl.D3 below and Fig. D4: 4). But the features of the tricephalic mask, though in triplicate, are nevertheless still those of the standard Rhineland face, with pellets in the eyes and mouth, and it is decorated with seven very Roman-looking phalli.

However the much more common and standardised face that emerges during the first century, with its small nose, eyes and mouth, arched notched eyebrows and crescent ears, also probably owes a lot to Italian influence, though possibly more from central or south Italy than from the north, these features being very similar to the “serene” face masks on Campanian face beakers of It Type 7, as seen on the face cup or face beaker found at Mainz-Weisenau which is almost certainly a Campanian import (RL Type 15 (Fig. D8: 1 and Pl. D14). Two additional Rhineland features however which are frequently present on these standardised faces and which are not found in Italy are the small pellets inserted into the slit eyes and mouths, and the applied phalli, generally one on each cheek, pointing towards the mouth or eyes. The inserted pellets in the eyes and mouths do not seem to last much beyond the early second century except for a few examples mostly in the central Rhineland, and they can be a useful general indicator of a first century or early second century date. Phalli continue throughout most of the second century, particularly in the central Rhineland and Wetterau area, and just occasionally into the third, with one isolated example in the fourth (RL Type 44A, Fig. D19: 5), though they never, it seems, occur on beak-nosed face pots. Nor do they seem to occur on any of the face pots found north of Xanten, south of Strasbourg, or in the Trier-Luxembourg region. As far as can be seen, they are also absent from all the face pots outside the Rhineland, except for two isolated examples, both almost certainly connected with troops transferred from the Rhine, one on a face fragment found at Novae on the Lower Danube (DAN Type 32, Fig H12: 6), and the other on an early face jar from Gloucester in Britain with a typical Rhineland-type phallus applied to one cheek, and another much smaller one placed most unusually on the rim of the jar for good measure (RB Type 2, Fig. J3: 1).

Pl. D3. Red colour-coated face jar of RL Type 4A from Köln in the Römisch-Germanischesmuseum Köln, height 31 cm. (photo RGM Köln)

As in Italy, most of the faces are beardless, but there is frequently a small blob or applied ring below the mouth, marking the chin. Just occasionally beards are indicated by stabbing or hatching. They are more common in the second century.

In this period, as later, there are one or two examples with two identical faces, one on each side of the pot, such as the one from Lövenich, near Köln (Fig D4: 6). Face jars with two or more faces also occur occasionally in Italy and the Danubian provinces and in Britain14.

14

The most unusual face is that on the spouted face jar from Neuss, Type 2A (Fig D3: 1), which has an appliqué face of 15 Similar faces also occur occasionally on face pots on the Upper Danube, see Chapter VII (Figs. G2: 1-4 and G5: 3), on the Lower Danube, see Chapter VIII (Fig. H12: 1-3), and in Britain, see Chapter IX (Figs.J7: 2, J10: 5, J14: 1,2 and 5, and J16: 1-3).

See Chapter III, under IT Type 3.

75

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART I a Julio-Claudian emperor or prince, made using a stamp of the kind employed for making bronze or glass phalerae or medallions. This pot, found in a grave dated to the second quarter of the first century is one of the earliest face jars identified in the Rhineland, and the potter may have been at a loss as to how to mould a face or which face to choose, and used a ready-made Roman stamp instead.

RHINELAND CATALOGUE Period One FACE JARS (RL Types 1-7) RL Type 1

SITES AND CONTEXTS AND DISTRIBUTION As can be seen from the distribution maps on Fig. D1, first century Rhineland face jars and face beakers are found almost exclusively on military or former military sites along the Rhine or on sites within the military area behind the river frontier. None appear to have been found on early military sites that were abandoned before 25 AD such as Haltern or other early forts east of the Rhine along the river Lippe.

Height: Fabric:

The main Types do not divide up into regional or chronological groups apart from some slight differences in fabric, but are found up and down the Rhine from Nijmegen to Mainz and to a lesser extent beyond, with three or four different Types often occurring together on the same site.

Face:

Decoration:

The bulk of the complete face jars found in the first century, as in the following three centuries, come from graves. In the first century, as in the second and early third century, burial was normally cremation, and a face jar found in such a burial has generally, though not always, served as the cremation urn. This applies to those with spouts as much as to those without spouts. However quite a number of face jar fragments or sherds, roughly equal to the total number of complete pots, have also been found in domestic or other contexts, separate from graves. One, from Wiesbaden, was found in a well (see RL Type 2B)16. In the second and third centuries, the proportion found on settlement sites is even higher, and it is quite clear that face jars were not made only for use as cremation urns. Where face beakers are concerned a greater proportion are complete pots, and these do seem to have come predominantly from graves, as is the case in Italy.

Distribution:

………………….

Context: Date:

Face jars in Rhineland Granular Grey (RGG) ware, generally with a carinated or humped shoulder and barrel-shaped profile, and sometimes with barbotine decoration (Fig. D2: 1-5, Pls. D1 and D4) 17-26 cm but average c. 25 cm. Hard, grey granular ware with protruding, rounded grits, sometimes very light grey; probably self-slipped. Body and neck grooves; sometimes barbotine decoration, long-stemmed bud or leaf, and one example of shell decoration (Nijmegen). For the most part, the standard first century Rhineland “serene” face mask with applied features: quite wide arched eyebrows, usually notched; crescent ears; tiny pellets in the slit eyes and mouth; very often phalli on the cheeks, pointing to the mouth (but no phalli at Nijmegen) and a chin blob below the mouth; just very rarely a stabbed beard. But quite considerable variation still on some examples ( Nos 2,4 and 5). Nijmegen to Mainz 13 (7c. and 6f.). Examples have been found at: Nijmegen 1c (Stuart 1977, 142, Fig 54:5, Nijmegen Mus. No VIII.2.5 [1]); Xanten, 1f. (Wagner 198917); Köln 3c and 5f. (comp: RGM Nos L.588 [2 and Pl. D4] and 75464 [Pl. D1]; Bakker 1975, 279, Fig. 1: 1 [3]; frags: RGM Nos 524; 0,3016a; 62,59; 27,963; Strunk 1969, 106, Fig. 6:16); Wesseling 1c. (Bonner Jhrb. 176, 1976, 416, Fig. 20), Hofheim (turf fort) 1c. and 1f. (comp: Ritterling 1913, Type 81B; Gose 1976, Type No 522; Wiesbaden Mus. display case [5]; frag: Wiesbaden Mus. no number); Mainz Weisenau 1c. (Mainz MRLM No F.4207 [4]). Graves; kilns (Köln, Marsilstein-Ecke Mauritiussteinweg kilns [Strunk ibid]); pit (Hofheim). Probably c. 43-100 A.D. No closely dated face jars of this type are known, apart from the one from the turf fort at Hofheim (C. AD 40-69).

These face jars all have versions of the Rhineland first century “serene” face mask, but on a few vessels, which may be among the earliest examples, this has not yet become fully standardised, as for instance the face jar from 16 Others must almost certainly have been buried as foundation deposits or ritual offerings, as in later periods and in other provinces, but none could be identified during this survey from the early period.

17 This fragment was published in an article by Paul Wagner in the Rheinische Post of Feb. 17, 1990, entitled “Grabungen in der Colonia Ulpia Traiana 1989”.

76

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART I Hofheim with its banana-like phalli that have left no room for a mouth (No 5), or the one from Mainz on which all the features are notched including the mouth, while one phallus points at the mouth and the other at an eye (No 4) or the one from Köln with just one phallus (No 2 and Pl. D4 below).

Pl. D5. Barbotine-decorated beaker from Nijmegen in Rhineland Granular Grey ware in the Rijksmuseum GM Kam, Nijmegen.; height c. 11cm.

The face jars, like the beakers, have a characteristic humped or carinated shoulder, more exaggerated on some vessels than on others, and several grooves round the shoulder or neck, and often round the body as well. Stuart (1977, 63) dates this ware at Nijmegen from 25-80, while elsewhere it may have lasted a bit longer, particularly at Köln where the Marsilstein-Ecke Mauritiussteinweg kilns mentioned above have been dated to the beginning of the second century22. Beakers and face pots with similar humped shoulders and barbotine decoration were made in north west Spain, in socalled thin-walled wares produce at the recently excavated kilns of Melgar de Tera, close to the fort at Los Rosinos de Vidriales (see Chapter V, FS Type 31). It was thought at one time that these Spanish vessels might date to the early first century, raising the possibility of influences brought to the Rhineland by legionary potters from Spain23. However the Melgar de Tera pottery has recently been re-dated to the period from c. AD 63 to the mid second century, which means that unless some earlier prototypes are found elsewhere in Spain, it can hardly have influenced these Rhineland RGG wares, and suggests rather that the influence could have been the other way round.

Pl. D4. Face jar in Rhine Granular Grey ware of RL Type 1 from Köln in the Römisch-Germanischesmuseum Köln, height 25.6 cm. (photo: RGM Köln)

They are all made in the distinctive first century granular ware, known in Britain as Rhine Granular Grey ware (RGG)18. It is a hard, very grainy fabric with quite large, smooth, quartz-sand inclusions (generally colourless or white, but occasionally pink) visibly projecting through the exterior surface of the pot, and is one of the characteristic Rhineland Roman pottery wares of the first century AD. The colour can vary considerably, from lightish blue-grey to cream or pinkish orange, while in the Mainz area it is sometimes a much darker grey. Evidence for the production of RGG wares has been found at Köln in the MarsilsteinEcke Mauritiussteinweg kilns19 and it is thought that they must almost certainly have been produced in the Mainz area and probably also in the northern Rhineland in the vicinity of Nijmegen20. The two main vessel types are beakers and one-handled jugs21. There are also some larger storage-type jars of similar form to the beakers, and these are the ones that can have faces on them. The jugs are plain, but the beakers and jars (including the face jars) are often decorated in barbotine, generally long stemmed buds or heart-shaped leaves between rows of dots, or with a variety of different scale decorations. This is done in a much finer, generally paler or darker fabric, which stands out in attractive contrast to the granular surface of the vessel (see Pls. D1 and D5 below). As a result this is a unique type of pottery which combines the features of both coarse and fine wares.

RGG vessels are found from Nijmegan and the forts of the delta as far south as Rheingönheim, and up the Mosel to Trier, with a few even being exported to Britain. The face jars in this fabric however do not seem to have had such a wide distribution, and none have been identified in this survey along the Mosel, or south of Mainz. RL Type 2

Wide-girthed, dark grey face jars with two or occasionally three spouts on the shoulder or neck

RL Type 2A

Early, grey, face jars with two or three spouts on the shoulder, and unusual rims and faces (Fig. D3: 1-2).

Height: Fabric:

18

22

This is the subject of a paper by Scott Anderson (1981, 93-112). Strunk 1969, 106-8, Kilns 8 and 9. 20 Anderson 1981, 103. 21 Stuart 1963 and 1977, Types 204 and 209.

22-23 cm. Grey coarseware, very dark in the case of

Lung, 1959, 55. In particular those of legio X Gemina which was transferred from its base at Los Rosinos to Carnuntum c. AD 63, and thence to Nijmegen in AD 70.

19

23

77

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART I

Decoration: Face: Distribution:

Context: Date:

Face:

the Wiesbaden pot. Bands of incised wavy lines (Wiesbaden). Appliqué medallion (No I); incomplete, mshaped eyebrows with ears outside (No 2). Lower and middle Rhineland 2 c. Examples have been found at: Neuss 1c. (Müller 1977, 112, Fig 69:8); Wiesbaden 1c. (Wiesbaden Mus. No 14651,216a); Grave (Neuss); well (Wiesbaden). c. AD 40 (Neuss), and possibly a similar early date for the Wiesbaden example.

Distribution:

These two face jars with their very different faces and spouts may have been early prototypes for the more standardised face jars of Type 2B below, and could both date to the second quarter of the first century. The Neuss face jar was found in a grave with a south Gaulish samian bowl dated to c. AD 40 (Müller ibid). It has an unusual, rather shallow frill along the bottom edge, and the spouts are unusually round and cup-shaped, with a good clear opening at the base through the vessel wall. Its unique appliqué face, or rather bust, made with some kind of stamp, is very similar to those on a series of glass phalerae of the early to mid first century which bear the stamped busts of the Emperors from Tiberius to Nero, and of the princes Drusus and Germanicus24. The bust on the Neuss face jar seems to be closest to that of Germanicus. The Wiesbaden face jar is unfortunately missing the centre of the face and comes from an undated deposit in a well, but it is clearly not a standard Rhineland face of the later first or second centuries. The herring-bone notching on the rim and the bands of irregularly incised wavy lines, together with the unusual face and the clumsy tubular spouts, give the impression of a pot made by a local Rhineland potter commissioned to make a face jar with spouts but with no clear model to follow. Such a face mask however with semi-circular “eyebrows” and D-shaped ears attached to the outer edge of the eyebrows is not unique, and occurs on the black and white Etruscan face beakers (see Chapter II, Fig. B9: 1), and again on some late Roman face pots in north Britain (see Chapter IX, Fig. J14: 1-2). It could therefore be either a local Celtic face mask, or one that had been brought out of Italy by the Romans, but only rarely came to be used on face pots. RL Type 2B

Height: Fabric:

Decoration:

24

Context: Date:

Virtually all have the standardised Rhineland first century “serene” mask, as described under RL Type 1 above, but not all the eyes have pellets; phalli are frequent except at Nijmegen. Rhine delta to Mainz-Hofheim area 37 (9c. and 28f). Examples have been found at: Utrecht, Vechten, and Vleuten-de-Meeren 3+f. (Dr, Isings, private info. 1985); Arnhem Meinerswijk 1c. (Willems 1984, 183, Fig 107:4; Nijmegen 3c. and 10f. (comp: Schumacher 1911, 347; Stuart 1963, 76, Type 205, pl. 20:336 [5]; RivierstraatKannnaalstraat excavation, 1991, A Koster 1997, unpub. info.); frags: Stuart 1963, 76; Schumacher 1911, 347; Nijmegen Mus. No viii.11); Cuijk 1f. (Thijssen 2002, 38 and frontispiece); Xanten 3f. (Bonn RLM Aussenstelle Nos 24643 and 24533; Liesen 1994, 52, Pl. 12: 9); Köln 3c. and 11f. (comp: RGM Nos 64,36 [4]; 4300 [Pl. D2], and 67,1471 [Pl. D6]; frags: Strunk 1969, 94, Fig. 3:12-15 and Fig. 4: 1-2; Inv Nos 58461, 58481-2, 58507); Mainz 1c. (Mainzer Zeit-schr.VI,1911, 93, Fig. 19: A); Hofheim (turf fort) 1c. (Ritterling 1913, Type 83, PL XXVIII: 12, Fig. 79:1; Wiesbaden Mus. No 19016 [3]). Graves; domestic contexts inside forts (Nijmegen, Xanten, Hofheim); kilns (Xanten, [Liesen ibid]; Köln [Strunk, ibid]). Second half of first century, possibly early second century.

This is the most popular face pot Type of the first century along the stretch of the Rhine between Mainz and the forts of the Rhine delta. Despite their unusual spouts and frilled rims, these face jars seem to be more closely integrated into local ceramic traditions than the other two main Types, being made in local “Belgic” grey wares, often with traditional bands of grooves and wavy line decoration, and in a fairly standard cooking pot form with a low girth. The Type is probably best known from the examples found at Hofheim (No 3) and Nijmegen25. The most characteristic feature is the presence of two, or more rarely three, little spouts or tiny cups on the shoulder, often moulded on to the rim, which sometimes are pierced so as to connect with the inside of the pot (particularly perhaps the earlier ones) but more often they are left blind26. The rims of these lownecked spouted face jars all seem to be frilled, and they could be earlier than those RL Type 2C below which have

Grey face jars with two or three spouts, a low neck, frilled rim, sloping shoulders and wide girth (Fig. D3: 3-5, Pls. D2 and D6) 18-29 cm, average 22 cm. Hard grey coarse local “Belgic” wares, darker than RGG ware above, and less granular, sometimes with a slightly metallic, over-fired sheen. Generally three or more double grooves round the neck and on the upper half of the jar; in the Köln and Mainz/Hofheim areas, these are often interspersed with bands of incised wavy lines.

25 Stuart (1963, Pl. 20: 336). Stuart rather confusingly groups the RL Type 2 face jars with spouts and those of RL Type 1 without spouts (ibid 1977, 142, Fig. 54: 5) under the one Type 205. 26 Similar spouts are also found on snake pots, some of which may be in grey fabric (see Appendix VI), but there seems to be no evidence in the Rhineland for their occurrence on plain grey jars which have neither faces nor snakes. A grey spout sherd therefore has very probably come from either a face jar or a snake pot. This is not necessarily the case however with red, buff or white-slipped spout sherds (see Part II, RL Type 20A-B).

Boschung 1987, 193-258.

78

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART I Decoration:

taller and more constricted necks, some of them without frilled rims. The faces are more standardised than on RL Type 1; they are well spread out across the upper half of the jar, and pellets in the eyes and mouth are frequent, though not invariable. Phalli too are common, but are not found at Nijmegen. These are normally applied to the wall of the pot, but can occasionally be incised as on the face jar from Köln in Pl. D2. Beards are relatively rare.

Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

Single or double groove between neck and shoulder. No pellets in eyes or mouth, m-shaped, unnotched eyebrows (No 7). Nijmegen 2c. (Nijmegen Mus. Nos VIII:4 [6] and 6,1948.3 [7]). Unspecified. Late first to second century.

Pl. D7. Dark grey face jar with two spouts of RL Type 2C from Nijmegen in the Rijksmuseum GM Kam, Nijmegen; height 17.7 cm. Pl. D6. Dark grey face jar of RL Type 2B with two spouts from Köln, in the Römisch-Germanischesmuseum Köln; height 24.5 cm.

Both these examples which lack the pellets in the eyes could be of second century date. No similar grey face jars with spouts and similarly tall necks have been identified so far elsewhere in the Rhineland and it could be that these examples from Nijmegen are the last in the series which continued longest in this northern part of the Rhineland, perhaps right through the second century. More information is needed about the spouted face jars found in the delta forts listed under RL Type 2B, as some of these might belong to this Type.

Variations on the standardised face can still occur. An interesting example was found recently at Nijmegen in the 1991 Rivierstraat-Kanaalstraat excavations27 which has a smaller, more compact face with a stabbed beard and no pellets in the eyes or mouth, quite similar to some of the faces on the buff face pots of RL Type 20A (see below, Part II, Fig. D10: 1) but with notching on almost all the features - on the eyebrows, on the coffee-bean eyes, and on the datestone mouth - as on the face jar from Mainz of RL Type 1 (Fig. D2: 4). In place of a frilled rim there is a frilled cordon around the shoulder. Notched cordons are not uncommon on face jars, particularly in Britain, but frilled ones are very rare, and so far identified only on the late first century one-handled face jar from Xanten (RL Type 8A, Fig. D6: 1) and on a face jar fragment from Verulamium of RB Type 13D28.

Height: Fabric: 27 28

Grey face jars with frilled rims but no spouts (Fig. D5: 1-2).

Height: Fabric: Decoration:

22 and 22.3 cm. Grey coarseware. Two bands of wavy line decoration in between double grooves (No 2). Rhineland “serene” mask; pellets in one eye and mouth (No 1); round pellet eyes with incised pupils (No 2). Hambacher Waldt, near Jülich 1c. (Gaitzsch 1987, 37); Strasbourg 1.c (Forrer 1927, 288, Fig. 207) Unspecified. c.40-100.

Face:

The distribution seems to be much the same as for the RL Type 1 face jars above, but now including some of the forts north of Nijmegen. RL Type 2C

RL Type 3

Distribution:

Face jars with two or three spouts, a taller, more restricted neck, higher girth, and with or without a frilled rim (Fig D3: 6-7).

Context: Date:

This Type is very similar to RL Type 2B above, but without any spouts. Only one complete example has been identified in this area of the Rhineland, but another, with wavy line decoration and round eyes is known from Strasbourg, though only from a published drawing as the face jar itself was destroyed by bombing. This jar is also listed in Chapter

17.5cm and 19.5 cm. Dark grey coarseware.

A. Koster pers.comm. From the King Harry Lane cemetery (Stead and Rigby 1989, Fig. 37: 13.

79

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART I VI as RD Type 1 (Fig. F2: 1). These two complete jars are the only examples of frilled-rim face jars without spouts identified in the Rhineland. Many snake pots however also have frilled rims, some with spouts and some without (see Appendix VI).

RL Type 4B

The round flat-pellet eyes with ring-stamped pupils of the Strasbourg face jar are an unusual feature that occur from time to time on several different first century Types, as for instance on a spout fragment of RL Type 20A from the early turf fort at Hofheim (Fig. D10: 1-2). They are reminiscent of the round eyes of Campanian face beakers (see Fig D8: 1), and could imply an early date. A rim-less face fragment in plain dark grey fabric with a face strikingly similar to the Strasbourg face jar with the same eyes has been found at Wiesbaden which could belong to this Type or to Type 2B29.

Decoration:

Height: Fabric:

Face: Distribution:

Context: Date:

with black colour-coat (Fig D4: 6). 30.8 cm and 32.5 cm. White, with black colour-coat, sometimes unevenly coloured with red patches round the base. Barbotine long stem buds etc on two examples. Same as above. Lower Rhineland 4 (2c. and 2f.). Examples have been found at: Nijmegen 1f. (Stuart 1963, 21, Type 1B [Pl. D8]); Heerlen 1f. (Thermen Museum No 3011); Lövenich 1c. (B.J.B. 1955-6, 479, Fig. 38:2) [6]; Köln 1c, (Praetorium Kellarmuseum, No 67,120). Graves; domestic contexts (Heerlen). Mid first to early second century

RL Type 4 Red or black colour-coated face jars with a sharply everted rim and wide girth, sometimes with barbotine or lattice decoration RL Type 4A, Height: Fabric: Decoration:

Face:

Distribution:

Context:

Date:

29

with red colour-coat (Fig D4: 1-5). 25-32 cm. Fine white fabric, just occasionally red (Köln), with a red or red-brown colour coat. Frequently floral barbotine similar to RL Type 1 or combed lattice decoration (Pl. D8); one example with a broad band of rouletting below the girth (No 5). Most have the standardised Rhineland first century “serene” mask as described under Types 1 and 2A above. Frequent phalli. Not all the eyes and mouths have pellets in them (No 2). Two unique faces (Nos 4-5, Pl. D3). Nijmegen to Rheinzabern 18 (5c. and 13f.) Examples have been found at: Zwammerdam If. (Zwammerdam Museum display case); Nijmegen 1c. and 1f. (comp: Nijmegen Mus. No VIII.1B [1]; frag: No VIII.12); Heerlen 3f. (Bloemers and Haalebos 1973, Fig 4:15; Heerlen Thermen Mus. Nos 11168, 3530 and 285); Xanten 1c and 1f. (comp: Paul Bidwell 1987, unpub. info [2]; frag: Bonn RLM Aussenstelle 24644/83/0; Köln 2c. and 4f (comp: RGM No 3695 [4 and Pl. D3]; Darmstadt HM display case [3 and Pl. D8]; frags: Strunk 1969, Fig. 2: 20-23); Bergheim-Torr 1 c. (Wagner 1997, 52 [5]); Koblenz 1f. (Koblenz Mus. Store, no number); Hofheim Vicus 1f. (Schoppa 1961, 51 pl. 12: 1); Rheinzabern I f . (Ludowici 1912, grave 354). Graves; cremation urn (Bergheim Torr); domestic contexts; baths (Heerlen); kilns (Heerlen [Bloemers and Haalebos], Köln [Strunk ibid]). Mid first to early second century.

Pl. D8. Red-brown colour-coated face jar with combed lattice decoration of RL Type 4A from Köln in the Hessisches Museum, Darmstadt; height 25.8 cm.

RL Types 4A and B also occur in a smaller, face beaker size (RL Type 11 A-C, Fig. D7: 1-3). Neither of the other two main face jar Types have face beaker versions, and it could imply that these colour-coated face jars and face beakers have a closer relationship with Italian face beakers than do the others. The fact that they are made in colourcoated fine ware, the standard ware for drinking vessels, may also be significant. The vessel form is everywhere very similar, with a wide, central girth and fairly narrow base, a plain, everted, slightly convex rim which is roughly twice the diameter of the base, and no neck constriction. The jars themselves tend to be surprisingly large, many of them from 30-32 cm high. Quite a number of the earlier examples have barbotine decoration at the back (No 2), or incised lattice, often drawn with a fine comb (No 3 and Pl. D8). The faces are similar to those of the two previous groups, generally with pellets in the eyes and mouth and frequently with two phalli on the cheeks except in the Nijmegen area. A few examples have

Czysz 1994, Pl. 13.

80

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART I no pellets in the eyes and mouth (No 2) and may perhaps be later in date. The notched eyebrows now tend to be slightly more widely arched than before,

RL Type 5 Height:

The red colour-coated face jars and face beakers are more common than the black or dark brown ones, but both tend to occur on the same sites except at Rheinzabern30, where only red colour-coated ones seem to be known. In the Rhineland red colour-coated wares begin to give way to dark brown and black ones around the turn of the first century31, and it is probably the case that most of the brown and black ones are of slightly later date. However there seems to have been quite a margin of overlap as red colourcoated face jars were still being produced at the beginning of the second century at the Marsilstein-Ecke Mauritiussteinweg kilns in Köln (Strunk ibid), while some of the black colour-coated face jars and face beakers have barbotine decoration and pellets in the eyes suggesting production in the first century.

Fabric: Face:

Distribution: Context: Date:

Beak-nosed face jar in fine red ware from Hofheim (Fig. D5: 3) Large jar, could have been well over 30 cm tall; height of surviving fragment: 18.5 cm. Fine orange red. Large beaked nose; notched eyebrows and eye lid; applied gaping lips and ears; flat pellet in the surviving eye; pushed-out chin and stabbed beard. Hofheim (turf fort) 1f. (Ritterling 1904, 92, Fig. 46; Wiesbaden Mus. No 17110). Unspecified. 43-69 A.D.

This fragment was found in or beside the turf fort at Hofheim. It is in a fine, hard, orange-red fabric associated with legionary potters in the Mainz region, and obviously came from a large pot, not a face beaker. A large fragment of what looks like a very similar jar with a beak-nosed face and notched eyelids has been found at Vindonissa in quite fine orange “legionary ware,” but in neither case unfortunately have the rims or bases survived, so the vessel forms cannot be reconstructed with any degree of certainty.

With the exception of one or two vessels from Köln which are in a red fabric, all the colour-coated face pots are in a fine white ware. Köln was obviously an important production centre for these vessels, both face jars and face beakers, but it was not the only one, as they were also produced at Heerlen32, and probably at Nijmegen, as well as further south at Rheinzabern. While there is generally more standardisation over the whole distribution area than with Types 1 and 2B, RL Type 4A is remarkable for having produced two quite unique face jars. One is the face jar from Köln which has three faces on the front, all interconnected in a kind of tri-cephalic mask (No 4 and Pl. D3), where phalli seem to run riot, and combed lattice decoration at the back. Only three complete or reconstructable face jars with tricephalic faces are known, one from each Rhineland period, all from the area between Köln and Bingen, each one different, but all with unusual numbers of phalli. They are discussed together in Chapter XII, B.8. The other unique face jar of this Type is the recently excavated example from Bergheim-Torr, to the east of Köln on the road to Jülich and Tongres (No 5). This one has two stubby “horns” on the temples, at either end of the “double” eyebrows, a projecting upper lip (or moustache), notched teeth, and an applied phallus under each ear. A long curly beard is indicated by curved combed lines below the face, and these are continued around the back of the jar. There is a wide band of rouletting below the girth.

Pl. D9. Beak-nosed face jar fragment in fine red ware of RL Type 5 from Hofheim in the Wiesbaden Museum; height of fragment 18.5 cm.

Both faces with their large noses, heavy notched eyebrows, and raised eyelids are very different from the faces so far found on first century Rhineland face jars, and have more in common with some of the face masks found on north Italian face beakers, particularly those of the Aquileia Group (Chapter III, Fig. C7), though the noses are not as twisted and grotesque.

There is nothing to equal these two red-coated face jars among the black-coated ones of RL Type 4B, but the large jar from Lövenich has two faces, one on each side, both classic examples of the Rhineland first century “serene” mask with pellets in the eyes and mouth (No 6).

RL Types 6-7

Gap left in Type Series

FACE JARS WITH A HANDLE AT THE BACK RL Type 8

30

Rheinzabern does not seem to have been the site of a military fort, but military tileries were set up here under Claudius, and pottery production continued here on a relatively modest scale for the military market until the manufacture of terra sigillata started c.140 (Von Elbe 1977, 332). 31 Gose 1976, 16. 32 Bloemers and Haalebos 1973, 260, Fig. 4:15.

Face jars with low girth in red ware with an indented handle at the back

Face pots with a recessed or indented handle at the back in jar or beaker size have so far been found only in the

81

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART I of the century. One or two other face jar or frilled cordon fragments in a similar red fabric have also been found in late first century contexts in Xanten (ibid).

Rhineland, and even here they are relatively rare. As already seen, one tiny glazed face beaker with a handle at the back is known from northern Italy, but its handle, possibly because it is so small, is not indented, IT Type 24 (Fig. C9: 1). Beakers or jars with one indented handle occur in Raetian cemeteries of the first and second centuries along the southern bank of the upper Danube, such as the one extensively excavated at Roggden near Wertingen, south east of Dillingen33, but none of these have faces on them.

RL Type 8B

Height: Fabric: Face:

The two face jars listed here under RL Types 8 A and B are the only ones with one indented handle which could be identified from this first period, though a few more examples have been found in beaker size (see below, RL Types 15-17, Fig. D8). All may date from towards the end of the first century and the beginning of the second. Several more face jars with indented handles in fine wares with higher girth and narrower base are known from Period II in the Mainz-Wetterau area and one from near Strasbourg (RL Types 24 A-B and 25, Figs. D13: 1-3 and F2: 8). RL Type 8A

Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution: Context: Date:

Distribution: Context: Date:

Red coarseware face jar with a low girth, an indented handle at the back and Tshaped eyebrows and nose (Fig. D6: 2 ) 18-20 cm. Coarse red ware. T-shaped nose and eyebrows, and no notching of the latter. Round applied eye. One ear attached to eyebrow. Nida-Heddernheim 1c. (Frankfurt Mus. No OX 4028a). Cremation urn. Late first to early second century.

This much cruder version of a one-handled face jar comes from a cremation cemetery outside the north gate of the fort at Nida-Heddernheim, one of the few cremation urns known from the Wetterau region. It was found with a coin of Trajan. The poorly modelled face with its T-shaped eyebrows and thin, straight nose has more in common with some of the face masks of the upper Rhineland (see RL Type 12 below).

One-handled face jar with a frilled cordon on the shoulder, low girth, and down- drooping eyes and eyebrows (Fig. D6: 1) 23 cm. Medium fine red, with partly blackened outer surface. Down-curving, notched eyebrows; incised down-drooping eyes with applied round pupils; two notched phalli pointing to a rectangular slit mouth. Xanten 1f. (Mittag, 2002, 190, Fig. 1; Bridger 1985, unpub info). Pit inside legionary fortress. Flavian-Trajanic.

RL Type 9

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

This fragmentary face jar has recently been reconstructed and published. The frilled cordon around the shoulder instead of the rim is very unusual34, and this is the only one handled-face pot so far identified with any kind of frill. Of particular interest is the face, with its downcurving eyebrows and incised, down-drooping, almondshaped eyes, reminiscent of Celtic face masks35. It is very similar to the faces on the two one-handled face beakers also from the lower Rhineland of RL Type 17 below (Fig. D8: 5-6), though these do not have phalli.

High-shouldered face jar in coarse buff ware with a short strap-handle at the back (Fig. D6: 3) 23.6 cm. Coarse pinkish buff ware with irregular inclusions. Round, applied, flat-pellet eyes; eyebrows attached to ears. Vechten Ic (Utrecht Museum, No 3318). Cremation urn. Possibly first century, but could be second to third century.

This jar from the fort at Vechten on the northern edge of the Rhine delta is the only example of a one-handled face jar in this tall, beaker-like form36. With its round flattened pellet eyes, pinched nose and conical body it bears a distinct resemblance to the early north Italian face beakers of Po Valley Group I, IT Type 15 (Fig. C5: 1-4), though it is quite a bit taller and has a handle at the back. The handle is not recessed. It was found as a cremation urn but is otherwise undated. Due to its resemblance to these north Italian face beakers of Tiberian and possibly even earlier date, it is possible that this jar too is of first century date, and it could even be from the first half of the century. As Vechten was one of the first of the forts to be built in the Rhine delta, dating from the Augustan period37, this would be feasible. However the grainy buff fabric is characteristic of the second to third century face jars of RL Type 26, as is

The face jar fragments were found inside the fortress, partly buried in a Flavian pit, with one or two of its sherds in the late Flavian-Trajanic sealing layer above it (Clive Bridger, private info. 1985), so it probably dates to around the turn 33

See Hübener 1959, Figs. 4, 7 and 8. It has been suggested that they are descended from the one- handled jugs of the Alpine Iron Age Laughen or Melaun cultures, thought to represent the pre-historic Raeti, though these do not have indented handles (see Chapter II, B.1, Fig. B7: 3). 34 But see also the face jar recently found at Nijmegen mentioned under RL Type 2A. 35 As on the unprovenanced silver mask now in the museum at Tarbes in south west France, Chapter II, Fig. B14: 6.

36 It has not unfortunately been possible to ascertain if the handle is indented or not. From what can be seen in the display case it does not appear to be. 37 Schönberger 1969, 150.

82

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART I Context:

the carination of the shoulder immediately below the rim, so it could possibly belong to this later period.

Date: RL Type 10

Gap left in the Type Series

RL Type 20A

Buff face jars with tubular spouts on the shoulder (Fig. D10: 1-4).

These are smaller versions of the large colour-coated face jars of RL Type 4A. They are all remarkably similar, and seem to have been made and found only in Köln. None of them however have any decoration at the back, and just the one face beaker has phalli on the cheeks (No 1 and Pl. D10 below).

As already mentioned, a few spout fragments in a smoothsurfaced buff fabric were found in the turf fort at Hofheim38, at least one of which showed evidence of a face (Fig. D10: 2). No complete or reconstructable vessels were found, and their shape and number of spouts can only be presumed from those of another face jar from Kastel, Mainz which has round pellet eyes similar to the Hofheim fragment, and which Schumacher (1911, No 1070) dates to the end of the first century (Fig. D10: 1). Far greater numbers of face jars of this type have been found in the Mainz-Wetterau area in the second century and therefore they have been listed at the beginning of the face jar catalogue for Period Two, and numbered accordingly.

RL Type 11B Height: Fabric: Face: Decoration: Distribution:

B.

FACE BEAKERS (RL Types 11-17)

RL Type 11A

Graves; kilns (Köln, Marsilstein-Ecke Mauritiussteinweg kilns, Strunk ibid). Later first to early second century (Strunk ibid).

Face beakers with sharply everted rim, standard Rhineland face, and red colour-coat (Fig. D7: 1). Context: Date:

as above, but larger and with black colour-coat (Fig. D7: 2-3) 14-18 cm. Fine white with black colour-coat Standard Rhineland face, as for RL Type 4, but no phalli. Barbotine tendril or lattice decoration on the examples from Bonn and Mainz. Lower and Middle Rhineland 6 (5c. and 1f.) Examples have been found at: Nijmegen 1c. (Leiden Rijksmuseum No e.1905/11.4); Neuss 1f. (Müller 1977, 100, Pl 57:3); Bonn 1c.(Bonn RLM No 16368 ); Köln 1c. (RGM No 65,40 [2 and Pl. D11]); Mainz 2c. (Mainz RGZM, in display case; Germania Romana, Pl. XXIX:1 [3]). Graves (Neuss, Köln (No 2)). Later first to second century.

PL. D10. Red colour-coated face beaker of RL Type 11A from Köln in the Römisch-Germanischesmuseum Koln; height 11.2 cm. (photo: RGM Koln)

Height: Fabric: Face: Decoration: Distribution:

38

11-12 cm. Fine white with red colour-coat Standard Rhineland face, as for Type 4, but only one example with phalli (No 1).. None Köln only, 8 (4c. and 4f.) (comp: La Baume 1956, Pl. 39:3; Köln RGM Nos No 25,39 [1 and Pl. D10]; N2399 and L1245; Museum of Archaeology at Michigan University, Ann Arbor, No 2673; frags: Strunk 1969, 94, Fig. 2: 20-23).

Pl. D11. Large black colour-coated face beaker of RL Type 11b from Köln in the Römisch-Germanischesmuseum Koln; height 14.5 cm. (photo: RGM Koln)

The face pots listed here are all between 14 and 18 cm, and could be described either as small face jars or as large face beakers. But as the black colour-coated face jars of RL Type 4B are all between 30 and 32 cm tall, these face pots are small in comparison and have been listed with the face beakers. Three examples have barbotine decoration (the one from Bonn and the two from Mainz), but none have phalli. The two from Mainz have no pellets in the eyes or mouth,

Ritterling 1913, 296-7, Type 67.

83

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART I Nijmegen, where it is assumed to have been made. These kilns are associated with legio X Gemina which was the first legion to occupy the fortress at Nijmegen, from AD 70-104. Previous to that the legion had been at Carnuntum for six to eight years after leaving north west Spain c. AD 63.

and no ears or chin blobs. They have a flaky black colourcoat that has a greenish-yellow tinge in places. One or two black colour coated face beakers occur in Period Two with higher shoulders and a narrower base. These are listed in Part II under RL Type 11D. RL Type 11C,

as above but with no colour-coat

Just one complete example from Köln has been identified belonging to this sub-Type (RGM No N8175). It is more or less identical in size, form and face to the face beakers listed under RL Type 11A and is in a fine greyish white fabric. RL Type 12

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

Large red-coated face beakers or small face jars with everted rim, higher girth and incised, almond-shaped eyes (Fig. D7: 4) 16-20cm. Medium fine red ware with red colour-coat Long straight nose, straight, unnotched eyebrows, incised pupil-less, almond-shaped eyes and mouth Rheinzabern 4+f. (Bernhard 1981, 127, Figs. 5: 27 and 6:3). Domestic, and in kilns. Late first to early 2nd century.

Pl. D12. Large face beaker in fine orange ware of RL Type 13 from Nijmegen, in the Rijkmuseum GM Kam Nijmegen; height 15 cm.

As a face jar or face beaker, this vessel is quite unique. It is an extraordinary mixture of many different elements, both from northern Italy and from the Rhineland. The grinning barbotine mouth is typical of the north Italian barbotine face beakers, the rectangular slit eyes are like those of the large face jar from Milan (Fig. C11: 1), the chin blob and the phalli on the cheeks are local Romano-Rhenish, while the long protruding nose is reminiscent of the Aquileia face beakers, but here it has been turned into a phallic spout connecting with the inside of the beaker. Phallic spouts occur on the face pots/jugs of RL Type 33 (see Fig. D16), while there is a fragment from a terracotta mask found in the Kaiserthermen at Trier41 with a clearly phallic nose, and possibly another one from Nijmegen42. A black-slipped face pot fragment from Nida also has what appears to be a phallic nose though this is flat rather than a protruding spout (see under Unclassified Sherds at the end of the Catalogue to Part II).

Several fragments of these face jars have been found at Rheinzabern, in kilns and domestic deposits associated with the early settlement39. The face with its straight T-shaped eyebrows and long thin nose seems to be typical of the Upper Rhineland40. The narrow pupil-less eyes are incised. Bernhard (1981, 127) dates the example shown here (No 4) to the later first and possibly early second century, and he illustrates a very similar type but with a somewhat lower girth to which he gives a slightly later date, c.90-120 (ibid, Fig. 6: 3). RL Type 13

Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution: Context: Date:

Large face beaker with phallic nose in fine orange ware from Nijmegen (Fig. D7: 5) 15 cm. Fine, light orange (Holdeurn) ware. Phallic nose with hole pierced right through it, otherwise barbotine features: rectangular, slit eyes, grinning mouth, un-notched eyebrows, large crescent ears and two applied phalli on the cheeks. Nijmegen 1c. (Holwerda 1944, 10, Pl. 1:22, Nijmegen Mus. No VIII:10). Grave. Later 1st century.

40

Small fine-ware face beakers with protruding, bearded chins

RL Type 14A

Beaker in fine orange ware from Nijmegen (Fig. D7: 6)

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

This very unusual incomplete face beaker is made in the fine, light orange fabric typical of the Holdeurn kilns at 39

RL Type 14

41

F.Reutti, private info. 1985. See below, Fig D17: 11, and Chapter VI, Fig. F2: 6-7.

42

84

8.3 cm.. Fine, light orange (Holdeurn) ware. Prominent nose, lips and ears; applied chin and hatched beard. Nijmegen 1c. (Holwerda 1944, 10, Pl. 1:14; Nijmegen Mus. No VIII:5). Grave. Later 1st century.

Trier RLM No 60,143. Rose 2000, Cat Nos 272-3.

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART I handle at the side and a blackish-brown colour-coat (Fig. D8: 1). Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution:

Pl. D13. Face beaker in fine orange ware of RL Type 14 A from Nijmegen in the Rijksmuseum GM Kam, Nijmegen, height 8.3 cm.

Context: Date:

This little pot is also a product of the Holdeurn kilns. Apart from its form, it does not have much in common with the large face beaker of RL Type 13 above, or with those of northern Italy, but its face with its plastically modelled chin and neat, pointed beard, and the rather prominent, applied ears is very reminiscent of some of the first century Pannonian face beakers (see Chapter VIII, Fig. H3: 3-5). RL Type14B

Small, thin-walled face beaker with brown colour-coat from Köln (Fig. D7: 7)

Height: Fabric:

8.3 cm. Fine white, with a darkish brown colourcoat with paler patches. Pinched nose, round applied eyes (missing), slightly pushed out chin with stabbed beard. Köln 1c (RGM No N2400) Unknown. Possibly mid first century.

Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

Pl. D14. Imported, thin-walled face beaker with patchy, dark brown colour-coat from Mainz Weisenau in the Mittelrheinisches Landesmuseum Mainz, height 9.5 cm. (photo MRLM Mainz)

This face beaker, or face cup, from Mainz Weisenau, which was found in the vicinity of the auxiliary fort, has a rather blackened appearance as though it had been burnt, and the rim is slightly warped. It looks as though it could be a waster from a local kiln, but for the fact that it is strikingly similar to the thin-walled “boccalino” face beakers or face cups from Pompeii of IT Type 7 (see insert, Pl. C6 and Fig. C4: 2-4), which have exactly the same form, and the same face with its pinched nose, widespread notched eye-brows, pierced ears, open mouth, and slight indentations where the round flat pellet eyes with their pierced pupils have been applied. It seems much more likely therefore that this is a very rare Campanian import. It is conceivable that it might have been brought northwards with a consignment of Pompeiian redware platters used for baking bread, which were still reaching legionary sites as far afield as Usk as late as the 60s and 70s AD, though the majority of the platters were by then being manufactured in the provinces45. Or it could have come in a soldier’s pack. The blackened appearance

Another unique face beaker, this one is in a finer, more thin-walled fabric than the other colour-coated face beakers from Köln. Small thin-walled bowls and beakers in dark brown colour-coated wares with not very uniform coloration were produced in large quantities in the lower Rhineland during the first two thirds of the first century43, and constitute the bulk of the drinking vessels found in the early fort at Hofheim44. It seems quite possible that this is part of the same production. The face is a mixture of Italian and Danubian elements; the upper part with its pinched nose, round applied eyes (now missing) and arched, notched eyebrows is very similar to the faces of the Campanian face beakers of IT Type 7 (see RL Type 15 below), while its beard and slightly pushed out chin belong more to the Danubian face beakers. Its find spot is unknown, but it must almost certainly be of first century date. RL Type 15

43 44

9.5 cm. Fine, grey-brown, thin-walled fabric with patchy, blackish-brown colour-coat, possibly burnt. “Serene” face, typical of the Campanian face beakers, with widely arched eyebrows, pinched nose, indented eyesockets, squashed pellet eyes, applied open lips, and pierced ears. Mainz Weisenau, 1c. (Mainz MRLM No F.4206). Unknown. Probably Neronian or early Flavian.

Imported thin-walled face cup with sharply everted, slightly concave rim, a

Greene 1979, 56ff. Ritterling 1913, 250, ware B, Pl. XXXII: 22a-26b.

45

85

Greene 1979, 130.

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART I and warped rim could have been caused by fire, possibly even during a cremation, rather than during its initial firing. Unfortunately there is no information as to exactly where it was found. RL Type 16

Face beakers with a sharply everted, concave rim and indented handle at the back, in white fabric with a red or black colour-coat (Fig. D8: 2-4)

RL Type 16A

in red colour-coat (Fig. D8: 2)

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date: RL Type 16B Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution:

Context: Date:

Context: Date:

11.5 cm. Fine white, with reddish brown colour coat. Pellets in eyes and mouth (missing from mouth). Köln 1c (RGM No 73.4). Unknown. Probably later first century. Pl. D15. Unprovenanced face beaker of RL Type 17 in grainy buff ware in the Hessisches Museum Darmstadt, height 8 cm.

in black colour-coat (Fig. D8: 3-4).

These have a different rim form and face from the colourcoated face beakers with handles above. The Nijmegen example, an old find, is presumed to have come from this site, though its find spot is unrecorded. The face beaker from Hessisches Museum Darmstadt is unprovenanced, but its face and fabric are so similar to the Nijmegen vessel, that they very probably come from the same production centre. Unfortunately the mouth has flaked off, so there is no knowing if it too had an incised cross on it as on the Nijmegen beaker.

9.5 cm and 15.2 cm. Fine white, with rather flaky black colour coat. The whole area of the face is pushed out on the Krefeld pot, the features are shallowly applied and fiercely hatched, including the mouth and chin (No 3). On the Nijmegen pot (No 2) only one split pellet eye and hatched eyebrow survives, but it is clear that the wall of the beaker has not been pushed out to model the face. Lower Rhineland 2c. Examples found at Nijmegen 1c. (Leiden Museum No e.1905/11.14) [3]; KrefeldGellep? 1c. (Schumacher 1911, 345, Pl. 159:107, Bonn RLM No 194 [4]). Not known. Probably early second century.

Both face beakers are very similar in face and form to the face jar from Xanten of RL Type 8A (Fig. D6: 1), though they lack the frilled cordon on the shoulder. The sandy orange-buff fabric appears to be quite similar in all three cases, though somewhat finer on the Xanten jar, and both the Xanten and the Nijmegen vessels have patches of black or grey charring on the outside. These two face beakers could therefore belong to the same late Flavian or Trajanic period as the Xanten face jar. However the rather coarser fabric on the two beakers is not unlike Late Roman Mayen ware, and without the parallel of the Xanten face jar these two face beakers might be thought to be of fourth century date.

These are similar in form to RL Type 11 but with an indented handle at the back. All three examples have slightly different faces. These beaker forms don't seem to be found south of Köln, but face jars with indented handles, of RL Types 24A and 25 are found in the Mainz-Wetterau area and further south in the second century. RL Type 17

Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution:

Nijmegen 1c. (Nijmegen Mus. No RM No III.15); unprovenanced 1c. (Darmstadt HM. No IV EGB 442). Unknown. Probably late first to early second century.

Face beakers in coarse orange-buff fabric with an indented handle at the back and downward drooping eyes (Fig. D8: 5-6). 13.2 cm and 8 cm. Coarse, sandy orange buff, with blackish inclusions. Thick, applied, downward-drooping eyebrows and equally drooping, incised eyes with applied split-pellet pupils; thick applied lips with incised cross on Nijmegen vessel, mouth missing on other vessel; no ears. Lower Rhineland 2c.

Pl. D16. Face beaker in coarse orange-buff ware of RL Type 17 from Nijmegen in the Rijksmuseum GM Kam, Nijmegen; height 13.2 cm.

86

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART I RL TYPE 1

Fig. D2. Face jars in granular grey ware. 1, Nijmegen; 2, Köln; 3, Köln; 4, Mainz; 5, Hofheim.

87

(Scale 1:4)

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART I RL TYPES 2A-2C

Fig. D3. Grey face jars with spouts. RL Type 2A (Nos 1-2), 2B ( Nos 3-5) and 2C (Nos 6-7) 1, Neuss; 2, Wiesbaden; 3, Hofheim; 4, Köln; 5-7, Nijmegen. (Scale 1:4)

88

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART I RL TYPES 4A AND 4B

Fig. D4. Colour-coated face jars. RL Type 4A (Nos 1-5) and 4B (No 6). (Scale 1:4) 1, Nijmegen; 2, Xanten; 3-4, Köln; 5, Bergheim-Torr; 6, Lövenich (Köln).

89

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART I RL TYPES 3 and 5

Fig. D5.

Grey face jars with frilled rims and one large beak-nosed face jar fragment in fine red ware. RL Types 3 (Nos 1-2) and 5 (No 3) 1, Jülich; 2, Strasbourg; 3, Hofheim. (Scale 1:4)

90

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART I RL TYPES 8 A-B AND 9

Fig. D6. Coarse-ware face jars with handles at the back. RL Type 8A (No 1), Type 8B (No 2), Type 9 (No 3) 1, Xanten; 2, Nida-Heddernheim; 3, Vechten. (Scale 1:4)

91

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART I RL TYPES 11A, 11B, 12, 13 and 14A-B,

Fig. D7. Fine-ware face beakers without handles. RL Types 11A (No 1), Type 11B (No 2-3), Type 12 (No 4), Type 13 (No 5), Types 14A (No 6) and Type 14B (No 7). (Scale 1:4) 1-2, Köln; 3, Mainz; 4, Rheinzabern; 5-6, Nijmegen; 7, Köln.

92

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART I RL TYPES 15, 16A, 16B and 17

Fig. D8.

Face beakers with indented handles. Colour-coated: RL Types 15 (No 1), 16A (No 2), 16B (Nos 3-4); Coarseware: RL Type 17 (Nos 5-6). 1, Mainz-Weizenau; 2, Köln; 3, Nijmegen; 4, Krefeld; 5, Nijmegen; 6, Unprovenanced. (Scale 1:4)

93

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART I

94

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART II

CHAPTER FOUR, PART II Rhineland face pots of Period Two: c. AD 90 to 260 In the second century face jars become more numerous and somewhat more widely spread, though they continue to be concentrated in the area along and behind the frontier, and particularly in and around Mainz and the forts in the Wetterau salient east of the Rhine (see map on Fig. D9). There now seem to be relatively few face pots to the north of Köln, though it must be remembered that some of the Types from Period One such as the grey spouted face jars of RL Types 2B and 2C continued into the second century. Whereas in Period I a total of 48 face pots was identified in Köln and within a 50 km radius of the city (40 in Köln and 8 in the region around it), now there are only 16 of which 9 come from within the city. Surprisingly few have been identified in or around the forts along the Neckar frontier which were established c. AD 90-100, or in the Antonine forts of the Upper German frontier east of the Neckar apart from a few at the southern end which are discussed in Chapter VI. However there are now quite a number of face jars in Trier itself and within a 50 km radius of the city where previously no face pots had been known. In all, 26 have been identified, mostly it seems of later second to third century date, of which 15 are within Trier and 11 outside, with another three just a few miles further west at Virton and Izel-Pin1. This is the only region west of the Rhine where face pots have spread beyond the limits of their first century distribution, and there seems to be no evidence for their further dissemination into eastern or central France either in this period or in the next2.

Rheinzabern. These seem to last from the mid first to the early third century.

Pl. D17 Pinkish-buff face jar of RL Type 20A with three spouts from Nida Heddernheim in the Museum für Vor-und-Frügeschichte, Frankfurt am Main; height 25 cm.

RL Type 21 (Fig. D11 and D12: 1-4) Handle-less globular jars with a plain everted or occasionally beaded rim of around 20-25 cm tall, with one or two larger or smaller examples. The profile varies to some extent from high to low girth, and the jars are made in a variety of different coarse-wares in many different production centres. This is the most common Type in the second century, and is found throughout the middle Rhineland, including the Trier-Luxembourg area and the Wetterau region, but not much if at all to the north of Köln or south of Mainz and Bingen. RL Types 24 A-B (Fig. D13: 1-4) Generally rather smaller face jars in fine red ware, mostly with a reddish-brown or black colour coat, with beaded or everted rim, a prominent beaked or hooked nose and an indented handle at the back. These appear to be limited to the Mainz-Wetterau area. There may also be a form with beaked nose and no handle at the back, but so far no complete example clearly demonstrating the absence of a handle has been found. Two fragments with similar beaked noses but in different fabrics have been found at Virton near Luxembourg and Worms (RL Types 24 C and D). There is also a rare form in red or brown colour-coated ware with

FORMS AND TYPES Face jars There are five basic vessel forms in this second period, each one represented by one of the five most common face jar Types: RLType 20 A-B (Fig. D10, Pl. D17) Narrow-necked, wide-bellied jars of varying height, with three spouts on the shoulder which are generally tubular in shape and may be pierced or blind. These are either in buff fabrics or in whiteslipped wares (RL Type 20B). The former are limited to the Mainz-Wetterau area, and the latter seem to occur only between Worms and 1 These figure of course can only represent a fraction of the face pot sherds that have been excavated or are accessible to researchers working locally, but as part of a systematic survey conducted by literature research and correspondence, with targetted museum visits, they have a statistical value relative to each other. 2 As already mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, the two small groups of face pots from northern France and Belgium are a rather separate development, but the larger of the two groups, in the Meuse valley, also seems to have its origins in the first century and is not just a second to third century development. The smaller group consisting of a few scattered face pots on the Channel coast seems to be connected only with coastal forts (see Chapter V, Groups B and C).

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FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER IV a handle at the back but with a “serene” smallnosed face mask (RL Type 25). RL Type 26 (Fig. D14: 1-6) By the third century the standard RL Type 21 face jars have developed a slightly different form with a wider girth and neck and with a sharp carination between the neck and the shoulders which produces a characteristic sickle-shaped rim section. This is by far the most common and widespread Type of the later second to early third centuries, now extending northwards as far as Nijmegen. There is almost no variation across the region in form, face or even fabric, most of the jars being made in a granular whitish or pinkish buff ware, no doubt reflecting the increasing centralisation of pottery production at this period. The only exception is the Trier region where the face jars of this Type are mostly in a local and less granular red or orange-buff ware. RL Types 30 and 31 (Fig. D15B: 1-5) Jars with two indented handles on the girth, carinated shoulders and a face on each side. RL Type 30 with a low neck emerges around the beginning of the third century together with a very similar Type with higher sloping neck and no carination (RL Type 31). The latter continues into the fourth century with a still taller neck (RL Type 44 A and B, Fig. D19: 5-6). In this period these jars are almost all in a granular light buff ware very similar to the RL Type 26 face jars described above. Their distribution seems to be limited to the Bingen area, the region around the confluence of the Rhine and the Mosel, and the Luxembourg region.

Face jugs with a phallic spout There is also a very unusual type of face vessel which emerges, possibly towards the end of the second century, in a few forts in the Wetterau area and at the fort of Niederbieber near the Rhine, namely a two-handled face jug or flagon with a phallic spout. This is not strictly a face jar, but the face on the wide neck of the jug is so similar to those found on face jars of this period that it seems very likely that the two types of vessel were related. These jugs are listed in the catalogue under RL Type 33 (Fig. D16: 17). They seem to represent yet another sporadic appearance of the phallic face jug described in Chapter I, B.3 and C.2 (Figs. B3: 1 and 3-4), and in Appendix IV, A.6.5 (Fig. S2: 6). Phallic spouts which may have belonged to similar jugs have been found at Vindonissa and in London (see under RL Type 33). Face beakers There are far fewer face beakers in relation to the number face jars in this period than there are in the first century. Some of the face beakers listed in Period One continued into the second century, in particular the black colourcoated ones of RL Type 11B, listed here as Type 11D. Otherwise they tend to be either very tiny (RL Types 37 AB) or rather tall (RL Types 38 and 390, or rare miniature versions of RL Type 21 face jars (see Fig. D17). FABRICS AND DECORATION Almost all the face jars are now made in coarse wares, whether “smooth-walled” or “rough-walled”, except for the beak-nosed face jars of RL Type 24, a small group of face jars of RL Type 21B, and some of the face beakers. For the first half or first three quarters of the second century face jars are produced in many different local kilns in a variety of red, orange, grey or buff-coloured smooth-walled coarse wares. By the later second century pottery production in the central Rhineland becomes more concentrated in a small number of large potteries, in particular the ones that developed at Nida-Heddernheim beside the large vicus that had grown up beside the Ala fort, at Mainz along the road to Mainz-Weisenau, and at Urmitz (Weissenturm), close to the Rhine just to the north of Koblenz. Further north, in addition to the many kilns at Köln, large potteries also developed at Heerlen. Pottery, including face jars was also produced at, or beside the Wetterau fort at Heldenbergen. In the Mosel region large scale pottery production took place at Trier, and later at Speicher to the north of the city. The kilns at Urmitz, Heerlen and later at Speicher all produced pottery in the pale whitish buff granular (or rough-walled” fabrics in which most of the Rhineland face jars of the later second and third centuries were made (RL Types 26-7 and 30-31 and 42).

There are also a number of black colour-coated face jars, none of them complete, which have been found mainly in the Wetterau and Trier-Luxembourg regions. These appear to be mostly of around 18-22 cm tall, with the face placed higher up on the shoulders than in Period I, and they often have a glassy or metallic sheen. They have been listed under RL Type 4C (Fig. D 12: 6), while one or two examples of smaller size are entered with the other face beakers under RL Type 11D (Fig D17: 1). A few of the grey face jars with spouts of RL Types 2B and C from the previous period very probably continue for part of the second century and possibly longer, at any rate in the Nijmegen region. Otherwise just a few anomalous face jars have been identified which do not appear to fit into any of the above mentioned Types: a plain grey jar from Arnsburg with a compact face placed high up on the shoulder which appears to have more in common with the face jar traditions of the Strasbourg and Frankfurt areas to the south (RL Type 22, Fig. D12: 5); a face jar from Mainz with one small handle at th e side (RL type 23, Fig. D12: 6), a jar from Trier in similar fabric and form to the face jars RL Type 31 but without the handles (RL Type 27, Fig. D14: 8), and one enormous two-handled face pot recently discovered at Frankfurt-Zeilsheim (RL Type 29, Fig. D15A)

In this Second Period, abstract or floral decoration becomes a thing of the past except for one rouletted face beaker of RL Type 38 (Fig. D17: 7). There are however three face jars with incised or applied figurative decoration: one twohandled jar from the kilns at Urmitz of RL Type 31, which has a tri-cephalic face on one side and one small, applied

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RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART II human figure on what remains of the other side (Fig. D15B: 4 a-b); and two jars from Trier of RL Type 21C, one with two applied animals (a hare and possibly a dog) together with incised fir trees, and the other just with incised fir trees (Fig. D12: 3-4). FACES By far the most common is the standard Rhineland “serene” face mask which continues from the first century. The eyebrows however are now more widely arched while the pellets in the eyes and mouth become increasingly rare. There are fewer phalli (except in the Wetterau region) and beards too are rare. This is the face on the handle-less face jars of RL Type 21, on the jugs with phallic spouts, and on most of the face beakers. In the third century this face, which now occurs on the face jars of RL Types 26, 27, 30 and 31, becomes increasingly schematic, with eyebrows spreading ever wider across the upper half of the pot, and in ever shallower relief. But the features continue to be applied, not incised except sometimes the ends of the eyebrows. Ears tend to be omitted by the third century, having perhaps been absorbed into the eyebrows.

Pl. D18. Beak-nosed face jar in fine red ware of RL Type 24B from Mainz Weizenau in the Mittelrheinisches Landesmuseum Mainz; height 19.2 cm. (Photo: MRLM Mainz)

on the earlier coloured-coated face jar of RL Type 4A (Fig. D4: 4) is composed of three, elided, “serene” face masks, and is strewn with phalli. There do not seem to be any examples in this period of the m-shaped mask with semicircular eyebrows.

Rather less standardised versions of this face mask occur on the wide-bellied spouted face jars of RL Types 20 A and B, which are often more compact, with straighter, shorter eyebrows, and placed high up on the shoulder of the pot close to the neck. Beards are much more common on these faces, either as a strip of herring-bone notching around the chin, or a stabbed beard spread out across the lower face. None of these seem to have phalli, or pellets in the eyes or mouth.

Less easily discerned is the rather sterner-looking face of the upper Rhineland with straight eyebrows and a long straight nose forming a T which has already been mentioned in Part I in relation to its occurrence on the onehandled face jar of RL Type 8B (Fig. D6: 2) from NidaHeddernheim and on the large face beakers of RL Type 12 from Rheinzabern (Fig. D7: 4). In Period II, it is found on some of the tall face beakers from Worms and Speyer of RL Types 38 and 39 (Fig. D17: 8-9). A similar face also occurs further south in the Strasbourg area and north Switzerland5. This face is somewhat reminiscent of the frowning face of the Holzgerlingen Man, the Janus-faced Iron Age cult statue found just to the south of Stuttgart6, and it could be that this is a pre-Roman mask that was local to this area of the upper Rhineland.

The other main face type is the beaked-nosed face mask of the fine-ware face jars of RL Types 24 A-D, though these jars are much less common and with a restricted distribution (see above). The face is much more carefully modelled than on the average face pots, with meticulously notched eyebrows and sometimes eyelids, possibly done with a rouletting tool, and with finely sculpted, sharply protruding nose. The ears too may be large and there is often a pointed beard. There are no phalli. One of these face jars and possibly one or two of the fragments have a hole pierced at the end of the nose or in between the nostrils, supposedly for a nose ring (Fig. D13: 2). Many of the Italian face beakers have pierced ears, but so far none of them seem to have a pierced nose. However this is not an unknown Roman feature, as several of the terracotta face masks found in the Rhineland and in Britain, with similar if even more grotesque features, also have pierced noses3, and there is a first century face beaker from Emona which has a hole pierced in the bridge of the nose4.

APPLIED PHALLI, CIRCLES, AND FLAT ROUND PELLETS INCISED WITH A CROSS Phalli occur less frequently on face pots of this period. They have been identified on only four Types or SubTypes: on one example with a metallic black colour-coat of RL Type 4C from Dieburg, on a few examples of RL Types 21A, possibly the earlier ones, on both complete examples of RL Type 21B, and on the one reconstructable face jar of RL Type 31 which has a tricephallic face as well as on two fragments of the same Type, probably from jars with similar faces. As in Period One, there are normally two phalli, one on each cheek pointing towards the mouth, but sometimes there is just one phallus, or, in the case of the tricephalic faces, quite a number of them7.

There is also one appearance of a tricephalic face, on a fragmentary two-handled face jar of RL Type 31 found in the Urmitz kiln centre (Fig. D15B: 4). This too, like the one

5

See Chapter VI, Figs F2: 6-7 and F6: 4 Torbrügge 1968, 240. For a discussion of phalli see Part I, under FACES, and Chapter XII, B.13. 6

3 4

7

See Appendix V, C.3..3. Fig. S8: 2-3. See Chapter VIII, DAN Type 5, Fig. H3: 3.

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FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER IV The contexts remain much the same as in the first century, with a large percentage of the complete pots having been found in graves, but roughly equal numbers of incomplete pots or sherds found in settlement contexts. However, an apparent exception to this is the Wetterau region, where there is a marked scarcity of whole or reconstructable vessels in comparison with the high number of face jar sherds that have been preserved. Of the complete vessels from this region identified in this survey, only three come from graves11. All the others that are from recorded contexts come from kilns or pits or other domestic or ritual deposits. It is not clear whether there is a real difference in the use of face jars between the Mainz-Wetterau area and the rest of the Rhineland, or whether what is showing up here is a bias produced by excavation. Outside the Wetterau area the Roman sites are almost all now buried deep under modern towns. Excavation of the site itself is inevitably limited to small pockets, while cemeteries, being outside the former confines of the Roman town, have often come under development in more recent times, and as a result the material found has a much greater chance of being preserved and recorded, and the pots themselves, being whole, are much more likely to be kept. The forts of the Wetterau meanwhile are in a predominantly rural area, and many of them were excavated before the First World War, when unique opportunities were afforded to strip and excavate whole sites. It could be that the cemeteries, lying outside the perimeters of the forts, were not much excavated, as was the case in north Britain.

Small applied circles or rings thought to represent the female organ, occur on the forehead of one face of the twohandled face jar of RL Type 30 from Andernach (Fig. D15B: 2), and on the forehead of a face fragment of RL Type 26A from Heerlen (Fig. D14: 3)8. There is also one applied circle on the surviving left cheek of an incomplete beak-nosed face jar of RL Type 24A from Mainz (Fig. D13: 3), and one in place of a chin blob on the red-ware jar of RL Type 21A from Trier (Fig. D11: 7). A flat, circular pellet with an incised cross occurs on the forehead of a face fragment from Trier of RL Type 26B (Fig. D14: 6), and a complete face jar of the same Type9 has a circular mark on the forehead where what may have been a similar pellet has flaked off. SITES AND CONTEXTS Face pots continue to be found mainly in or beside active forts and fortresses, particularly in the Mainz-Wetterau region, but they also occur on sites where the fort has been vacated, or where there never was any military occupation, though except in the region around Trier, these tend to be close to the frontier or to other former military sites. What is of interest is that face pots seem to occur as much, if not more, in the vici attached to the forts as in the forts themselves10. In the Trier-Luxembourg region the sites where face pots are found have no obvious military connection except for Trier itself, which during the second and early third centuries was becoming an increasingly important administrative capital in Gallia Belgica and the Rhineland, with a large number of military personnel based there (see Chapter XI, Part II, A.2). Four examples come from villa sites, two of RL Type 26B from Lösnich and Echternach, one of 4C from Bertrange, and one of Type 31 from the villa at Mersch-“op-Mies”. Three come from temple complexes, two of RL Type 30 from Bastendorf and IzelPin - and one of RL Type 27 from the much larger Altbachtal temple complex at Trier. The other sites in this area where face pots have been found such as Virton and Dalheim seem to be mostly large villages or settlements generally described in local reports as vici.

Two complete face pots appear to have been buried as ritual or foundation offerings in the floors of domestic buildings, a face jar of RL Type 27 in a cellar floor at Trier, and a large face beaker of RL Type 39A in the floor of a building in the fort vicus at Rinschheim on the Upper German Limes. Quite a number of complete pots or sherds are recorded as having been found in cellars, at Altenstadt (Type 21A), Saalburg (complete, Type 21B) and Zugmantel (two complete face jugs of Type 33). A face fragment of RL Type 4C was found in a well at Bierg near Mamer, and another of RL Type 21A at Altenstadt. Unclassified sherds

The face pots in the Trier Luxembourg region are very similar to those found in the Mainz-Wetterau and BingenKoblenz areas. They seem to be mostly Types of second to third century date and one explanation for their appearance in this region could be the migration of people who used face pots from the central Rhineland and Wetterau region westwards down the Mosel to Trier as the situation began to deteriorate along the frontier in the third century.

Quite a number of sherds which it has been impossible to attribute with any degree of certainty to the various Types listed below have been listed at the end of this Catalogue under the title “Unclassified Sherds”. They are all of them from the Mainz-Wetterau region where by far the highest numbers of sherds were identified in this survey. Most of them almost certainly belong to RL Types 21 A-B or 26A, but a few may also belong to spouted jars of RL Type 20A and to other Types as well12.

8 These need to be distinguished from the larger decorative rings which are either painted or applied in shallow barbotine that occur around the body of a number of face jars in the Rhineland, particularly on those of RL Type 26. 9 Trier RLM No 16910. 10 A valuable study has been made by Stefan Pfahl (2000) of all the face pots and face sherds found at Nida-Heddernheim, 68 examples in all, of which 33 are from recorded contexts. Of these latter, only one came from the fort, two from graves, and 30 from the vicus.

11 One of RL Type 8B from Nida-Heddernheim, listed in Part I; one from near-by Praunheim of RL Type 20A; and one of RL Type 22 from Arnsburg. 12 These include quite a number of sherds from Nida-Heddernheim. A large number of face jars and face jar fragments, comprising 68 separate vessels, have been published by Stefan Pfahl (2003) with drawings or black and white photos for almost every example. On the basis of the descriptions and illustrations it has been possible to tentatively attribute most of the rimmed sherds to individual Types, and the same with some of

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RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART II Date: Mid first to mid third century? As mentioned in the previous chapter, this Type in plain buff ware begins in the mid first century, and probably continues into the third century. Its distribution appears to be limited to the Mainz-Wetterau-Bingen region.

RHINELAND CATALOGUE Period Two FACE JARS WITH SPOUTS (RL Types 2B-C and 20 A-B) RL Types 2B and 2C

Grey face jars with spouts (Fig. D3: 3-7)

These are listed in the Catalogue of Part I. Face jars of both these Types probably continue in the Nijmegen and the Rhine delta areas through much of the second century, but in the rest of the lower Rhineland as far south as Koblenz, spouted face jars, at any rate in grey wares, seem to disappear after the early years of the second century. RL Type 20

Buff or white-slipped face jars with a wide girth, narrow neck and tubular spouts on the shoulder

RL Type 20A

Buff face jars with spouts (Fig. D10: 1-4 and 8-10)

Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution:

Context:

25-30.5 cm. Medium fine buff, with smooth outer surface. Generally smaller and more compact face than on the spoutless face jars and placed high up on the shoulder; round applied eyes (first century) or coffee-bean eyes; slit datestone mouths; notched, rather straight eyebrows; frequent beards with plain or herring-bone notching. Mainz-Wetterau area 25 (9c. and 16+f.). Examples have been found at: Hofheim (turf fort) 4f. (Ritterling 1913, 296, Type 67; Wiesbaden Mus. unnumbered frags [2]); Wiesbaden 1f. (Czysz 1994, Pl. 13); Kastel, Mainz Ic. (Schumacher 1911, Pl. 59:1070) [1]; Mainz 4c. (Wiesbaden Mus. Nos 3890 [9} and 3891 [3]; Schumacher 1911, Pl.. 59: 1069 [10]and 1072); Bingen 1c. (Bingen HM, no number); Nida-Heddernheim 1c. and 5f. (comp: Frankfurt Mus. No X.11916, Pfahl 2003 No 4 [4]; frags: ibid Nos 5-9); Praunheim 1c. (Pfahl 2003, No 10); Oberflorstadt 1f. (ORL B2, No 19, Pl. 1:21 [8]); Zugmantel 1c. and 4f. (Saalburg Museum No 47.24579, and 4 unnumbered sherds); Dieburg 1f. (Dieburg Mus. No 1/34/76);. Graves (Bingen, Praunheim and two jars from Mainz13); domestic contexts in forts and fort vici.

Pl. D19. Buff face jar with three spouts of RL Type 20A from Mainz in the Wiesbaden Museum; height 23.5 cm.

The spouts on both these face jars and on the white-slipped ones are always three in number and are rather more tubular in shape than on the grey face jars of RL Type 2. On some examples which could be those of earlier date, the spouts are all pierced through the outer wall. The hole may be wide and well moulded, or just pierced with a stick, or there may be strainer holes instead (see Fig. D12: 5-8). Quite often just one of the spouts is pierced, or occasionally two. If only one spout is pierced, then it is usually the spout at the back, but not always. As with the grey spouted jars, it is difficult to detect any specific pattern14. Most of the faces are more compact than on the other Rhineland face jars, sometimes missing ears and mouths, and placed higher up on the shoulder close to the rim. Beards are more frequent, generally stabbed, but occasionally portrayed as a narrow strip of herring-bone notching. The complete jar from Nida (No 4) is unusual for a face jar of this Type in having a standard Rhineland serene face mask spread out across the upper half of the pot. The example from Praunheim near Frankfurt (Pfahl 2003, No 10) is rather different from the others. It is known only from a drawing published in 1907. Its spouts appear to have been attached to the rim, not the shoulder, and its 14 All the early Hofheim spout fragments are pierced, but as there are no complete jars, it is not clear if this was the general rule at that time. Of the complete buff jars identified by the author, four (three at Mainz and one at Kastel (Nos 2-3)) have all three spouts pierced, usually by means of a stick; the others have just one spout pierced: on the Zugmantel jar it is the front right spout, while on those from Nida (No 4) and Bingen just the back spout is pierced. Of the complete jars in white-slipped ware, the two at Worms each have two pierced spouts (on one the blind spout is on the right of the face, and on the other it is on the left (No 5)), while at Rheinzabern one example has all its spouts pierced with good round holes, but on the the other (No 6) just the back one has been pierced, with a stick.

the 40 rimless or unillustrated sherds. The rest have been listed in this Catalogue under Unclassified Sherds. 13 The Mainz face jar in the Wiesbaden Museum (No 3890) still had cremated bones in it when examined, while the one from Bingen was found in a cemetery area along with broken sherds and cremated bones, but there is no record as to whether the bones were in the face jar when it was excavated.

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FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER IV colour-coated face beakers of RL Type 12A, (Fig. D7: 4) which are also from this area.

face was very schematic and abbreviated, just two eyes and a row of dimples for a beard. Very similar wide-bellied jars in buff ware with three or occasionally four spouts but without a face also occur occasionally in the Rhineland, often with three small handles on the shoulder in between the spouts as at Trier15, and a similar but taller form in buff, white-slipped and red wares with three spouts seems to be quite common in the Cannstatt-Lorch area and along the Upper Danube (see Chapter VII, Pl. G4 and Fig. G2: 6). The finding of a spout fragment of this tubular type in buff or white-slipped fabric does not therefore necessarily indicate a face jar ( or a snake pot16) unlike the more cup-like rim spouts of the grey face jars of RL Type 2. At least three spout fragments in buff fabric were found at Niederbieber, two pierced and one blind (Oelmannn 1914, Type 80), but other parts of the vessels were not identified so it is not clear if they came from face jars or not. RL Type 20B Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution:

Context:

Date:

White-slipped face jars with spouts (Fig. D10: 5-7) Average 30-34 cm, but one example of 23 cm (No 5). Medium fine red with cream slip. Similar to Type 20A, but often less compact and less high up on the shoulder; stabbed beards frequent. Upper Rhineland between Worms and Rheinzabern 10 (4c. and 6f.) Examples have been found at: Worms 2c. (Schumacher 1911, Pl. 59: 1071 [5]; Worms Mus. No R20 and R21); Eisenberg 1c (Bernhard 1982, 297, Fig. 8: 4); Heidelberg 4+f (Heukemes 1964, 84, Pl.. 23: 35 and Pl..43: 2-4); Rheinzabern 1c. and 2f.(comp: Ludowici 1912, Part III, 146 and 260, Fig. 23 [6]; frags: Bernhard 1981, Fig. 7:1; Reutti 1985, Rheinzabern Terra Sigillata Forschungstelle, private info [7]). Graves (Worms, Rheinzabern, Eisenberg, in most if not all instances serving as cremation urns); kilns (Heidelberg 2f., Rheinzabern 2f.). Later first to mid third century.

Pl. D21. White-slipped face jar with three spouts of RL Type 20B from Worms in the Museum der Stadt Worms; height 30.5 cm.

One face fragment and four spout sherds thought to belong to face jars have been found at Heidelberg18. The fabric is not described, but it is probable that they belong to this white-slipped Type. These well-provenanced sherds, none of them from graves, provide useful dating evidence: one blind spout was found in a late first to early second century pit; a face fragment came from a settlement context of the third quarter of the second century; two pierced spout sherds came from a late second to early third century kiln, and a fourth, pierced spout was found in a “Kellerdepot” dated to 233.

FACE JARS WITHOUT SPOUTS (RL Types 21-26) RL Type 4C

Apart from the white slip (which has become somewhat worn and dappled on the examples from Worms) and the difference in fabric, these face jars differ very little in form from those of the group above, except that some are rather taller and wider-bellied. There is more variety in the faces however, the eyebrows are often plain, not notched, and on one from Worms (Pl. D21) they droop down below the ears, rather like the face on the incomplete face jar of RL Type 2B from Mainz (Fig. D3:4). One example from Rheinzabern, of probable local production17, has incised, pupil-less eyes, very similar to those on the large red

Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution:

15

Oelmannn 1929, 67, Fig. 51. As far as can be seen snake pots do not have this type of tubular spouts, but only the more cup-shaped kind, attached to the rim or handles. 17 Bernhard 1982, 297, Fig. 8: 4. 16

18

100

Plain face jars with beaded or everted rim, black colour coat, and face placed close to the rim (Fig. D12: 6) Unknown, but probably c. 16-27 cm. Red or cream, mostly with a metallic black or brown surface coating. Standard Rhineland face, quite compact and placed high up on the shoulder close to the rim; one example with a phallus on the cheek (Dieburg). Wetterau and Trier-Luxembourg region 15f. Examples have been found at: Köln 1f. (Kölner Jhrb. 10, 1969, 119, Fig. 12); NidaHeddernheim 6f. (Pfahl 2003, Nos 14, 15, 50, 51 60 and 61); Echzell 1f (Darmstadt Mus No 62/47, Kiste 32/57); Dieburg If.

Heukemes 1964, 84, Pl. 19: 143, Pl. 24: 46, and Pl. 43: 2-4.

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART II

Context: Date:

(Dieburg Mus. No 1/3/76); GrossKrotzenburg 1f. (Gross-Krotzenburg Mus. no number); Trier 1f. (Merten 2001, 33, Fig. 27 [9]); Dalheim 1f (F. Dövener private. info. 2004) Bierg (near Mamer) 1f. (Luxembourg Mus. No 6.3.2001); Virton 1f. (Massart and Cahen-Delhaye 1994, 61, Fig. 57: 28); Bertrange 1f. (Luxembourg Mus. No 1997-82/1484). Kilns (Nida, [Pfahl 2003, Nos 15 and 51]); well (Bierg); cellar of villa out-building (Bertrange); baths complex (Dalheim). Second to later third century.

These face jars appear to be a continuation of the black colour-coated face jars of RL Type 4B of Period One, but the face tends to be more compact and is placed higher up on the jar, close to the rim. The colour-coat can have a shiny metallic sheen as on several examples from the Wetterau and on at least three from the Trier-Luxembourg region (from Bierg, Dalheim and Virton), possibly the result of firing at higher temperatures. Only rim and body fragments have been identified so far. One of the fragments from Nida has the remains of an indecipherable two-line inscription around the shoulder (Pfahl ibid, No 14). The example from Grosskrotzenburg is an old find which was reconstructed some time ago as a rather large jar (27 cm tall). This was apparently done however on the basis of only a few small fragments, and it has been entered here therefore only as a fragment. The five examples from the Trier-Luxembourg region could all be of late second to third century date. The two from Bierg and Bertrange come from mid to late third century contexts, while the Trier fragment is dated to the third century. The recently excavated fragment from Dalheim comes from the destruction layers of a presumed bath building, possibly the result of the barbarian invasion of 27519. The Virton piece, which was found with a face jar of RL Type 24D is not dated. RL Type 21

Plain face jars with slightly varying profile and standard Rhineland face in oxidised and reduced fabrics

RL Type 21A

Plain face jars in a wide variety of coarse-wares with everted rim and standard Rhineland face (Fig. D11)

Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution: 19

Context: Date:

17-30 cm. Various “smooth-walled” coarse wares, red, grey or buff, slipped or unslipped, some finer than others. Standard second century Rhineland face: all the features applied; arched, notched eyebrows; coffee-bean eyes; date-stone mouth; very occasionally pellets in the eyes and mouth; crescent ears; occasional chin blobs and notched beards; phalli (only in the Mainz-Bingen-Wetterau area). Middle Rhineland and Trier region 63 (22c.

and 41f.). Examples have been found at: Köln 4c. and 2f. (comp: RGM Nos 523[6]; 524; 3533 [3]; and Ni 2851; frags: RGM No 29,884; Fremersdorf 1933, Pl. 39); Bonn 1c. (Bonn RLM No U 2196); Andernach 2c. (Bonn RLM Nos 1425 and U.1008 [2 and Pl. D22]); Kärlich, near Mayen 1c. (Bonn RLM No 24207); Koblenz 2c. (Koblenz Mus. no number; Berlin Mus. No 189-67); Bingen 3c. Schumacher 1911, 345, Fig. 59:1075; Behrens 1920, 269, Fig.135:1 and 4 [1]); Mainz 1c. (Worms Mus. No 1479) [4]; Hofheim Vicus 7f. (Schoppa 1961, 51, Fig.12: 1-2 and 4-84); Nida-Heddernheim 1c and 7 f. (comp: Pfahl 2003, No 11; frags: ibid Nos 17, 19-21, 24 26-7); Saalburg 2f (Saalburg Mus. Nos S 904 and 916); Rodheim 1f. (Darmstadt Mus., no number); Butzbach 2f.(Darmstadt Mus. Nos 28/489 and 6/129); Altenstadt 17 f. (Schönberger et al 1983, 127, Pl. 42, Nos CVIII 14-30); Rückingen 1f. (ORL 22, 27, Pl. IV: 25); Dieburg 1c. and 1f. (comp: Dieburg Mus. No 1/35/76; frag: Dieburg Mus. No 1/37/76); Riedstadt Goddelau 1c. (Wagner 1976-7, 20) [5]; Rheingönheim Ic. (Germania Romana Pl. XXIX: 5); Trier 3c (Trier RLM Nos 6448 [7], 09,49a and G.41); Speicher 1f. (Trier RLM No 20,436a); Dalheim 1c. Luxembourg Musée National d’Histoire et d’Art No 1982-70/53 [8, Pl. D23]. Graves; domestic pit (Köln [Fremersdorf]; well and cellar (Altenstadt); kilns (Speicher); theatre (Dalheim frags). Late first century to end second century, possibly slightly later.

Pl. D22. Pinkish-buff face jar of RL Type 21A from Koblenz in the Mittelrheinisches Museum Koblenz; Height 25.5 cm.

See below in the Introduction to Part III.

101

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER IV kilns. The face jar in similar ware from a cremation burial at Dalheim south of Trier approximately dated to the mid second to later third century also appears to belong here (Pl. D23 below).

These are the most common face jars of the first three quarters of the second century in the middle Rhineland region, particularly when one includes those of RL Type 21B and 21C, giving a total of 76. The fabrics are very varied and it is clear that these face jars were made in many different potteries. They are fairly equally spread right across the area of face pot distribution in Period Two except to the north of Köln, where no examples were identified. What they all have in common is the standard Rhineland “serene” face, and an everted rim that is generally roughly twice the diameter of the base. The vessel profiles vary to some extent, in so far as some are wide bellied and others more narrow, and some have quite high shoulders and a high girth, while others have sloping shoulders and a low girth. The rims and necks can also vary, from not much more than a bead with no neck to a short, slightly constricted neck with well everted rim. Sometimes there is a slight carination between neck and shoulder, at other times none, while some have grooves below the neck and others not. There do not seem to be any identifiable chronological differences between these varying profiles, though those with narrower, lower girth may, on the whole, be earlier than those with a higher wider girth. Nor are the variations obviously regional, as face jars with rounded or carinated shoulders, or with or without shoulder or body grooves, can both occur on the same site, as can be seen from the face jars found in second century deposits in the fort and vicus at Altenstadt in the Wetterau20 or in the vicus of the stone fort at Hofheim21.

Pl. D23. Whitish-buff face jar of RL Type 42, from Dalheim, south of Trier; height 27.8 cm. (photo courtesy of Dr F. Dövener)

Like the red face jars from Trier mentioned above, it too is difficult to place chronologically. Its somewhat taller and more constricted neck and lightly carinated shoulder, with a single groove immediately below and above the carination, producing the effect of a barely perceptible hump or cordon on the shoulder, are typical features of the third and early fourth century Speicher-ware face jars and face beakers, though its face with the tiny pellets in one eye and the mouth and the solidly applied eyebrows which do not tail off into a row of incised notches as on many third century face jars, suggests a second century date. In the course of the third century these kilns to the north of Trier take over much of the production of coarse-ware vessels, including face jars, in the Trier-Luxembourg region, but they are thought to have first come into operation some time in the second century25.

The Trier face jars of Period II, which may not occur much before the middle of the second century, seem to be mostly mid way between the face jars of Type 21 and the later second to third century face jars of RL Type 26 with their wider girth and pronounced carination between the rim and shoulder. They all have the standard Rhineland “serene” face though one or two have somewhat down-drooping eyebrows22. They are mostly in a red or orange buff fabric, often with a darker red slip, all very probably produced at Trier. They appear to continue relatively unchanged into the third century with no abrupt change to a buff granular fabric as seems to be the case in the rest of the Rhineland, though the girth becomes higher and wider and the shoulders more cariniated. Two of the red face jars with slightly narrower necks and more sloping shoulders than the others are listed here under this Type23, in addition to the two with figurative decoration and a similar profile which are listed under RL Type 21C. The rest are listed under RL Type 26B.

RL Type 21B

Height: Fabric:

In addition to these red face jars there are also one or two examples from the Trier-Mosel region in a whitish-buff granular ware which appear to belong to this period and to this Type, in particular a complete jar from Trier with a low girth and flat everted rim, and a rim and face fragment from Trier24, which are probably early products of the Speicher

Face:

20

Schönberger et al 1983, 127, Pl. 42, Types a and b. Schoppa 1961, Fig. 12. 22 As on the face jar decorated with incised fir-trees of RL Type 21C ((Fig. D12: 4). 23 Trier RLM Nos 6448 and 09,49a. 24 Trier RLM Nos G.41and 20,436a.

Distribution:

21

25

102

Similar face jars but of superior workmanship with beaded rim in fine red or grey fabric (Fig. D12: 1-2) 22-27 cm. Fine red or grey, or medium fine grey, sometimes with similar coloured slip; 3 examples from Zugmantel with micadusting. As for Type 21A, but very carefully modelled and with no pellets in the eyes or mouth. Central Wetterau forts 21 (2c and 19f.). Examples have been found at: Nida-

See Introduction to Part III and under RL Type 42.

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART II

Context: Date:

Heddernheim 1c. and 2f (comp: Pfahl 2003, No 13 [1]; frags: ibid, Nos 16 and 25); Zugmantel 8f. ORL 8, Pl. XIX: 4, 6 and 11; Pfahl 2000, 95, Fig. 1; Saalburg Mus., 4 unnumberd sherds); Saalburg 1c. and 9f. (comp: Schumacher 1911, 345, Pl. 159:1074, Saalburg Mus. No S 862 [2]); frags: Saalburg Mus. Nos S 900, 902, 9045, 910, 915-16, 922-3). Inside forts and fort vici; cellar (Saalburg, complete jar);. Second century, possibly early third century.

such perfect condition that could be a modern copy, or a fake27. One other Rhineland face pot, of RL Type 29, also has an (incomplete) inscription but this is much more prominently displayed, and could be either a personal name or part of a phrase or motto. RL Type 21C

Height: Fabric: Decoration: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

29 cm. Red coarse ware. Figurative (see below). Similar to Type 21 A but less regular and with more down-curving eyebrows. Trier 2 c. (Trier RLM Nos 926 [4] and Reg 139 [3]). Unknown, presumed graves. Second century.

Both face jars of this type have been found in Trier. The form is characteristic of the earlier face pots from Trier of RL Type 21A, with smoothly sloping shoulders and a rounded everted rim. But the faces, or rather the one surviving face, is less typical. The modelling is perfunctory with the features askew, and the eyebrows are not arched but rather straight and downward drooping. One of the jars (No 3) has what seems to be a rather poor imitation of a hunt cup scene, with a very long-haired rabbit or hare chased by a wild boar or dog, the figures being applied in relief to the surface of the pot, by hand not en barbotine, but possibly in imitation of the same. In between and on either side are schematic, incised fir trees. Unfortunately this pot is incomplete and much of the face is missing. The other vessel (No 4) just has a double row of incised fir trees running round the back. The modelling of the applied animals is really surprisingly crude compared with the perfectly competent manufacture of the pots themselves, though it matches the poor modelling of the face.

Pl. D24. Face jar in fine, dark red ware with herring-bone notching on the eyebrows and phalli of RL Type 21B from Nida-Heddernheim in the Museum für Vor-und-Frühgeschichte, Frankfurt; height 22.4 cm.

These face jars, which have only been identified in the central Wetterau forts or their vici, have much the same form and faces as those of RL Type 21A above, though with slightly higher and wider girth, and where the rims survive, the jars all have a shallow, beaded rim and no neck. Due to their fine workmanship and fine fabric(s), they stand out from the rest and have been given a separate subType.

These two vessels are the only examples of face jars found in the Rhineland with any kind of figurative decoration apart from the face jar from Urmitz of RL Type 31 (Fig. D15B: 4).

As on the beak-nosed jars of RL Types 24 A-B below, the features have been sculpted with noticeable care, with the same meticulous notching of the eyebrows and phalli (often in herring bone style). On the complete jar from Nida the notching of the eyebrows has been done with a rouletting tool, as is the case with the complete phallic jug of RL Type 33 from the same site. The mica dusting on the three Zugmantel sherds26 is unusual for Rhineland face jars but is a further instance of the particular care with which these vessels were made. One sherd from Zugmantel in fine dark grey ware which may belong to this Type has the name IANUARIUS written below one of the eyebrows. This could be the name of the potter, and is the only example of such a graffito on a face pot identified during this survey apart from one other, also from the Rhineland, on an unprovenanced miniature face beaker in the Köln museum of RL Type 37B which is in 26

Red face jars from Trier of the same form as Type 21A with applied or incised figurative decoration (Fig. D12: 3-4)

RL Type 22

Grey face jar with wide belly, narrow base and neck, and, everted rim (Fig. D12: 5)

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution:

24 cm. Grey coarse ware Placed high up on shoulder; close-set eyes. Arnsburg 1c. (ORL 16, Pl. VII:28, now in Darmstadt Museum) Cremation urn . Early second century.

Context: Date:

This jar, from an early second century cemetery outside the fort, is one of only three face jars from the Wetterau area 27 See under RL Type 37B, Fig. D17: 7. The IANARIUS fragment has recently been the subject of an article by Stefan Pfahl (2000 [2], 95 -104).

ORL 8, Pl. XIX: 4, 6 and 11.

103

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER IV known to have come from a grave. Its compact face with round eyes and semi-open mouth is very unusual for this area, and has more in common with some of the grey face jars found at Strasbourg and Lorch, as is the shape of the jar itself with its narrowish neck and base and wide girth (see Chapter VI, Figs F2: 4 and F3: 6). RL Type 23

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

Context: Date:

Face jar with sharply everted rim and one small, slightly indented, strap handle at the side (Fig. D12: 6)

27-29); Zugmantel 4+f. (ORL No 9, B II, i, 162, Pl. XIX: 5, 13 and 17; Saalburg museum No 29). Kilns (Mainz, Gottelmannstrasse kilns); domestic contexts in forts and vici. Second century, possibly early third (Heftrich sherds found in Hadrianic layers29, Gottelmannstrasse kilns dated to AntonineSeveran period).

These and the jars below of RL Type 24B are some of the most interesting and most beautifully made face jars found in the Rhineland. They would well reward further, detailed study, together with the face jars of RL Type 21B. They appear to have been found only in the Mainz-Wetterau area. They are all in a fine red fabric, with a dark brown or black colour coat. The faces have sharply projecting hooked or twisted noses, protruding ears most of which have broken off, occasional beards, and elaborately notched eyebrows. The mouths are thick-lipped, and some of the examples from the Mainz Gottelmannstrasse kilns and one from Zugmantel have a row of little perforations or dents in between the lips, representing teeth. Several have indented hollows in the cheeks as on No 1, and one has an applied ring on the cheek (No 3). The meticulous notching on the eyebrows, sometimes in herring-bone pattern, which is characteristic of the finer face jars of Type 21B from Saalburg, Zugmantel and Nida, is found on these jars too.

21 cm. Brown coarse ware, black in places (burnt?). Applied features; Y-shaped eyebrows; no ears. Mainz 1c. (I. Huld Zetsche private info. 2004; publication forthcoming). Inside Mithraeum Probably second century.

This is the only face jar so far identified which has a handle at the side rather than at the back, though there are a number of face beakers with side handles, most of them from Campania of IT Type 7. The Y-shaped eyebrows are also very unusual and only occur on two other face pots, a face beaker from Heerlen of RL Type 35A (Fig. D17: 2), and a spouted face jar from Tienen of FS Type 21 (see Chapter V, Fig. E5: 4). This face jar was found inside a sunken building which was dug into by developers in 1976 on the Ballplatz in Mainz, and has only recently been recognised as a Mithraeum. The jar is reported to have come from “the area of the cult niche of the temple”. Though broken it was virtually complete, and it may have been buried as a foundation offering28. A fragment of a second face jar in light beige fabric with a brown colour-coat was also found in the Mithraeum, on which just an applied phallus and an ear survived (not classified). So far these are the only face pots to have come from inside a sunken building reliably identified as a Mithraeum (ibid). RL Type 24A

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution:

28

Beak-nosed face jars with brown or black colour-coat, with beaded rim and an indented handle at the back (Fig. D13: 1 and 3)

Pl. D25 Nose fragments from black colour-coated face jars of RL Type 24A found at Heftrich. (Engravings from Jacobi 1904, 15, Pls 29 and 27)

17-24 cm. Fine red, with a dark brown or black colourcoat. Grotesque features (see below), finely sculpted, with meticulous notching of the eyebrows; no phalli. Mainz area and central Wetterau forts 15+ (Ic. and 14f.). Examples have been found at: Mainz 1c.and 4+f. (comp: Baatz 1967-8, 72-3, 301, Fig. 16: 12 [1]; frags: Baatz 1962, Pl.. 13:11a, [3]; Baatz 1976-7, 293, Fig. 44: 13-15); Heftrich 6+f. (ORL No 8, B II, i, 15, Pl. II:

The exaggerated, beak-nosed faces would seem to represent a continuation of the face masks found on the first century Hofheim face jar of RL Type 5 (Fig. D5:3) and on the face jars and face beakers found at Vindonissa (Chapter VI, Fig. F4:1-3), which in turn appear to have been influenced by some of the face beakers of northern Italy, or by the face mask traditions with which those vessels were associated. As already mentioned, a probable local parallel for such face masks is to be found in the terracotta masks made at Köln, Trier and Nijmegen, and possibly elsewhere in the Rhineland, which have even more grotesque features with huge hooked noses, some of them pierced, fiercely 29

Dr I. Huld Zetsche 2005, pers. comm.

104

Though this date may since have been revised.

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART II certainly made here. Two of the Nida fragments and the complete red face jar from Mainz-Weisenau are unique among Rhineland face jars of this period in having huge eyes with notched eyelids, a feature reminiscent of many of the north Italian face beakers and of the early face pots

wrinkled brows, hollow cheeks, and often grimacing mouths with jagged teeth30. The form is the same as for RL Type 25 below, which seems to be a continuation of the coarseware face jars with indented handle at the back of RL Types 8 A-B listed in Part I. Unfortunately few of these colour-coated jars have survived in complete or fully reconstructable form. Many of the examples listed are just face fragments, sometimes just a grotesque nose, as in the case of some of the sherds from Heftrich (see Pl. 25 above), and it cannot be certain that they all came from handled face jars. However until such time as a complete colour-coated beak-nosed face jar with no handle is found, it is assumed that all these sherds belong to this Type. In one or two cases the nose has not survived but the face fragments have been included here on account of their fine colour-coated fabric and the quality of the workmanship and sculpting of the facial features. The most important group of colour-coated face jars of this Type has been found in Kilns I and II in the huge pottery complex on the Gottelmannstrasse between Mainz and Weisenau31, including No 1. It is possible that all the examples listed under this Type may have been produced there.

Pl. D26. Beak-nosed face jar with slightly indented handle at the back in fine red ware of RL Type 24 B from Mainz Weisenau, in the Mittelrheinisches Landesmuseum Mainz; (see PL D21 for profile view) height 19.2 cm. (Photo: MLRM Mainz)

There is no evidence that any of the face jars of RL Types 24 A or B were found in graves. RL Type 24B Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution:

Context: Date:

from Vindonissa (Fig. F 4: 2-3). One of the Nida fragments with notched eyelids32 also has a hole pierced through its surviving ear for an ear-ring as on the complete face jar of this Type from Mainz Weizenau (No 2). It is possible that all three jars with notched eyelids were made in the same pottery, namely Nida, or alternatively that the same potter worked at both Nida and Mainz-Weisenau.

Similar face jars to RL Type 24 but without a colour coat (Fig. D13: 2 & 4) 19.2 cm (No 2); 20.4 cm (No 4). Fine red or grey. Similar to RL Type 24A, but with notched eyelids on Nos 1 and 6. Mainz-Wetterau area 5 (2c. and 3f.). Examples have been found at: MainzWeisenau 1c. (Mainz MRLM No 0,3916) [2]; Nida-Heddernheim Ic. and 3f. (comp: Frankfurt Mus. No X 2592 [4]; frags: Nos X11917 and X23520, Pfahl 2003, Nos 12, 36-38). Kilns (Nida, (No 4) and grey frag. No X23520). Second century.

There are a number of other fine-ware face fragments with no colour-coat from Nida, Saalburg and Zugmantel on which the nose has not survived which could also belong to this Type, but without the nose it is virtually impossible to distinguish them from sherds of RL Type 21 B, and they have been listed under that Type or under Miscellaneous sherds at the end of this Catalogue to Period Two. RL Type 24C Height: Fabric: Face:

These are all old finds. There is nothing to indicate whether or not the Nida face jars had handles at the back like the one with a pierced but now broken nose from MainzWeisenau (No 2 and Pl. D22). The “complete” Nida jar (No 4) has been reconstructed with no sign of a handle, but it is a waster said to have been found in a kiln and much of its back was missing, so that there may not have been any way of telling if it had ever had a handle or not. This jar and a sherd with a beaked nose and large notched eyelids also from Nida (No 4) are both in a fine grey fabric, and both come from kiln contexts outside the north gate of the fort, so they and the other two examples listed were almost 30 31

Distribution: Context: Date:

Beak-nosed face jar in quite fine ochre fabric (Fig. D13: 5) Fragment 13.5 x 13.5 cm, from a large jar. Yellowish grey, quite fine ware. Large beaked nose, applied lips, large eyes with incised eyelids and ring-stamped pupils. Worms 1f. (Worms Museum, old find, no number). Unknown. Second to third century.

This is the only example of a beak-nosed jar of this period found along the Rhine south of Mainz apart from one other fragment from a face jar found in a cemetery at Brumath near Strasbourg (see Chapter VI, RD Type 7, Fig. F2: 9).

See Appendix V, C.3.3, Fig. S8: 2-3, and Rose, 2001, 295-298. Baatz 1967-8 and 1972-3.

32

105

Pfahl 2003, Fig. 8, No 37.

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER IV Mainz region might have moved to Brumath. A sherd with a beak nose has also been found in a cemetery at Brumath, which might possibly have also belonged to a one-handled jar (see Chapter VI, RD Type 7, Fig. F2: 9).

The incised almond-shaped eyes are reminiscent of the those on the large face beakers of RL Type 12 (Fig. D7: 4) also from the upper Rhineland, though these have applied pupils. RL Type 24D

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

Beak-nosed face jar in black colourcoated red ware with a constricted neck (Fig. D13: 6) c. 24 cm. Fine powdery micaceous orange fabric with a flaky red-brown colour coat. Hooked nose with a pierced hole at the end; neatly notched, arched eyebrow; thick lips; hatched beard around mouth and chin. Virton (Lorraine) 1f. (Massart and CahenDelhaye 1994, 61, Fig. 57: 29 and Fig. 58). Found with a face sherd of RL Type 4C inside a Gallo-Roman settlement or “vicus”. Second to third century.

Though this face jar is in an orange fabric with a red-brown colour-coat, the fabric is more powdery than that of the Mainz-Wetterau face jars and the colour-coat more flaky, so it is unlikely to have been brought from there. The face jar was found with another face jar sherd with a metallic black colour coat (see RL Type 4C at the beginning of this Catalogue). RL Type 25

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

Pl. D27. Face jar with red colour-coat and handle at the back of RL Type 25 from Kastel in the Wiesbaden Museum, height 18 cm.

RL Type 26A

Height: Fabric:

One-handled face jars in red or brown colour-coat with a “serene” face mask (Pl. D27, Fig. F2: 8).

Decoration:

18-19 cm. Hard red brown fabric with dark brown colour-coat (Mainz); soft whitish fabric with flaky red colour coat (Brumath). Standard “serene” mask; two phalli (Brumath). Upper Rhineland 2 c. Kastel 1c. (Wiesbaden Museum No 3887); Brumath 1c. (Kern 1972, 377 and 399). Kilns (Brumath). Second to mid third century.

Face

Distribution:

This Type is also listed in Chapter VI under RD Type 6. Only these two complete jars have been identified. It is very similar in form to the one-handled, beak nosed face jars above of RL Type 24A, and the example from Kastel is in a very similar red fabric with dark brown colour-coat. But the faces on both jars are the standard “serene” face mask with a small nose. There are also a few colour-coated face beakers from Period I which have similar faces and handles (RL Types 16 A-B, Fig. D8: 2-3). The jar from Brumath is in soft white fabric with a flaky red colour-coat (Fig. F2: 8). Apart from the first century grey face jar of RL Type 3 and RD Type 1 from Strasbourg, it is the only other face jar found south of Rheinzabern which clearly belongs to a Type found further north. It was found in the Brumath kiln complex, and is in the fabric typical of those kilns. It is possible that potters from the

106

Face jars in buff granular fabric, with a sharply carinated shoulder (Fig. D14: 1-6) 19-30 cm, but mostly 25-26 cm. Coarse buff-coloured granular ware, varying from cream to orangey-brown. Occasional painted or barbotine rings round the top half of the pot. Very similar to Type 21, but wider arching, more shallowly applied eyebrows and an occasional barbotine ring on the forehead; no ears or beards. Lower and middle Rhineland 65 (13c. and 52f. ). Examples have been found at: Valkenburg 1c. (Hoevenburg 1985 unpub info) [1]; Nijmegen 2f. (RM No VIII.8, and unnumbered fragment); Heerlen 1 f.(Baths Mus. No 372) [3]; Xanten 1c. and 1+f. (comp: Xanten Mus. No 72.0304.01 [2]; frag: Aussenstelle No 9958/al 75/30); Krefeld-Gellep 1c. (Pirling 1986, 75, Pl.. 46); Wesseling 1c. (Gaitzsch 1987, 37); Bonn 1c. and 2f. (comp: Gose 1976, Type 524; frags: Dr Follmann Schultz 1983 private info); Mayschoss 1c. (Bonn RLM No 7618) [4]; Andernach 1c (Berlin Mus. Kat. No I i 893); Urmitz 2+f. (M. Rednap 1986, unpub. info); Mayen 1c. (Eifeler Landschaft Mus. No 1440); Kobern-Gondorf (Koblenz) 1c. (Berlin Mus. Kat. No Ii 927); Wiesbaden 1c. (Gose 1976, No 523, Schumacher 1911, Pl. 59: 1073); Niederlahnstein 1c. (Wiesbaden Mus. No 3888 [6]); Niederbieber 10+f. (Oelmannn 1914, 73, Fig. 56, Type 90); Nida-

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART II

Context: Date:

The faces closely resemble those of RL Types 21, but the eyebrows are even more wide-spread, and tend to become flatter, in a few cases consisting merely of a line of notches towards the ends. The ears and the chin blob are often omitted, and none of the faces have beards. On one or two of these pots, an applied ring is found in the centre of the forehead, just above the eyebrows, as on the fragment from Valkenburgerweg at Heerlen (No 3).

Heddernheim 3f (Pfahl 2003, Nos 18, 23 and 28); Saalburg 1c. and 12f. (comp. Saalburg Mus. display case, Inv. No unknown [5]; frags: Saalburg Mus. Nos S 901-3, 906, 909, 911, 913-4, 917, 919, 924, 927); Zugmantel 1f. (Saalburg Mus. no number); Feldberg 3f. (Saalburg Mus. no number); GrossKrotzenburg 1f. (Gross-Krotzenburg Mus. No 6451)33; Butzbach 6f. (Darmstadt Mus. Nos 25/486; 37/498; 40/501; 28/489; 20/481; 2/142); Heldenbergen 2f. (Darmstadt Mus. Nos 1957:6, 104-5); Friedburg area 5+f. (Darmstadt Mus. Nos 4/35; 1/148; 7/9; 22/18; 2/7); Okarben If. (ORL 25a BD II, 27, Pl. V:34) Graves; domestic contexts; kilns (Urmitz; Heldenbergen). Later second to mid third century.

This jar form with the carinated shoulder and sickleshaped rim section seems to be restricted to these face jars and to jars with painted or barbotine rings around the shoulders or upper half of the vessel but with no faces. Some of these RL Type 26A face jars also have brown or red painted or barbotine rings around the girth of the pot (Nos 4 and 5), and so does one of the Trier face jars of Type 26B. The two jar types may have been related in some way. Similar rings, but in a more elaborate arrangement, also occur on a large face jar from Bad Cannstatt and on other jars without faces in the Stuttgart area, but here the jar form is different as is the fabric (see Chapter VI, Fig. F3: 1, Pl. F5). The granular fabric, which in the case of sherds can sometimes be the main distinguishing feature, is very similar to the Rhine Granular Grey-ware of the first century face jars of RL Type 1, but these later pots were obviously fired in more oxidising conditions and the colour of the fabric varies from pale cream to orangey brown. The grainy inclusions are also more multi-coloured than in the RGG wares, with more pink, red and brown elements. The main centres of production for these granular buff face jars seem to have been the Urmitz (Weissenthurm) kilns near Koblenz in the central Rhineland, the potteries at Heerlen on the lower Maas in the northern Rhineland, and Heldenbergen kilns and possibly a pottery in the Wetterau region (Nida?). Quite a number of sherds that appear to belong to this Type have been found in the Wetterau region, and are listed here, but no complete vessels. They are in a similar granular buff ware, but it is more pinkish-orange in colour than the Urmitz products. Just one face jar, from Saalburg is complete enough to allow reconstruction of the whole pot apart from the base. Production of this Type of face jar seems to have come to an abrupt end in the second half of the third century when the frontier in the Wetterau and Upper Germany collapsed during the barbarian invasions of 260-1, though very similar face jars with a less sharp carination between neck and shoulder and with an even narrower base in a granular creamy white fabric were later produced at the Speicher kilns near Trier and probably somewhere in the vicinity of Köln (RL Type 42, Fig. D19: 1-4).

Pl. D28. Face jar in buff granular ware of RL Type 26A from Andernach; height 19.6cm. in the Museum für Vor-und-Frühgeschichte, Berlin, (photo:courtesy of Dr Gerhard Christmann Jacoby).

In the later second and third centuries a slightly different plain face jar form emerges, in a variety of buff granular wares, with a wider girth than RL Types 21 A and B, sometimes wider than the jar is high. It is listed by Gose (1976) as Type 524. These jars all have a distinctive carination between the neck and the shoulder, producing a sickle-shaped rim section. They seem to eventually replace the previous Type 21 face jars in all areas, and become by far the most wide-spread and popular face jar Type of the end of the second century and first half of the third. It is this Type and not RL Type 21 which is recorded at the fort of Niederbieber, occupied from c.185 to 260 (Oelmannnn Type 40), along with the two-handled face jars of RL Type 31 below34. 33 This face jar, like most of the face jars in the local museum, has been reconstructed from fragments and it is impossible to see the original sherds, therefore it is entered as a fragment. The jar as reconstructed is very large, 35 cm high. 34 Gose’s Type No 523 from Wiesbaden would also seem to belong to this RL Type 26A. The face jar may have been one of the vessels he mentions that he could not get access to during the early post-war years when so many museums were closed, as his drawing appears to have been taken from a photograph published by Schumacher in 1911, No 1073. Schumacher gives the jar a late first century date and so does Gose.

However both the carinated shoulder and the face with its shallowly applied eyebrows which flatten out into just a row of notches at the ends are typical features of later second or early third century face jars. The face jar in question (from Wiesbaden) could not be traced but there is another very similar face jar now in the Wiesbaden museum from Niederlahnstein (illustrated here in Fig. D14: 5) which is in an Urmitz-type fabric and clearly belongs to this RL Type 26A.

107

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER IV RL Type 26B

Height: Fabric:

Decoration: Face: Distribution:

Context: Date:

There are no phalli on these face jars or on any others found so far in the Trier-Luxembourg region.

Very similar face jars to RL Type 26A in red or orange-buff fabric from the Trier-Luxembourg region (Fig. D14: 78)

RL Type 27

18-26 cm. Mostly medium coarse “smooth-walled” red or orange-buff, generally with a slip of the same or a darker red colour. One or two examples in a more granular ochre-buff ware One example (Frag. No 17,413) with brown painted rings. Same as for 26A. Trier-Luxembourg region 8 (6c and 2f.). Examples have been found at: Trier, 5c. and 1f. (comp: Merten 2001, 33, Fig. 26; Trier RLM Nos 16910; 17,413 ; ST 1943 and G.40 [7]); frag: Trier RLM No 10901a.[8]); Echternach (Lux.) 1f. (Metzler and Zimmer 1981, 252, Fig. 192: 35); Lösnich Ic. (Moraitis 2003, 121 and 139, Pl.. 54, grave 11 . Graves (Trier and Lösnich); kilns (St Barbara kilns, Trier, No 17,413); villa sites (Lösnich and Echternach). Second to third century

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

Face jar with medium high neck and carinated shoulder in buff granular ware (Fig. D14: 9) 15 cm. “Ochre-coloured” granular ware with orange core. Same as above, but with pricked beard. Trier 1c and 1f. (comp: Pfahl 2000, 251-6, Fig. 8: 2 [9]; frag: Gose 1972, Fig. 141: C.4) Foundation deposit in floor of cellar (No 8); Altbachtal temple complex (Gose ibid). Later second century (No 8 was found with an as of Commodus dated to 183).

So far just one complete example of this Type has been found, and only very recently, at Trier. It has been reconstructed out of many fragments but is more or less complete. It is very similar in form to the two-handled face jars of RL Type 31 below, though it appears to have a more marked carination on the shoulder, and has only one face. It is in a similar type of light buff granular ware to them, but as in the case of the two-handled face jar from Bastendorf of RL Type 30 listed below (Fig. D15B: 5), the fabric could well be Speicher rather than Urmitz ware35. Oelmannnn (1914, 73) had assumed that the face and neck fragments listed under his Type 91 had all come from two-handled jars, even if they were too small to show if they had had handles, but the discovery of this handle-less jar means that this is not necessarily the case. Some of the handle-less fragments listed under Type 31 therefore could in fact belong here. A fragment from the Altbachtal temple complex at Trier published by Gose (1972, Fig. 141: C.4) and dated to the second or third century also seems to belong to this Type, though the fabric is not described. RL Type 28

Gap left in Type Series

FACE POTS WITH TWO-HANDLES ON THE GIRTH (RL Types 29- 31)

Pl. D29. Red face jar of RL Type 26B from Trier in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier; height 22.7 cm.

As already mentioned under RL Type 21A, face jars in this local red/orange ware are characteristic of the Trier region from the second to mid third centuries. The evolution towards a wider-girthed and more carinated form in this area appears to have been more gradual here, and there is no abrupt change to buff-coloured granular fabrics around the end of the second century as seems to be the case in the central Rhineland. Apart from one much restored face jar with down-curving eyebrows in ochre-buff granular ware, which is also the one example to be decorated with brownpainted rings (RLM No 17,413), the faces are all of the standard Rhineland “serene” type, though the eyebrows tend to be applied more thickly than on the Type 26A face jars above. Some face jars still have ears.

RL Type 29

Height: Fabric: Face:

Enormous two-handled face pot with two faces and an incomplete inscription on the shoulder (Fig. D15A and Pl. D30). c. 46 cm. (rim 30 cm. and diameter 38-9 cm. Light orange “smooth-walled” ware. Thickly applied features including open mouth; close-set round eyes with ring-

35 Both jars have just one groove above and below the carination on the shoulder, as does the face jar from Dalheim of RL Type 21 (Fig. D11: 8), and this might be a characteristic of Speicher-ware face jars with carinated shoulder ( see under RL Type 21A above).

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Distribution: Context: Date:

have some kind of similar strip or peak above the face, one just a small fragment from London and two complete face beakers from the middle Danube region, one from Solva and the other from Intercisa38.

stamped pupils; sliced-mushroom eyebrows with no notching and long nose; small ears set above eyebrows; crescentshaped strip applied above face. Frankfurt-Zeilsheim 1c. (Dr A Hampel, 2005-6, unpub. info., and Hampel 2005, 51) Cremation grave. Mid second century.

Some of the pot was painted after firing, with a band of red paint 4 cm deep still just visible on the rim both inside and outside, and another band apparently on the shoulder covering the inscription, while the face, handles and most of the central body of the pot seems to have been painted white. Such painting in red and white recalls the Rhineland terracotta masks which may also have been painted after firing, with white faces and red (or sometimes yellow) hair39. The pot was found in 2005 in a cemetery of 40 graves dating from the Trajanic period. The cremated bones had been placed in a large round glass jar (diameter 24 cm) with ribbing on the sides, which was inside the face pot. Other grave goods included three one-handled flagons standing upright beside the face pot, and a leaf-handled lamp in redpainted Wetterau ware dated to c. 130-160, which provided a useful terminus ante quem for the burial. The beautifully inscribed and sadly incomplete inscription reads: ….RATARIOR. It is thought this could be a personal name, possibly of the deceased, though so far no Roman or local name has been identified with such an ending. It could also be the end of some longer phrase or motto as on some of the colour-coated drinking beakers.40. Such a huge pot may well have been made specially for the burial, and commissioned from the potteries at Nida. The fact that the bones were in a separate jar suggests that the face pot may have been first used for some ritual that took place during the funeral, and then, to “ seal” the ceremony, it was buried in the grave with the glass cremation jar.

Pl. D30. A huge, incomplete, two-faced pot in light orange ware of RL Type 29 from a cremation grave at Frankfurt-Zeilsheim; original height (with missing rim) c.45 cm. (Photo courtesy of Dr Andrea Hampel)

This recently excavated face pot is unique, both on account of its size and its shape, and particularly on account of its inscription36. It is 10 cm taller than any other previously identified face pot and is far too large to be described as a jar, coming more into the category of cauldrons. It was wheel-made, and fabric analysis shows that it was almost certainly produced at Nida-Heddernheim37. The two very similar faces (one missing most of its upper part), with the odd-looking ears perched above the eyebrows and the arched strip above the forehead, are also very unusual, and unlike any other face pot face from the Rhineland. The strip may have been intended to represent hair, as has been suggested, though if that were the case one would expect to find such strips on many more face pots. It seems more likely that it is a stylised representation of some characteristic feature of a well-known mask which would have been easily recognised at the time. Just three other much smaller face pots have been identified that appear to

RL Type 30

Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution:

36

I am extremely to Dr Andrea Hampel for sending me information and photos on this as yet unpublished pot, and also copies of the still unfinished pencil drawings from which I have made, as best I could, my own pen and ink drawings (see Fig. D15A). I apologise for any inaccuracies. 37 Analysis revealed that the Zeilsheim pot has the same chemical profile, including an unusually high percentage of titanium, as samples taken from Nida including bricks (Andrea Hanpel 2007, pers. comm.)

38

Low-necked face jars with carinated shoulder, two indented handles on the girth and generally with two faces in buff granular fabric (Fig. D15B:1-2 and 5). 25 cm and 27 cm Whitish buff granular ware, except for the example from Izel-Pin which is dark brown outside and black inside. Same as for Type 26, though some faces have ears, and also barbotine rings on the forehead; one example with a slight beard on one of the faces (No 1a). Eifel-Bingen region and Luxembourg 5 (4c. and 1+f.) Examples have been found at: Bingen 1c. (Behrens 1920 Fig. 135:6) [1a-b]; Andernach 1c. (Gose 1976 Type 526) [2];

These are discussed with this face pot in Chapter XII, B.13. See Appendix 5, C.3.a.4. 40 Two other face pots are known with inscribed names, both from the Rhineland, one a face jar of RL Type 22 and the other a miniature face beaker of RL Type 37B. In both cases the writing is small and more of a graffito, possibly giving the potter’s name. 39

109

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER IV

Context: Date:

applied ring, just above the eyebrows43. On the third jar, found at Tour Brunehaut, near Izel-Pin in south east Belgium, close to the Luxembourg frontier, again both faces are beardless, but one of them has two chin blobs below the mouth and the other just one.

Urmitz 1+f. (M. Rednap 1986 private info.); Bastendorf (Lux.) 1c. (Luxembourg Mus. No 1991-58/2614, unpublished drawing and info from F. Dövener, 2001 [5]); Izel-Pin (Belg.) 1c. (Hossey 1981, 15, Fig. 8: 28; Lambert 1990, No 259). Temple complex (Bastendorf, Izel-Pin); kilns (Urmitz). Later second to third century.

All the face jars from the Urmitz-Bingen region of this Type, and of Type 31 below, are in a similar, light buff granular ware, typical of the Urmitz kilns where they were almost certainly all made. The two examples from Luxembourg are somewhat different and could possibly be later and from other kilns. The Bastendorf jar (No 5) was found in the ruins of a building adjacent to a temple destroyed by fire in c. 27544. Its fabric appears to be very similar to the Urmitz-Bingen face jars, but its rather carelessly notched eyebrows are incised, not applied, a feature characteristic of later third and early fourth century face jars (see RL Type 42 in Part III, Fig. D19: 1-3). It also has only one groove below the carination on the shoulder, whereas the other three jars have two grooves. It could have been made in the Speicher kilns, perhaps by a potter who had moved there, or fled there after 260, from Urmitz. The jar from the Tour Brunehaut at Izel-Pin, which has shallowly applied, notched eyebrows, is thought to be of later second to early third century date. It is described as dark brown on the outside and black inside, which sounds rather like a description of reduced Mayen ware, implying a date in the fourth century, but the blackening may have been caused by burning. There is no evidence that this lownecked Type continued into the fourth century and all the two-handled face jars so far identified in Mayen ware all have tall and fairly cylindrical necks45.

Pl. D31. Two-handled face jar in granular buff ware of RL Type 30 from Andernach in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn, height 25 cm

These face jars and those of Type 31 below appear to be of very similar fabric, and most of them are likely to have been made in the Urmitz kilns, where fragments of both Types have been found as well as fragments of RL Type 26A41. From the evidence from the kilns at Urmitz, there does not seem to be very much chronological difference between face jars of this Type with a short neck and those with higher necks of Type 31, though as Gose suggests (1976, Nos 526-8), the ones with the short necks may be the earliest in a sequence of two-handled, two-faced jars in coarse buff ware that culminates in the high-necked face jars of the fourth century of RL Types 45A and B (Fig. D19: 5-6). It seems unlikely however that this sequence can have started much before the middle of the second century42.

RL Type 31

Height: Fabric: Face:

All the three complete examples have two faces, one on each side. The one from Bastendorf (No 5) has been listed here as a complete jar, but in fact it has been reconstructed and the back of the pot is missing, so though a second face is very likely, it cannot be proven. The faces on the three complete jars are the standard Rhineland face of this period and are more or less identical on each side, but in every case there is one small detail that distinguishes the face on one side from the face on the other side. One of the faces on the Bingen jar has hatching round the mouth to denote a beard (No 1), while on the Andernach jar both faces are beardless but on one of them there is the remains of an

Distribution:

43

Two-handled face jars similar to the above but with higher, sloping necks with little or no carination on the shoulder (Fig. D15B: 3-4) c.27-30 cm. Whitish buff, granular ware except for the fragment from Mersch which is described as black. Same as for RL Type 30. At least one example with a tricephalic face, phalli and a tiny human figure (No 4). Eifel, Trier and Luxembourg regions and possibly Wetterau 19 (1c. and 18f.) Examples have been found at Niederbieber 9f. (Oelmannnn 1914, 73, Fig. 57, Type 91 [3 a-b]); Urmitz 1c. and 7f. (Redknap, 1986, unpub. info. [4 a-b]); Mersch, Lux. 1f. (villa at “Op-Mies”, Thill, 1967, 483, Fig. 7: 11); Gross-Krotzenburg 1f. (Gross-Krotzenburg Museum der Gemeinde, no number).

In Gose's drawing which is taken from a 1888 publication (1976, Pl. 52: 526) this appears as a crescent, but from examination of the face jar it is fairly clear that this was once an applied circle or ring, like the ones found on some of the face jars of RL Type 26A and on the fourth century twohandled face jars of Type 44 A and B, but part of it has fallen off leaving a slight scar. 44 Franziska. Dövener 2001 pers. comm.. 45 See introduction to Period 3 and RL Type 44 A-B.

41

Mark Redknap 1986, pers. comm. Gose (1976, No 526) dated the example found at Andernach (No 2, Pl.D28) to the second half of the first century, but the jar is in typical Urmitz fabric and this date almost certainly needs to be revised.

42

110

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART II Context: Date:

Type. Unfortunately the reconstructed jar has been so comprehensively over-painted that it is impossible now to make out the original sherds or the fabric in which they were made. It is just conceivable that such an impressive cult vessel might have been carried off after a raid in the fourth century as a trophy. Alternatively, to judge by recent evidence for fourth century occupation of the east bank of the Rhine, Romanised life of a kind continued in some areas, and may perhaps have done so in Gross Krotzenburg. It seems more likely however that the face jar fragments belonged to a jar of RL Type 31.

Inside fort (Niederbieber); kilns (Urmitz); villa (Mersch). Later second to mid third century, possibly later.

This is the other type of face jar identified at Niederbieber46, in addition to RL Type 26. Five rim fragments from face jars with this higher neck form were found at the site and four separate handles, all with two longitudinal grooves (No 3a and 3b). However since the discovery of the face jar of RL Type 27 at Trier, it can no longer be assumed that all the rim fragments with this higher neck would have had two handles and two faces like those of this RL Type 31. The same is true of the seven fragments of this form found in the kiln complex at Urmitz. For the time being they remain listed under this Type. There is less doubt about the face fragment from the villa of “Op Mies” at Mersch in Luxembourg as on the edge of the sherd to the right of the face can be seen part of the notched cordon that surrounds the handle-indentation on the “complete” Urmitz face jar (No 4). The fabric of this fragment however is described as black, so it may have come from the same kilns as the face jar from Izel-Pin.

RL Type 32 D.

Gap left in Type Series

TWO HANDLED FACE JUGS WITH A PHALLIC SPOUT (RL Type 33)

These jugs do not fit into the strict definition a face jar - a storage jar-shaped vessel with a face on the shoulder or neck- as they are more like wide-necked flagons and have a functional pouring spout in the form of a phallus placed on the body of the vessel, on the opposite side to the face. But the faces are the standard “serene” face masks of the second to third century Rhineland face pots, and given that these vessels do not fit into the other two main categories of Roman anthropomorphic pottery, namely face-neck flagons or head pots, they have been included here among the face jars.

The very unusual face jar with the tricephalic face found in the Urmitz kiln complex is the only reconstructable example of this Type, though in fact it is still far from complete. Enough survives to show that it had two handles and a face on each side. One face is a rather muddled version of a tricephalic face, similar to the first century colour-coated face jar of Type 4A from Köln (Fig. D4: 4), and covered in phalli, pointing towards the mouths and eyes and to the rim of the pot. Very little survives of the other face apart from an eye and the end of an eyebrow, but to the right of the eye is a small, applied male figure, standing with up-raised right arm, with two tiny phalli pointing at it, the only example of a face jar decorated with human figures so far identified. Two of the face sherds from Urmitz have phalli on them, probably from similar tricephalic face masks, but there are no other fragments with human figures on them47.

RL Type 33 Two handled face jugs with flanged rim, cylindrical neck, phallic spout and three tiny feet (Fig. D16: 1-5). Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution:

One other example of this Type may come from Grosskrotzenburg on the Wetterau frontier, where, in the Museum der Gemeinde there is a fragmentary face jar in orange-buff ware which many years ago was reconstructed as a more or less exact copy of the large two handled, highnecked, four-faced jar from Bingen of RL Type 44A (Period 3, Fig. D19: 5). The complete Bingen jar is also an old find, and would no doubt have been known to those who did the reconstruction, but it is in a dark grey, hard fabric thought to be Mayen ware and now dated to the first half of the fourth century48. It seems very unlikely that a face jar from the fort at Grosskrotzenburg which was lost to the barbarians in 260 would have been of this Late Roman

Context:

46

Date:

Oelmannnn 1914, 73, Fig 54: 5-6, Type 91. This is listed by Gose (1976) as Type No 527, but in his illustration of the upper half of a Niederbieber face jar, taken from Oelmannnn’s 1914 drawing, the separate handle that Oelmannnn had included was unfortunately omitted. It is included here (Fig. D15B: 3b).. 47 M. Redknap 1986, pers. comm. 48 Gose 1976, No 528.

111

Large jugs, c 35 cm; smaller jugs, 23-25 cm. Fine ochre or pinkish buff ware, often micadusted. Standard “serene” mask, reduced to fit the narrower cylindrical neck; arched eyebrows; no ears or chins; quite prominent noses on the larger jugs. No beards except on the complete vessel from Nida which has a rouletted chin-strap beard and eyebrows. Mainz-Wetterau area 14 (3c. and 11f.). Examples have been found at: Zugmantel 2c. and 8+f. (comp: Jackobi 1912, 58-9, Fig. 21; Saalburg Mus. Nos Z3379 [1] and Z3657 [2]; frags: Jakobi ibid, Fig. 21 and Saalburg Mus. Nos Z1581 [3], Z2233 and Z1652); Nida-Heddernheim 1c. and 1f. (comp: Pfahl 2003, No 1; frag: Frankfurt Mus. No X23521, Pfahl 2003, No 2; Behn 1910, No 1306, Pl. VII, Form 73); Niederbieber 2f. (Oelmannnn 1914, 55, Type 56, Fig. 34) [4] and [5}. Cellar (Zugmantel, 2 egs); cellar beside kiln site (Nida-Heddernheim). Later second to third century.

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER IV Phallic face jugs may also have been produced in other areas of western Europe. A large phallic spout (No 6) was found in the fortress rubbish dump at Vindonissa which must therefore date to the first century. It is in a sandy red fabric, with similar herring bone notching, and it has been pierced with a thin stick51. Another, unprovenanced phallic spout in fine, mica-dusted ware of probable early second century date comes from London (No 7)52. There can be no certainty at this stage that either of these come from face jugs of this Type, but the fact that they are both pierced suggests that they had at least served as spouts and were not just the phallic handles of ceramic paterae. Other spouts may have been found on other sites over the years, and wrongly identified as patera handles. It has also been suggested53 that a large fragment from a face jar from Novae might be from a jug of this type54. There is also a face fragment from London that could perhaps belong to such a vessel55. Another example of this same tradition, though this time a figure jug rather than a face jug, comes from Roman north Africa56.

Pl. D32. Two-handled face jugs with phallic spouts and fragments of RL Type 33 from Zugmantel in the Saalburgmuseum.

These are in fine, pinkish buff or ochre fabric, often micadusted. The face is on the tall cylindrical neck of the jug, which opens out to a bulbous lower half. There is no moulded base and the round-bottomed jug rests on three small and rounded feet. The phallic spout is attached to the shoulder, on the opposite side to the face, and frequently has herring bone notching on it. It is pierced all the way through, and so could act as a pouring spout. Sometimes the hole is quite wide, and on others just a thin stick or wire has been used to pierce a hole.

FACE BEAKERS, SMALL AND LARGE (RL Types 11D and 35-39) Face beakers are even less common in the Rhineland in this period than in the first century, and only a handful have been found, several of which are very difficult to place chronologically.

Most examples of these jugs have been found at Zugmantel, where two whole jugs were found in two separate cellars49 (Nos 1-2,) as well as part of another much larger jug (No 3) whose find-spot is unknown, and sherds from at least five other vessels. The context for the one other complete face jug, from Nida-Heddernheim, is not recorded. The incomplete face jug from Nida however, which consists of the upper part of a jug with two bands of rouletting around the neck above what remains of the face, and a hole at the back where the phallic spout had been, was found in a deep pit (possibly an unlined cellar) close to the kilns outside the north gate of the fort. A bronze rouletting wheel was found near-by which exactly fitted the rouletting around the neck of the jug, strongly suggesting that this vessel and the complete jug with rouletted beard and eyebrows, were both made here. The Zugmantel examples are in very similar fabric, but they have no beards and no roulettting either on the jug neck nor on the eyebrows, so may have been made elsewhere, or at least by another potter. Sherds thought to belong to this Type have also been identified inside the fort at Niederbieber, where two incomplete phallic spouts in very similar fabric were found (Nos 4-5). No face fragments or sherds from the rest of the jugs were found with the spouts, but in the case of one of them (No 4) enough survives of the vessel wall to suggest that it comes from a similarly shaped vessel. This provides a useful date bracket of c.185-260 for these jugs. One other phallic spout has been found at a villa at Grosssachsen near Hirschberg, north of Heidelberg50, while Schumacher (1911, 347) reported that evidence for similar jugs was found at Haltern and Stockstadt. Such a jug from Haltern must presumably belong to a different and earlier version of this vessel type.

RL Type 11D

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution:

Context: Date:

50

8.5 and c. 11-12 cm. Fine, hard red (Trier) or white (Köln) with black colour coat. “Serene” mask, very neatly modelled (Trier); Crudely applied ear and eyebrow (Köln). Trier and Köln 2c. Trier 1c. (Oelmannn 1914, 38, Fig. 13; Trier RLM No 0611); Köln 1c. (Binsfeld 1964, 19-32, Fig. 2: 3). Niederbieber? 1f (Oelmannnn 1914, 38, Pl. V: 29). Mathiasstrasse cemetery (Trier); Rudolfplatz kilns (Köln). Second century, possibly early third.

These two face beakers seem to be a continuation in black colour coat of the small red-coated face beakers of RL Type 11A (Fig. D7: 1). Both are incomplete. The example from Köln is of very similar form to the earlier ones, but it is less finely made. It was found in the Rudolfplatz kilns and is probably of later second century date. It is in thicker, white fabric, and the ear and eyebrow which are all that remains of the face are very crudely modelled. 51

Vindonissa Mus. No 25.1152. Marsh 1978, Fig. 6.2.2: 59. 53 Mitova Djonova, 1972, 207, Fig. 4b. 54 See Chapter VIII, DAN Type 33, Fig. H12: 7. 55 See Chapter IX, III, Fig. J16: 16. 56 See Appendix IV, A.6.5, Fig. S2: 6. 52

49

Bulbous black colour-coated face beakers with everted rim in red or white fabric (Fig. D17: 1)

Jacobi 1912, 58-9. Hagendorn 1999, Pl. 63: 133.

112

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART II Belgium, which is not far from Heerlen57 , and also on a face pot from Köln of RL Type 21A 58. It seemed that this could be a face local to this Lower Rhineland area, but now a one-handled face jar of RL Type 23 with similar eyebrows has been discovered in the Ballplatz Mithraeum at Mainz which considerably widens the area of distribution. RL Type 35B

Height: Fabric: Face:

Pl. D33. Black colour-coated face beaker of RL Type 11D from Trier in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier; height 8.5 cm.

Distribution: Context:

The one from Trier on the other hand is of far superior workmanship and fabric quality. It is more spherical than the Köln red-coated face beakers and has a narrower base. It has been reconstructed, but the original incomplete beaker is illustrated by Oelmannn (ibid) who uses it as one of the examples for his Niederbieber Type 29, “a bulbous, neckless beaker with an everted, rolled-over rim” (“mit umgeschlagenem Rand”), which he says is the oldest of the beaker types found at Niederbieber and descended in a direct line from the Augustan beakers of Haltern Types 42 and 43. Oelmannnn identifies the fabric of the Trier face beaker as belonging to his Group d), a very fine, hard, red, thin-walled fabric with an excellent, high-gloss, black or dark brown colour-coat which is superior even to sigillata wares (ibid, 37) and only made in Trier. A fragment with a barbotine eye in this fabric was found at Niederbieber and probably belongs to this Type (ibid, 38, Pl. V: 29). RL Type 35

RL Type 35A

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

Date:

12.5 cm. Medium fine whitish fabric. Flat, notched eyebrows; coffee-bean eyes; bulge in lower lip; small hatched beard. Köln 1c. (RGM No 526). Found in the old city centre, therefore probably not from a grave. Second to third century.

The whitish colour of the fabric of this face beaker, and the fact that the eyebrows are not applied but are just a row of notching would seem to indicate that this is of early third century date, but the rather low girth and the many body grooves are earlier features, making it difficult to assign a close date bracket. Both the fabric and the form are quite close to those of the face jar in what is thought to be Speicher ware from Trier of RL Type 21A (see above, footnote 66) and it has a similar flat-topped rim. RL Type 36 Height: Fabric: Face:

Face beakers in light buff or grey fabric with everted rim and slightly carinated shoulder Grey face beaker with eyebrows from Heerlen (Fig. D17: 2).

Similar face beaker in a whitish fabric with a flat-topped rim and standard “serene” face (Fig. D17: 3).

Distribution:

Y-shaped

Context: Date:

Face beakers with everted rim and a hooked nose (Fig. D17: 4) 8.5 cm. “Gold, granular ware”. Large date-stone eyes, quite thick lips, and prominent hooked nose. Friedberg, 3 (1c. and 2f.) (Helmke1909, 14, Pl. II: 4). Kilns. Second to mid third century?

This face beaker is only known from a tiny photograph published in the report of the excavations of the Friedberg kilns by Helmke (ibid). The description of the fabric as “gold, granular ware” sounds similar to that of the face jars with carinated shoulder of RL Type 26, but the sharp, hooked nose suggests the beak-nosed face jars of RL Type 24. Unfortunately part of the back is missing so that it is not known if there was a handle or not. Two sherds of similar face beakers were found in the same kilns59.

13 cm. Coarse grey ware with whitened exterior in places, probably a surface deposit. Y-shaped eyebrows; horizontal ears; small blob on forehead; no chin. Heerlen 1 c. (Heerlen Thermenmuseum No 484) Grave. Possibly second century.

This pot with its unusual face from the eastern cemetery at Heerlen is undated and no other examples are known. Its form is similar to the second century face jars of RL Type 21, but it is very difficult to date. It could belong to Period One or Two. A similar face with Y-shaped eyebrows and nose occurs on a face pot of probable second century date from Tienen (Tirlemont) in north

57

see Chapter V, FS Type 21, Fig. E5: 4 Köln RGM Inv. No Ni 2851. 59 Schumacher 1911, 345. 58

113

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER IV RL Type 37A

back (the D is a Greek D and the U and R are elided together).

Miniature face beakers with an everted rim and high girth (Fig. D17: 5-6, Pl. 34a)

RLType 38 Height: Fabric:

6 and 6.5 cm. Fine orange-buff (No 4); fine reddish brown (No 5) Standard face of later second to third century; no ears. 2 unprovenanced examples: in the Hessiches Museum Darmstadt. 1c. (No H.1909-5 [5]); and in the Landesmuseum Saarbrücken 1c. (no number [6]). Unrecorded Later second to third century?

Face: Distribution:

Context: Date:

Height: Fabric: Decoration: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

a

Tall, wide-necked, black colour-coated face beaker with rouletted decoration (Fig. D17: 9). 20 cm. Fine red with dense, glossy black colourcoat. Two bands of rouletting on lower part of body. Notched beard, eyes, and mouth; long straight notched eyebrows; applied ears and chin blob. Speyer 1c. (Hist. Mus. der Pfalz Speyer No 441a) Not recorded. Probably first half second century.

b

Pl. D34. Unprovenanced miniature face beakers of RL Type 37A and B; a) in orange-buff ware in the Hessiches Museum Darmstadt; height 6 cm. b) in bright red ware in the Museum der Stadt Worms, height 6.5 cm.

The two tiny face beakers of this type are both unprovenanced, one in the Hessisches Museum Darmstadt and the other in the Landesmuseum Saarbrücken. No other face jars have been identified from the Saarbrücken area, but it is assumed that the latter was found somewhere in Saarland to the south of Trier. The form is similar to the face jars of RL Type 24. RL Type 37B

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution:

Context: Date:

Pl. D35. Tall black colour-coated face beaker of RL Type 38 from Speyer in the Historisches Museum der Pfalz, Speyer; height 20 cm.

Miniature face beakers with a beaded rim and lower girth in fine red or orange fabric (Fig. D17: 7-8, Pl. D34b).

This seems to be a unique face beaker, though the form is fairly typical of the colour-coated beakers of the upper and middle Rhineland of the late first and second centuries, many of which are rouletted60. The beard with its neat, horizontal and diagonal notching is very unusual, though the other features are relatively standard. Everything that can be notched has been, including the eyes and mouth, as on the early grey face jar from Mainz of Type 1 (Fig. D2: 4), and on a recently found spouted face jar from Nijmegen (see under RL Type 2A). The notching of the beard is so regular, that it looks at first glance as though it has been done with a rouletting wheel, as is the case on the eyebrows of the face beaker from Rinscheim of RL Type 39A below, but in fact it has been done by hand.

6.5 and 7.5 cm. Fine pinkish buff (No 6) or bright red (No 7). Standard later second to third century; no ears. Köln to Worms? 2c. Unprovenanced examples in Köln 1c. (RGM No 60,82) and Worms 1c. (Museum der Stadt Worms, no number) Unrecorded Second to third century?

These two unprovenanced face beakers, in particular the one in bright red ware from Worms (Pl. D34b), look so new and un-damaged, that it seems quite possible that they are copies or fakes that have somehow found their way into museum collections. The one in the Köln museum has SADLBURO incised on the shoulder at the

60

114

Anderson 1980, 6; Symonds 1992, Group 28, Fig. 21.

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART II RL Type 39

Height: Fabric: Decoration: Face: Distribution:

Context: Date:

Tall face beakers with a cylindrical, grooved neck in red fabric (Fig. D17: 10-11)

second century, is mentioned by Heukemes, in a list of face jar finds in the city (Heukemes 1964, 84) but it is not illustrated and no description is given.

18-20 cm. Medium fine red or brown, with black or white coating, or plain. 5-6 grooves on rim; double groove on shoulder (Worms). See below; all have relatively straight eyebrows and applied ears; chin blob (Worms) Upper German Limes, northern section and Worms 3 (2c. and 1f.) RL Type 39A, with no colour-coat: Rinschheim 1c. (Schumacher 1911, 345, Pl. 519:1076 [10]); RL Type 39B, with black colour-coat: Osterburken 1f (Reutti 1979, 242, Fig. 5: 1); RL Type 39C, with white slip: Worms 1f. (Worms Mus. No R1051 [11]). In the ruins of a building in the fort vicus “together with a terracotta of Servandus” (No 10); inside vicus (Osterburken). Later second to early third century.

Colour-coated beakers of similar form and size, many of them with folded sides but without faces, are a common type in Upper Germany in the second half of the second century and also in the forts of the Wetterau, and it is conceivable that other face beakers of this type may have existed in the Mainz-Wetterau area as well as further south. A great many similar shaped beakers were made in the Gottelmannstrasse kilns at Mainz-Weisenau where quite a number of fragmentary face jars of RL Type 24 were found, but no face beakers seem to have been among them61. Two large folded face beakers have been found at Virunum, one with three faces62. RL Types 40-41

Gap left in Type Series

UNCLASSIFIED SHERDS A number of sherds from this period cannot be attributed to the Types above, and are listed here for reference purposes. Most of them probably belong to RL Types 21A and 26A, but possibly also to RL Types 20A and 33, and may be to others63. Nida-Heddernheim (31). One rim sherd from a jar with a cylindrical neck in light brown fabric with a red-brown colour coat. An applied ring-shaped eye and notched eyebrow survive (Pfahl 2003, No 22). Two body sherds in grey fabric with a black slip or colourcoat (Pfahl 2003, Nos 35 and 65). No 35 has the remains of thickly applied straight eyebrows and nose with two very close-set round pellet eyes. No 65 has a carefully modelled down-pointing phallus which appears to be the nose, and the remains of a notched eyebrow. This fabric would seem to be quite different from the black colour-coated fabric of the Type 4C face jars, as are the facial features, and so these two sherds have been listed separately. 28 body sherds with applied facial features in a variety of fabrics described as red, orange, grey, beige, light brown and brown. Pfahl 2003, Nos 30-34, 39-42, 43-49, 52-59, 62-64, and 66-68.

Pl. D36. Tall white-slipped face beaker of RL Type 39C from Worms in the Museum der Stadt Worms; height 18 cm.

Three of these are known, two from forts founded in the Antonine period on the Upper German Limes, and one from Worms. Two are complete but the one from Osterburken is only a rim and face fragment. The first two face beakers have very carefully modelled faces, with neatly notched or rouletted eyebrows and close-set coffee-bean eyes, and could both come from the same production centre, while the white-slipped one from Worms (Pl. D36 below) has more crudely shaped features. They all have the fairly straight T-shaped eyebrows and nose which is characteristic of many face jars in the Rheinzabern and Rheingönheim area.

Zugmantel (1) A large rim fragment in quite coarse orange buff ware with a dirty brown outer surface from a huge face jar that must have been around 40 cm or more high (ORL B II, 162, Abb 32; Saalburg mus. No Z 1581). The roughly triangular sherd (17.8 cm tall x15.3 cm wide) reaches from the upright 61

Baatz 1972-3, 302, Fig. 16. See Chapter VII, UD Type 25, Fig. G9: 1-2. 63 Examination of the fabric is particularly important for distinguishing between sherds of RL Types 21 A-B and those of 26A, which in many respects are very similar. The difference is quite easily identified on personal examination, but less easily so in the case of published sherds unless the texture of the fabric and character of the material used as temper is described as well as the fabric colour. 62

A small folded beaker with a face, found in Heidelberg in Grave 83 on the Berlinerstrasse and dating from the early

115

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER IV line decoration that is hard to interpret. They could possibly be from a jar or jars of RL Types 21A or 26B. It is not clear if they come from deposits dating to before of after the abandonment of the theatre c. 260. Two further body sherds, one with quite a pronounced nose have also been found inside the theatre (Luxembourg Mus. Nos 2003102/0096, 2003-102/0172, 2003-102/0207 and 2003102/0159).

rim of the jar to the upper lip of the face and includes the nose, part of a carefully notched left eyebrow and a notched phallus pointing diagonally downwards towards the mouth. The large straight nose is c. 13 cm long and projects out 5 cm at the base. The surviving left eye is slit with neat notches on the eyelids, and the upper lip is also lightly notched. The face is placed quite close to the rim which is completely straight with no lip. It clearly comes from a large, wide bodied face jar, not a face jug. Saalburg (3) One body sherd 8.5 x 8.5 cm in dark red ware with coarse, gritty brown inclusions with a large nose 8 cm long(Saalburg mus. No S918 [P.1175]). Two body sherds in medium fine orange buff ware, one with applied nose and slit mouth, and the other with nose and part of arched eyebrows (Saalburg Mus. Nos S904 and S 916). From the fabric, they could possibly belong to phallic face jugs of RL Type 33. Gross-Krotzenburg (1) Fragments of a face jar in orange buff ware re-constructed many years ago into a very large jar with a small compact face on the shoulder (Gross-Krotzenburg Museum der Gemeinde, no number). The original sherds are no longer visible and the form as reconstructed with a short narrow neck and base, enormously wide belly and two tiny lug handles close to the rim on either side of the face, is unrecognisable as any of the standard Rhineland face jar Types. The sherds could perhaps originally have come from a spouted face jar of RL Type 20A, on which just the bases of two blind spouts had survived which were interpreted as lug handles, while the width of the body could have been miscalculated64. However, as the recent excavation of a completely new type of face pot of huge proportions at Frankfurt-Zeilsheim65 demonstrates very clearly, there are always new types to be discovered, and a face pot of this eccentric form might have existed. It is all the more unfortunate therefore that no record exists of the original fragments. Hofheim, Vicus of stone fort (1). One rim sherd with just two applied eyebrows closely curving round two round flat pellet eyes with ring- stamped pupils. The sherd is thick for its size and described as “rauhwandig”. It has a similar rim section to the face beakers with a low neck of RL Type 47 of Period III, and could perhaps belong to one of them except that they all have incised eyebrows, not applied. This sherd is quite different from the other face pot sherds from Hofheim vicus which all appear to be from jars of RL Type 21A. Dalheim, theatre (7). Five body sherds in a reddish-orange ware have recently been found inside the theatre with an applied coffee-bean eye, parts of notched eyebrows, and some pricked dotted 64

The other three Gross-Krotzenburg face jars from the local museum listed in this chapter, of RL Types 4C, 26A and 31B are also all old finds reconstructed many years ago, and they too have all been reconstructed as very large vessels, though of recognisable Types. 65 RL Type 29, Pl. D30.

116

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART II RL TYPES 20A-B

Fig. D10.

Smooth-walled face jars with spouts. Buff ware: RL Type 20A (Nos 1-4); White-slipped ware: RL Type 20B (Nos 5-6); varying spout and rim profiles of Types 20 A-B (Nos 7-10). 1, Kastel, Mainz; 2, Hofheim; 3, Mainz; 4, Nida-Heddernheim; 5, Worms; 6-7, Rheinzabern; 8, Oberflorstadt; 9-10, Mainz. (Scale 1:4)

117

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER IV RL TYPE 21A

Fig. D11. Plain face jars in a variety of different coarsewares. (Scale 1:4) 1, Bingen; 2, Andernach; 3, Köln; 4, Mainz; 5, Riedstadt-Goddelau; 6, Köln; 7, Trier; 8, Dalheim.

118

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART II RL TYPES 4C, 21B, 21C, 22 AND 23

Fig. D12.

Unusual face jars: Coarse-ware, RL Types 21 B (Nos 1-2), 21C (Nos 3-4), 22 (No 5); 23, (No 6); Black colour-coat, Type 4C (No 7). 1, Nida-Heddernheim; 2, Saalburg; 3-4, Trier; 5, Arnsburg; 6, Mainz; 7, Trier. (Scale 1:4)

119

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER IV RL TYPES 24 A-D

Fig. D13. Beak-nosed face jars in fine and medium fine wares. RL Types 24A (Nos 1 and 3), 24B (Nos 2 and 4), 24C (No 5), 24D (No 6). (Scale 1:4) 1-3, Mainz-Weisenau; 4, Nida-Heddernheim; 5, Worms; 6, Virton.

120

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART II RL TYPES 26 A-B, and 27

Fig. D14.

Face jars of later second to third century. Buff granular ware: RL Types 26A (Nos 1-5) and 27 (No 8); Red ware: Type 26B (Nos 6-7). (Scale 1:4) 1, Valkenburg; 2, Xanten; 3, Heerlen; 4, Mayschoss; 5, Niederlahnstein; 6-8, Trier.

121

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER IV RL TYPE 29

Fig. D15A.

Huge orange face pot with two handles and two faces from Frankfurt-Zeilsheim. (Scale: 1:4)

122

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART II

RL TYPES 30 and 31

Fig. D15B

Buff granular ware face jars with two handles, later second to third century. RL Type 30 (Nos 1-2 and 5), 31 (Nos 3-4). (Scale 1:4) 1, Bingen; 2, Andernach; 3, Niederbieber; 4, Urmitz; 5, Bastendorf (Lux.)

123

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER IV RL TYPE 33

Fig. D16. Face jugs in fine buff fabric with a phallic spout. (Scale 1:4) 1-3, Zugmantel; 4-5, Niederbieber; 6, Vindonissa; 7, London

124

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART II RL TYPES 11D and 35 – 39

Fig. D17.

Face beakers RL Types 11D (No 1), 35A (No 2), 35B (No 3), 36 (No 4), 37A (Nos 5-6), 37B (Nos 7-8), 38 (No 9), 39A (No 10) and 39C (No 11). (Scale 1:4) 1, Trier; 2, Heerlen, 3, Köln; 4, Friedberg; 5, Köln?; 6, Saarbrücken?; 7, Köln?; 8, Worms?; 9, Speyer; 10, Rinschheim; 11, Worms.

125

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART III

CHAPTER FOUR, PART III Rhineland face pots of Period Three: the later third to the fourth century

Fig. D. 18. The distribution of the Late Roman Rhineland face pots

towns and settlements that lay on their routes, one group reaching as far as Tarraco in Spain, another Ravenna and almost to Rome, while large parts of Raetia, Gallia-Belgica and Gaul were laid waste. During the last incursions of 275, which took place shortly after the collapse of the Gallic Empire and which seem to have been the most destructive of all, the routes into Gaul via Trier and Reims were particularly targeted and even the city of Trier, which had been walled in the later second century, fell to the invaders. Most serious of all, the defences along the Upper GermanRaetian frontier were so conclusively destroyed in the invasions of 260-1 that they were never repaired, and virtually all the territory that had been held east of the Rhine and north of the Danube was abandoned.

THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS OF THE LATER THIRD CENTURY AND THE RESTORATION OF THE FRONTIERS The calamitous Germanic invasions of the third quarter of the third century mark the end of Period Two and the beginning of Period Three. Over a period of 20 years, from c. 255 until 275 the Rhine and Upper Danube frontiers and the provinces behind them suffered three major concerted attacks by the Alamanni and the Franks, together with other Germanic tribes including Saxon pirates in the north, spreading havoc and destruction deep into the Empire. They poured down the roads and rivers leading from the frontiers into the provinces, pillaging and sacking the undefended 127

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER IV These raids and the others that took place around this time along all the frontiers of the Empire were to result in radical changes in the disposition of the military forces in the frontier provinces. The new strategy of “defence in depth” meant that fewer troops were now placed on the frontier itself, and many more in well defended towns or fortified strongholds of varying types along the routes leading back from the frontiers, while mobile armies with a large component of fast moving cavalry were concentrated at strategic points in the Empire ready to react to any raids or invasions.

THE FACE POTS OF PERIOD THREE It is not surprising therefore to find that there are far fewer face pots in this last period. The settled military communities of the Mainz-Wetterau region, where so many of the face pots of Period II have been found, had been slaughtered or scattered to the winds, and many of those on the Rhine frontier also. During this survey only 58 face pots have been identified from Period III, compared to 330 in Period II and 110 in Period I3. Of these, over a third now come from the Trier region, 23 from along the Rhine between Xanten and Köln, 4 from the lower Mosel close to Koblenz, and 5 from the Mainz–Bingen area. Just one has been found further south than this, at Mutterstadt, near the junction of the Neckar and the Rhine (see map on Fig. D18), though a few isolated examples are known from the valley of the high Rhine in northern Switzerland4. None have been found further north than Xanten.

Under Probus the Upper German-Raetian frontier was reconstituted in its earlier, first century position along the upper Danube, the Iller and the Rhine, with many of the former forts being re-commissioned. The four legions on the Rhine remained where they had been, but under the new military reforms they are thought to have been reduced in size, possibly now numbering only 1,000-1,200 men1. The fortress of Vetera at Xanten had been totally destroyed and the Colonia overrun, so the reduced legio XXX was from now on housed in a new fort with massive walls and ditches built inside the ruins of the former Colonia. A similar new fort was built at Krefeld-Gellep under Constantine. The frontier forts on the northern Rhine in what is now Holland had all been destroyed, and only Arnheim-Meinerswijk, Utrecht and Valkenburg were re-fortified2. Few if any of the shattered auxiliary units that had been stationed on the German-Raetian Limes appear to have been reconstituted and the soldiers who survived were presumably incorporated into other units. New units were formed of various types, many of them raised from Germans settled as laeti or foederati inside the Empire. The latter in particular seem to have been settled at many points behind the Rhine frontier as well as in the agri deserti up in the northern Rhineland.

Other factors however, apart from the invasions, must also have contributed to the fall in the numbers of face pots. The change in burial practice from cremation to inhumation which largely took place during the second half of the third century will have meant that face jars would no longer be used as cremation urns, though of course they could still be used, as previously, on settlement sites. It is possible that in some if not many cases face jars were replaced by face beakers which in the fourth century far outnumber them and which may have been made specifically for burial purposes, judging by the fact that all the provenanced examples come from graves with the exception of one large incomplete face beaker of RL Type 48A from Köln which was found in a well. However the introduction of Christianity, which seems to have become widespread in the Rhineland around the middle of the fourth century leading to a marked decrease in the number of grave goods buried with the dead, may well have meant the end of a demand for face beakers as well.

The city of Köln had survived inside its unique first century masonry walls, but all the industrial settlements outside the walls were swept away. The city now had its own military garrison, and under Constantine a stone bridge was built across the Rhine with a formidable bridgehead fort on the other side named Divitia (today’s Deutz), similar to the new forts built at Xanten and Krefeld. At Trier the second century walls and towers were repaired. Elsewhere new town walls were hastily erected, using the masonry from destroyed buildings, but now enclosing only the central, essential part of each town. Burgi, small road forts with a garrison, where the local population could also take refuge in emergency and store grain, began to be built along the major highways into Gaul, and along major rivers such as the Maas and the Mosel. In the hills above them where many of the population had fled during the raids, fortified villages and strong points were built. By the beginning of the fourth century the Rhineland had been transformed.

1 2

FABRICS, FORMS AND TYPES The number of different face jar forms in this period is also much reduced as are the number of fabrics. The gradual concentration of pottery production in a few major potteries that started in the late second and early third centuries continues in this period with the two centres at Mayen and Speicher rising to prominence, replacing those lost east of the Rhine, as well as the Urmitz potteries just across the Rhine near Koblenz which were destroyed in the invasions and never seem to have recovered. It is these two production centres that appear to be responsible for most of the Late Roman face pots in the lower Rhineland and the Mosel-Luxembourg region5.

3 As noted earlier in Part II, Note 1, such figures can represent only a fraction of the total number of face pots excavated in the region. 4 See Chapter VI, Figs. F1 and F6: 1-4. 5 The following fabric descriptions are based partly on examination of many of the pots concerned and partly on published descriptions, in particular by Cüppers et al (1983, Nos 163-4 and 269), and Gose (1976, 40).

Goldsworthy 2003, 206. Horn 1987, 89-90.

128

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART III Speicher ware As mentioned in Part II, the Speicher kilns were already producing pottery in the second century, but become much more productive in the third century. The characteristic ware is a whitish buff granular fabric, often with a samecoloured slip, with rust-red or dark grey quartz inclusions clearly visible on the surface of the pot. In the later period the fabric colour can take on a blueish grey or brownish tinge. Mayen ware The Mayen kilns seem to take over from the Urmitz potteries in the later part of the third century, and become increasingly successful in the fourth century gradually squeezing out the other major pottery producers in the northern half of the Rhineland by the end of the fourth century. The characteristic Late Roman Mayen ware is a very hard coarse fabric very similar to Speicher ware, but with slightly finer black basalt inclusions. It is almost stoneware in quality and occasionally has something of a dull glassy sheen. The coloration varies, ranging from light greyish buff to pinkish-orange or brown. Some vessels have been fired in a reducing atmosphere and are dark grey or black . Both Mayen and Speicher fabrics are frequently just described in German publications just as “rauhwandig”.

Pl. D37. Face jar in buff granular ware of RL Type 42 from Dormagen in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn; height 18 cm.

The two-handled face jars with the high neck of Type 44 on the other hand all appear to have been produced in a hard greyish brown ware characteristic of the Mayen potteries. Their strong similarity to the face jars of RL Types 30-31 of the previous period, made in the Urmitz kilns, strongly suggests that some of the former Urmitz potters went on to work at Mayen following the destruction of their potteries. Unlike the other face jars, the facial features on these vessels are still applied and not just incised.

Face jars The two main face jar Types of this period, the plain jars with a carinated shoulder of RL Type 42 and the twohandled jars of RL Type 44, demonstrate continuity of form and face from the preceding period, being very similar to RL Types 26 and 31 respectively. Some of the face jars of Type 42 probably start quite early in the third century, and may not lastmuch be yond the end of it, while others, particularly in the Trier region appear to go on into the first half of the fourth century. They generally have narrower rims and bases and slightly taller necks than those of RL Type 26; their faces are more abbreviated and the eyebrows are mostly just incised, not applied. In the TrierLuxembourg region these later jars all seem to have been produced in the Speicher kilns.

Face beakers The most common face pots of this period are the face beakers of RL Type 47 (Fig. D19), most of which have been found either at Köln or in the large Romano-Frankish cemetery at Krefeld-Gellep, with just three so far identified from the Trier-Luxembourg region. They are mainly if not exclusively of fourth century date and, as already mentioned, where provenanced, they almost all come from inhumation graves. Like the face jars, they all seem to have

Pl. D38. Three face beakers in buff granular ware of RL Type 47B found in the Luxemburgerstrasse cemetery at Köln in the Romisch-Germanisches Museum Köln; heights left to right :11.5, 12.6 and 9.5 cm. (Photo: RGM Köln)

129

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER IV

incised apart from the nose which is invariably applied. Some of the face beakers of RL Type 47 have extremely skimpy faces, in one or two cases just eyebrows and a nose (Fig. D20: 2). Beards are rare, but long drooping moustaches occur on several of the face beakers found along the Rhine frontier between Krefeld-Gellep and Köln and on one from Trier (Fig. D20: 4, 6, 7 and 12 and Fig. D21: 7). This could well be due to Frankish influence, though a similar incised moustache together with a pointed beard has already been found on the large-nosed face jar of RL Type 24 from Mainz-Weisenau from Period Two (Fig. D13: 1). Some of the Gellep faces however, and one from Köln, with their slanted slit eyes and fierce expressions look almost Chinese or Mongol (Fig. D20: 4 and 6-7 and Pl. 42), and it is just possible that they might represent a new apotropaic image or bogey figure reflecting the terror instilled by the Huns’ recent arrival on the eastern borders of the Empire, driving the Ostrogoths and Visigoths westwards. Some of the latter, recruited into the Roman army, might have brought the images with them to the Rhine frontier6.

been produced mainly in the Speicher and Mayen potteries. In form they are quite similar to the face jars of Type 42, though the ones on the Rhine tend to have somewhat higher necks. As yet there seems to be no detectable chronological difference between the low and higher-necked examples. Most of these face beakers are between 9 and 14 cm. high. Another smaller group of quite different face beakers exists further to the south in and around Mainz and up the Rhine as far as Mutterstadt, with two examples known from Köln. These are the black or dark brown colour-coated face beakers of RL Types 50 A-D (Fig. D21: 1-5), which also have a lower and a higher necked version.

The very large two-handled face jar from Bingen of RL Type 44B (Fig. D19: 5) has a unique arrangement of faces. It has a face on either side and one over each handle creating the effect of a tricephalic face when viewed from the back and the front (see Chapter XII, Fig. M13: 3) . Each face has an applied ring on the forehead, and the central faces also have two phalli, the only examples of phalli on Late Roman face pots.

a b c d Pl. D39. Black-colour coated face beakers of RL Types 50 B (a and c), 50C (c) and 50D (b). in the Rheinisiches Landesmuseum Bonn; a, Bingerbruch height 8 cm; b, Köln, 16 cm; c, Köln, 9 cm; d, Munster-bei-Bingen, 8 cm.

It is possible to imagine a progression from the small beaker of Type 50A with its beaded rim, no neck and indented handle at the back, similar in form to the colourcoated beak-nosed face beakers of RL Type 24A, through 50B with a short neck and just a small lug handle at the back, to the taller face beakers of Types 50 C-D with ever higher necks and no handle or lug at the back. But as yet there are no closely dated examples which could support or disprove this. It is also quite possible that the higher necked beakers are descended from the cylindrical necked face beakers with a medium-high neck of Period II (RL Types 39 A-B).

SITES AND CONTEXTS The face pots found along the Rhine all come from forts or legionary fortresses or their civilian settlements, apart from those from the now garrisoned city of Köln. It seems probable therefore that there was still quite a close connection between face pots and the military community. These sites continued to be defended and maintained one way and another until the early fifth century despite the disastrous assault on the frontier in 353-5 in which many of them were destroyed. Following this some of the garrisons moved into the walled towns or vici, as at Mainz and Bingen, or the civilian population moved into the forts as may have happened for a time at Krefeld-Gellep and Xanten.

The only other face beakers of this period have two handles, like the face jars, but only three examples are known so far. One, from Kobern-Gondorf, near Koblenz of Type 51 (Fig. D21: 5) is a well made, reduced version of the two-faced jars of RL Type 44, in a similar Mayen-type fabric. The other two from the Trier region are much more crudely made, but could be late copies of the former (RL Type 52, Fig. D21:7-8).

Some of the face pots found on sites away from the frontier may also still have been used by people connected with the army, or by soldiers and their families who had fled there from the abandoned territories east of the Rhine, particularly those found in the Trier-Luxembourg region on sites where no face pots had been known before7. Many of these sites had a stone fort or burgus beside them, or hillside or hilltop fortifications above them, suggesting

FACES Most of the faces of this period appear to be versions of the standard Rhineland “serene” face mask. There are no longer any very obviously grotesque or beak-nosed faces, though the noses on the colour-coated face beakers of Type 50, particularly the smaller ones with a handle at the back, are quite prominent. Except on these latter, and on the twohandled face jars, the features tend increasingly to be

6 Ammianus is thought to have derived his powerful description of the terrifying, monstrous-looking Huns with their scarred cheeks from tales told to him by Goths who he met in Rome (Book 31.2.1-12) . 7 This could also apply to some of the face pots of Period II found in mid or later third century deposits on sites in the countryside around Trier, such as most of the examples of RL Types 4C and 30.

130

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART III some kind of resident garrison. Burgi or fortified enclosures were built at the followiinf sites where face pots have been found: Jülich8 and Echternach 9, and possibly at Weerd on the road from Xanten to Maastricht and at Mutterstadt where traces of a defensive wall have been uncovered beside the roadside settlement10; hillside fortifications were built above the potteries at Mayen11 and Speicher12, and also at Mastershausen above the Mosel13 and at KastelStaadt, a re-fortified Iron Age hillfort above the river Saar14. A military belt buckle was found at Wasserbillig just to the west of Trier where the river Sauer flows into the Mosel15, which could have belonged to a soldier stationed there with his unit to guard the bridge over the Sauer. Where Trier itself was concerned, the city was now one of the imperial capitals and the head quarters of the north west military command and as a result would have had a great many resident troops and military personnel, not to mention veterans and their families settled in the surrounding countryside.

there is one case, in a recently excavated, fourth century inhumation grave at Mutterstadt, south of Worms, where a face beaker of RL Type 50C was found inside a red sandstone sarcophagus with a number of other grave goods including a small face neck flagon17, the only instance known to this author where both types of face vessel have been found in the same grave. Head vases (known in Britain as head pots) appear to have a closer connection with Roman face pots, and are discussed in Appendix IV. Ceramic head vases were produced in Britain from the third century18, but they are virtually unknown in the Rhineland, possibly because head vases were mainly produced in glass. Just one fragment from the upper half of a head vase has been identified from the Rhineland in this survey, from Zugmantel, in fine orange-buff ware with a reddish slip on the hair and inside the neck19. It presumably dates to before the invasions of the later third century,

Where the evidence exists, the small or medium sized face beakers have all come from graves, with the exception of one fragment of RL Type 47B from a well in Köln, and, as mentioned above, it is possible that they were made primarily for funeral use. As far as can be seen, the graves have all been inhumations except in the case of the large face beaker from Xanten of RL Type 47D which contained the partly burnt bones of a very small child. Five of the face jars are known to have come from graves, three of RL Type 42, from Köln and Dormagen, and two of Type 44. All those of Type 42 from graves seem to have served as cremation urns, and are therefore unlikely to be much later than the second half of the third century, and could be earlier.

……………..

RHINELAND CATALOGUE Period Three A.

FACE JARS WITHOUT HANDLES

RL Type 42

There is no evidence to suggest that either of the two handled face jars of RL Type 44 A and B from graves at Bingen and Mastershausen were cremation urns, and if, as seems to be the case, they are of fourth century date, this would be unlikely.

Height: Fabric: Face:

All the other provenanced face pots of this period are from domestic contexts, bath buildings or kilns Distribution:

FACE FLAGONS AND HEAD VASES. As explained in the Introduction to this study, face flagons are not included in this study, and are mentioned here just for the record. Quite a number were produced in the Rhineland, in northern and western Gaul and in the eastern half of Britain during this period. In the Rhineland the two main groups are around Worms and Trier, the two principal centres where they were made16. There seems to be no obvious connection between these vessels and face pots, but 8

Horn 1987, 449. Cüppers 1983, 324. 10 Cüppers et al. 1990, 489. 11 Ibid, 473. 12 Cüppers 1983, 82 and 324. 13 Ibid, 324. 14 Ibid, 406. 15 Ibid, 304, Fig 157: I. 16 Dövener 2000, 51-98. 9

17

Granular buff face jars with lightly carinated shoulder, often with incised facial features (Fig. D19: 1-4, Pls. D37 and 40). 16-25 cm. Whitish buff or ochre, granular ware. Generally very shallow eyebrows, often just an incised line or row of notching; occasional beards, no moustaches; no ears; occasional chin blobs; applied coffee-bean or plain round eyes, occasionally incised or barbotine eyes. Trier region and Lower Rhineland 20 (9c. and 11f.). Examples have been found at: Trier 7f. (Kaiserthermen 2f.: Hussong and Cüppers 1972, Pl.. 8: 70; Domgrabung 5f.: Merten 2001, 33-34, Figs. 28: 3 [2] and 29: 1-4); Altrier, 1c. (Luxembourg Mus., Service Archeologique No 2004-15/1302C); Kastel-Staadt 1c. (Trier RLM no number [10]); Speicher 1c (much reconstructed, Trier RLM. No 20,421a, Gose 1976, No 525 [Pl. D40]); Wiersdorf 1c. (Trier RLM No 10,615)[1]; Echternach (Villa) 1f. (Metzler and Zimmer 1981, 252, Fig. 192: 34; Echternach (burgus) 1f (Bakker 1981,

Ibid, 69, Fig. 110, and private info. See Appendix IV, A.8, Fig. S4. 19 Salburg Museum No Z1196; ORL. II, No 8, 1937, 165, Fig. 21: 61. 18

131

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER IV

Context:

Date:

but can also be reddish or rust-coloured. Only one of the face jars of this Type from Köln and Dormagen could be examined by the author, namely the small face jar from Dormagen (Pl. 36). This is in a hard, ochre-coloured sandy ware with lighter patches which could be from the Mayen kilns. The other Dormagen face jar, said to be in ochreyellow coarseware, is very probably in the same fabric and is very similar in height (19.5 cm high). The complete face jar with one face from Köln (No 3) was lost during the war20 and this may have been the fate of the two-faced jar also (No 4). Their fabric was not described in the reports.

338-9, Fig. 246: 34); Aspelt 2f. (Luxembourg Mus. Nos 2001-127/219C and 220); Köln 3c ( comp: B.Jb. 131, 1926, 299, Fig. 11 [4]; B.Jb. 138, 1933, 31, Fig. 4 [3]; Friedhoff 1991, 130, Grave 115; Dormagen 2c (Müller 1979, Fig. 95:4; Bonn RLM. No A377 [Pl. D37]). Cremation graves (Köln and Dormagen); baths (Trier); kilns (Speicher); fortified site (Echternach); villa sites (Wiersdorf and Echternach); inside fortified hill-fort above the river Saar (Kastel-Stadt); well (Köln frag.); domestic contexts (Altrier); Mid 3rd to mid 4th century, possibly slightly earlier in some cases.

The two-faced jar from Köln (No 4) represents another apparently random occurrence of a handle-less face pot with two faces21. It is the only one so far identified from this period. It is not clear from the report or from the tiny published drawing whether the eyes, cheeks and chin are applied or pushed out.

This Type is listed by Gose (1976) as No 525 and illustrated by the jar from Speicher (Pl. D40 above), which he dates to the second half of the third century. These face jars are not very different in form from those of RL Type 26 of the previous period with the sickle-shaped rim profile, and they are in similar pale granular fabrics. They tend to have a narrower rim and base in this period, and a slightly taller neck. The carination between shoulder and neck is generally less exaggerated and is marked by two grooves immediately above and below it, which produce the effect of a slightly raised cordon on the shoulder, a feature found on the earlier

None of these face jars can be closely dated and it is possible that some of them may date to the earlier half of the third century. The two face jars from Köln and the one from Dormagen all come from third century cremation cemeteries22, but none of the face jars of this Type from the Trier-Luxembourg region are recorded as coming from graves, and some of them could therefore be of somewhat later date. RL Type 43 B.

TWO-HANDLED FACE JARS

RL Type 44A

Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution:

Pl. D40. Partly reconstructed face jar in light buff granular ware from Speicher of RL Type 42 in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier; height 24 cm.

Context: Date:

Speicher ware face jar from Dalheim of RL Type 21A (Fig. D11: 8, Pl. D23). The faces however are much more sketchily drawn, with the eyebrows now almost always just incised and not applied, and sometimes the eyes and mouth as well. The noses however are still invariably applied on all the face pots, both face jars and face beakers, of this Late Roman period.

Gap left in Type Series

Two-handled face jar with tall cylindrical neck with four faces and applied phalli (Fig. D19: 5). 34 cm. Dark grey coarseware, very probably reduced Mayen ware. Barbotine features; two phalli and a circle on the foreheads of the large central faces and just a circle above the small faces over the handles. The eyes on all four faces are also circles. Bingen 1c. (Gose 1976, no 528; Schumacher 1911, No 1082); Hambacher Wald, near Jülich, 1f. (Gaitzsch 1987, 38); Gross Krotzenburg? (see under RL Type 31) Grave (Bingen, Rochus Allee cemetery, Schumacher 1911, No 1082). First half of the fourth century

As already mentioned, this Type and Type 44B below are a continuation of the two handled face jars of RL Types 30 and 31 of the preceding period, most if not all of which were made in the Urmitz kilns. These now have a taller, 20 B. Päffgen, Die Ausgrabungen in St Severin zu Köln (Dphil. Thesis. Cologne 1988), grave 11.4. 21 For other examples see Chapter III, under IT Type 3. 22 The two-face jar from Cologne was the only face urn out of 71 cremation graves, while the other one (No 3) was the only one out of 55 (Fremersdorf ibid).

The fabric of the Trier-Luxembourg vessels is almost certainly the whitish buff ware of the Speicher potteries with its gritty quartz inclusions which are mostly dark grey

132

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART III more cylindrical neck and smaller, less indented handles placed on the girth, and all seem to be made in Mayen ware. There is also a face beaker version in the same fabric, RL Type 51 (Fig. 21: 6).

These two jars are smaller than the Bingen face jar, and have only two faces, but otherwise they are much the same. The jar from a grave at Mastershausen (Pl. D41 below) has an applied circle on the forehead of both faces. The Mayen jar has none. Gose dates this Type (No 527) to the second half of the fourth century, but in fact as both Types, and the face beaker of RL Type 51 appear to be in the same Mayen ware, they could date from the beginning of the century. The Mastershausen face jar is known to have come from a grave, and pagan pots such as these may not have been put in graves much after the middle of the fourth century.

Only one complete example of this Type is known, from a grave at Bingen. It is a very large vessel and must have been an impressive cult vase. It has four faces, a large one on each side and a smaller one over each handle, creating the effect of two tricephalic faces, one on each side of the vessel with a frontal face in the centre flanked by two profile faces23. Each face has an applied ring on the forehead, and the central faces also have two phalli pointing at the ring. It is clearly related to the earlier face jar with a tricephalic face of Type 31 found in the Urmitz kilns (Fig. D15B: 4). Gose (Type 528) dates this vessel to the first half of the fourth century. Another fragmentary vessel of this type has been reported from the Hambacher Wald, near Jülich to the east of Köln24. There is also the problematic reconstructed face jar from Gross Krotzenburg mentioned under RL Type 31. RL Type 44B

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution:

Context: Date:

RL Types 45-46

C.

Gap left in Type Series

LATE ROMAN FACE BEAKERS (RL TYPES 47-50)

Similar, two-handled face jars with two faces and a tall cylindrical neck (Fig. D19: 6). 21-22 cm. Ochre-brown-grey buff, granular fabric, uneven coloration, typical Mayen ware. Shallowly applied features; no beards. Mayen/Hünsruck area 2 c. Examples have been found at : Mayen auf der Eich 1c. (Mayen Mus. No 86, Fundbuch 1:11); Mastershausen 1c. (Gose 1976, No 529) Grave (Mastershausen, Schumacher 1911, No 1083). Fourth century.

Pl. D43. Face beaker of RL Type 47B in buff granular ware from Köln in the Römisch-Germanisches Museum Köln; height c.10 cm. (Photo: RGM Köln)

RL Type 47

Small and medium size face beakers in buff sandy ware (Fig. D20: 1-9)

These are the commonest face beakers of the fourth century. Apart from three examples from Trier, all the rest have been found in the Lower Rhineland from Köln northwards as far as Xanten. They are all made in a similar very hard grainy fabric, which in the Trier region has reddish brown quartz inclusions and comes from the Speicher kilns, while in the Lower Rhineland all the examples are almost certainly all Mayen ware with slightly smaller black volcanic inclusions. The colour can vary to quite an extent, often on the same pot, from reddish orange to ochre or grey. They probably all date to the fourth century. The example from Speicher is dated to the second half of the century. The forms are also very similar, though those made in the Speicher kilns all seem to have short necks while the Mayen beakers have necks of varying height.

Pl. D41. Face jar in ochre-brown granular ware of RL Type 44B from Mastershausen in the Eifeler Landschaftsmuseum, Mayen; height 22 cm. 23

As on many of the Bavay bust vases (see Appendix III, Fig. R2: 1 and 3 and Fig. R4: 2). 24 Gaitzsch 1987, 38.

133

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER IV The faces are all very stylised, with all the features incised apart from the applied nose, and the occasional applied round button eyes. Some, particularly the three from Trier (Nos 1-2) are very abbreviated. On these the semicircular eyebrows appear to have been drawn with a compass. Most of the faces are versions of the “serene” mask. The only exceptions are three from Krefeld-Gellep and one from Köln which are made up of sharp incised lines with two slanting slits for eyes and two down-strokes for a moustache producing a fierce, oriental-looking expression (Nos 4, 6 and 7 and Pl. 43). RL Type 47A

Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution:

Context: Date:

RL Type 47B

Height: Fabric: Face:

Face beakers in Speicher ware with short neck, rounded, everted rim and carinated shoulder (Fig. D20: 1-2)

Distributio n:

9.2 - 13.7 cm. Hard greyish buff coarse ware, with brown inclusions (Speicher ware); unevenly fired with white patches (No 1). Geometrically incised eyebrows, possibly with a compass on all 3 egs; applied flat pellet eyes (No 1); indented eyes with nail imprint and incised mouth and part of moustache (Speicher). Trier region 4 (3c. and 1f). Examples have been found at: Trier 2c. (Trier RLM No 34,321 [1]; Luxembourg Mus., no number [2]); Altrier 1f. (F. Dövener 2004, private info.); Speicher 1c. (RLM Trier No EV. 1950, 18 Fnr. 21,01). Grave, probably from the Mathiasstrasse cemetery (No 1); kilns (Speicher)25. Fourth century.

Context:

Date:

.

Type 47C Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution: Context: Date:

Face beakers with taller neck and less sharply carinated shoulder in Mayen ware (Fig. D20: 3-8, Pls. D38 and 43) 8-14.5 cm.. Very hard grainy fabric with black inclusions, colour varying from grey buff to ochre, orange and brown. Incised features except for the nose; more variation than in other face pot Types of this period; some oriental-looking faces with fierce, slanting, incised features; one with gouged dents indicating hair on the face and along the eyebrows. Lower Rhineland 15 (14c. and 1f.) Examples have been found at: KrefeldGellep 5c. (Pirling 1960/3, Pl. 28:9, grave 1462; Pl. 31:1, grave 1470; ibid 1974, Pl. 44 , grave 511, [9]; Pl. 97: 9, grave 1203 [7]; ibid 1979, Pl. 80, grave 2830 [6]); Weert, Limburg 1c. (Leiden Rijksmuseum No L1924/11.1 [5]); Köln 8c and 1f. (comp: RGM Nos 35,1079 [3]; 35,1080; 35,1090; 35,1091; 74,1079 [4 and Pl. D43]; 25,40; 24,115; N.8176; frag: Binsfeld 1960/1, 75, Fig. 2: 33). Where known, from inhumation graves except for the Koln fragment from a well; three from the Luxemburgerstrasse cemetery at Köln (Pl. D38), two of which were found in the same grave, No 177 (RGM Nos 35,1090-1); amphitheatre (Trier) but very probably from a grave. Fourth century. As above but with indented sides (Fig. D20: 9) 13.7 cm. As above. An incised line above the eyebrows and a row of dots above it, possibly representing hair. A crooked incised circle on the forehead. Krefeld-Gellep 1c. (Pirling 1974, Pl. 45: grave 516). Inhumation grave with high status pottery and glass, probably male. Fourth century.

This is the only example of an indented face beaker so far identified in the Rhineland, though another unclassified and un-illustrated example, of early second century date, is reported from Heidelberg26.

Pl. D42. Face beaker in greyish-buff granular ware of RL Type 47A from Trier in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier; height 13.7cm.

The face beakers of this Type identified from the Trier region all have incised eyebrows apparently drawn with a compass, and they have no mouths. The example from Speicher doesn’t even have any eyes (No 2). 25 I am very grateful to Bernard Bienert for providing information on this waster beaker from a kiln-site at Speicher close to the Langmauer north of Trier.

26

134

Heukemes 1964, 84.

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART III RL Type 47 D

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

pot forms of this period, the features are all applied, and the noses rather prominent. There is no evidence as yet to indicate whether there is any chronological difference between the varying forms. Only two examples are provenanced, from Niederheimbach and Mutterstadt. The former came from an inhumation grave of the first part of the fourth century27 and the latter, as already mentioned, was found in a stone sarcophagus together with a face flagon from Worms. Some of these face beakers have quite prominent noses, particularly those with a handle or lug at the back, and given that they are also in colour-coated ware ware, it is just possible that they could be related to the earlier beak-nosed face pots of the Mainz-Wetterau region. The taller ones however, in particular the one with a grooved cylindrical neck of Type 50C from Mutterstadt (No 3), are reminiscent of the large face beakers of RL Type 39 from Period II (Fig. D17: 10-11 and Pl. D36). The colourcoat is better preserved and the features appear to be more carefully modelled on the two examples so far identified at Köln, of Types 50C and 50D, and it is possible that these beakers may have come from two production centres, one at Mainz or Bingen, and the other at Köln, where perhaps the two smaller beaker Types, 50 A and B, were not made.

Large face beaker with low neck, barbotine features, and very exaggerated carination between neck and shoulder (Fig. D20: 10) 16 cm. Ochre-brown, probably Mayen ware. Barbotine features with notched eyebrows; smudged right eye; untidy stabbed beard. Xanten 1c. (Boelicke, 1989, 57-8, Fig. 23: a [10]). Grave, containing the partly burnt bones of a small child). Post 275.

This vessel is the most extreme example of a face pot with a carinated shoulder. Like the face pot below, its facial features are applied in barbotine. RL Type 48

Large grey face beaker with taller, more constricted neck, sloping shoulders and barbotine features (Fig. D20: 11)

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution:

19.5 cm. Dark grey, “schmauchtechnik”. Barbotine features with notched eyebrows. Trier 1f. (Hussong and Cüppers 1972, Pl. 3:35). Imperial Baths building. Later 3rd to mid 4th century.

Context: Date:

RL Type 50A

Height: Fabric:

This could be a later version of RL Type 27 from the previous period (Fig. D14: 8). It is the only example of this form in coarse ware in this period, but the colour-coated face beakers of RL Type 50C are somewhat similar in shape, though smaller. RL Types 50 A-D

Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

Colour-coated face beakers with narrow neck and base (Fig. D21: 1-5)

With beaded rim, no neck, and recessed handle at the back (Fig. D21: 1) 7 cm. Fine red or orange fabric with dark brown colour-coat. Applied features; notched eyebrows; coffeebean eyes; pushed out chin. Mainz 1c. (Behrens 1920, Fig. 135:2; Mainz. MRLM No 0,3942) [1]. Unspecified. Late third to fourth century.

RL Type 50B

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution:

Context: Date:

With short, funnel-shaped neck and lug handle at the back (Fig. D21: 2, and Pl. D39: a and d) 8 cm. As above. As above, but no chin. Bingen area 2c. Examples have been found at: Bingerbrück 1c. (Bonn RLM No 983); Münster-beiBingen 1c. (Behrens 1920, Fig. 135:3 [2]). Unspecified. As above.

RL Type 50C Pl. D44. Face beaker with dark-brown colour-coat of RL Type 50A from Mainz in the Mittelrheinisches Landesmuseum Mainz; height 7cm.

Height: Fabric: Decoration:

These are the other most common Type of face beaker of this period, and are found mainly in the Mainz-Bingen area, with just two recorded from Köln. Some of them have handles or lugs at the back. Unlike most of the other face

Face: 27

135

With taller cylindrical neck and no lug or handle at the back (Fig. D21: 3-4) 9-12 cm. As above. Six shallow grooves round neck (Mutterstadt). Same as 50A, but blob on chin, and applied

Cüppers 1990, 509.

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER IV

Distribution:

Context: Date:

ears on 2 examples. Köln to Mainz 5 c. Examples have been found at: Köln 2c. (Schumacher 1911, 345, Pl. 159:1081; Bonn RLM Nos A. 865 [4 and Pl. D45] and 16319 [Pl. D39:c); Niederheimbach 1c. (Cüppers, 1990, 509, Fig. 4250); Bingen 1c. (Bonn RLM No A865 [4]); Mutterstadt 1c. (F. Dövener, 2000, 69, and unpublished info and drawing [3]). Inhumation graves; stone sarcophagus (No 3). As above

RL Type 51 Two-handled face beaker with two faces and tall sloping neck in Mayen ware (Fig. D21: 6) Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

11 cm. Ochre-buff Mayen ware.. Same as on RL Type 44B, but rather more down-drooping eyebrows. Kobern-Gondorf (nr Koblenz), 1c. (Bonn RLM 17280) Unknown. Late third to fourth century.

This is the face beaker version of RL Type 44B, in the same fabric and with the same form and facial features, though with no circle on the forehead of either face (see Pl. D41).

The face beaker from Mutterstadt (No 3) has five shallow grooves around the neck, reminiscent of the tall whiteslipped face beaker from Worms of RL Type 39C. The others have plain necks.

RL Type 52

Miniature two-handled face beakers with one face (Fig. D21:-7-8)

.

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution:

Context: Date:

7-8 cm. Plain grey (Trier) or red, with dark brown colour-coat (Wasserbillig). Applied flat-pellet eyes, nose and mouth. Trier region 2 c. Examples have been found at: Trier 1c. (Trier RLM No 38,1494); Wasserbillig 1c. (Trier RLM No 8209). Unknown. Late Roman?

Pl. D45. Face beaker with black colour-coat of RL Type 50C from Bingen in the Rheinisches Landesmusem Bonn; height 12 cm

RL Type 50D

Height: Fabric: Decoration: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

Similar beaker to the above but larger and with a taller neck (Fig. D21: 5, Pl. D39: b)

Pl. D46. Miniature two-handled face beaker of RL Type 52 from Trier in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier; height 7cm.

16 cm. As above, but better preserved black colour coat. Three bands of rouletting on body of pot (No 4). Same as 50C. Köln 1c (Bonn RLM No 4506 [5]). Unrecorded. As above

These rather crudely made little beakers from the Trier region are undated and hard to place chronologically, but because the eyebrows are incised, it seems probable that they belong to this late Roman period. On the one from Wasserbillig, the wall of the beaker is indented below the handles, but not on the one from Trier. The former also has an incised drooping moustache.

This tall face beaker appears to have been made with particular care, and it is the only example to have bands of rouletting on it,

136

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART III RL TYPES 42 and 44 A-B

Fig. D19. Late Roman face jars in buff granular wares. RL Types 42 (Nos 1-4), 44A (No5) and 44B (No 6). (Scale 1:4) 1, Wiersdorf (Trier); 2, Trier; 3-4, Köln; 5, Bingen; 6, Mayen.

137

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER IV RL TYPES 47 A-D and 48

Fig. D20.

Late Roman coarse-ware face beakers. RL Types 47A (No 1), 47B (Nos 2-8), 47C (No9), 47D (No 10), 48 (No 11). 1-2, Trier; 3-4, Köln; 5, Weert; 6-9, Krefeld Gellep;10, Xanten; 11, Trier. (Scale 1:4)

138

RHINELAND FACE POTS, PART III RL TYPES 50 A-D, 51 and 52

Fig. D21 Colour-coated face beakers and two-handled face beakers. RL Types 50A (No 1), 50B (No 2), 50C (Nos 4-5), 50D (No 3), 51 (No 6), 52 (Nos 7-8). (Scale 1:4) 1, Mainz; 2, Munster bei Bingen; 3, Mutterstadt; 4, Bingen; 5, Köln; 6, Kobern-Gondorf; 7, Wasserbillig; 8, Trier.

139

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER IV

140

FACE POTS OF FRANCE, BELGIUM AND SPAIN

CHAPTER FIVE The face pots of France, Belgium and Spain As mentioned in the previous chapter, very few face pots have been found to the west of the Rhineland in Roman Gaul and Spain. These two provinces had been conquered in the first and second centuries BC, and their military occupation had virtually ended by the beginning of the first century AD. The few face pots that have been found fall into four isolated groups in widely separated regions. The four groups, A-D, are all very different one from another and appear to have little in common. Two of them however, Groups B and D come from areas where there was contemporary military occupation. The few face pots of Group A all come from a short stretch of the Mediterranean coast between Béziers in west Provence and Tarragona on the Catalan coast of north east Spain. They are all thin-walled face beakers dating from the late first century BC to the mid first century AD. Two are very probably imports from Italy, while others appear to be local copies (FS Types 1-7, Fig. E2). Group B is another small group of face pots with a coastal distribution, in this case along the Channel coast of Gallia Belgica, from Boulogne to the mouth of the Seine. These however have all been found on the sites of known or suspected ports of the Roman Fleet, or close to them. The face jars and one face beaker are of second to fourth century date (FS Types 10-16, Figs. E3 and E4).

Pl. E1. Dark grey face jar of FS Type 21 from Haulchin, Belgium, with two stumps on the forehead (horns?) in the Musée des Beaux Arts, Brussels; height 24 cm.

The eye urns, on the assumption that the two dents represent a very abbreviated face mask, have been included in this Group though they have a much wider distribution than the face jars (FS Type 27, Fig. E3: 3-4). The bust vases cannot be classed as face pots, as the busts are made with the use of moulds, and there can be as many as seven on one vase. They are described in Appendix III.

Group C is just to the south of these, on the borders of southern Belgium and north east France, though it almost certainly has no connection with them. It is the largest of the four groups and is centred on Bavay, with one or two outlying examples found further to the east, along the route across central Belgium linking Köln with the Channel coast and Britain. The face pots are mostly of second to early third century date (FS Types 21-23, Fig. E5).

The only other face pots found in Gallia Belgica are those of the Trier-Luxembourg region which are included with the Rhineland face jars in the previous chapter, in Parts II and III, to which they are closely related.

There are also two very unusual local ceramic traditions in this region which are of roughly contemporary date and which may have had some influence on the face jars, one an apparently native tradition, possibly of North Sea origin, involving cremation urns of similar form but with two “eye” dents on the shoulders just below the neck (eye urns), and the other involving the use of cult vases which have the busts of what appear to be Romano-Celtic deities placed round the girth (the so-called “planetary vases” or bust vases). These vases far out-number the face pots, and are found in many Gallo-Belgic towns, villages and villas in the valleys of the Meuse-Sambre and Escaut rivers, though again with a particular concentration around Bavay.

The last group, Group D, is in north west Spain, in the region of the Cantabrian mountains, the only area of Spain where face pots have been found so far, apart from the few early face beakers found on the Catalan coast. This is the one area in Spain where a significant military presence was maintained after the withdrawal of the main army of occupation around the turn of the millenium. Here a very interesting group of fine-ware face jars or large face beakers of mid first to second century date has just recently been identified (FS Type 31, Fig E5).

……………………..

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FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER FIVE fort at Ensérune may have had a Roman garrison at some point in the second half of the first century BC to which the face beaker and the large quantities of Roman pottery found there might have belonged. None of these facts add up to a military distribution for these face beakers, but they do offer a possible explanation.

GROUP A The thin-walled face beakers found along the Mediterranean coast in Provence and Catalonia With the exception of one problematical face beaker fragment from Ampurias (FS Type 6), these face beakers are all in thin-walled wares, and are either imports from north or central Italy, or locally produced copies. Only one face beaker has been identified in Provence, at the Late La Tène hill fort oppidum of Ensérune between Béziers and Narbonne, of probable Late Republican or Augustan date (FS Type 1, Pl. E2). A thin-walled face fragment has also been found at St. Rémy, which it was thought might be from a face beaker, but on examination it turns out to be from a mould-made mask vase1 (see Appendix V, A). On the Catalan coast, two face beakers are known from Ampurias, one of them complete and a probable import from central Italy (Pl. E3), and the other just an unprovenanced fragment of unknown origin, while a few fragments of locally produced face beakers have been found in the hills around Tarragona. They probably all belong to the first half of the first century AD, with the exception of the fragment from Ampurias mentioned above (Pl. E4) which, to judge by the photograph, does not appear to be either thin-walled or local, and has much more in common with the face beakers of the Danubian provinces. It could be of first or second century date (see under FS Type 6).

CATALOGUE TO GROUP A FS Types 1-7, Fig. E2 FS Type 1

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

Tall conical thin-walled face beaker with everted rim and barbotine features (Fig E2: 1) c.12 cm. Buff -grey fabric. Barbotine features, slightly pushed out chin. Ensérune 1c. (Jannory 1956, 210, Fig. 10). In a disused water cistern, used as a rubbish pit. Republican to Augustan.

With the exception of this latter fragment, all these few face beakers would appear to be connected with the spread of Italian thin-walled wares of the first centuries BC and AD into the western Mediterranean. Their very limited distribution however, and apparent absence from the rest of Spain where imported or locally produced thin-walled pottery was equally popular2, suggest there could have been other factors involved which affected their distribution, and it could be that here too there was some kind of a military or veteran connection. Ampurias (or Empúries), the former Greek colony Emporion, was an important early Roman supply base for the army of invasion and became one of the earliest Roman veteran colonies founded in Spain3. It may well have continued to provide military recruits and attract veteran settlement for most of the following century if not longer. Tarragona (Roman Tarraco) was also the site of an early military base which became a colonia under Julius Caesar (ibid, 31 and 56) and then the capital of the province of Tarraconensis. A small garrison was maintained here during the Empire, and it was also the base for the small fleet that controlled the east coast during the first century AD (ibid, 61). Veterans would undoubtably have settled in the surrounding countryside. It is also conceivable that the hill

Pl. E2. Buff thin-walled face beaker of FS Type 1 from Ensérune; height 12 cm (photo: post card from the Ensérune Museum).

This face beaker was found in rubbish deposits in a disused water cistern of the Late La Tène oppidum or hill fort on this plateau site (Jannory 1956, 210, Fig. 10). To judge by its tall, narrow form, it could be an import from northern Italy of Republican or Augustan date though as yet no face beakers of this type have been identified in Italy itself4. This very popular thin-walled beaker form (Marabini Marabini Moevs 1973, Form 1-II) was produced in north and central Italy and is a form that was very rarely copied elsewhere

1

The fragment is on display, or was in 2001, in the St Rémy Archaeological museum. 2 Mayet 1975. 3 Keay, 1988, 31 and 50.

4 This is also listed in the Italian Catalogue under exports from north Italy as IT Type 26.

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FACE POTS OF FRANCE, BELGIUM AND SPAIN (Mayet 1989, 126). It covers the Republican and Augustan periods, and is a useful indicator of the spread of romanisation around the Mediterranean basin (ibid). This example however is the only one identified so far with a face on it. It was found along with a lot of pottery from northern Italy and the Catalonian coast belonging to the latest occupation of the hill fort, dated to the last half of the first century BC and the first decades of the next (Jannoray, 1956, 210). FS Types 2-4

Gap left in Type Series

FS Type 5

Two-handled face beaker or cup with two faces (Fig E2: 2)

Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution: Context: Date:

handles are virtually unknown. Face cups of very similar form though with just one handle are known from Pompeii (IT Type 7), and this vessel could be of the same ClaudioNeronian date. A somewhat similar form with two handles but without a face also occurs at Cosa in deposits of this same period6. Neither of these however are in grey wares. With its two faces with notched eyelids it would seem to be related to the early and more elegant-looking Italian face beaker of IT Type 37. It could be that this face cup has come from somewhere in Tuscany or northern Etruria where two-handled forms were more common and where grey thin-walled wares were also produced (ibid, 215). Two- faced pots are rare, but the few examples tend to occur in Italy or the Middle Rhineland. They are discussed under IT Type 3 in Chapter III. It seems often to be the case with face pots with two virtually identical faces that one small feature is different on each one; on this pot it is the mouths8.

8.2 cm. Fine dark grey. 2 virtually identical faces with applied notched eyelids and eyebrows, flat pellet eyes, pinched nose and no ears or chin. Only the mouths differ, one having two parted lips, the other just a single notched strip (No 2). Ampurias, 1c. (Arriba and Trias, 1961, 213, Pl. 1; Museu Arqueològic de Sant Pere de Galligans, Girona, Inv. No 812). Unknown. Claudio-Neronian?.

FS Type 6

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution:

Context: Date:

c. 6-11cm. Fine orange red, sometimes with a metallic orange colour-coat. Barbotine features, including ears, but no chins. Tarragona area 2+f. Examples have been found at Vilanova i la Geltru 1+f. and Riudoms 1+f. (Lopez Mullor 1989, 142, Nos 8 and 12; 147, Nos 1-2). Unspecified. Probably first half of the Ist century AD.

This form with its rows of single, barbotine pine-scale decoration is typical of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands9, and it is likely that these two examples were produced locally somewhere near Tarragona10. Faces are very rare on locally produced Catalonian thin-walled wares, and only found on this one form (ibid) and in this one area in the vicinity of the Roman colony and naval base at Tarragona.

Pl. E3. Grey thin-walled face beaker of FS Type 5 from Ampurias in the Museu Arqueològic, Girona; height 8.2 cm. (photo: courtesy of Dr M. Aurora Martin)

FS Type 7

This grey, two-handled face cup is difficult to place. It is quite different from the few locally produced face beakers in orange oxidised ware found a little further south in the vicinity of Tarragona of FS Type 7 (see below) and from the other normal Spanish thin-walled forms5, and the likelihood is that it is an import from Italy. As such it has provisionally been listed in Chapter III under IT Type 10, though as yet no similar examples have been identified there, nor is it clear in which part of the country it could have been produced. Thin-walled beakers and cups with handles are common in Campania, but they are normally all in oxidised wares, while grey thin-walled cups and bowls are quite common in the north, but handles, especially two 5

Globular face beakers with everted rim, pine scale decoration and barbotine facial features(Fig E2: 4-5)

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution:

6

Grey face beaker in coarser ware (Fig. E2: 3) c. 10-12 cm. Grey, with a whitish calcareous concretion on external surfaces. Prominent nose and eyebrows; coffee bean eyes. Ampurias 1f. (Arribas and Trias, 1961, 213, Pl. 1; Museu Arqueològic. de Pere Galligans, Girona, no number).

Marabini Moevs 1973, Form LXVI. Chapter III, Fig. C3: 2. 8 See Chapter IV, Pt II, under RL Type 30. 9 Mayet 1989, form XVIII. 10 Lopez Mullor 1989, 142. 7

Mayet 1975, Pls.LXXVIII and LXXIX.

143

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER FIVE Context: Date:

Unprovenanced. Possibly later first or second century AD.

GROUP B The face pots from the Channel coast of Northern France and Belgium

This face beaker is quite unlike the other face beakers found along this stretch of the Mediterranean coast, or those found in north west Spain (FS Type 31, Fig. E5: 1-4), and it is hard to account for it. It was purchased by the Archaeological Museum of Gerona along with the twohandled face beaker of FS Type 5 above, but with no provenance and it could possibly have come from elsewhere. It bears very little resemblance to Italian face beakers, and has much more in common with those from the Danube such as those of DAN Type 611.

The four face pots found so far along the continental coast of the British Channel hardly constitute a very coherent group. Two are very probably imports from Britain, though of differing form and date, while the two found near Harfleur at the mouth of the Seine seem more likely to have Rhineland or Danubian connections. The face jar from Oudenberg (FS Type 10) is a classic example of the Late Roman face jars produced at the Much Hadham kilns in Hertforshire, while the one from Boulogne of probable second date (FS Type 12) is very similar to contemporary face jars of the Kent region, though with an even more skimpy face (Fig. E3: 1-2; Pl. E5). The face jar and face beaker from the mouth of the Seine (FS Types 15 and 16, Fig. E3: 1-2, Pls. E5-6) are probably locally made. However all these face pots have been found along this stretch of the Channel coast, and all come from areas where Roman naval bases are known, or presumed, to have existed at the same time as the face pots concerned. Boulogne was probably the most important naval base in northern Gaul of any significant duration, and from the beginning of the second century, if not before, it was the continental head-quarters of the Classis Britannica. Oudenburg, which lies some way back from the coast may not have been a part of the coastal defensive system until the later third or fourth century when a fort similar to the later Saxon shore forts in Britain was built here and seems to have replaced the earlier coastal fort at Ardenburg in Holland12. Harfleur, with its commanding position at the mouth of the Seine, or alternatively near-by Le Havre, may have been the site of the later Roman coastal fort of Granona listed in the Notitia Dignitatum, though as yet no clear evidence for any fortifications have so far been found under either modern port. However it is very unlikely that the entrance to such an important water way would have been left undefended in the third century, if not before that13. Veterans of the fleet or army would no doubt have settled in the vicinity of all three of these sites. All of these face pots are known, or assumed, to have come from graves.

Pl. E4. Dark grey face beaker fragment from Ampurias of FS Type 7 in the Museu Arqueològic, Girona; size of sherd 5 x 6.5 cm (photo: courtesy of Dr M. Aurora Martin)

It is included here just in case it turns out that there was a local tradition involving such face beakers in this area. As mentioned above, Ampurias had been a Roman military supply base and early colonia, almost certainly for discharged veterans, and it is certainly not impossible that a legionary soldier recruited from here came back to retire after service in the Danubian provinces and brought such a face pot with him. FS Types 8-9

Gap left in Type Series ………………………

12

Johnson 1980, 77; Brulet 1984, 72. The position of the later Roman fort of Granona, listed in the Notitia Dignitatem as belonging to the Dux Tractus Armoricani et Nervicani, has never been successfully identified but is often assumed to have been here at the mouth of the Seine (Johnson 1980, 77 and map on page 87), and there could well have been an earlier naval fort here before that. It is now thought that in the second and third centuries, in addition to the two main fortified bases for the classis Britannica only quite recently clearly identified at Dover and Boulogne, others may also have been established around the Channel and North Sea coasts of Britain, and on the Continental side of the Channel as well (Philp, 1981, 114). In this context, a naval fort in the vicinity of Harfleur at the mouth of the Seine is an obvious possibility. 13

11

See Chapter VIII, Fig. H4: 1-3.

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FACE POTS OF FRANCE, BELGIUM AND SPAIN

CATALOGUE TO GROUP B FS Types 10-16, Figs E3-E4 FS Type 10 Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution: Context: Date:

Face jar from Oudenburg with frilled rim in Much Hadham ware (Fig. E3: 1) Not specified. Fine orange Much Hadham ware... A typical Much Hadham skimpy face situated immediately below the rim; applied round eyes with hollowed out pupils; applied chin. Oudenburg 1c. (Meertens and Van Impe 1971, 18, Fig. 7). Grave? Late third to fourth century.

As mentioned above, this face jar must be a an import from the Much Hadham kilns (see Chapter VIII, RB Type 31A). Much Hadham wares which were widely traded in Britain, were also exported to a limited extent to northern Gaul. A Much Hadham face flagon has quite recently been found at Boulogne14, but this is so far the first Much Hadham face jar to have been found on the Continent. Most Much Hadham face jars have three vestigial handles round the rim, pressed flat against the neck of the jar, but from the published photo it looks as though in this case the two handles on either side of the face have been turned into applied ears. A similar face occurs on a Much Hadham face jar sherd from Elms Farm, Heybridge, Essex15.

Pl. E5. Three-handled face jar in sandy orange ware of FS Type 12 from Boulogne in the Chateau Musée Boulogne-sur-Mer; height 21.4 cm. (photo courtesy of Dr Belot)

Face pots with three handles close to, or attached to, the rim are otherwise only found in Britain, and this one is very probably an import from the Dover region in Kent16. The face with its small features placed just below the rim of the pot is typical of many face jars from south east Britain, though it is unusually abbreviated. Such a schematic face is reminiscent of the “eye urns” found in the coastal lowlands of Belgium and Holland (see below, FS Type 26, Fig E3: 3), but the form is entirely British, and suggests it must be an import, or made by a potter from Britain..

Much Hadham face jars have been found in two of the Roman Saxon Shore forts in Britain, both in East Anglia, at Burgh Castle and Caister-on-Sea, as well as in the Cripplegate fort at London, but none have been identified as yet in the forts along the south east coast, opposite Oudenburg. FS Type 11

Gap left in Type Series

FS Type 12

Face jar from Boulogne in orange buff ware with schematic face, three handles and a frilled rim (Fig E3: 2).

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

FS Types 13-14 Gap left in Type Series FS Type 15

Height: Fabric: Face:

21.4 cm. Sandy, orange buff, with black silica inclusions. Placed high up on the shoulder; plain bosses for eyes; small applied nose; no other features. Boulogne 1c. (Chateau Musée Boulogne No 4916/5; Belot and Camut 1994, Fig 10). Grave. Probably second century.

Distribution:

Context: Date:

High-shouldered face jar with a large nose and protruding ears and bearded chin (Fig. E4: 1) 17.6 cm. Medium fine red fabric, burnished. Large, beaked nose; thickly applied slit eyes; large protruding ears; applied, cleft chin; stabbed beard and notched eyebrows. Vatteville-la-Rue, Forêt de Brotonne 1c. (De La Gaule à la Normandie, 1990, exhibition cat, Mus. des Antiquités, Rouen, 124). Found in a cremation grave, but not used to hold the cremated bones. Second to third century?

14

Dövener 1993, 98, Fig. 1. A face-neck flagon of probable Nene valley origin is also in the museum at Boulogne-sur-Mer (ibid, 98-9, Fig 3). Both vessels are unprovenanced, but very probably came from graves. 15 Edward Biddulph 1999, private info.

16 See Chapter IX, Pt II, RB Type 13E, Fig. J7: 5-8. I am very grateful to Dr Belot of the Chateau Musée Boulogne for photos and information on this face jar.

145

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER FIVE Apart from the one or two face jars of RL Type 24A, the only other face pots with faces similar to these two face pots outside the Danube provinces are a face beaker of RL Type 14A in fine orange-buff legionary ware from the later first century legionary cemetery at Nijmegen19, and a face beaker from Britain of RB Type 37 from Drayton Woods near Oxford20. The vessel forms are different, but the faces with their pronounced noses and protruding chins and ears are all rather similar, and quite unlike all other beaker faces found in western Europe. It could be that these two French face pots and the two mentioned above all reflect influences brought in by soldiers or marines from the Danubian provinces.

Pl. E6. Red face jar with large nose and ears of FS Type 15 from Vatteville-la-Rue; height 17.6 cm. (photo: courtesy of Dr Geneviève Sennequier)

This is a very unusual face jar17. With its large nose and ears, and protruding chin with a forked beard, it is not so different from some of the beak-nosed face jars of RL Type 24 A-B of the Mainz-Wetterau area18, though only a few of these have projecting beards (a very rare feature on face pots west of the Danube), and the jar itself with its constricted neck and shoulder grooves is quite different. Many of the face jars of the Danubian provinces have large noses and protruding beards, but the closest parallel geographically is the face beaker found near-by at Harfleur (see below, FS Type 16). FS Type 16

Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution: Context: Date:

Pl. E7. Grey face beaker of FS Type 16 from Harfleur; in the Musée du Prieuré, Harfleur; height 9.6 cm. (photo: courtesy of Dr Geneviève Sennequier)

Tall-necked face beaker with beaked nose and pointed chin or beard (Fig E4: 2)

FS Types 17-20 Gap left in Type Series

9.6 cm. Darkish grey, medium fine ware. Similar to RS Type 15 above, but no notching of the eyebrows or beard; protruding triangular chin or goatee beard; applied eyes and eyelids with circular incised pupils; one half-closed eye. Harfleur, 1c. (Musée du Prieuré de Harfleur, No 983.37.1.1; Sennequier 1994, 57). Cremation grave. Second to third century.

As already mentioned, the face of this face beaker is quite similar to that of FS Type 15 above, but the vessel form and the reduced firing are different. The tallish cylindrical neck could indicate a late second to third century date.

17 I am very grateful to Dr Sennequier for sending me information on this face jar and on the face beaker from Harfleur together with photos. 18 See chapter IV, Pt II, in particular Fig. D13: 1.

19 20

146

See Chapter IV, Pt. I, RL Type 14A, Fig D7: 6. See Chapter IX, Pt III, Fig. J15: 1.

FACE POTS OF FRANCE, BELGIUM AND SPAIN the gravel quarries outside the city, where Roman cremation cemeteries were situated. The graves were in a silt layer overlying the gravel, which was removed in the last century and early years of this century when quarrying took place, and very few pots or grave groups were recovered whole. On the occasions when records survive, it seems that the face jars were used as cremation urns23. Unfortunately none are from dated graves, and as the form is very common in this area from the Flavian period to the early third century24, only this general date bracket can be used. This is also the general date of the bust vases.

GROUP C The Face jars of the Meuse-Sambre valley Most of the face pots found in this area have come from Bavay, with the exception of one complete pot from Haulchin close by, and two others found further east, one from Jupille on the Meuse opposite Liège, and another at Tienen further north on the road that is thought to have forked off the Köln-Bavay road at Tongres, and to have run due west through Kortrijk to Boulogne. There are no face beakers, only face jars.

As mentioned above, the local eye urns have also been included in this chapter, in Group C.2. as FS Type 27, (Fig. E3: 3-4). They have a much wider distribution than either the face urns or the bust vases, and they occur in scattered Romano-Belgic cemeteries between the coast and the river Meuse, and also at Nijmegen and in the coastlands to the east of the Rhine. Their very schematic faces, consisting only of two eye dents just below the neck barely qualify them as face pots, but one or two of the face jars found in Gallia Belgica and many more of those in Britain have very skimpy faces that are not so dissimilar.

With the possible exception of the face jar fragment from Jupille (FS Type 23, Fig. E5: 8), these Gallo-Belgic face urns constitute a much more coherent group than those of the Channel coast listed above, and one that is quite unique. They are all in grey or buff ware and are mostly of very similar form, with high rounded shoulders, a fairly wide girth and a short constricted neck. This is a typical local jar form, and the one used for the Roman eye-urns that are found in cremation graves from Nijmegen right across Holland and northern Belgium into north east France (see below under FS Type 27). However the faces are for the most part much less abbreviated than on the eye urns, and show quite an unusual degree of variation one from another. One thing they all have in common however is the presence of two little “spouts” placed close together on the forehead, or in one case on either side of the nose in the place of the eyes (Fig. E5: 7) These spouts are almost always blind, except in the case of the face jar from Tienen (Fig. E5: 4), and sometimes look more like stumps or stumpy horns than spouts. They also all tend to have a schematic rendering of hair above and around the face, which is portrayed in a variety of different ways, by spiral bosses, notched or indented cordons, ring-stamps or incised curls.

It might be argued that the two local traditions for bust vases and eye urns are explanation enough for the occurrence of Roman face jars in this particular region. However the distribution of these face jars is very much more limited than for either of the other two vessel types, and is restricted mainly to Bavay itself, and to a few sites in the immediate vicinity or along the two routes from Bavay to Köln. Could there be a military connection here too? As mentioned above most of the face jars seem to be of second to early third century date, a time when there is not thought to have been any specific military occupation in this area. However in the later third and fourth centuries the KölnBavay road became an important part of the “in depth” defensive system for northern Gaul, with a chain of fortified posts set up along it25, and it now seems that a rather similar situation may also have existed in the first century AD, with the Köln-Bavay highway fulfilling some of the functions of a defended frontier, with an outlier to the north on the presumed route from Tongres to Boulogne that runs through Tienen, cutting off the marshy and sparsely inhabited flat lands of northern Belgium. Recent excavations in Belgium and north east France have been producing increasing evidence for early Roman military activity in this area, and show that the Köln-BavayBoulogne road, together with the main towns and settlements along it, as well as the parallel road to the north, are virtually all Roman creations dating to the Augustan and Tiberian periods, with no evidence of pre-Roman occupation beneath26.

This latter feature recalls the local “planetary vases” or “vases à bustes”, most of which are decorated with six or seven moulded busts representing what appear to be native or classical deities arranged around the girth of the pot portrayed with a halo of spiral curls, or occasionally ringstamped curls, around the head (see Appendix III). Such stylised hair encircling the face is very rare, and is not really found on any other Roman face pots except those of north west Spain (see Group D below) and those of north east Britain, of RB Types 21 C-F, and 28 A-B21. The unusual, stubby “spouts” or horns on the face jars may also have been derived from the bust vases, either from the stumpy “wings” on the forehead which identify the bust of Mercury which occurs so frequently on the bust vases, or from the spouts that occur on a number of cult vessels closely associated with the bust vases22. Or they could possibly be a conflation of the two.

Such military activity is too early for most if not all the face pots found in central Belgium, but, by analogy with other

All the face jars and fragments from Bavay whose provenance is known, seem to have come from the areas of

23

De Loë, 1928, 160. Fayder Feytmans 1965, 8 25 Wightman 1985, 208-9. 26 Mertens 1983, 155-164. 24

21 22

See Chapter IX, Pt III, Figs. J12-13. See Appendix III, Bust Vase Group 4.

147

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER FIVE areas with early military bases, it is not impossible that veteran settlement could have taken place in this area, and that military cultural and religious traditions such as the use of face pots or the worship of Mithras (recently attested at Tienen27) could have taken root. With no immediate contact with the face pot traditions on the Rhine frontier or in Britain, the face jars would inevitably have become increasingly influenced by local traditions. Again, as with Group A, such suggestions can only be conjecture, but they could explain this otherwise very isolated and insular group of face jars.

Context: Date:

None of the fragments have a complete face, and from what survives they show quite a wide degree of variation, but they all have similar “horns” or blind “spouts” above the face just below the rim of the pot, and schematic hair around the face. Only on the Tienen face jar (No 4) are the spouts functional, all the others are blind, with the tops generally slightly hollowed out, though on the face jar from Haulchin (No 2, Pl. E1) they are just two solid stumps.

CATALOGUE TO GROUP C FS Types 21-23, Figs. E5- E3 FS Type 21

Face pots with short constricted neck, wide, high girth, and two stubby protuberances or tiny blind “spouts” above the face (Fig. E5: 1-6; Pls. E1 and E8)

The Tienen face pot has a quite different face from the others, with no hair around it, but an applied dotted strip indicating a moustache, and Y-shaped eyebrows and nose similar to those on the face beaker of RL Type 35A from Heerlen (Fig. D16: 1) and on a face jar of RL Type 1 from Köln. It may have been more influenced by Rhineland face pots than the others, though its two well formed but blind spouts are placed close together above the eyes, a feature only found on these Belgic face jars. It was made in the kilns at Tienen, and was found in what may have been a ritual pit together with a complete, small, plain jar with three blind spouts and sherds of two other pots, five metres from the kiln in which it is thought to have been made. FS Type 22 Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

Pl. E8. Grey face jar of FS Type 21 from Bavay (with left spout-stump missing) in the Musée Archéologique de Bavay; height 23 cm.

Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution:

27

C: vi-viii; frags: Bievelet 1957, 327-32, Pl. C: i-iv; Carmelez et al 1985, 118-9, Pl. XII: 3-5, 7,8, 10, 11, and 17); Haulchin 1c. (De Loë, 1928, 160, Fig. 73[Pl. E1]); Tienen 1c. (Thomas, 1983, 142, No 115). Cremation graves; pit on kiln site (Tienen) Late first to second century; possibly early third.

Face jar with tallish grooved neck and “spouts” in the place of eyes (Fig E5: 7) 26 cm. Dark grey. Slightly hollowed-out protuberances on either side of an applied nose; slit mouth. Bavay 1c. (Bievelet 1957, 330, Pl. C: V). Cemetery area. Third century?

With this Type, the eyes and the “spouts” have become one, with just two solid, toadstool-like protrusions on either side of a crudely applied nose. There are no bosses or curls encircling the face, and no eyebrows or ears. The taller, more funnel-shaped neck could indicate a slightly later date than the FS Type 21 face jars above. All understanding of the original significance of the “spouts” would seem to have been lost.

c.22 cm. Mainly grey coarse ware, but some in medium fine buff ware. Wide variety of applied or incised features, but the face is invariably encircled with some schematic representation of hair with two stubby “horns” or blind “spouts”on the forehead. Bavay area and as far east as Tienen, 13 examples (4c. and 9+f). Examples have been found at Bavay, 2c. and 9+f. (comp: Bievelet 1957, 330, Pl.

FS Type 23 Height: Fabric: Face:

Martens 2004, 25-56.

148

Face jar fragment in pinkish-buff ware with a long nose (Fig E5: 8). Large pot, c.25 to 30 cm. Quite fine, pinkish-buff ware. Pushed out cheeks and eyes, other features applied; notched eyebrows and

FACE POTS OF FRANCE, BELGIUM AND SPAIN

Distribution: Context: Date:

chin; incised line across eyes, with notched eye-lashes on one eye. Jupille 1f. (east Belgium) 1f. (Musée d’Archéologie Curtius, Liège, No 1.5101). Unknown. Unknown.

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution:

Only one fragment of this Type survives, giving no indication of the profile of the vessel. The face is different from the Bavay face jars above, with its long nose and slit mouth, and with the wall of the pot pushed in and out to form the cheeks and eyes. It would seem to have had downContext: Date:

As can be seen, quite a number of these enigmatic vessels have been found in the Hainault region in the Sambre valley, just to the east of Bavay, though none, as far as can be seen, at Bavay itself. Many more exist than have been listed here. Very little has been written about these vessels which are here called “eye urns”. They are found quite frequently in this region, in what is the southern part of the territory of the Nervii, in cremation cemeteries attached to small native settlements or villages, and they continue westwards into the region around Arras28. They also occur further to the north east in Holland, at Nijmegen where at least five examples have been found in graves29 and in the terp mounds of Friesland and Groningen30. In Belgium they seem to date mainly from the second to the early third century31, but in Holland they are thought to continue longer32.

Pl. E9. Fragment from a large face jar in pinkish buff ware of FS Type 23 from Jupille in the Musée d’Archéologie Curtius, Liège.; size 10 x 9 cm.

drooping eyebrows meeting in the middle, and the notching above the nose probably belongs to them, though it is not impossible that the face was originally surrounded with incised notches indicating hair. Perhaps the most unusual features are the closed eyes, with a single incised line drawn across each pushed-out eye, with tiny notches on one eyelid for eyelashes. FS Types 24-26

As suggested in Chapter II ( Part II, B.3), the “eye urns” of the Roman period could be a continuation of the North European Iron Age face urns, many of which also just had two eyes close to the rim, though these tended to be pierced holes rather than dents. The Pomeranian and East German Face Urn Culture shifts south eastwards in the later Iron Age, into southern Poland33. However the less numerous and more schematic face urns of Schleswig Holstein, Denmark and southern Norway may also have moved in the later Iron Age, in this case south westwards along the North Sea coast. It is not impossible that this latter branch of the tradition could have been brought yet further to the south west into the Rhine delta area and beyond it by some of the tribes migrating out of Germany and Scandinavia around the turn of the millenium. Two possible candidates among the tribes known to have lived in this area are the Frisiavones, who seem to have come from the other side of the Rhine delta, or the Menapii whose tribe, Caesar reckoned, extended along the coast beyond the Rhine

Gap left in Type Series

GROUP C2 ROMANO-BELGIC EYE URNS (FS Type 27) The “eye urns” with two finger-sized dents in the shoulder, do not strictly qualify as Roman face pots. However, as they are of very much the same fabric and form as the local face jars, and were also used as cremation urns, they have been included here. Put alongside the face jar of FS Type 22 from Bavay (Fig. E5: 7) and the one face jar from Boulogne (Fig E3:1) with their very abbreviated faces, these “eye urns” do not seem so out of place in the category of face pots.

28

M. Tuffreau Libre 1998, pers. comm. Stuart 1963, 73, Type 201C, Pl. 19: 306. Ibid, and see map in Chapter II, Fig. B.6. 31 Faider-Feytmans 1965, 8. 32 Stuart 1963, 73. 33 See map in Chapter II, Fig. B6. 29

FS Type 27

18-22 cm. Darkish grey coarse-ware, generally with black slip. Two finger-sized indentations on the shoulder or occasionally the neck. Hainault, valley of the Sambre, 24+ complete pots. Examples have been found at: Thuin 9c. (Faider-Feytmans, 1965, 8, Grave Nos 5, 7 [2 egs], 23, 29, 33, 36, 37, 55); Faytles-Manage 10c. (ibid, 8); Haulchin 5c (ibid, 8; Cession-Loupe, 1986, unpub. ms.); and at many other places in this region and further to the north east and west. Cremation urns. Second to third and possibly fourth century.

“Eye Urns” with two indentations on the shoulder or neck (Fig E3: 3).

30

149

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER FIVE mouth34, but there are several others who might equally well have introduced this tradition35.

concluded that this could only be explained by the need to guard the very valuable gold mines that were scattered throughout this area. Very little evidence for military fortifications has remained, but there is little doubt that León was the legionary fortress for legio VII Gemina, which was raised by Galba and sent to north west Spain c. 74 AD, where it remained until the end of the Roman period (ibid 52). Before that León almost certainly served for a short time as a base for Legio VI Victrix before its departure for Germany in 69 AD. Previous to that, Astorga was probably the main legionary base in the area, possibly for both legio VI and for legio X, before the latter or part of the latter moved to Rosinos de Vidriales. As yet the evidence for smaller or auxiliary forts seems to be very scanty, with the exception of the fort of Petavonium, which replaced the fortress of the Tenth Legion at Rosinos de Vidriales when this legion left Spain in c. 63 AD for the Rhineland and its new base at Nijmegen. This fort, which is thought to have been occupied by the ala II Flavia Hispanorum Civium Romanorum, has been known to archaeologists for some time from aerial photography (ibid, 57) and is now being excavated.

In addition to eye urns, there are also a few other vessels in this coastal region, particularly amphorae, storage jars and bowls, which have small schematic faces on them, just below the neck or rim or where the handles are joined to the shoulder of the pot. They appear to be quite common in the Arras area, and several are known to have come from the kilns at Bourlon 36.Their rather crude little faces, often just a nose with eyebrows, are not unlike some of the ones found on Scandinavian face urns of the Iron Age or Roman period37. It is difficult to see any very obviously close connection between these local enigmatic faces and the much larger and more prominently placed faces of the Bavay-Tienen face jars with their two spout-like protuberances above the eyes (or, as on FS Type 22, in place of the eyes), apart from the fact that both the face jars and the eye urns are of very similar jar form. But this does not preclude the possibility of a common ancestry for both traditions, and it may well have been the case that the existence of the wide-spread native eye urn tradition in this region of Gallia Belgica provided fertile soil for the development of the more restricted and seemingly more Romanised face jar tradition in the Bavay area. The question of the ancestry of the Roman face jar tradition is something that we will return to later in Chapter X, A.2, when trying to identify the origins of the earliest Roman face jars in the Rhineland, Bavaria and Britain which are so different from, and so much larger than, the early Roman face beakers of Republican and Augustan Italy. FS Type 28-30

Gap left in Type Series ……………….

GROUP D The face jars or tall face beakers of North West Spain This is a very interesting group that has only recently come to light. The Cantabrian north west appears to be the one region in Spain where a permanent military force was left in place after the bulk of the invasion and occupying army was withdrawn around the beginning of the first century AD. RFJ Jones (1976, 45- 64) drew attention to the number of first to third century military inscriptions found in this mountainous region, representing quite a considerable military presence in this area long after the Roman invasion forces had been withdrawn, and

Pl. E10. Face jar in fine, light orange ware of FS Type 31 from Astorga in the Museo Romano, Astorga (photo: museum post card38)

Evidence for face pots, or large face beakers, in this northwest corner of Spain was first published in 1977, in a report on excavations at Huerña, to the east of Astorga where fragments from a face pot in fine thin-walled ware were found (No 1)39. The excavator suggested that this site, in the heart of the gold mining area may have been the base for a military unit (ibid, 141). A similar face fragment was then

34

Wightman 1985, 24, 54 and 63. See Chapter X, A.2. 36 M. Tufreau Libre 1998, pers. comm.. 37 See Chapter II, Fig. B12: 1-3 and 8, and also Broholm 1953, Nos 377-95 and Glob 1937, Figs. 29-35. 35

38 39

150

I am very grateful to Dr Vivien Swan for this post card. Domerguet and Martin, 1977, 112-113.

FACE POTS OF FRANCE, BELGIUM AND SPAIN found at Astorga itself40, followed by an almost complete face pot (see Pl. E10 above), and recently many more fragmentary face pots have been found on the site of the fort at Rosinos de Vidriales, and in the potteries at Melgar de Tera just 15 km away, along with other “thin-walled” pots of similar form without faces41. One other probable face pot fragment has been found at Villasabariego, Roman Lancia, also in this general area (Fig E6: 4), which was published before any of these other face pots had been discovered and thought to be a terracotta mask of Etruscan origin or influence42. It now seems much more likely that it is of Roman date and from a pottery vessel belonging to this group of “thin-walled” face pots43.

Distribution:

The “thin-walled” pottery at Rosinos de Vidriales is now believed to date from just before the Flavian period until the second half of the second century on the basis of the dates obtained for the thin-walled pottery kilns at Melgar de Tera44, which is more or less when the ala II Flavia occupied the site, and so far there is little evidence that any of it was used during the earlier occupation of the site by legio X Gemina. The only other face pot that has been separately dated is the one from Huerña, which is thought to be from Antonine deposits.

Context: Date:

These are very unusual vessels. They are described as “thinwalled” wares, but they are quite different from the regular forms of Italian thin-walled pottery, and very much larger. Some of the faces have been made using a mould, with details such as the circle of dots or tiny bosses around the face added in barbotine; others have been drawn entirely in barbotine except for an applied nose47. They are thus somewhere in between a mask vase with an appliqué mould-made face and a face pot. In one case the mould for a an actor’s mask has been used instead of the standard face mask, and encircled with barbotine dots (No 6). All the face pots so far discovered seem to be of much the same humpshouldered form, with very similar faces and barbotine decoration, and they may all have been made in the potteries at Melgar de Terra, where a large quantity of thinwalled wares were made including face pots (ibid, 113115). The date range of the Melgar de Tera kilns has been used for all these thin-walled face jars.

The unusual hump-shouldered profile of these face pots and of many of the other thin-walled jars or beakers from the Melgar de Tera kilns is not unlike that of the Rhineland granular grey-ware (RGG) beakers and face jars of RL Type 145, which also have barbotine decoration and other features of fine-ware pottery. Many of these RGG vessels, both with or without faces, have been found at Nijmegen to which the Tenth Legion was transferred46. But it is difficult to see how they could have been influenced by the Spanish thin-walled pottery, or vice versa, except possibly by veterans of legio X returning from Nijmegen.

CATALOGUE TO GROUP D FS Type 31

Height: Fabric: Face:

almond-shaped eyes with applied or raised eyelids; open raised lips; small ears high up beside the eyes; sometimes neatly portrayed beard with parallel rows of raised dots or commas; a circle of barbotine bosses around the face. North-west Spain 20 (1c and 19+f.) Examples have been found at: Astorga 1c. and 1f. (comp: Museo Romano Astorga; frag: Mañanes, 1983, 154, Fig 15); Melgar de Tera, 10+ (Fernández Freile 1999, Figs 9-10); Rosinos de Vidriales, 5+f (Romero, and Carretero 1997, 56, Fig. 4: 8-12); Huerña, 2+f. (Domerguet and Martin 1977, 112, Pl. 20); Villasabariego 1f. (Rabanal Alonso, 1973, Pl. I:1). Inside fort (Rosinos de Vidriales); kilns (Melgar de Tera). From c.63 AD to the second half of the second century.

Fine-ware face jars or large face beakers with hump-shoulders and barbotine decoration (Fig E6: 1-4).

It seems probable that all the face jars had barbotine decoration around the body in addition to the face. In some cases such as No 2 it can be extremely elaborate with geometric designs; in others it is the more common ears of wheat between rows of dots.

c. 16-22 cm. Fine, light orange or pinkish buff, with a similar coloured slip, sometimes with a metallic sheen. The face can be made with an appliqué mould or just drawn with barbotine;

The stylised faces with their enigmatic stare, some bearded, others not, are unlike any other Roman face pot masks. As was pointed out in relation to the mask from Villasbariego48 (No 4), the blank almond-shaped eyes with their raised eyelids are not unlike those of some of the bronze and terracotta masks hung round the earliest Etruscan cremation urns from Chiusi, before the tradition for making head lids had developed49, and like them may reflect bronze-working techniques. However closer parallels for the bearded masks may be found in two terracotta Punic masks from Ibiza50

40

Mañanes, 1983, 154. Fernández Freile 1999, 104-125; Romero and Carretero, 1997, 56, Fig. 3: 8-11. 42 Alonso 1973, 237-240. 43 Though the face fragment is now mask-shaped, the remains of two barbotine dots or small bosses can be seen at the edges, and it seems very probable that it is a face from a broken face pot that was filed down into the shape of a mask, as appears to have been the case with a number of face pot fragments in different provinces, and also with some of the bust fragments from planetary vases. 44 Fernández Freile 1999, 114 45 See Chapter IV, Pt. I, Fig. D2.. 46 See Stuart 1963 and 1977, Type 204. 41

47

Fernandez Freile 1999, 113. Rabanal Alonso 1973, 237. 49 See Chapter II, B.3.a, Fig. B8: 1. 50 Rabanal Alonso 1973, Figs 3 and 6. 48

151

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER FIVE which have similar, trimly cut beards with parallel rows of dots or commas and probably represent the Phoenician or Punic deity equated with Dionysus51. The fact that a theatrical mask is used instead of the standard bearded or unbearded masks on a face pot from Melgar de Tera (No 6), suggests that these Romano-Spanish masks were also seen as Bacchic masks, or as masks with similar properties to them.

51 A bearded Dionysus-like figure is regularly represented in any sizeable group of Punic and Phoenician masks, whether in graves or in votive deposits, along with maidens, helmeted warriors, wrinkled “demons” and grotesques, plus the occasional Gorgon and satyr (see Appendix I, C.2, and Culican 1975, 49, Figs 1-2, on the connection with Dionysus)..

152

FACE POTS OF FRANCE, BELGIUM AND SPAIN FACE BEAKERS OF PROVENCE AND CATALONIA OF FS TYPES 1, 5 and 6

Fig. E2.

FS Type 1, No 1; FS Type 5, No 2; FS Type 6, No 3; FS Type 7, Nos 4-5. (Scale 1:2) 1, Ensérune (Provence); 2-3, Ampurias; 4, Vilanova i la Geltrú; 5, Riudoms.

153

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER FIVE FACE JARS OF THE CHANNEL COAST AND EYE URNS, OF FS TYPES 10, 12 and 27

Fig. E3.

Type 10, No 1; Type 12, No 2; Type 27, Nos 3-4. (Scale 1:4 except No 1, unspecified) 1, Oudenburg; 2, Boulogne; 3, Thuin; 4,Nijmegen.

154

FACE POTS OF FRANCE, BELGIUM AND SPAIN FACE JAR AND FACE BEAKER AT THE MOUTH OF THE SEINE OF FS TYPES 15 AND 16

Fig. E4. Type 15, No 1; Type 16, No 2. (Scale 1:2) 1, Vatteville-la-Rue; 2, Harfleur.

155

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER FIVE FRENCH AND BELGIAN FACE JARS OF THE MEUSE-SAMBRE VALLEY OF FS TYPE 21-23

Fig. E5. Type 21 Nos 1-6; Type 22, No 7; Type 23, No 8. (Scale 1:4 except Nos 5, 6 and 8, at 1:3) 1, 3 and 5-7, Bavay; 2, Haulchin; 4, Tienen; 8, Jupille (Belg.). 156

FACE POTS OF FRANCE, BELGIUM AND SPAIN LARGE FACE BEAKERS OF NORTH WEST SPAIN OF FS TYPE 31

Fig. E6. 1, Huerña; 2-3, Rosinos de Vidriales; 4, Villasbariego; 5-6, Melgar de Tera. (Nos 1 and 4, scale 1:2; Nos 2-3, scale 1:4) 157

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER FIVE

158

FACE POTS OF THE RHINE DANUBE CORNER

CHAPTER SIX The face pots of the Rhine-Danube Corner This chapter deals with the face pots of the Rhine Danube corner, namely those found along Upper Rhine from Strasbourg to Lake Constance and to the east and south of it. They fall into three fairly separate regional groups, with some inter-connections: Group A in and around Strasbourg, Group B in the Stuttgart-Black Forest region, and Group C in northern Switzerland.

Surprisingly few face pots appear to have been found in the second century forts of the Upper German-Raetian Limes, far fewer than in the forts on and behind the Wetterau frontier, and the few that have been found show little evidence of continuity in face pot Types from one end of the frontier to the other. The two found at the northern end,

As already mentioned in Chapter IV, the few early face pots from this southern end of the Rhineland, of RD Type 1 from Strasbourg and of RD Types 21, 22 and 25 from Vindonissa (Figs. F2: 1 and F4: 1-3) can be seen to belong to the general Rhineland traditions of the first century AD that extended from Vindonissa to the forts of the Rhine delta, with clear signs of north Italian influence at Vindonissa. But by the later first century somewhat different Types develop with what appear to be local characteristics. In the second century the opening up of routes through the Black Forest and the Suebian Alps to the upper reaches of the Danube brought in new influences, particularly in the Stuttgart-Black forest area where Danubian-type faces appear with quite pronounced noses, protruding chins and goatee beards (Fig. F3: 1-3 and 5). By the later second to third century, very similar face jar forms with high carinated shoulders are found in all three areas, and also along the Upper Danube as far east as Regensburg. Late Roman face jars have so far only been identified in north Switzerland in some of the late Roman forts along the Rhine frontier (RD Types 35-36, Fig. 3-4) and in a fortified hill fort on the Wittnauerhorn to the south of it (see unclassified fragments at the end of the Swiss Catalogue), though there seems no reason why they should not also have existed in the Strasbourg area.

Pl. F1. Grey face jar of RD Type 2 from Strasbourg in the Musée Archéologique de Strasbourg; height 29 cm.

at Osterburken and Rinscheim, both large face beakers of RL Types 39 A-B, fall naturally into the Rhineland Type Series of the previous chapter where they are listed. Those at the eastern end belong in the Upper Danube Series of the following chapter. The two found in the middle, at Lorch and Welzheim, are different once again, and are listed here in the Stuttgart-Black Forest Group B.

Face jars with spouts seem to be entirely absent from all three areas, though snake pots with spouts on top of the handles are known from Augst and Vindonissa (these are discussed in Chapter VII under UD Type 1, Fig. G7: 3). Phalli and frilled rims are rare, and are not found at all on face jars in Switzerland and in the Upper Danube region.

………………….

Small face beakers are also extremely rare in this region, with just the two early Types at Vindonissa derived from north Italian protypes, and they are not known at all on the Upper Danube. However, many of the Swiss second to third century face jars of RD Types 27-9, which are in glossy red ware (“Glanztonkeramik” or “céramique à enduit brillant”), are quite small in size and are often referred to as beakers (Figs. F5: 1-4 and F6: 1-2).

159

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER VI face jars from north Switzerland of RB Type 27, and is probably of the same date.

GROUP A The face jars of the Strasbourg area RD Types 1-8 A.

The two complete face jars found outside Strasbourg at Lingolsheim and Brumath come from recorded contexts and are of later second to early third century date. The grey jar from a late second century grave at Lingolsheim (No 7) is fairly similar to the ones from inside the city, just rather smaller and narrower. The one from Brumath (No 8) however is quite different. It is from a large kiln complex at Brumath of late second to third century date, where there was, or had been, a small auxiliary fort. It is the only example from this area known to be in oxidised ware white with a flaky red colour coat - and both its form, with an indented handle at the back, and the phalli on the cheeks, reveal close affinities with face jar Types of the middle Rhineland at this period. Another fragment from a grave at Brumath has a large beaked nose, but the fabric is not described, so it is not clear if it too comes from the same kilns (RD Type 7, Fig. F2: 9)

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The fortress at Strasbourg, like the one at Vindonissa, was founded sometime in the second decade of the first century AD, on the site of an earlier auxiliary fort. It is generally thought that it was first occupied by legio II Augusta, recently transferred from Spain, though as yet no archaeological evidence has been found on the site to confirm this hypothesis1. In 43 this legion was sent to Britain, and there appears to have been a gap in legionary occupation until 71, or possibly as late as 90-92 (ibid), when legio VIII Augusta, which had left Novae for Germany at the beginning of the Civil War, was eventually installed here, and was to remain stationed here well into the late Roman period. For the first three quarters of the first century, no major roads led eastwards across the Rhine towards the Upper Danube, and Strasbourg’s main function must have been to command the main north-south routes linking the Rhine valley with Rome which led either round the western end of the Alps and through the valleys of the Doubs and the Rhône to the Mediterranean, or south across the Grand St Bernard pass to Aosta and northern Italy. B. THE FACE JARS RD Types 1-8 (Fig. F2: 1-9)

Faces The face on the early jar with the frilled rim (No I) with its widely arched, notched eyebrows and round, ring-stamped eyes is a classic example of the Italian “serene” mask, and is very similar to the faces of the central Italian face beakers of IT Type 4 (Fig. C3: 3-4). The faces of Nos 4-5 are of the same mask type, but the eyebrows are now straighter and the mouth and ears bigger. The faces with bared teeth and notched eyelids on Nos 2-3 are more unusual. Notched eyelids, as we have seen, are a typical north Italian feature, found on several face jars in the Rhineland and in Britain, but teeth are more rare on provincial face pots, though in Italy they occur as a row of dots on many of the barbotine face beakers of IT Types 2022. Apart from the face jar of RL Type 4A from BergheimTorr near Köln (Fig. D4: 5), the only other examples identified are on some face beakers from Pannonia and Upper Moesia (DAN Types 13 and 14, Fig H6: 1,3 and 4). On Nos 6 and 7 we seem to have versions of the face with straight T-shaped eyebrows and nose found further north in the Worms-Rheinzabern area. A similar face occurs on the face jar fragment found by the late Roman fort at Stein am Rhein on the Swiss Rhine (see below, RD Type 36, Fig. F6: 4), and presumably this was a face mask known right across this southern part of the Upper Rhineland.

Forms and fabrics The group of face jars from the city of Strasbourg itself, which are housed in the Musée Archéologique in the Château Rohan, suffered badly during the last war, and many were either lost or crushed, so that only two are complete and several are just mask fragments whose original form cannot be reconstructed. They are all in grey or greyish buff wares, unlike those in Switzerland which are almost all in red or red-brown fabrics. Only one face jar, RD Type 1 (No 1), stands out as clearly related to the Rhineland first century types of further north, with its frilled rim and bands of burnished wavy lines. Sadly the jar itself seems to have been destroyed and is known only from a published drawing. It could well date to the period after AD 43 when no legion was occupying Strasbourg, but almost certainly some other unit must have been stationed there, possibly an auxiliary cohort transferred here from the middle or lower Rhineland. The rather spherical grey jar with cylindrical neck of UD Type 2 (No 2, Pl. F1) is in a form characteristic of the late La Tène red and white painted wares found in central Europe, and which continues to be popular on the upper Rhine and Danube in the first and second centuries AD. Raetian face jars in this form, from the eastern half of the province, are listed in the next chapter under UD Types 5A-B (Fig. G5: 3). They are all probably of late first to second century date. The one other complete face jar of RD Type 3 (No 4) is very similar in form, though not in fabric, to the second to third century 1

Sites and contexts Little is known about the find spots of the face jars found inside modern Strasbourg, except for the published jar No 1 which was from a grave. However in some cases the names of the streets where they were found have been recorded, from which it is clear that these ones, at least, are unlikely to have come from graves as the streets are all well within the precincts of the Roman fortress or its canabae. The Lingolsheim face jar is from a child’s cremation grave (though the bones were not placed inside it but straight onto the earth), and the face fragment from Brumath is also from a grave. The complete jar from Brumath was found in a pit full of kiln wasters, broken but complete (Pl. F4).

M. Reddé, pers. com., 1997.

160

FACE POTS OF THE RHINE DANUBE CORNER Rödgen, near Burghöfe2, and a few face jars in this form also occur3. The fragment (No 3) has been restored in the shape of a mask, but as the face is so similar to No 2, it has been listed under this Type.

CATALOGUE TO GROUP A (RD Types 1-7) RD Type 1

Height: Fabric: Decoration Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

Grey face jar with frilled rim and bands of burnished wavy-line decoration (Fig. F2:1).

RD Type 3 Grey face jars with sloping neck, plain everted rim and carinated shoulder (Fig. F2:4-5).

c. 22 cm. “Grey”. Three bands of double grooves on shoulder with bands of burnished wavyline decoration in between. Applied features, round eyes with incised pupils. Strasbourg, 1c. (Forrer 1927, 288, Fig. 207); Hambacher Forst, Jülich Ic. (Gaitsch 19897, fig. 207). Cremation urn. c. 40-100.

Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution: Context: Date:

This Type which is the same as RL Type 3 has already been described in the Catalogue to Part I of Chapter IV. Only two examples of this type have so far been identified, this one from Strasbourg, now known only from a drawing, and one other from the northern end of the Rhineland, at Jülich near Aachen (Fig D3: 7). The only difference is that the Jülich jar has the typical Rhineland first century “serene” mask with coffee bean eyes and pellets in one eye and the mouth, and does not have the two bands of wavy lines round the shoulder, though these occur on many of the very similar and much more common Rhineland face jars with frilled rims and spouts of RL Type 2B (Fig. D3: 3-4). RD Type 2

Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution: Context: Date:0

26-28 cm. Dark grey coarse-ware (No 4); sandy greyish-buff (No 5). Applied features: small round pellet eyes with no slits or eyelids; open-lipped mouth; large crescent-shaped ears; chin blob. Strasbourg, 1c. and 2f. (Musée Archéologique Nos 3401A [4], 4238 [5], 32791). 2 frags. from within precincts of Roman fortress or town. Probably second to third century.

Grey face jars with cylindrical rim, round body, and unusual face with notched eyelids and “teeth” (Fig. F2: 23, Pl. F2) 29 cm. Medium fine dark grey ware. Notched eyelids with eye sockets slightly pressed in and applied almond-shaped eyes; scooped indentations for teeth; sshaped ears with longitudinal groove; applied indented cordon on chin; shallow finger-width groove round lower part of face (No 2 and Pl. F2). Strasbourg 1c and 1f. (Musée Archéologique Nos 2896 [2 and Pl. F1] and 7929 [3]) Complete pot: unknown; fragment: within the walls of the Roman fortress or its canabae Probably second century.

Pl. F2. Reconstructed grey face jar of RD Type 3 from Strasbourg in the Musée Archéologique de Strasbourg; height 26 cm.

This form with its constricted neck and carinated shoulder is similar to that of the standard second to third century red colour-coated face jars of RD Type 30 (Fig. F5), found in northern Switzerland and the orange buff face jars of the Upper Danube of UD Type 6 (Fig. G5: 4-6). Two fragmentary jars in the Musée Archéologique (Nos 4238 (No 5) and 32791) have been provisionally included in this Type on account of their rather similar faces, though their shoulders and neck are missing (see Pl. F2 below) and they are both in a lighter-coloured greyish-buff ware. RD Type 4

As already mentioned, storage jars and cremation urns in this Late La Tène form with spherical body and short cylindrical neck are quite common in his area and along the Upper Danube, as in the second century cemetery at

2 3

161

Grey face jar fragment with T-shaped nose and eyebrows (Fig. F2:6)

Hübener 1959, 30-57. Chapter 9, UD Type 5 (Fig G5: 3).

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER VI

Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution: Context: Date:

Similar split-pellet eyes, with the slit cut on the diagonal, also occur on the later Roman face jar fragment from Stein am Rhein of RD Type 36, Fig. F6: 4.

Unknown Sandy greyish-buff Horizontal row of notches above notched T-shaped eyebrows; close-set applied pellet eyes with incised almond-shaped pupils. Strasbourg, 1f. (Musée Archéologique No 34043). Within precincts of Roman fortress and town. Possibly second to third century.

RD Type 6

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution:

Just this one fragment is known, which has been restored as a face mask. It is impossible to make out the original form of the vessel, but the face is so distinctive that it has been given a Type number of its own. As mentioned above, this type of face mask with straight or slightly downward sloping eyebrows, small, rather close-set eyes, and a straight thin nose forming a T may have been local to this Upper Rhineland region. This one is unusual however in having a row of notching above the eyebrows presumably indicating hair.

Context: Date:

Red colour-coated face jar with everted rim, no neck, carinated shoulder and indented handle at the back (Fig. F2: 8) 19 cm. Fine, soft, white ware with very flaky red colour-coat, typical of the Brumath kilns. 2 phalli on cheeks (one missing but scar remains); close-set split pellet eyes. Middle to upper Rhineland 2c. Brumath 1c. (Kern 1972, 377 and 399); Kastel (Mainz) Ic. (Wiesbaden Museum No 3887). Pit in kiln complex (No 8). Late second to early third century.

Just two examples are known of this Type, this one from Brumath and one other from the middle Rhineland at Kastel (Mainz), and as a result this Type is also listed in Chapter IV, Part II, under RL Type 25. The example from Brumath is less finely made than the one from Kastel, and has an everted rather than a beaded rim, a larger, more indented handle at the back, and two phalli, a rare feature in this southern part of the Rhineland. They are the only red colour-coated face jars with an indented handle at the back so far identified which have a “serene” mask rather than a beak-nosed one, though one or two black colour-coated face beakers with handles in the lower Rhineland also have serene face masks (RL Types 16 A-B, Fig. D8: 2-3).

Pl. F3. Partly restored, greyish-buff face fragment of RD Type 4 from Strasbourg, in the Musée Archéologique de Strasbour J

In addition to the face jar below of RD Type 5 from Lingolsheim with slightly down-drooping eyebrows, similar face jar faces are also known from Stein am Rhein on the Swiss Rhine to the south east of here (RD Type 36 (Fig. F6: 4), at Rheinzabern and Worms just to the north (RL Types 12 and 39, Figs. D6: 4 and D16: 9), and at NidaHeddernheim still further north in the Wetterau region (RL Type 8B, Fig. D6: 2). RD Type 5

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

Grey face jar with low, narrow girth, carinated shoulder and constricted neck (Fig. F2:7) 19 cm. Fine grey. Down-drooping eyebrows, coffee bean eyes, set askew, chin blob. Alsace; Lingolsheim 1c. (Schmitt, 1984, 17, Fig. 2). Child’s cremation grave, but not as cremation urn.. Late second century.

Pl. F4. Red colour-coated face jar with a handle at the back of RD Type 6 from Brumath in the Musée Archéologique, Brumath; height 19 cm.

This jar is clearly a product of the Brumath kilns, and its soft cream fabric with a friable red colour-coat is characteristic of the wares produced there4. It was found, 4

162

Kern 1972, 377 and 399.

FACE POTS OF THE RHINE DANUBE CORNER broken, but complete, in a pit with wasters of late second to third century date. The indented handle, the red colour coat and the phalli are typical features of the Middle and Lower Rhineland, and very rare on face jars in this area, and are likely to have been introduced by potters from further north. RD Type 7

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

GROUP B FACE JARS OF THE STUTTGART-BLACK FOREST AREA A.

Fragment in similar ware to above with large hook nose (Fig. F2: 9)

Although the first Roman forts along the southern shores of the Upper Danube in the province of Raetia had been built in the reign of Claudius, with one or two possibly at the end of the Tiberian period (see next chapter), it was not until the reign of Vespasian that concerted attempts were made to open up roads between the Upper Rhine and the Danube through the Black Forest and the Swabian Alps, and to establish full control over this hitherto inaccessible corner of the Empire, on which the Rhine and Danube frontiers now hinged. In 72 a campaign was waged against the Suebi inhabiting the Black Forest region and a start was made on the construction of two military highways linking the Rhine and the Danube, one from Mainz, via Heidelberg and Cannstatt, to Günzburg and on to Augsburg, and the other from Strasbourg via Rottweil, linking up here with a route coming north from Vindonissa via Hüfingen, and on to Tuttlingen high up in the Upper Danube valley5. A number of face jars have been found in the Stuttgart area, at or around Cannstatt, and one might expect to find others at or near Rottweil and the other forts built for the road construction. Once the Upper German-Raetian limes had been established, during the reigns of Trajan and Hadrian, these forts would no longer have been needed and their garrisons were moved up on to the new frontier, though veterans may well have been settled on newly cleared land in the area.

Size of fragment c. 8x7 cm. Unspecified. Large beak-shaped nose; close-set round pellet eyes. Brumath 1f. (Schaeffer, 1923, 134, Pl. IX: 32). Grave in the cemetery at BrumathStefansfeld. Late second to early third century.

If, as seems possible, this sherd whose fabric is unspecified in the report, is in the red, colour-coated ware of the Brumath kilns, then it may have come from a similar jar to the above with an indented handle at the back, and be of the same Type as the beak-nosed jars from the middle Rhineland of RL Type 24A (Fig. D13 : 1 and 3). RD Types 8-10

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Gap left in Type Series

B.

THE FACE JARS RD Types 11-13, Fig. F3: 1-6

The few face jars from this area, while apparently quite similar to the Strasbourg face jars, cannot be safely included in the same Type Numbers, and have been listed separately. If more, reconstructable face jars come to light, it may be possible to identify common Types. No examples could be identified from dated contexts, but the likelihood is that they date mainly to the late first and second centuries, the period during and after the construction of the road from Mainz to the Danube via Heidelberg and Cannstatt. Again, as in the Strasbourg area, these face jars show an interesting mix of Danubian and Rhineland features. Forms and fabrics All the face jars are in grey wares except No 1 which is in a dark reddish brown fabric. This latter, from Bad Cannstatt, which has an applied phallus on either cheek, is very similar to, if rather larger than, the Rhineland face jars of RL Type 21. No 4 from Ober-Esslingen is another example of the La Tène form with cylindrical rim already known from 5

163

Schönberger 1969, 156.

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER VI Strasbourg, though the rim is shorter and the body less spherical than in RD Type 2. No 5 from the fort of Welzheim is somewhat similar, though it is dated to c. 200 and could be later than the other. The grey fragment from

CATALOGUE TO GROUP B RD Types 11-14 RD Type 11

Large red-ware face jar with barbotine rings at the back (Fig. F3: 1 and Pl. F5)

Height: Fabric: Decoration:

35 cm. Medium-fine reddish brown. Vertical rows of barbotine rings, joined rings alternating with separate ones. Applied features; narrow slit eyes; applied, hatched goatee beard above applied, pointed chin; two phalli on cheeks. Bad Cannstatt 1c (Württembergisches Landesmuseum, Stuttgart, No 190,53c). Unknown. Probably early second century.

Face:

Distribution: Context: Date:

Barbotine rings are found on some of the face jars of the Middle and Lower Rhineland with carinated shoulder of RL Type 26 (Fig. D14: 4), though not in such a dense pattern. The narrow protuding chin and pointed goatee beard are typical Upper Danube features, though this jar is unique in having them placed separately one on top of the other producing the effect of a “Henry VIII”-like double chin. Face jar fragments which, to judge by the published drawings, appear to have a similar profile and could possibly belong to this Type have been found at Heidelberg6, but there is no evidence on these of rings or phalli.

Pl. F5. Unusually large face jar in reddish brown ware with barbotine ring decoration at the back of RD Type 11 from Bad-Cannstatt in the Württembergishes Landesmuseum, Stuttgart; height 35 cm.

the neighbouring fort at Lorch (No 6) seems to be from a tall high-shouldered flask or pitcher, another very characteristic form of La Tène pottery which continued well into the Roman period on the Upper Danube, though mainly in plain, glossy oxidised fabrics or in red and white painted wares, some of these also having a face on the shoulder or neck (see UD Types 2-3, Figs. G3-G4).

RD Type 12 Height: Fabric: Face:

Face A face mask with a prominent nose (which does not have the grotesque quality of the Rhineland beak-nosed face jars of RL Type 24) and a narrow protruding chin, often with a pointed goatee beard, is characteristic of many face jars found along the upper and middle Danube. This is clearly in evidence here on Nos 3 and 5, but so too are phalli which are very much a feature of the lower and middle Rhineland. The smaller face placed high on the shoulder on No 6 from Lorch looks as though it was probably very similar to many of the faces found on the buff face jars with spouts of RL Type 20.

Distribution: Context: Date:

Grey face jar with cylindrical rim and high girth (Fig. F3: 2) 26 cm. Fine, light grey. Applied round eyes with hollow pupils; shallow ears with a pierced dot in the centre placed above the notched eyebrows; chin blob; one applied phallus on left cheek. Oberesslingen 1c. (Esslingen Heimatmuseum No R.83; Katalog Esslingen 1969, 23, Pl. 40: 1-2 [2]). Farmstead; possibly from a disturbed grave. Probably late first to second century.

This jar is of very similar form to the Strasbourg jar of RD Type 2, but has a shorter neck and somewhat less spherical body. As the faces are so different, the two face jars have been given separate Type numbers. It was found near the graveyard of a “villa rustica”. Two other face fragments were found on the same site, but they have rather different faces, relating more to Upper Danube face types, and they have been listed under RD Type 13 below.

Sites and contexts The Welzheim jar was found in the vicus of the fort, but it is not clear if the ones from Cannstatt and Lorch are from the forts or the vici. Those from Ober-Esslingen were found in what may have been the small cemetery of a “villa rustica”.

6

164

Heukemes 1964, 84 Pl. 43: 1.

FACE POTS OF THE RHINE DANUBE CORNER RD Type 13 Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution:

Context: Date:

jar or pitcher with high, wide shoulders, of a type quite common in Raetia, though generally in orange or red fabric, and with bands of incised or painted decoration, as in UD Types 2 and 3 (Figs. G3 and G4). However the smallish face placed high up on the shoulder of the pot seems, from what is left of it, to be quite similar to many of the faces on the face jars with spouts of RL Types 20 A-B from the middle and upper Rhineland (Fig. D10).

Grey face jar with slightly everted rim (Fig. D3: 3-5) 18.5 Fine, light grey. Applied round eyes with hollow pupils; shallow ears placed above the notched eyebrows; chin blob; one applied phallus on left cheek. Stuttgart area and the southern end of the Upper German Limes 3 (1c. and 2f). Examples have been found at: Oberesslingen 2f. (Esslingen Heimatmuseum Nos R.87 a. and b. [34]); Welzheim 1c. (Filtzinger et al 1986, 619, Fig. 448 [5]). Farmstead, possibly graves (Oberesslingen); vicus (Welzheim). Probably second century.

The reconstructed face jar from Welzheim (No 5) was found in Burgstrasse within the area of the vicus of the Roman fort. It is dated to c. 200. The large beaked nose and protruding chin are reminiscent of second to third century faces from the upper Danube. Unfortunately no evidence remains of the profile of the jars to which two face fragments from Oberesslingen belonged (Nos 3-4), but, as mentioned above, they have been provisionally listed under this Type on account of their faces. They are in a fabric described as “fine grey” as opposed to the “fine, light grey fabric” of the complete face jar from Oberesslingen. RD Type 14

Grey face jar with narrow neck, everted rim, and wide girth (Fig F3: 6)

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution:

Unknown, probably from a tall jar. Hard, dark grey. Compact face; coffee bean eyes. Raetian Limes: Lorch 1f. (Schwäbisch Gmünd Heimatmuseum). Unknown Second century

Context: Date:

a b Pl. F6, a and b. Grey face jar fragment of RD Type 14 from Lorch in the Heimatmuseum Schwäbisch Gmünd; size 9 x 10 cm. (photo courtesy of Dr I.A Ehmer)

As mentioned above, only a rim fragment survives of this face pot, but it may have come from a tall narrow-necked

165

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER VI of one, is at Dangstetten, on the north side of the Rhine mid-way between Basel and Lake Constance. This may have been occupied by the Nineteenth Legion which perished with Varus in AD 910. Another legionary fortress has always been suspected at Augsburg-Oberhausen, possibly post-dating Dangstetten, where large quantities of Augustan and Tiberian pottery have been found, but no defences have ever been clearly dentified11. A number of other forts have been located, or tentatively suggested on the basis of Arretine pottery finds. However, none of these early sites appear to have produced evidence for face jars or face beakers.

GROUP C FACE POTS OF NORTH SWITZERLAND7 A.

THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND.

1. There was no Roman province of Switzerland, and the mountainous region occupied by today’s Switzerland was only gradually taken under Roman control, at different stages, over a period of more than a century. It was eventually divided up among four different Roman Provinces. The territory of the Allobrogi, around Lake Geneva and on the left bank of the Rhône, was the first to be annexed, and as early as 123 BC8 became a part of the province of Gallia Narbonensis. Following Caesar’s conquest of Gaul, the Helvetii were given the status of a client tribe and allowed to settle south of the Swiss Rhine roughly between Lakes Geneva and Constance. Two veteran colonies were established on the north-western fringes of the Alps, Colonia Iulia Equestris at Nyon on Lake Geneva in 45/4 and Colonia Augusta Raurica at Augst on the Rhine in 44 BC, just after Caesar’s death (though as yet there is no archaeological evidence for this second colony at this date9). Under Augustus the civitas of the Helvetii was established with Avenches as its capital. 2. The defeat of the Salassi in 25 BC brought the Grand St Bernard pass and the rest of the south-western Alps into Roman hands, to be formed into an Imperial province, Alpes Graiae et Poenina. Then in 15 BC the final conquest of the Alpine tribes, chief of whom were the Vindelici and Raeti, was achieved by the brilliant whirlwind campaign of Drusus and Germanicus. After the conquest, the central Alpine region seems to have been left for a short while as one entity, under a single governor, legatus pro praetore in Vindolicis (ibid, 31). Then, under Tiberius, or at the latest under Claudius, most of what is now Switzerland was divided between the two new provinces of Germania Superior and Raetia, while the southern fringes of the Alps were absorbed into Italia.

Pl. F7. Rim fragment from a large, red, beak-nosed face beaker (with a white surface deposit) of RD Type 22 from Vindonissa, in the Vindonissa Museum; size 11 x 12 cm.

4. Some time between AD 10-17, the two legionary fortresses were built at Vindonissa and Strasbourg. The Vindonissa fortresss was built on a high plateau, at the conjunction of two rivers, the Aare and the Reuss, in a controlling position at the northern end of the network of river valleys that descend from the Central Alps to the Rhine. Vindonissa’s first garrison was legio XIII Gemina, which may have been stationed previously somewhere in northern Raetia, or in the Mainz region. In AD 45 this legion was transferred to Pannonia and replaced by legio XXI Rapax from Xanten, which was in turn replaced by legio XI Claudia from Burnum in Dalmatia in 70. In 101 the Eleventh Legion was transferred to the Danube frontier, and the fortress became a civilian settlement. In the later Roman period, a fort was again built here.

3. Following the Alpine Conquest, Roman troops must have been stationed from then onwards, if not before, in the northern foothills of the Alps and along the Rhine between Basel and Lake Constance, but no clear evidence for legionary fortresses before the second decade of the first century AD has as yet been found. A fort, but not a fortress is presumed to have been built near Augst after the Alpine Campaign, and there was almost certainly one at Vindonissa, alongside the Helvetic oppidum there. The one site where fortifications have been found (and firmly identified with pottery of Augustan date) which is thought to have been large enough to house a legion or at least half 7

I am particularly grateful to Christine Meyer Freuler of the VindonissaMuseum Brugg and Dr Verena Müller Vogel of the Römermuseum Augst for all the help they have given me concerning face pots from Switzerland, including excellent photographs and drawings. 8 A date recently obtained by dendrochronology, according to information kindly supplied to me by Mme Christine Meyer Freuler (1997). 9 Drack and Fellmann 1988, 21.

10

Filtzinger et al 1986, 377. Evidence for possible early defences has recently come to light outside the old town, but their size is as yet unknown (C. Meyer Freuler pers. comm., 1997). 11

166

FACE POTS OF THE RHINE DANUBE CORNER 5. The veteran colonia at Augst seems to have been refounded (or, possibly founded for the first time as traces of an earlier foundation have never been found) after the Alpine Conquest. At the same time a fort was established to the west of it, at Basel. Augst was undoubtably a site of great strategic importance, on the last stretch of the Rhine before the rapids began, at the intersection of two major trans-European routes, the north-south route out of Italy across the Grand St Bernard pass via Avenches to the Rhine and the east-west route from east Gaul along the Swiss Rhine and down the Iller or Lech to the Danube. It must almost certainly have had its own garrison of veteran reserve brigades (vexilla veteranorum) of the kind known to have been based at Aquileia12, and legionary detachments were also based there on occasion, as during the campaign against the Suebi in 7213.

B.

THE FACE POTS

Almost all the Roman face pots from Switzerland have been found in the less mountainous areas in the northern part of the country, in the territory of the Helvetii and the Raurici, either on sites along the Rhine from Basel to Lake Constance or in the farmland to the south of it, with three rather isolated examples, one perhaps of RD Type 25 and two of Type 30, well to the south west at Avenches. This region, as we have seen, is the one area in Switzerland where Roman troops were stationed for any prolonged period of time, both during the first century AD and again in the later third to fourth century when the upper GermanRaetian frontier was pushed back to the Rhine and the Iller. The only other face pots found in Switzerland are the two early face beakers found at Giubiasco and Cadra Minusio in the Canton of Ticino, just across the frontier from Italy, which are listed in Chapter III with the other face beakers of the Ticino region to which they belong (IT Types 17 and 18), and one green-glazed face beaker, almost certainly of north Italian origin, found at Chur in the Alpine valley of the Rhine, in the westernmost corner of the province of Raetia, which is listed with the Italian exports in Chapter III (IT Type 30) and again in Chapter VII with the Raetian face pots (UD Type 9, Fig. G6: 5).

6. It was only under Tiberius and Claudius that the Swiss Rhine from Augst to Lake Constance seems to have become a fixed, defended frontier, as it was to be again in the later Roman period. In addition to the above mentioned fort at Basel, Tiberian or Claudian forts have also been identified further east along the river at Zurzach, on the south bank opposite Dangstetten, and at Eschenz or Stein-am Rhein beside the Rhine crossing at the entrance to Lake Constance14. Small detachments may also have been stationed south of the river at Zürich, Oberwinterthur and Pfyn15. In the late Claudian and Neronian period, most of the auxiliary units were withdrawn, possibly to the new forts on the Upper Danube.

Many more face pots, or rather face pot sherds, are known from north Switzerland than from the Strasbourg and Stuttgart areas. Few of them however, are whole or reconstructable. Vindonissa and Augst are the two sites producing the most examples with Vindonissa producing by far the greatest number18.

7. In 69 the Helvetii rose in revolt, shortly after the Civilis uprising in the Rhineland further north16. Following the bloody suppression of the revolt, troops must again have been stationed in the countryside to maintain the peace. Avenches, the civitas capital of the Helvettii, was made a colonia by Vespasian, possibly involving the settlement of veterans in its territory17. Active military troops seem to have moved out of north Switzerland for most of the second century, and the first half of the third, though some veterans no doubt settled in the fertile farmland south of the Rhine on land expropriated after the rebellion.

FACE BEAKERS Fig. F4: 1-2 Just three fragmentary face beakers have been identified in north Switzerland, all of first century date and all three from Vindonissa, two of RD Type 21, and one of RD Type 22. Those of RD Type 21 are probably the earliest of the face pot sherds found in the fortress rubbish dump19. All three show clear signs of north Italian influence, being in red, oxidised fabrics, and with faces with large protruding noses and raised eyelids, which in the case of Type 22 are notched. Unlike the early face beaker found in the Swiss Alps at Chur, these are almost certainly not Italian imports, but locally produced copies. Comparison with similar face beakers from Italy and Magdalensberg suggest they are probably of Late Tiberian to Flavian date.

8. After the collapse of the Upper German-Raetian Limes in the second quarter of the third century, the old frontier of the Julio-Claudian period along the rivers Rhine, Iller and Danube was re-instated, and this time well fortified with a complex system of forts, fortlets and signal towers. The few Late Roman face jars found so far all come from these fourth century fortifications: at Kaizeraugst, Stein am Rhein and the Wittnauer Horn.

18

The favourable conditions for excavation at the site have undoubtably contributed towards this. 19 All the first face pots securely dateable to the first century have been found in the famous legionary rubbish dump in the ravine below the walls of the fortress, which has an overall date of c. A.D. 25-101, with the bulk of the pottery belonging to the second half of the first century (Ettlinger and Simonett 1952, 5). The material from the eastern half of the dump was thought to be of earlier date than that from the western end (ibid, 6), but it is not at all clear to which half these face beakers belonged, and this appears to be the case with all the face pot sherds found at Vindonissa.

12

See Chapter XI, Pt. I, A.1.b, and Mann 1983, 31. Drack and Fellmann 1988, 53. 14 Ibid, Figs. 18 and 28. 15 Schorgendorfer 1969, 154. 16 See Chapter XI, Pt. II, A.2.6. The revolt is dramatically described in Tacitus (Histories I, 67-9). 17 Drach and Fellman 1988, 57. 13

167

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER VI grotesque beak-nosed masks of Rhineland Type 24 face jars. The incised diamond-shaped eyes that occur on some of them (Fig. F5: 1 and 5) seem to be unique to this region.

FACE JARS AND LARGE FACE BEAKERS Figs. F4: 3-6, F5 and F6 Forms and fabrics It is impossible to reconstruct the forms of any of the first century face jars from the body sherds that have survived. With the exception of one unclassifiable grey ear sherd from the rubbish dump in Vindonissa, they are all in oxidised, red or orange-buff wares.

The faces of the two face jar Types from the Late Roman period are much less standardised. One has a T-shaped nose and eyebrows and slit-pellet eyes set askew (RD Type 36, Fig. F6: 4) and the other has a uniquely stylised, abstract face composed of a small applied nose enclosed by two crescent-shaped cordons, one above and one below (RD Type 35, Fig. F6: 3). There is also an unclassifiable mouth fragment from Wittnauer Horn.

A few more or less complete or reconstructable vessels survive from the second to third centuries, almost all of the same popular, high-shouldered Type with a sharp carination between neck and shoulder. (RD Type 30, Fig. F5: 1-5). They often have bands of rouletting around the shoulder and/or below the girth, with incised lattice or other decoration round the back. They are all in a medium-fine, hard, red ware with a glossy red or reddish brown colourcoat, as are the very fragmentary face jars of RD Types 31 and 32. They belong to the group of wares popular in this region and along the upper Danube that are, or were, often described as “Raetian”. There also appears to be a Type similar to RD Type 30 in a fine grey fabric with a darker grey colour-coat, though only body sherds have been identified so far, most of them from Augst (RD Type 33).

Sites and contexts Most of the face pot sherds of known first century date come from the rubbish dump at Vindonissa, and must have been used inside the fortress, but two sherds of a face jar or beaker of RD Type 25 have been found at Avenches and several sherds of a unique indented face beaker have been found inside the colonia at Augst (RD Type 27, Fig. F4: 6). Those of second to third century date which are provenanced all come from inside Augst or Vindonissa, or from rural settlement contexts (villas, farms, small towns). One example of RD Type 30 from a villa at Seeb was buried in the floor of a farm building, presumably as a votive or foundation offering. The three Late Roman face jars all come from military sites, two from fortifications along the newly fortified Rhine frontier, from the fort of Stein am Rhein just before Lake Constance, and from a grave outside a presumed late Roman signal tower near the late fort at Kaiseraugst (RD Types 35 and 36, Fig. F6: 3-4), while the unclassifiable sherd from the Wittnauer Horn was found inside the Late Roman fortifications of a former Iron Age hill fort south of the Rhine frontier. The face jar from near Kaiseraugst is the only Swiss face jar or face beaker that is known for certain to have come from a grave.

Of the two examples from the Late Roman period, only one is complete (RD Type 35, Fig. F6: 3), a large face beaker with carinated shoulders, a low girth, and a tallish neck, quite similar in form to the jar from Lingolsheim of RD Type 5. The fragment from Stein am Rhein (RD Type 36, Fig. F6: 4) is clearly from a different, much wider-bellied jar. Both are in buff fabric. Faces Two face mask types emerge clearly from the first century face pot sherds in the Vindonissa rubbish dump: 1. The familiar beak-nosed mask, which is found on the three face beaker sherds of RD Types 21-22 and the face jar fragments of RD Type 25, with their large noses, pierced ear(s) and big eyes with raised, notched eyelids, showing clear evidence of north Italian influence.

CATALOGUE TO GROUP C EARLY FACE BEAKERS RD Types 21-22

2. A rather flat expressionless face that occurs on the smaller face jars of RD Type 26, with no applied eyebrows or eyelids, virtually no notching or incising of eyebrows or eyelids, and just slightly indented eye-sockets with applied, lid-less, almond-shaped eyes. One or two examples have an applied, slit, rectangular mouth. No very similar face types are known anywhere else, and this could be a face masktype of local origin. However rectangular mouths do occur on one or two Italian face pots, notably on the north Italian face jar of IT 35 (Fig. C12: 1), and this face may just be a rather washed-out version of the Italian “serene” mask.

Type RD 21

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution:

The faces on the second to third century jars of RD Type 30 betray a mixture of influences, with the widely arched eyebrows of Rhineland “serene” face masks of this period combined with the more aquiline noses of Upper Danube face jars, some of which are not so different from the less

Context: Date:

168

Small face beakers with finger-shaped noses in orange thin-walled ware (Figs. F4: 1). c. 8-10 cm. Fine, light orange, thin-walled. Long, pointed nose, applied eyelids (just on No 1) and eyebrows with no notching, pellet eyes. Vindonissa 2f. (Vindonissa-Museum Nos 2080 [1] and 16/587). Legionary rubbish dump. 25-101, but probably Late TiberianClaudian.

FACE POTS OF THE RHINE DANUBE CORNER Two fragments of this Type were found at Vindonissa, in a very fine uncoated light orange fabric, the larger of the two (No 1) in a slightly finer, more thin-walled ware than the other. These were almost certainly locally produced, along with many other imitations of imported thin-walled beakers and bowls, all made in a very similar orange ware20. The closest parallels to this Type would seem to be some of the long-nosed face beakers of the Aquileia group of Tiberian date (IT Type 19 Fig. C7). They could therefore belong to the late Tiberian or early Claudian period, when legio XIII Gemina was in occupation. RD Type 22 Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

FIRST CENTURY FACE JARS AND LARGE FACE BEAKERS, RD Types 25-27 RD Type 25 Height: Fabric: Face:

Beak-nosed face beaker in flower-pot red fabric (Figs. F4: 2, Pl. F7)

Distribution:

Large beaker, c.14 cm. Medium fine, bright red, with calcareous surface deposit. Notched eyelids and eyebrows, beaked nose with large wart, double row of raised dots for beard. Vindonissa If. (Vindonissa-Museum No 33/1560). Legionary rubbish dump. Probably Claudian-Flavian.

Context: Date:

Large vessels; height of largest fragment (No 3) : 16 cm. Orange buff, medium fine. Notched eyebrows and eyelids, large nose, narrow notched groove indicating a chin-strap beard, semi-pierced ear (No 3), applied chin. Vindonissa 2f. (Vindonissa Museum Nos 2932 [3] and 23/1293); Avenches 1f? Legionary rubbish dump (Vindonissa). First century

The faces of these three very fragmentary face jars with large beak noses and eyes with raised notched eyelids are also strongly influenced by the north Italian beak-nosed mask. Together with the early face jar from Hofheim of RL Type 5 (Fig. D5: 3, Pl. D9) they are the first examples of this Italian mask to be found on provincial face jars rather than on face beakers. On both face jars and face beakers this early provincial mask seems always to be bearded, unlike the Italian beak-nosed masks which are all beardless. On the larger fragment from Vindonissa it is also possible to make

Just a large fragment of this face beaker survives, but enough to indicate that it came from a larger beaker than did the two examples of RD Type 21 above. It is in a coarser, flower-pot red fabric that is not thin-walled. This Type also appears to be a rather loose copy of north Italian face beakers, though in this case it would seem to be something of a mixture of two different types. The notched eyelids and eyebrows and the hooked nose are very reminiscent of the Aquileian face beakers, while the form of the vessel, and the mouth and beard, are more like the Claudian barbotine beakers, in particular the beard with its double row of tiny raised squares, possibly made with some kind of a mould or stamp, which looks like an ingenious attempt by a local potter to render the fine barbotine dots of the Italian face beakers (Fig C8: 3 and 5). The wart on the nose however is an unusual addition, probably copied from some other version of this beak-nosed face mask. This piece, given its its larger size and possible relationship to the Claudian barbotine face beakers of northern Italy, is probably later than those of RD Type 21 above, and could even belong to the Flavian period when legio XI Claudia was moved to Vindonissa from Burnum, a legion much involved in the Pannonian campaigns mounted from northern Italy and more likely than legio XXI Rapax from Xanten to include legionaries who used face beakers (see Chapter XI, Pt I, F).

Pl. F8. Beak-nosed face fragment from a large orange-buff face jar of RD Type 25 from Vindonissa in the Vindonissa Museum; size 13 x 16 cm..

out a notched groove with two rows of notching running round the lower part of the face suggesting a chin-strap beard. A similar chin-strap groove but with no notching occurs on the Hofheim face jar, and also on the Strasbourg face jar with notched eyelids of RD Type 2 above, Fig. F2: 2, though this jar has a normal-sized nose and notched teeth. The second fragment from Vindonissa in the same fabric just shows a large nose, part of a notched eyebrow and one almond-shaped-eye with raised notched eyelids, all features virtually identical to the first fragment.

RD Types 23-4 Gap left in Type Series

20

Large-nosed face jars with notched eyelids in orange-buff ware (Fig. F4: 3)

Ettlinger and Simonett 1952, 38.

169

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER VI There are also two small sherds from a smaller face jar from Avenches which might possibly be of this Type, one showing a mouth and chin with a lot of notching indicating a beard, and the other the end of the beard composed of two rows of notching and the lower part of the left ear21.

RD Type 27

As with the Hofheim fragment, there is no evidence as to the profile of the original face jars of this Type, though it is clear that they must have been fairly large vessels. By analogy with the Hofheim piece which was found in the turf fort thought to have been destroyed in the Civilis revolt of 69-70, these jars could also be of Claudio-Neronian date22.

Fabric:

Type RD 26

Distribution:

Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution:

Context: Date:

Height:

Decoration Face:

Face jars or large face beakers in orange-buff ware with plain, almondshaped eyes in indented eye-sockets (Fig. F4: 4-5)

Context: Date:

Quite small, probably not more than 20 cm. Pinkish-orange buff, sandy, no colourcoat. Indented eye-sockets; other features all applied, including the blind, mostly lidless, almond-shaped eyes, rectangularslit mouth (where this survives), and generally crescent-shaped ears though one e.g. with s-shaped ear (Vind. No 16.642). Vindonissa, 13 f. (Vindonissa Museum Brugg, Nos 2372 [5]; 3081; 4022-6; 9856; 16/639 [6]; 16.641; 16.642; 141.82; 28.1100). Legionary rubbish dump. Probably later first century.

Large face beaker or small face jar with small indentations around the shoulder (Fig. F4: 6) Quite small jar (or beaker), rim diameter. 11.7cm. Fine yellowish buff with traces of a matt red colour-coat. Shallow, thumb-size indentations around the shoulder. Little survives except an applied nose, a barbotine eye?, and eye-sockets utilising two of the indentations on the shoulder. Augst 1f. (Römermuseum Augst Nos 82. 13480-13482; 82.13503 (all from same vessel). Unspecified. Second half first century (V. Müller Vogel, pers. comm.)

There are too few sherds to reconstruct the jar or the face with any certainty. The face may have been similar to those of RD Type 26 above, with very little definition of the eyes and eyebrows. The indentations on the shoulder are an unusual feature on a first century face jar or beaker. RD Types 28-29 Gap left in Type Series SECOND TO THIRD CENTURY FACE JARS OR LARGE FACE BEAKERS RD Types 30-33 RD Type 30

This is the commonest face pot Type to be found in the rubbish dump. No rim or base sherds survive, so there is no evidence as to the profile of the vessels. Coming as they all do from the legionary rubbish dump, they must presumably all be of first century date, though probably later rather than earlier in the sequence. The characteristic features are the eye-sockets formed by pushing in the wall of the pot - a rare feature in face jars - and the absence of applied eyebrows. The eyes themselves are applied, but generally very carefully smoothed over, with no incised eyelids or irises, creating the impression of very blind-looking eyes. Occasionally there is a lightly incised line of notching above the eye-socket to denote eyebrows. Where the mouth survives, it seems to have been an applied rectangular strip, with a single slit, again a rare feature, but similar to the large face jar from Milan of IT Type 35. On one fragment (No 4025) there are thin stripes of red slip on the bridge and the sides of the nose.

Height: Fabric: Decoration Face:

Distribution:

21 Musée Romain d’Avenches No 77/662-3; A. Hochuli-Gysel private info.. 22 The colonia at Avenches was only founded under Vespasian but stamped legionary tiles and articles of military equipment found there suggest earlier military occupation of the site (Drack and Fellmann 1988, Fig. 28).

170

Red colour-coated face jars with everted rim, constricted neck, high, carinated shoulders and narrow base (Fig. F5: 15) c. 18 cm. Fine, hard redware, with glossy red or reddish-brown colour-coat. Rows of rouletting round the shoulder and/or below the girth on many examples, and incised lattice at the back. Notched, arched eyebrows; coffee bean or incised diamond-shaped eyes; datestone mouths; sometimes applied blob or ring for chin; crescent ears. North Switzerland 13 (2c. and 11f.). Examples have been found at: Vindonissa 2f. (Vindonissa Museum Nos 29/3347 [5] and 9345); Augst 3f. (Römermuseum Augst Nos 66.1123; 67.2166 [4]; 68.60, 68.66 and 68.119 [3 frags from one vessel]; Seeb 2c. (Drack et al 1990, 147, Pl 17: 103-104) [1-2]; Urdorf 1f. (R.Degen 1997, unpub info); Obersiggenthal 1f. (Morel 1986, 275, Fig 50:9) [3]; Rheinfelden-Görbelhof 2f. (Bögli and Ettlinger 1963, 30, Fig 8:8); Avenches 2f. ( Kaenel 1974, 52, Pl. VI: 12; Bosse and Capt, 2004, Fig. 7: 11,

FACE POTS OF THE RHINE DANUBE CORNER

Context:

Date:

248. ). Set in floor of farm building (Seeb No 2); pit (Obersiggenthal); domestic contexts (Augst and Vindonissa); a group of wasters (Augst). Second to third century.

Decoration: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

Just two tiny fragments of this face jar survive, one showing the end of the down-drooping eyebrows reaching to just above the row of rouletting around the girth of the pot and the other showing a whiskered mouth placed just above the girth. It is possible that these two sherds come from a jar of the same form as RD Type 30 above. There is however a La Tène-style face jar from Regensburg (UD Type 5, Fig G5: 3) with a spherical body and cylindrical neck which is in a very similar fabric to this and appears to have a very similar face, though it has no band of rouletting round the girth. The mouth with its radiating, incised “whiskers” is very distinctive, and also occurs on the face jar of RD Type 32 below, though there the “whiskers” are applied, not incised. It is presumably characteristic of a local face mask found in north Switzerland and the Upper Danube region.

Pl. F9. Face jar fragment in red ware with a glossy red-colour-coat of RD Type 30 from Vindonissa in the Vindonissa museum; size 8.3 x 13.5 cm..

This is the most common and wide spread Type of the north Swiss region. Dating can only be approximate, as no examples could be identified from closely dated contexts. More than half the sites where they have been found are villas or rural settlements (Seeb, Urdorf, RheinfeldenGörbelhof, and Obersiggenthal). The vessels are well made, in hard, fine fabric, and there is often a row, or two rows of rouletting just below the girth and around the shoulder, and incised lattice hatching or other decoration at the back. The faces are carefully modelled, with arched, notched eyebrows and fairly prominent noses. The eyes are either applied and coffee bean-shaped or incised and diamondshaped.

RD Type 32

Height: Fabric: Decoration Face: Distribution:

The two small fragments from Avenches have been included in this Type as they are of this same period and in a similar glossy, red-slipped fabric, but judging from what has survived they appear have somewhat different faces. The smaller sherd seems to have a fairly standard face, but the larger sherd, found with a group of wasters of mid third century date23 has quite a substantial nose and what looks like a row of small flat pellets above the notched eyebrows and above the mouth (which is missing).

Context: Date:

Height: Fabric:

RD Type 33

Height: Fabric: Decoration

Orange colour-coated face jar with whiskered mouth and down-drooping eyebrows (Fig. F6: 1)

Face:

Unknown. Fine hard red fabric with glossy outer Distribution:

23

Orange colour-coated face jar or large face beaker with tall, sloping neck and carinated shoulder (Fig. F6: 2) c. 20-24 cm. Orange with orange colour-coat. Shallow incised lattice at the back. Whiskered beard of applied strips; diagonally placed eye with applied eyelids and neatly notched eyebrow. Baden 1f. (Koller and Doswald, 1996, 114, H. Koller, unpub. drawing). Infill of cellar inside settlement. Early third century.

This vessel, with its tall neck, is possibly a later version of RD Type 30.

As already mentioned, face jars of similar form and face, though of varying fabrics, are found at Strasbourg during this same period (RD Type 3) and along the Upper Danube (UD Types 6, 7 and 9). RD Type 31

surface. Row of rouletting round the girth. Applied, split pellet mouth with an incised whiskered beard; carefully notched, down-drooping eyebrows. Augst 1f. (Augst Römermuseum Nos 29.1588-9). In a ditch. Probably third century.

Bosse and Capt, 2004, Fig. 7:11.

171

Face jars or large beakers in fine grey ware, possibly of similar shape to RD Type 30 Unknown. Fine, hard grey ware with traces of darker grey matt colour-coat. Narrow band of shallow rouletting around the shoulder just above eyebrows. Similar to RD Type 30; coffee-bean or small, round boss eyes; aquiline nose; date-stone mouth, one e.g. with notched teeth (Augst No 29.1590). Augst 5f. (Römermuseum Augst Nos 29.1590; 31.131; 48.1908; 81. 1785;

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER VI

Context: Date:

81. 2116); Vindonissa 1f. (VindonissaMuseum No 20/98). Domestic contexts, (Augst and Vindonissa); ditch separating Castle hill from lower city (Augst). Later second to third century.

mask on the small Strasbourg face fragment of RD Type 4 and the one on the Lingolsheim jar of RD Type 5 (Fig F2:6-7). It was found in a rubbish layer beside the tower of the Roman fort at Stein am Rhein built at the end of the third century on the river bank just before the entrance to Lake Constance as part of the late Roman defensive system along the south bank of the north Swiss Rhine.

Only small body sherds survive, most of them from Augst, but they appear to have similar facial features to RD Type 30, and to have a band of rouletting just below a carinated shoulder. As far as can be seen, the face fragment from Vindonissa with notched eyebrows and applied round eyes with a pricked dot in the centre, is in very similar fabric to the Augst fragments. RD Type 34

UNCLASSIFIED SHERDS There is a small number of face sherds, most of them from Vindonissa, which cannot be assigned to the Types so far identified

Gap left in Type Series

Vindonissa (5 sherds) Body sherd in fine hard dark grey ware with large crescentshaped pierced ear, first century, from the rubbish dump (No 4021). Two thick-walled body sherds in pinkish-orange buff sandy ware, with traces of soot or burning, from very large jars (virtually no curvature perceptible on the sherds), one showing a slit rectangular mouth and chin blob, and the other two unidentifiable blobs or nobs, one above the other, both first century, from the rubbish dump (Nos 23/3464 and 13/1294). A similar thick body sherd in brick red fabric showing a slit, rectangular mouth and chin blob, found inside the fort (No 21-507). A thick-walled body sherd in buff fabric with a red-brown colour-coat, again with virtually no curvature perceptible on the sherd, with a sharply projecting, thin, flat nose, found inside the fort (No 29.2768).

LATE ROMAN FACE JARS RD Types 35-36 The following two Types are both of late, probably fourth century date. RD Type 35 Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

Bag-shaped face jar in buff ware with a very schematic face (Fig.F5: 5) 19.4 cm. Buff. Two applied curved cordons encircling an applied nose. In between Kaiseraugst and Rheinfelden 1c. (Keller-Tarnuzzer 1952, 96, Fig. 30). Tile grave. Fourth century.

Wittnauer Horn Small sherd in unspecified ware with a date-stone mouth of Late Roman date. Possibly notching around the mouth indicating a beard (Berger and Brogli 1980, 26, Fig. 25). . Büron, Canton of Lucerne One body sherd in orange fabric with a brown colour-coat varying from brownish-orange to dark brown, showing a slit, rectangular mouth and chin blob, with a notched beard around mouth and on the cheek (C. Meyer-Freuler 1997, private info.).

This pot barely qualifies as a face jar, but there is not much mistaking the simple, abstract, applied “face”. It was found in a late Roman tile grave, in a cemetery close to a presumed late Roman signal tower situated on the Rhine frontier between Rheinfelden and Kaiseraugst, lying broken but complete beside the head of a female body. The feet had been removed and were 55 cm higher up, under a separate tile. RD Type 36 Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

Buff face jar with T-shaped nose and eyebrows (Fig F5: 6). c.22 cm Buff T-shaped eyebrows and nose; diagonally slit pellet eyes Stein am Rhein 1f. (Katrin Roth-Rubi, 1987, private info.) Rubbish layer in late Roman fort Fourth century

This is yet another face jar that cannot be reconstructed, but the two surviving sherds obviously come from a large, wide-bellied vessel. Its face seems to be a mixture of the 172

FACE POTS OF THE RHINE DANUBE CORNER

FACE JARS OF THE STRASBOURG AREA OF RD TYPES 1-7

Fig. F2. Type 1, No 1; Type 2, Nos 2-3; Type 3, Nos 4-5; Type 4, No 6; Type 5, No 7; Type 6, No 8; Type 7, No 9. 1-6, Strasbourg; 7, Lingolsheim; 8-9, Brumath. (Scale 1:4) 173

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER VI FACE JARS OF THE STUTTGART AREA OF RD TYPES 11-14

Fig. F3.

Type 11, No 1; Type 12, No 2; Type 13, Nos 3-5; Type 14, No 6. 1, Bad Cannstatt; 2-4, Oberesslingen; 5, Welzheim; 6, Lorch. 174

(Scale 1:4)

FACE POTS OF THE RHINE DANUBE CORNER FACE BEAKERS AND FACE JARS OF NORTH SWITZERLAND OF RD TYPES 21-22 AND 25-27

Fig. F4. Type 21, No 1; Type 22, No 2; Type 25, No 3; Type 26, Nos 4-5; Type 27, No 6. 1-5, Vindonissa; 6, Augst. (Scale: No 1 at 1:2; Nos 2-6 at 1:4) 175

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER VI FACE JARS OF NORTH SWITZERLAND OF RD TYPE 30

Fig. F5.

1-2, Seeb; 3, Obersiggenthal; 4, Augst; 5, Vindonissa.

176

(Scale 1:4)

FACE POTS OF THE RHINE DANUBE CORNER FACE JARS OF NORTH SWITZERLAND OF RD TYPES 31-32 AND 35-36

Fig. F6.

Type 31, No 1; Type 32, No 2; Type 35, No3; Type 36, No 4. 1, Augst; 2, Baden; 3, Kaiseraugst; 4, Stein-am-Rhein. 177

(Scale 1:4)

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER VI

178

THE FACE POTS OF THE UPPER DANUBE

CHAPTER SEVEN The face pots of the Upper Danube The face pots of Raetia and Noricum, the two provinces that lie along the Upper Danube, have been put together in this chapter for reasons of geography more than anything else, as there is surprisingly little overlap between the two provinces as far as face pots are concerned. Raetia, apart from the one green-glazed face beaker found in the Alps at Chur (UD Type 9, Fig. G6: 5), only appears to have had face jars, which have all been found in the north of the province, along the military frontier of the Upper Danube, Noricum on the other hand mainly has face beakers, both small and large, most of which have been found in the south at sites close to the Mur, Drava and Sava rivers. It also has considerably fewer face pots than Raetia, if one excepts the large number found at Magdalensberg, which are all thought to be imports from northern Italy. Together however these two provinces have produced some of the most interesting and unusual face jars and face beakers found anywhere in the Western Roman Empire.

the first century, a line of small forts may have been set up along the northern edge of the Alps at Bregenz, Kempten, Auerberg, Epfach and Gauting, where the east-west high way crossed the major river valleys which run south into the Danube1, but as yet little archaeological evidence has been found to support this. It is only in the last years of the reign of Tiberius and the early years of Claudius, with the construction of the first permanent turf forts along the southern bank of the Danube from Hüfingen to Oberstimm, that sure evidence can be found for a permanently established military garrison in Raetia, composed only of auxiliary troops. It is in these forts that the earliest Raetian face pots have been found. Then, during the rest of the century, and in the early second, the area to the north of the Danube was occupied, and the forts of the Raetian Limes were established, with a network of military roads and bases behind them. A.2. Noricum until Ad 160

A.

THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Roman interest in Noricum began with the founding of Aquileia around 180 BC, and was focused in particular on Norican gold and iron. Throughout much of the second and first centuries BC, there is a history of cautiously polite relations between the Norican kings and Rome which allowed for what seems to have been a mutually beneficial and flourishing trading relationship. This relationship eventually soured, but seems to have ended relatively peacefully with Noricum’s uneventful annexation into the Empire in 15 BC, preparatory to the Alpine campaign, though like Raetia, it was not officially constituted a province until the Claudian period, in 45 AD2. At about that time the small number of troops that had been stationed inside the province at key sites including Magdalensberg3, Celje (Celeia), and probably Salzburg4, were moved up to the Danube to the small forts then being built along the river at widely spaced intervals5. The military garrison of the province remained small however, and there is little evidence that the number of troops increased to any noticeable extent until the Marcomannic Wars of 167-175, though the legionary vexillations were probably withdrawn, and replaced with more auxilia.

A.1. Raetia until AD 160 The territory that was to become the Roman province of Raetia was divided into the Alpine region in the south and the more fertile lowlands and foothills of the upper Danube valley in the north. At the end of the first century BC it seems to have been inhabited by two different population groups, the Raeti, an ancient and probably pre-IndoEuropean race who inhabited the centra l Alpine region and the Vindelici, of presumed Celtic origin, who inhabited the Danube valley. Both peoples played a major role in defending the Alpine region from the invading armies of Drusus and Germanicus in 15 BC, and the names of their different tribal groups figure prominently in the list of the defeated tribes inscribed on the Roman victory monument erected at La Turbie. Raetia was not officially constituted a province until the Claudian period, and there is surprisingly little concrete evidence for military occupation before that. It is assumed that at least one Roman legion must have stayed on in northern Raetia for a while after the Alpine conquest to consolidate the victory, and an obvious position would have been at Augsburg, guarding the approach route to the Danube that runs along the valley of the Lech. It is thought that Legio XIII Gemina may possibly have been there from around 8 BC, if not before. As yet no face pots have been identified there. Around 10-16 AD the Thirteenth Legion moved to the new fortress built at Vindonissa, and from then on there is no evidence of any legion being based in either Raetia or Noricum until the Marcomannic Wars in the later second century. Some time in the early years of

1

Schönberger 1969, 151 Alföldy 1974, 19ff. 3 On the slopes of the holy mountain near Klagenfurt which was almost certainly Noreia the capital of the Celtic kings of Noricum (ibid, 50) 4 These seem to have consisted mainly of vexillations from the of Pannonian legions, in particular from legio VIII Augusta and possibly from legio XV Apollinaris, together with a few auxiliary units such as the locally raised cohortes Montanorum. 5 Ibid, 66 and 145. 2

179

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER VII Eining. Once the danger threatening Italy had passed, legio II Italica was also moved up to the Danube, being stationed first at Albing, and then, c.205, it was moved two kilometres further west to its final home at Lauriacum, at the mouth of the Enns. The frontier between Regensburg and Vienna was also strengthened by the construction of more and larger auxiliary forts, with fortlets and signal towers in between.

A.3. The Chattan and Marcomannic Wars and the Later Roman period in Raetia and Noricum, AD 160400 The period of peace, which had followed Trajan’s Dacian wars and the creation of the new province of Dacia, came to an end with the death of Antoninius Pius in AD 161. First the Chatti tried to cross the Raetian frontier in 162; then came the Parthian war which ended in victory in 165, but the returning soldiers brought with them a calamitous epidemic of the plague; in 166 the first Marcomannic invasions across the Pannonian and Norican frontiers began. Peace was not finally established along the Danube frontier until 175. In the course of the wars Marcus Aurelius sent two recently raised legions to Raetia and Noricum: legio 11 Italica was first stationed in a new fortress at Locica in south east Noricum, just west of Celeia, strategically placed to control the northern side of the Trojana pass and plug the gap in the praetentura defenses of Italy (ibid, 154); the other legion, legio III Italica, was sent to strengthen the Upper Danube frontier, and was stationed in a new fortress at Castra Regina (Regensburg), built beside the earlier auxiliary fort of Kumpfmühl Altersheim, though part of the legion at least may first have been stationed in a new base at

The Danubian frontier in Noricum continued to be defended until the end of the fourth century, and in some places even longer depending on local initiative. In Raetia the region north of the Danube was lost after the invasions of the 260s, but the frontier was then re-established along the south bank of the Upper Danube, as far west as the river Iller, and then ran southwards to join the Swiss Rhine. Some of the early forts on the south side of the Danube were reoccupied or the towns that had developed in their place were fortified. However so far no evidence for Late Roman face pots has been found along the Danube and Iller frontiers in Raetia, and just one glazed face beaker of UD Type 30 at St Pölten on the Danube frontier in Noricum, though three other examples of this same Late Roman Type are known from Flavia Solva (near Leibnitz) in south-east Noricum.

PART I THE FACE POTS OF RAETIA for the one example found in the Alps at Chur (UD Type 9). Chur was included in Raetia when the province was constituted by Claudius in AD 45. B.1.

THE EARLIER FACE JARS C.40-166

One of the interesting aspects of the face jars and other pottery vessels of northern Raetia is their strongly regional character, implying the existence of continuing local pottery traditions and experienced local potters. And yet, unlike Noricum, where archaeologial excavation has shown Celtic settlement continuing uninterrupted into the Roman period, in north Raetia it appears to have been seriously disrupted by the Germanic invasions under Ariovistus in the second quarter of the first century BC, and again by the Roman conquest6. A key factor however that may have contributed to the unusual and local character of the early Raetian face jars is the absence of legionary troops at this period, with their recognisable Italian and Rhineland ceramic traditions.

Pl. G1. Upper half of a tall red face jar of UD Type 1 from Günzburg, in the Heimatmuseum Günzburg; diameter of girth: c.30 cm.

Face jars have been found in many of the Raetian forts, both on the southern and northern banks of the Danube, and in the civilian towns and settlements that grew up alongside them or in their place. It would seem they continued until the fall of the Raetian Limes around 260 AD. No face beakers however have been found in the province except

6

180

Keller 1985, 29.

THE FACE POTS OF THE UPPER DANUBE Forms Two forms predominate in this period, both of which occur quite frequently along the Raetian frontier as normal jars without faces: 1. Red or grey jars with a narrow neck and sharply carinated, almost horizontal shoulders on which three tubular spouts are placed, alternating with three small strap handles (UD Type 1, Fig. G2 and Pls. G1 and G3). The face is placed below one of the spouts, and there are bands of grooves around the girth, often combined with incised wavy lines. At Faimimgen sherds of this form have been found with snakes climbing up the spouts (Fig. G2: 5), but not enough of the vessels has survived to tell if the pots also had faces7. 2. Glossy orange jars of UD Types 2 and 3 with a wide belly and smoothly sloping shoulders, and with bands of grooves and incised wavy lines around the girth. There is often a notched cordon on the shoulder. The face is either placed above this (UD Type 2), or below (UD Type 3). Similar forms without faces are quite common along the Upper Danube in both Raetia and Noricum, often with painted bands instead of incised grooves and wavy lines, and they appear to be the successors of the fine, highly polished jars made at Manching and other sites in Central Europe during the late Iron Age.

Pl. G2. Spout fragment from a face jar of UD Type 1 from Straubing with a small compact face with m-shaped eyebrows and nose, and what may be another similar face beside but it with un-notched eyebrows. (Photo from Prammer 1980, Fig. 10)

Those of UD Type 2 almost all have long down-trailing eyebrows ending in outward-curling spirals, executed in incised dotted-line technique, reminiscent of the Celtic faces of Central European La Tène metalwork. The only applied features are the nose and the shallowly applied bossed eyes (see Pl. G3).

There are also four examples of the Late La Tène jar form with a round body and cylindrical or beaded neck already known from Strasbourg and the Stuttgart area8, three in glossy orange ware and the other in dark grey ware (UD Type 5 A-B, Fig. G5: 3). These seem too be mainly of second century date. Jars of this form were frequently used for cremation urns on the Upper Danube in the later first and second centuries, as in the cemetery at Roggden9.

Pl. G3. Face fragment in glossy orange ware from a tall face jar of UD Type 2 from Heidenheim-an-der-Brenz, in the Museum Schloss Hellenstein, Heidenheim a-d-Brenz.; size 5.5 x 11 cm.

Faces. The faces on the earlier Raetian face jars also have little in common with Italian or Rhineland face pot faces.

Those of UD Type 3 are much more varied. To judge by the examples so far identified, not one is the same as another, though most are very abbreviated, missing mouths, ears and even eyebrows.

Those of UD Type 1 are all small and compact, with thickly applied sliced mushroom or m-shaped eyebrows, and with round pellet eyes. In those cases where the lower half of the face survives, there is a notched beard (see Pls. G1 and G2).

There are also two faces with horns (Fig. G5: 1-2), Unfortunately both of these occur only on body sherds, with insufficient evidence to re-construct the rest of the jar. They have therefore been listed for the time being under a separate UD Type 4, though they could both have come from UD Type 3 face jars. The face on the four jars of UD Type 5 are again all different one from another, though mostly less abbreviated and schematic than those of UD Type 3. The large face with smooth, unnotched, m–shaped eyebrows on the example from Regensburg-Kumpfmühl of UD Type 5 (Fig. G5: 3) is a face type that crops up occasionally all over the Western Empire, with or without a beard. Though a similar mask occurs on the Etruscan painted face beakers, it does not seem to occur on any of the Roman face beakers found in Italy, and may belong to Celtic traditions.

7

Ulbert 1963, Fig 4. RD Types 2 and 12, Figs. F2: 2 and F3: 2. 9 Hübener 1959, 30 ff. 8

181

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER VII Figurative decoration In addition to the bands of grooves and wavy lines on the face jars of UD Types 2 and 3, there is also a rare example of a face jar with incised figurative decoration from a rich female grave at Neuberg of UD Type 3 (Fig. G4: 1). This has a cock and a purse-like object on the left side of the face and what looks like a baby chick on the right side, drawn in dotted-line technique. The purse and cock suggest a connection with Mercury, though the baby chick, if that is what it was, is an unusual addition. There is one other face jar with incised figurative decoration from this general area, namely the face jar of UD Type 11 from Kematen, just across the frontier in Noricum, which has a freize of animals, tree(s) and symbols across the reverse. Both pots were buried in unusual cremation graves, and in neither case did the face jar serve as the cremation urn, another plain jar being used instead. Figurative decoration is very rare on face pots and is known otherwise only on two second century face jars from Trier of RL Type 21C (Fig. D13: 3-4), and two Late Roman face jars from Britain made in the Much Hadham kilns of RB type 31A (Fig. J14: 4-5)10. It also occurs on a few rare examples of the Gallo-Belgic Bust vases11. B.2

Pl. G4. Face fragment with thin, prominent nose and goatee beard in fine orange-buff ware of UD Type 6 from Eininig in the Stadt and Kreismuseum Landshut; size 10 x 11c m

Somewhat similar faces are also found as far west as the corner of the Raetian and Upper German Limes where, as has been seen in the previous chapter, they occur on face jars of second to third century date of RD Types 11-12 (Fig. F3: 1-5) and RD Type 27 (Fig. F5).

RAETIAN FACE JARS OF LATER SECOND TO MID THIRD CENTURY

Decoration The one face jar of this later period with any decoration is the one from Pförring of UD Type 7 (Pl. G10), which has triangular arrangements of raised bosses on either side of the face. Such decoration is unknown on any other Continental face jars, but it is characteristic of a group of Raetian jars which have three or four naturalistic female face masks, thought to represent the fair Medusa, around the girth in between triangular clusters of bosses (Pl. G11).

Forms More standardised, Romanised jar forms appear after the Marcomannic wars following the influx of reinforcements from the Rhineland and the Middle Danube, with high shoulders, and plain everted rim (UD Types 6-7, Fig. G5:46 and G6: 1-3, Pls. ), which are somewhat similar to those of RD Types 3 and 27 found at Strasbourg and in north Switzerland, though with less carinated shoulders.

B.3

Faces. The face with a protruding chin with neat goatee beard, and a prominent aquiline nose (see Pl. G2 above), occurs on these two later Types, and may have been brought here from Pannonia where such faces occur on some of the earliest locally produced face beakers (see Chapter VIII, DAN Type 5).

As already mentioned, only one face beaker is known from Raetia, part of a large green-glazed vessel found at Chur, almost certainly an import from northern Italy listed under UD Type 9 (Fig. C9: 5). One reason for the lack of face beakers in Raetia could be the absence of a permanent legionary garrison in the province from c. AD 10-16 until the Marcomannic Wars of 166-175. Chur however in its isolated position in the south western corner of the province, controlling the Alpine routes from north western Italy to Vindonissa and Augst on the Rhine, was in a quite different sphere of influence, and may even have been occupied by a legionary vexillation during much of the first century AD drawn from whichever legion was based at Vindonissa. B.4

10 11

EARLY FACE BEAKER

SITES AND CONTEXTS

The earlier face jars of UD Types 1-5 are all from sites where there was or had been an auxiliary fort, either on the Danube or to the north of it, with just three exceptions from what appear to be non-military sites south of the Danube at Wehringen, Schwabmünchen and, just recently, at Niedererlbach (two of UD Type 3 and one of UD Type 5). The later second to third century face jars also all come

These are discussed in Chapter XII, B12. See Appendix III, Groups 3 and 4, Fig. R2: 3-5.

182

THE FACE POTS OF THE UPPER DANUBE from military sites, either auxiliary forts or the legionary fortress at Regensburg. In contrast with what seems to be the case in north Switzerland, many of the Raetian face jars appear to have come from graves, where they normally served as cremation urns, though one or two have clearly come from domestic or other non-funerary contexts.

……………….

CATALOGUE OF RAETIAN FACE POTS (UD Types 1-9) FACE JARS WITH SPOUTS UD Type 1 Tall face jars in red or grey ware with three handles and three tubular spouts on the shoulder (Fig. G2: 1-4 and Pls. G1 and G3). Height: Fabric: Decoration: Face: Distribution:

Context: Date:

30-36 cm. Red or grey, hard and quite fine. Bands of grooves round the girth, sometime with incised wavy lines in between. Small and compact; applied, m-shaped eyebrows and nose; round, pellet eyes; stabbed beards. South bank of the Bavarian Danube, 4 (1c. and 3f.). Examples have been found at: Burghöfe 1c (Ulbert 1959, 112, Pl. 46); Günzburg 1f. (Günzburg Heimatmuseum No 1286); Straubing 2f. (Prammer (1980, 20, Fig. 10; and Straubing Heimatmuseum). Cellar inside early turf fort (Burghöfe); inside vicus (Straubing). From c. AD 35-40 to early second century.

Pl. G5. Dark grey face jar of UD Type 1 from Burghöfe in the Prähistorische Staatsammlung, Museum für Vor und Frühgeschichte, Munich; height 30 cm.

The only example from a securely dated context is the complete face jar from Burghöfe found in a cellar of the fort which was occupied from c. 35-40 until c. 80 (Pl. G5 above). The faces which are placed on or above the girth are all small and compact. A very similar face occurs on the face jar with spouts on top of the handles of UD Type 11 from Kematen, just across the border in Noricum (Fig. G7: 1) and also on a native-looking antefix or gable ornament found at Lauriacum12. Such faces would seem to be local to this area of the Upper Danube, though it is conceivable that they are of Germanic origin, as a face mask very like these occurs on a face jar fragment of Roman date from Hessen in Free Germany13. Pitchers of this form with three handles and three spouts on the shoulder, though without a face, are quite common in the first century and the first half of the second century in the forts of the Upper Danube area as far east as Regensburg and extend as far west as Bad Cannstatt14 (see Pl. G4). They are in red or grey fabric. The spouts, which are all functional with a good clear opening at the base, are on the shoulder, alternating with three small, strap handles. Most examples have a burnished outer surface, and are decorated with bands of horizontal grooves, often with incised wavy lines in between them.

12

See Appendix V, D, Fig. S12: 6. See Chapter II, Part II, B.3, Fig. B12: 7. 14 See drawing in Fig. G2: 6 of a jar in the Dillingen Heimatmuseum. 13

183

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER VII small, medallion-shaped, mould-made masks. They are however the only other group of Roman pottery vessels that frequently has spouts, handles or frilled rims (rarely all three together, but often a combination of two).

FACE JARS WITHOUT SPOUTS UD Type 2 Tall, glossy orange face jars with wide girth, narrow neck, and shallow face on neck above a notched cordon or narrow band of grooves(Fig. G3: 1-4 and Pl. G5 ). Height: Fabric: Decoration: Face: Pl. G6. Tall jar in glossy red-slipped ware with three handles and three spouts from Bad Cannstatt in the Limesmuseum Aalen.

Distribution:

Outside this area jars with both spouts and handles are very rare, though two examples, both without faces and in form somewhat similar to honey pots, are known from Trier15, while another faceless jar with four spouts but no handles is in the Rijksmuseum GM Kam at Nijmegen. Face jars with two or three spouts on the shoulder or neck but without handles are often found in the Rhineland, and to a lesser extent in Britain, while face jars with handles but no spouts are common in Britain (RB Types 13 A-K, Figs. J6-8). Snake vases on the Upper Danube Snake vases which have applied snakes climbing up the sides of the vessel are the only other type of vessel apart from face jars that frequently have spouts. As already mentioned, one or two very fragmentary examples of this vessel form, in red fabric, have been found at Faimingen with what look like snakes climbing across the shoulders and up the sides of the spouts, see Fig. G2: 516, though not enough of the pot(s) survives to tell whether there was also a face or any other kind of decoration on these pots. A number of snake vases have been found along the Upper Danube17. Most are just fragments, and only one or two can be partially reconstructed, including an unusual example from Pocking in Bavaria, in pinkish buff fabric with three frilled, cup-like, unpierced spouts, shaped like miniature incense burners, and the remains of three snakes climbing up the outside of the pot (see Fig. G7: 2). It also has three handles placed in between the spout-cups with moulded appliqué female faces at the base of each handle. Snake vases from other areas including those from neighbouring Switzerland are discussed in Appendix VI. There is no evidence, except perhaps for one very fragmentary example in Britain18, that snake vases ever had stylised, handmodelled face pot-type faces, though quite a number have

Context: Date:

c. 36-38 cm. Pale orange with a glossy, samecoloured slip. Notched cordon on shoulder, with bands of double grooves and wavy lines round the girth. Shallow, applied nose and boss-like eyes; dotted spiral eyebrows; no mouths, beards or ears. Both sides of the Upper Danube above the river Lech, 8 (2c. and 6f.). Examples have been found at: Günzburg 2f. (Günzburg Heimatmuseum; Czysz 2002, 142, Fig. 147); Faimingen 2c and 1f: (comp: Dillingen Heimatmuseum Nos 3971 [2] and 3896 [3]; frag: Wagner 1906, 34 [1]); Heidenheim an der Brenz 3f. (Zürn 1956, Pl. 9:17 [4]; Jacobs 1911, Pl. III:8; Zürn, H, 1956, Katalog Heidenheim an der B, Pl. 19:17; Zürn 1974, Fig. 84; Museum Schloss Hellenstein, 3 unnumbered frags.). Cremation urns (Faimingen); well (Heidenheim, Zürn 1974). Late first century to second century.

The tall, handsome face jars of UD Types 2 and 3 are the commonest face jars of this Upper Danube area. The vessel form, which is the same for both Types, is closely related to the Late La Tène jars mentioned above, and is found all along the Upper Danube region in Raetia and Noricum during the later first and second centuries, though normally without a face. The jars are all in a distinctive light orange fabric with a glossy outer surface, with bands of horizontal decoration, which are either a combination of notched cordons, grooves and wavy lines, or of painted bands and patterns. Faces however seem to occur only on the nonpainted jars, and have not been identified by the author further east than Neuburg. The ones of UD Type 2, with the face on the neck may be the slightly earlier ones, and appear to have been found only in the forts of Günzburg, Faimingen and Heidenheim. Those of Type 3, with the face on the shoulder, which are more widely spread, could be somewhat later.

15

Oelmannn 1914, 67, Fig. 51. Ulbert 1963, 60. 17 Those from Bavaria have been published by Ulbert (1963). 18 See Chapter IX, RB Type 13K, Fig. J8: 4. 16

184

THE FACE POTS OF THE UPPER DANUBE bronze-covered couch from Hochdorf in Bavaria22. Or they could reflect a woodworking technique using a red hot spike to make tiny holes. Applied bosses, which could represent bronze rivets, are often central to the dotted designs, as on the fragments illustrated in Fig. G3: 5-6. Very similar bosses to these are used on the face jars to represent eyes. Bosses are also the decorative motif on the later face jar of UD Type 7 (Fig. G6:1), and on the jars with triangular arrangements of bosses (Fig. G6: 2-4), but in these cases the bosses have been pressed out into a mould, and are probably of a separate origin. It is not clear what the strange decoration below the mouth on the face jar fragment from Heidenheim (No 4 and Pl. G3 ) represents. It has been suggested that it could be some kind of a necklace or a lace frontlet of a kind still found in the region today. However, to judge by a very similar mask drawn with notches instead of dots on a face jar of UD Type 3 from Günzburg (see Pl. G10 below), it seems fairly clear that what was intended was a stylised beard with strands. The fact that the faces on these jars are all so similar, as are the fabric and decoration, could mean that these jars were all produced by one potter or at one production centre. UD Type 3 Tall face jars, almost identical to the above, though in varying sizes and with the face on the shoulder, below a notched or frilled cordon (Fig. G4: 1-4 and Pls. G9-10).

Pl. G7 Tall face jar with glossy orange colour-coat of UD Type 2 from Faimingen in the Heimatmuseum Dillingen; height 38 cm.

The UD Type 2 jars almost all have more or less the same very unusual and distinctive face with long spiral-curling eyebrows drawn in dotted-line technique. These eyebrows are reminiscent of the Celtic masks with “Hathor locks” of early La Tène metalwork found in the region of the Upper Rhine and the Upper Danube19. Long downward drooping eyebrows are found on several face jar types in the Rhineland, and in this area of the Upper Danube, but these ones are far longer, more curling and more decorative.

Pl. G8 Close-up of the face on the face jar from Faimingen of UD Type 2 (see Pl. G7 above)

Pl. G9. Face jar in glossy orange-buff ware of UD Type 3 from Faimingen in the Prähistorische Staatssumlung München; height 26.5 cm.

Trailing patterns of dotted lines are a characteristic decorative technique on pottery in this region20, and it could be that the dots recall previous, or indeed still continuing, Iron Age traditions for decorative sheet bronze metalwork of the kind known on the Late Bronze Age Venetic situlae of Carynthia21, or on the early Iron Age

Height: Fabric: Decoration: Face: Distribution:

19

See Chapter II, Part III, A.1, Fig. B13. See the drawings in Fig G2: 5-7, taken from Walke 1965, Pl. 85: 2, Pl. 61: 1 and Pl. 91. 21 Pauli, L 1984, 164, Fig. 96. 20

22

185

26.5-38 cm, but Schwabmünchen 16.6 cm. Glossy pale orange. Same as for UD Type 2; incised figurative decoration on one example (No 1) Variable (see below). As for UD Type 2, but spreading east as far as Neuburg, 7 (6c. and 1f.). Examples have been found at: Faimingen 1c. (Prähistorische Staatsammlung München

Schutz 1983, 265-8, Figs. 200-201.

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER VII

Context: Date:

No. 21/4 R(W) S1 [2]); Günzburg 2c. (Zeitschrift des Historisches Vereins für Schwaben Vol 74, 1911, 53, Fig. 20 [3]; Czysz 2002, Figs. 148: 1 and 149: 2, Günzburg Heimatmuseum no number; Czysz 2002, 143, Figs. 148: 1-2 and 149: 2[Pl. G10]); Neuburg 1c. (Hübener 1957, Fig. 3: 35 [1]); Wehringen 1c. (Prof Nüber 1983, unpub report, Pl. 63:3, Grave 37 [4]); Oberdorf am Ipf 1f. (Hertlein 1912, Pl. II: 26); Schwabmünchen 1c. (Sorge 2001, 83, 42, Note 131, Pl. 6: A27). Graves, almost always as cremation urns. No 3 found with a box of “doctor’s tools”. Second century.

The area of distribution for these jars is somewhat wider than for those of UD Type 2 above, and more than one group of potters was probably involved. UD Type 4 Face jars of indeterminate form with a horned face on the upper girth (Fig. G 5: 1-2 and Pl. G7) Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution:

The faces on these pots are all different one from another, and not one is the same, but they are all placed on the shoulder below a notched cordon. The down-curling “eyebrows” of the Wehringen face jar (No 4) actually start beneath the eyes, surprisingly. This pot also has an unusual, double, notched cordon above the face. Dotted-line decoration is used on the Günzburg face jar (No 3), though not for spiral eyebrows, but to create a heart-shaped face, which certainly gives quite a good impression of an appliqué face spot-riveted onto sheet bronze. The face on the Günzburg jar that is not illustrated in Fig.G4 also has long out-curling eyebrows, but it is drawn with neat shallow notches that could reflect techniques used in wood carving.

Context: Date:

Large jar, c. 36 cm. Glossy pale orange (No 2), vitrified purplish grey (No 1). Applied notched eyebrows and horns, one or the other curving downwards; coffee bean eyes; slit mouths; hatched beards. Same as for UD Types 2 and 3, 2f. Examples have been found at: Pfünz 1f. (Winkelman 1901, Pl XX: 69); Günzburg 1f. (Günzburg Heimatmuseum No 1,202). Vicus cellar (Pfünz). Probably second century.

These two large body sherds with faces have been grouped together under a separate Type because they both have horns. It is quite possible that they both come from vessels of UD Type 3, adding yet more face types to those already known, as both faces appear to be positioned on the shoulder of the vessel and in the case of the Günzburg piece, below a notched cordon. Not enough survives of the other piece to tell whether there had been a cordon or not. They could also have been of the same glossy orange fabric, as the purplish grey colour of the Günsburg fragment could be due to over-firing. However, given the very unusual faces, with horns and a beard, they have provisionally been given a separate UD Type number.

Pl.G10. Drawing of the neatly notched face mask on one of the face jars of UD Type 3 from Günzburg (Czysz 2002, Fig. 149: 2).

The incised figures on the Neuberg face jar (No 1) have already been discussed above, but it is interesting that the cock is also drawn in this dotted-line technique. This jar came from a rich woman’s grave, but was not the container for the cremated bones which were buried in a smaller plain jar. The numerous grave goods included a sigillata bowl of Reginus (Drag. 37) with leaping felines, an arm-purse and girdle ornaments made of bronze, and the remains of a burnt metal casket.

Pl. G11. Face jar sherd in purplish grey ware of UD Type 4 from Günzburg in the Heimatmuseum Günzburg; size 13 x 14 cm.

On the Günzburg fragment the horns stand up like goats horns, with the eyebrows curving down and outwards, but on the other piece from Pfünz the eyebrows are short and straight and it is the horns that curve down and out like a ram’s. Horns are only rarely found on face jars, and seem to be limited to this area of the Upper Danube, to the stretch of the Lower Danube between Ratiaria and Novae (Dan Type 6, Fig. H4: 2 and DAN Type 33, Fig. H12: 7), and to a few scattered sites in eastern Britain (though these British face jars all have short vertical, Pan-like horns rather than

The example from Schwabmünchen with an abbreviated face somewhat similar to No 2 is only 16 cm tall and has a short neck with beaded rim, but is in the same fabric and seems to belong to this Type.

186

THE FACE POTS OF THE UPPER DANUBE horizontal or down-curling ones lying parallel with the eyebrows).

the mid first to mid second century23, but both these two face jars come from later second century contexts.

UD Type 5A Wide, round-bodied face jars in glossy orange ware with cylindrical neck or beaded rim and face on the girth (Fig. G5: 3-4)

The face jar from Regensburg (No3 and Pl. G8) comes from vicus of the auxiliary fort at Kumpfmühl-Altersheim, which was later succeeded by the Regensburg fortress c. 172. It was found in a cellar deposit sealed by destruction layers of c.170-175. It was broken but more or less complete – possibly some kind of votive offering. Its face is a very fine example of the “Celtic” mask with m-shaped eyebrows and nose. A like this, or one with a similar face and in a similar fabric, may have existed at Augst to judge by two tiny fragments found in the colonia (see RD Type 31, Fig. F6:1 in the previous chapter). The example from Niedererlbach, Landkreis Landshut is a recent find. So far, apart from a photo in the local newspaper24, it only appears to have been published on the Internet25. No indication of its size is given, and it could be taller than shown in the drawing in Fig. G5: 4. It has a long lugubrious-looking face that looks like an enlarged and elongated version of the mask on the face jar of UD Type 11. The m-shaped eyebrows join up with the thin ridged beard that curves around the lower part of the face and provide an oval frame for the face. It was found in a cremation grave, one of the richest in the small cemetery adjoining the Roman settlement at Niedererlbach on the eastern edge of the Isar valley, beside the east-west Roman road from Augsburg to the middle Danube. The grave is assumed to have been that of a soldier or retired veteran, as within the face jar along with a metal knife and spoon was an unusual bronze belt buckle used only by the military. The grave also contained, along with other pottery, a decorated sigillata bowl dated to c. 200. The buckle suggests that this may have been the grave of a retired veteran, or even of a soldier who died while still in service, perhaps while visiting his family or convalescing with them, given that all items of military equipment at this period normally had to be handed back on retirement.

Pl. G12. Face jar with glossy orange colour-coat of UD Type 5A from Kümpfmuhll-Altersheim, Regensburg, in the Stadtmuseum Regensburg; height: 26.4 cm.

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution:

Context: Date:

26.4 (No 3); unspecified (No 4). Pale orange with glossy self-coloured slip. Two very different faces but both with down-drooping m-shaped eyebrows and flat pellet eyes. Eastern Raetia 2c. Regensburg, Kumpfmühl-Altersheim 1c. (Regensburg Stadtmuseum. No 1951, 139,2, Bayerische Vorgeschichtsblätter 21, 1956, 306, Fig. 81:11); Niedererlbach 1c. (Raschel and Steiner, Internet site 2003, title page). Vicus cellar (Regensburg); cremation grave with military buckle (Niedererlbach). Second century.

UD Type 5B ware Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution: Context: Date:

Both these face jars and the one below of UD Type 5B are in the typical Late La Tène form with spherical body and cylindrical or beaded neck which is common from the Strasbourg area eastwards through the Black Forest to the Upper and Middle Danube, though only a few rare examples have faces on them (RD Type 2, Fig. F2: 2 and RD Type 12, Fig. F3: 4). Schorgendorfer dates this form to

23

Face jar of similar form in dark grey 25.8 cm. Dark grey ware (described as Terra Nigra). Sliced-mushroom eyebrows and nose; applied round eyes, slit mouth, chin blob and crescent ears; dotted beard around lower part of face. Eastern Raetia 1c. Schwabmünchen 1c (Sorge 2001, 42, Pl. 12: B.61). Inside kiln settlement. Second century?

Schorgendorfer 1941, 142, Forms 212-3, Rottenburger Anzeiger October 20, 2001. I am very grateful to Dr Jochen Garbsch for alerting me to the discovery of this face jar. 25 See details in Bibliography under Raschel and Steiner, 2003. 24

187

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER VII This incomplete but reconstructable jar with a face that appears, from what is left of it, to have been quite similar to that of the face jar from Burghöfe of UD Type 1, comes from the kiln settlement at Schwabmünchen. On the surviving shoulder there is a kind of lug handle in the shape of an inverted horseshoe. It was found in a settlement attached to local kilns.

date from after the construction of the fortress, which was built around 172 AD. UD Type 7 Red face jar with high shoulders and triangular clusters of shallow bosses (Fig. G6: 1a-b and Pl. G10) Height: Fabric:

UD Type 6 Buff, high-shouldered face jars with everted rim and a face with sharply protruding nose immediately below the rim (Fig. G5: 4-6 and Pls. G4 and G32).

Decoration: Face:

Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution:

Context: Date:

22-24 cm. Fine buff, varying from ochre colour to pinkish or orange buff. Applied features: high, protruding eyebrows (sometimes notched); thin, protruding, hooked nose; coffee-bean eyes; open mouth; pointed beard or chin (Nos 4-5); occasionally ears (No 5). Eastern Raetia from Pförring to Regensburg, 3 (2c and 1f): Pförring ((Forchheim) 1c. (Prähistorische Staatssammlung München, No N.40.74); Eining 1f. (Landshut Stadt und Kreismuseum); Regensburg (1c. (Regensburg Stadtmuseum No 1973, 131-E838, from Gross Prüfening cemetery). Graves, as cremation urns (Pförring and Regensburg). Probably late second to mid third century

Distribution: Context: Date:

23 cm. Red with a glossy reddish-ochre colourcoat. Three triangular clusters of pushed-out bosses around the upper half of the jar. Pressed out; applied beaked nose and pointed chin; no eyebrows. Pförring 1c. (Munich Prähistorische Staatssammlung) Grave, probably as cremation urn. Later second century?

Pl. G14. Beak-nosed face jar in glossy red, ware of UD Type 7 decorated with triangular arrangements of bosses from Pförring in the Prähistorische Staatssammlung München; height 23 cm.

This form with the triangular clusters of bosses made by pressing the wall of the pot into a negative mould is not uncommon in the second and early third centuries along the Upper Danube from Faimingen to Regensburg26 (see Fig. G6: 4) and in the Innsbruck area of the Tyrol27. Generally they are in a glossy reddish-orange fabric, but sometimes in grey ware. Some of these pots have three or four beardless masks in between the clusters of bosses, which are also made with negative moulds and are generally thought to represent the fair Medusa (Fig. G6: 2-3). The bosses resemble stylised bunches of grapes and could indicate some kind of Bacchic association. Medusa-mask pots have been identified at Faimingen28, Weissenberg29 and

Pl. G13. Face jar with sharp, aquiline nose in buff ware of UD Type 6 from the cemetery at Grossprüfening, Regensburg, in the Prähistorische Staatssammlung München; height 23.2 cm.

These face jars are similar in form to the later second and third century face jars of north Switzerland, RD Type 27 (Fig. F5: 1-4), but with a less sharp carination between the neck and shoulder. The faces are similar too, but with even more of a hooked nose, and only coffee-bean eyes, no triangular ones. The examples from Pförring and Eining have prominent pointed chins, but only the latter has a beard (Pl. G4). There is no decoration other than the face. They have all been found between the end of the Raetian Limes and Regensburg, and the likelihood is that that they

26 Hübener 1959, 51, Fig. 10: 210; Von Schnurbein 1977, Pl 125: 4; Regensburg Stadtmuseum, 10+. 27 Dolak 1972, 24, Pl. 9: 1a –b. 28 Dillingen Heimatmuseum Nos 806; 3043; 3198; 3712; 6638. 29 München Museum fur Vor-und Früh Geschichte No 1962, 912.

188

THE FACE POTS OF THE UPPER DANUBE Roggden30. but bossed jars without masks have a much wider distribution. All these jars, with or without masks, seem to have come from graves, and where evidence survives, they served as cremation urns.

EARLY RAETIAN FACE BEAKER UD Type 9 Large green-glazed face beaker with grotesque hook-nosed face (Fig. G6: 5)

The Pförring face jar is the only example identified in this form with a hand-modelled face pot face in place of the mould-made Medusa masks. The face is freely modelled by hand, but it has been pressed out from the wall of the pot, with just the large aquiline nose and chin applied31. .

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

Unknown, max. diameter c. 15cm Rather soft, beige fabric with yellowishgreen glaze. Applied features; up-swooping eyebrows and eyes; nose and mouth combined in a hawk-like beak. Chur (central Switzerland) 1f. (Hochuli Gysel et al, 1986, 92 and 300, Pl. 20: 3). Domestic context. Probably Claudio-Neronian

This face beaker, which was almost certainly made in north Italy, probably in the Ticino region (ibid, 92) is also listed in Chapter III under IT Type 30 (Fig. C9: 5) where it is more fully described. It is in the same soft beige fabric as the Ticino face beakers of IT Type 18 (ibid, 92), one of which has a band of green glaze above the face, and has quite similar features. Pl. G15. Medusa-mask jars in glossy orange-red ware in the Heimatmuseum Dillingen

UD Type 8

Chur, Roman Curia, became a part of the province of Raetia during the reign of Claudius. Situated deep in the Alps in a controlling position over the north south routes that wound through the Bündner passes32, it must have had a military garrison for most of the first century if not later. As mentioned in Chapter III, a wide variety of imported early Roman finewares has been found here including sherds from nine other green-glazed vessels, mainly of north Italian or central Gaulish origin but including the one rare vase fragment from the eastern Mediterranean with relief pinecone decoration on it thought to have come from a ringhandled kantharos or jug.

Gap left in Type Series

30

Hübener 1959, 42, Fig. 6: 123. A somewhat similar face jar occurs in Britain from Littlecote which has triangular, grape-like clusters of dimples rather than bosses, but this one also has four panther-like felines (see Chapter IX, Pt. III, RB Type 31A., Fig. J14: 4 and Pl. 29. 31

32

189

These are the Julier, Septimier and Bernardino passes.

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER VII

PART II THE FACE POTS OF NORICUM not have faces33. Its compact, bearded face however suggest a closer association with the Raetian face jars of the upper Danube than with these Swiss vessels, in particular those of UD Type 1 which have a very similar face mask and also have three spouts and three handles, though differently configured. The two face jar fragments of probable third century date so far identified at the fortress at Lauriacum on the Danube just to the west are too small to be classified, but appear to relate more to the Pannonian face jars of this period of DAN Types 27-28. NORICAN FACE BEAKERS There are three very separate groups of face beakers in Noricum, from different periods and from different corners of the province. Two are of small-sized beakers and one of tall beakers: 1. Pl. G16. Beak-nosed face beaker in fine buff ware with brown colour-coat of UD Type 21 from Magdalensberg in the Archäologisches Ausbrabungsmuseum Magdalensberg; height 12.5 cm.

Imported, thin-walled face beakers with beak-noses of Tiberian-Claudian date of UD Types 21-22 (Fig. G8: 1-4).

As has already been noted in Chapter III, C, in relation to the face beakers exported from northern Italy, unprecedentedly high numbers of Italian face beakers of IT Types 19 and 26, listed in this chapter as UD Types 21 and 22, have been found at Magdalensberg, which is thought to have been the seat of the Roman provincial administration before Virunum was made the official capital of the province under Claudius in the mid first century AD34. A vexillation of legio VIII Augusta (whose main base was then at Poetovio) is documented at Magdalensberg in the late Augustan period (ibid, 65) and may have remained there for most if not all of the reign of Tiberius, possibly together with a unit of Norican troops, the cohors Montanorum prima (ibid). There was very probably another legionary detachment based at the important river crossing and trading post at Salzburg on the Salzach, where two further imported face beakers are known of UD Type 21, before it was made a municipia by Claudius (ibid 74 and 81). The apparent withdrawal of the military garrisons from these two sites during the Claudian period could account for the fact that no local production of face beakers seems to have taken place in either area.

Norican face pots, which are mostly face beakers, occur on a just few rather separated sites around the periphery of the province. Only the tall, folded face beakers found at Virunum, one of which has three faces, might be said to be specific Norican Types. The rest tend to have more in common with the face pots of the neighbouring provinces close to whose frontiers they have been found. As already mentioned, Noricum only had a very small military garrison during the first century and for most of the second, and it may well have been for this reason that face pot traditions never took root to any noticeable extent in the province, except perhaps at Virunum which became the provincial capital under Claudius, and would have been the head quarters of the Governor’s military staff from then on. The face pots that have been found all come from sites that had military occupation or veteran settlement at one time or another. NORICAN FACE JARS Only one complete face jar has been identified from Noricum, the unique face jar of UD Type 11 with “spouts” and an incised frieze of schematic, archaic-looking animals, trees and what could be solar symbols around the girth from Kematen, just south of the Danube close to the auxiliary fort of Mauer an der Url (Fig. G7: 1, Pl. G13). Its three blind, cup-like spouts precariously balanced on top of its three handles are quite similar to those on the snake pots thought to be connected with the worship of Sabazius found at Vindonissa and Augst in Switzerland, though these do

2.

Late Roman green-glazed face beakers of UD Type 23 (Fig. G9: 3-5) Three of the four examples of this Type come from (Flavia) Solva and one from St Pölten, both sites close to the eastern frontier with Pannonia. Very similar Types in Late Roman glazed ware have been identified on sites along the Danube in Pannonia though none exactly the same as these (DAN

33 34

190

See Fig. G7: 3, and Appendix VI, B.2. Alföldy 1974, 78.

THE FACE POTS OF THE UPPER DANUBE Lauriacum35, dated on the basis of the pottery to between the end of the first century AD and the end of the second36.

Types 14 and 16-17, Figs H6: 4-5 and H7: 3-4). Solva must almost certainly have had strong military connections for much of the Roman period and have been a focus for veteran settlement as it appears to have produced more legionary recruits than any other town in Noricum after Virunum (ibid, 261).

Such tumuli are not uncommon in northern Austria and Hungary, and belong to the little understood NoricoPannonian Tumulus Grave Culture, thought to have lasted from the middle of the first century AD until the beginning of the third37. They occur out in the open countryside, on sites overlooking roads and rivers, and can rarely be closely connected with any particular settlements38. As a result very little is known about the people buried beneath them. They are all cremation graves. Some of the tumuli have stone or brick burial chambers beneath them, but in others the cremated bones, sometimes but not always in an urn together with the accompanying grave goods have been laid straight onto the earth at the base of the tumulus The grave goods are mostly locally produced but Roman in character.

3. Tall colour-coated face beakers with folded sides of UD Type 25 (Fig. G9: 1-2). These second to third century beakers have only been identified at Virunum and may well have been made there. The only complete example has three faces. Too little survives of the other three face beakers to tell if they too had three faces. As has been seen, somewhat similar and equally tall colour-coated face beakers of this date, but without folded sides or three faces, occur in the Upper Rhineland (RL Types 51 and 52, Fig. F20: 7-9). Small face jars, or large face beakers, in moderately fine plain or colour-coated wares, also appear at roughly this same time in north Switzerland (RD Types 27- 9, Figs. F5 and F6: 12) and again in Dacia (DAN Types 25-26, Figs. H9 and H10).

……………. CATALOGUE OF NORICAN FACE POTS UD Types11-30 FACE JARS UD Type 11 Buff face jar with three blind “spoutcups” on the rim above three strap handles, and with incised figurative decoration around the girth (Fig. G7: 1 and Pl. G13 ) Height: Fabric: Decoration: Face:

Distribution:

Context: Date:

To top of rim: 28.7 cm; to top of spouts: 35 cm. Orange buff. A frieze of incised, archaic-looking animals, symbols and trees. Small, compact face with thicklyapplied, m-shaped eyebrows and nose; bulbous, slit eyes; long, narrow, protruding chin; stabbed beard; small applied crescent-shaped ears. Kematen 1c. (Urban, 1981, 100, Pls. 10-11; Schorgendorfer 1942, 66, Pl. 46: 560; NÖ Landesmuseum Wien, No 1785). Tumulus cremation grave, but not urn. Late first to second century.

Pl. G17. Orange-buff face jar of UD Type 11 from Kematen with three handles and “spout-cups” and incised drawings round the girth in the Niederösterreichisches Museum Wien; height (to top of “spouts”) 35 cm.

Roman tumulus graves are not unique to this region of the upper Danube, though this is where they are found in greatest numbers. They also occur in Belgium, in Germany in the Eiffel-Hünsruck area, in Britain, and, in smaller

This vessel, with its incised drawings and spout-cups on top of its handles, is a unique find. It was found in a shallow sandstone grave chamber under a tumulus in a cemetery of similar graves beside the river Ybbs, to the south east of

35 Urban 1981, Tumulus M, pages 94-96. Urban’s report is an attempt to reconcile the findings of the two main excavations of the cemetery: by O.Blank in 1904 (report never published but some finds published by Menghin (1928, 30-50) and by A. Mittmannsgruber soon after the end of the Second World War (Mittmannsgruber 1954, 8-10). 36 Urban, ibid, 102. 37 Urban 1981, 101; Kerchler 1967, 54, Alföldy 1974, 148-51. 38 Kerchler 1967, 52.

191

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER VII numbers, in other parts of the Roman Empire39. They seem to be too widespread for there to be any ethnic connections between all these separate groupings, and it may be that this burial rite, so widespread in the early Iron Age, was for some reason revived during the Roman period by certain provincial aristocracies who sought this way of commemorating their dead and proclaiming their status and tribal identity.

designs on some tall red-slipped jars with black painted decoration belonging to the Celtic Eraviscan tribe living in the north eastern corner of Pannonia42, though on these vessels the animals, mostly deer, are drawn in a much more naturalistic fluid style, and not at all like the very stiff, abstract, primitive-looking beasts of the Kematen face jar. In many ways these latter have much more in common with the stylised incised designs found on some of the vessels of the Early Iron Age Lausitz Culture of Hungary43, or on the face urns from Pomerania44. A possibly closer parallel than the Neuburg face jar might be offered by the only other Continental face pots known with incised figures, namely the two face jars of RL Type 21C from Trier, one of which has two rather different but equally primitive and hairy animals on it and a fir tree, while the other just has fir trees (Fig. D 12: 3-4)45.

As far as can be seen this is the only face jar to have been found in a Norico-Pannonian tumulus grave. The grave does not appear to have been particularly distinguished from the others in the cemetery, though it may have had slightly more pottery grave goods than most of the others and, according to Urban’s reckoning, it contained a total of three cremation urns of which the ashes from two could be identified, one lot being the bones of a mature man and the other those of a small child.

OTHER NORICAN FACE JARS.

The face jar must almost certainly have been some kind of a cult vase. As was the case with the face jar with figurative decoration from the rich female grave at Neuburg, it too was found empty with no ashes inside. The three blind spout-cups, one of which is lost, are balanced precariously on top of the handles where they join the rim. As already mentioned, the closest parallels are with the snake pots from north Switzerland found at Augst and Vindonissa believed to be connected with the cult of Sabazius, though these jars do not have faces on them40. Somewhat similar cup-like “spouts”, also blind, occur on the cult vase from Pocking in Bavaria, though these are placed on the shoulder, in between the handles, and not above them41 (see Fig. G7: 2).

Evidence for other face jars in Noricum has been hard to find. Just two unclassifiable face jars sherds in grey fabric could be identified at Lauriacum, one from a very large pot with an applied mouth with open fleshy lips and traces of a stabbed beard below it46, and the other with an applied right ear from a slightly smaller pot47. As the fortress was built c. 205, they are both probably of third century date, and look as though they could have come from face pots similar to the grey coarse-ware face jars or large face beakers of late second to third century date found at Vienna and Carnuntum48. There are also two face fragments in dark grey fabric from Virunum, near Klagenfurt, in south Noricum, which could be either from face jars or large face beakers. However as their faces are similar to the two large folded face beakers from the same site (see below, UD Type 25), they have been provisionally included with this Type.

The face with its slicedmushroom-shaped eyebrows and nose, and stabbed beard is similar to the faces on the Raetian face jars of UD Type 1. Evidence that such face masks were used in other ways, and not only on face pots, in this area of the Upper Danube is provided by an antefix or roof finial from Lauriacum which has a mask with very similar features (see Appendix V, D, Fig. S12: 6, and Pl. S25).

UD Types 13-20

Gap left in Type Series

SMALL FACE BEAKERS (UD Types 21-23) UD Type 21 Early colour-coated thin-walled face beakers with short vertical, grooved rim, and grotesque features (Fig. G8: 1-2 and Pls. G12 and G14)

The incised figurative decoration on the Kematen face jar has no obvious parallels in Raetia or Noricum, except for the rather different face jar from Neuburg of UD Type 3 (Fig. G4: 1). It seems to consist of two hairy animals, possibly a rabbit and a dog or alternatively an ox and a horse, one or two trees, two solar symbols or sun flowers, and what could be the caduceus of Mercury. It has been suggested that there are similarities with the figurative

Height: Fabric: Face: 42

8-10 cm, occasionally up to 12.5 cm. Fine ochre or pinkish buff; dark brown or red colour-coat. Very protruding, hooked and often

Urban 1981, 100; Vago 1960, 54-62. La Baume 1949-50, 176-7, Figs. 9-10. 44 See Chapter 2, III, A.1, Fig. B12: 5, and La Baume 1949-50, 158 ff. 45 For further discussion of these decorated face jars see Chapter XII, B.12. 46 Museum der Stadt Enns No RM 795. 47 Stadtmuseum Linz, E. Ruppprechtsberger, private info. 1984. 48 See Chapter VIII, DAN Types 27 and 28, Fig. H10: 1-5. 43

39

Amand 1965, 624. Staehelin 1948, 552, Fig. 161 and Ettlinger 1951, Fig. 13. See Fig. G7: 3 and Appendix VI, B.2. 41 Ulbert 1963, 57, Fig. 1. 40

192

THE FACE POTS OF THE UPPER DANUBE

Distribution:

Context: Date:

twisted noses; heavy notched eyebrows; either large round/oval eyes with thick, applied, generally notched eyelids, or coffee bean eyes; wide mouths with thick lips, occasionally gaping; large protruding ears, sometimes pierced; no beards. North east Italy, south and central Austria, and Slovenia, 37 examples (6 c and 31 f.). 34+ egs. have been found in Noricum (4c and 28+ f.): Magdalensberg 4c. and 28+f. (Schindler Kaudelka 1975 130, pl. 27; ibid et al. 2000, 271-4; Archäologisches Ausgrabungsmuseum Magdalensberg); Salzburg 2f. (Hegar 1986, 146, Fig. 12: 76). Other egs. from: Pozzuolo (Aquileia) 1c. (Museo Arch. di Aquileia, No 115.543;); Emona 1c. (Plesnicar-Gec 1972, 123, Pl. 206:2); Poetovio 1f. (Mikl Curk 1976, Pl. VI: 11). Graves (Pozzuolo and Emona); iron workshops and domestic contexts (Magdalensberg); refuse pit (Salzburg). Tiberian–Claudian.

hill. This site also has the examples with the most absurd and exaggerated faces. The imported face beakers found at Magdalensberg, listed here under UD Types 21 and 22, have been divided by Schindler Kaudelka into three groups50. Her Group I is listed below under UD Type 22. Her Groups 2 and 3 which are very similar and both in the same colour-coated fabric51 have been included together here under the one UD Type 2152. There are no complete examples of Group 3, but these latter appear to be slightly larger, up to 12.5 cm as opposed to c. 8-10 cm, and have even more twisted and rubbery faces. They could perhaps belong to a slightly later or earlier consignment.

Pl. G19. Imported beak-nosed face beaker with dark brown colour-coat of UD Type 21 from Magdalensberg in the Archäologisches Ausbrabungsmuseum Magdalensberg; height 9.5 cm.

Most of the face beakers and fragments of this Type found at Magdalensberg come from the area of the Roman settlement where iron and steel-forging workshops were situated.53 As a rule, the face beakers in this area occur in pairs. Only a few isolated examples have been found elsewhere in the Roman settlement. None were found in the ruins of the burnt general stores where the remains of what appears to have been a whole consignment of face beakers of UD Type 22 were found, no examples having been found anywhere else on the site.

Pl. G18. Beak-nosed face beakers with brown colour-coat of UD Type 21 from Magdalensberg in the Archäologisches Ausbrabungsmuseum Magdalensberg; height 12.5 cm.

These early face beakers with their grotesque faces and long beaked noses are almost certainly all imports from northern Italy (see Chapter III, IT Type 19)49. They appear to be the most widely exported and copied of all the north Italian face beakers, though by far the largest numbers have been found at Magdalensberg, in the Roman settlement that grew up beside the Celtic oppidum on the Magdalensberg

50

Schindler Kaudelka et al 2000, 271-4. As revealed by fabric analysis (Ibid, Fig. 1). No distinction is made in the report between the numbers found belonging to Group 2 or Group 3, just an overall number of c. 32 for the two Groups. 53 Ibid, 2000, 274b. 51 52

49 Examples have also been found in Pannonia, so this Type appears in the Middle and Lower Danube Catalogue in Chapter VIII as DAN Type 2.

193

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER VII All the examples were found in the burnt general stores, and none are known from the rest of the settlement. From this it appears that the consignment must have arrived just before the fire broke out (ibid, 274b).

UD Type 22 Early conical thin-walled face beakers with short cylindrical rim in red colour-coated ware with sharp, protruding nose (Fig. G8: 3 and Pl. G15 )

UD Type 23 Late Roman small, glazed, globular face beakers with schematic faces (Fig. G9: 3-4 and Pl. G16 ) Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution:

Pl. G20. Imported red colour-coated face beaker with long narrow nose of UD Type 22 from Magdalensberg in the Archäologisches Ausgrabungsmuseum Magdealdnsberg; height 10 cm.

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution:

Context: Date:

Context: Date:

9.5 - 10 cm Fine hard red, with a reddish colour coat. Applied features; sharp, thin nose; coffee bean eyes; protruding lips; shallow ears, not pierced. Magdalensberg 38 examples. At least 2 complete (or reconstructable) and the rest fragments (Schindler Kaudelka, 1975, 130-2, and ibid, 2000, Group I; Archäologisches Ausgrabungsmuseum Magdalensberg) Burnt general shop. Late Tiberian-Claudian.

c.8 cm. Green glaze (Solva) or orange (St Pölten). Round pellet eyes, some with slits; sometimes no mouth or ears; goatee beard (No 5); one example with two faces (Solva, not illus.). Eastern Noricum 4c. Examples have been found at Solva 3c. (Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz Nos 18.877 [4]; 18.878 [3]; 21.586, Stefan Groh, 1994, pers. comm); St Pölten 1c. (Neugebauer and Gattringer 2000, 31, Fig. 27). Grave (St Pölten). Probably all Late Roman.

These appear to be related to the Pannonian glazed pottery traditions, though no face beakers of exactly this form have so far been identified in Pannonia. The green-glazed examples from Solva could possibly have been made in the important pottery-producing centre at Poetovio, just across the frontier, where glazed pottery was produced from the late first or early second century onwards54., but the one from St Pölten which has a reddish brown glaze could be from different kilns, especially as it is the only one with a typically Danubian applied goatee beard. One of the three examples from Solva (Inv. No 21.586), which is very similar to the two illustrated in Fig. G9: 3-4, has two faces, one on each side.

Like the examples of UD Type 21, these face beakers are also thought to be north Italian imports, and are listed in Chapter III under IT Type 28. They are in a slightly different fabric to those above, and belong to Schindler Kaudelka’s Group I. They are quite similar in form to the plain orange-buff face beakers of northern Italy of IT Type 15 (Fig. C4: 1-3), though these ones here are colour-coated, and have long, sharp, hooked noses. As yet no face beakers of this Type have been identified on other sites in northern Italy or further to the east.

a b Pl. G21. Two of three green-glazed face beakers of UD Type 23 from Solva in the Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz; height c. 8 cm. (photo courtesy of Dr Stefan Groh).

All three Solva face beakers appear to be old finds, with no information as to their find-contexts, but the example from St Pölten is said to come from a Late Roman grave and the Pl. G20a, Profile view of the two reconstructed examples of UD Type 22 from Magdalensberg.

54

194

Istenic 1994, 23.

THE FACE POTS OF THE UPPER DANUBE others are likely to be of the same date and quite probably from graves also.

LARGE FACE BEAKERS, 2ND TO 3RD CENTURY (UD Type 25) UD Type 25 Large folded face beakers with plain, cylindrical neck and black colour-coat, one with three faces (Fig. G9: 1-2 and Pl. G17) Height: Fabric:

Face: Distribution:

Context: Date:

22.6 cm Fine grey fabric, generally with a glossy black colour coat (No 1); quite fine grey fabric, no evidence of burnishing (No 2); one e.g. with matt black c.c. (frags.). “Serene” face masks; almond shaped eyes; pushed out chins; some notching of eyelids and beards, but not of eyebrows. Virunum 1c. and 3f. (comp: Schorgendorfer 1942, 67, Pl. 46: 564; Landesmuseum für Kärnten, Klagenfurt, No 8208 [1]; frags: Landesmuseum für Kärnten, Klagenfurt, Nos 7064 [2], 8263 and one unnumbered). Bath complex (No 2). Second to third century.

Pl. G17. Indented, black colour-coated face beaker with three faces of UD Type 25 from Virunum in the Landesmuseum für Kärnten, Klagenfurt; height 22.6 cm

The complete example is the only ceramic face pot known so far which has three separate faces. Each face is placed on a fold of the pot. The three “serene” faces, one of which has a beard, cover most of the body of the pot, and are quite naturalistically modelled, which might imply some connection with a head vase tradition, though no head vases have been identified from this region, and none are known with three faces. The only other ceramic face vessels with three separate faces are a small group of bust vases from Gallo-Belgica (see Appendix III, Group 2, Fig. R3: 1-2)55. It is interesting to note however that the examples so far identified from Gallia Belgica all have two bearded faces to one beardless, the opposite way round to this Virunum face beaker. In Britain there is a small bronze pot with a carrying handle that has three projecting heads, but in this case they are all bearded and all identical (see Chapter IX, under RB Type 44 (Fig. J19: 3). This British pot also has smiths’ tools in between the heads.

Three other face pot fragments in plain grey fabric have also been found at Virunum. In one case (No 2) enough of the vessel survives to show that it too comes from a folded beaker, though not necessarily one with three faces. The others are too small to tell, but they also have large almondshaped eyes, and have provisionally been included in this Type. One of these, which is in a slightly coarser and darker grey ware than the others56 has notched eyelids and traces of a ring-stamped beard. Folded beakers are frequently found in second to third century deposits in both Pannonia and Noricum, but no others have been identified with a face or faces. Schörgendorfer (1942, Pl. 19) illustrates a number of tall folded beakers from the eastern Alps, but none of them have the same cylindrical neck as this one, and only one, his Form 256, is as tall. Unfortunately none of the three face fragments from Virunum extend as far as the rim, so there is no knowing whether they had the same rim and neck form.

55 Otherwise three-faced pots have the three faces amalgamated into a tricephallic mask, as on the first century face jar from Köln (RL Type 4A, Fig. D4: 4) and the later Roman face jars from Mayen and Bingen (RL Types 31 and 45A, Figs. D14: 4 and D18: 5), and on some of the GalloBelgic bust vases of Group 1 (See Appendix III, Figs. R2: 1 and 3 and R4: 1-2).

56

195

The un-numbered fragment.

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER VII RAETIAN FACE JARS OF UD TYPE 1

Fig. G2.

1, Burghöfe; 2, Günzberg; 3-4, Straubing; 5-6, Faimingen

196

(Scale 1:4)

THE FACE POTS OF THE UPPER DANUBE RAETIAN FACE JARS OF UD TYPE 2

Fig. G3. 1-3, Faimingen; 4, Heidenheim; 5-7 Straubing (Scale: 1-3 and 6 at 1:4; 4-5 and 7 at 1:2) (References for drawings other than face pots: Nos 5-7, Walke 1965, Pl. 85:2; Pl. 61:1 and Pl. 91)

197

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER VII RAETIAN FACE JARS OF UD TYPE 3

Fig. G4 1, Neuburg; 2, Faimingen; 3, Günzberg; 4, Wehringen. (Scale 1:4)

198

THE FACE POTS OF THE UPPER DANUBE RAETIAN FACE JARS OF UD TYPES 4-6

Fig. G5. Type 4, Nos 1-2; Type 5, Nos 3-4; Type 6, Nos 5-7 (Scale: Nos 1-2 at 1:2; Nos 3-7 at 1:4). 1. Günzberg; 2, Pfünz; 3, Regensburg-Kumpfmühl; 4, Niedererlbach; 5, Pförring; 6, Regensburg; 7, Eining.

199

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER VII RAETIAN FACE JAR OF UD TYPE 7, FACE BEAKER OF UD TYPE 9 AND BOSSED JARS

Fig. G6

Type 7, No 1; Type 9, No 5; jars with bosses and appliqué masks, Nos 2-4. (Scale 1:4) 1, Pförring; 2, Roggden; 3, Faimingen; 4, Regensburg; 5, Chur. (Refs. for drawings of bossed jars: No 2, Hübener 1959, Fig. 6:3; No 3, HM Dillingen Inv. No 806; No 4, Von Schnurbein 1977, Fig. 125:4) 200

THE FACE POTS OF THE UPPER DANUBE NORICAN FACE JAR OF UD TYPE 11 AND BAVARIAN AND SWISS SNAKE VASES

Fig. G7.

Type 11, No 1 a-b; Snake vases, Nos 2-3. (Scale 1:4) 1, Kematen; 2, Pocking; 3, Vindonissa (Refs. for . (References for drawings of snake vases: No 2, Ulbert 1963, Fig. 1; No 3, Ettlinger 1951, Fig. 13.)

201

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER VII NORICAN FACE BEAKERS OF UD TYPES 21-22

Fig. G8.

UD Type 21, Nos 1-3; UD Type 22, No 4. (Scale 1:2) 1-2, Magdalensberg; 3, Salzburg; 4, Magdalensberg.

202

THE FACE POTS OF THE UPPER DANUBE NORICAN FACE BEAKERS OF UD TYPES 23 AND 25

Fig. G9. Type 25, Nos 1-2; Type 23, Nos 3-5 (Scale 1:2) 1-2, Virunum; 3-4, Flavia Solva; 5, St. Pölten

203

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER VII

204

THE FACE POTS OF PANNONIA, MOESIA AND DACIA

CHAPTER EIGHT The face pots of Pannonia, Moesia and Dacia. There are undoubtably far more face pots in these three provinces than it has been possible to identify here and this chapter can only provide an indication of the face pot traditions that developed in the area of the middle and lower Danube. Had more material been available, it might have been possible to deal with Pannonia, Moesia and Dacia in separate sections or chapters, but at present the face pots of the three provinces appear to be so closely inter-linked, with so many Types overlapping, that separation is difficult. In the early first century Moesia and Pannonia were still part of the province of Illyricum which was later split up into Dalmatia1, Pannonia and Upper Moesia. Only during the later years of the century did Roman military occupation of Pannonia fully extend to the Danube frontier. First century face beakers (there are no first century face jars as far as can be seen) are all found in the area of the Drava and Sava rivers and in southern Pannonia, mainly on military sites that were later vacated (but where veterans settled) as the army moved eastwards and northwards to the Danube frontier. By the beginning of the second century, the same situation obtains in the two Danubian provinces of Pannonia and Moesia as in the Rhineland during the first century, with a chain of forts and fortresses all along the river frontier and a great deal of traffic and troop movements up and down the river ensuring close communications between the military sites from Vienna 2 to Oescus and eventually on down to the fortresses at Durosturum and Troesmis on the lower reaches of the Danube. Very similar face jars and face beakers turn up on widely separated military sites.

Pl. H1. Face fragment in red colour-coated ware from Aquincum of DAN Type 21 in the Szépmüvészeti Múzeum, Budapest; height 8.8 cm. (Photo courtesy of Dr Arpad Nagy)

in non funerary contexts, a fact which could obviously bias the results of a survey of this type. Most of the face jars found are very fragmentary, without rims or bases, and many survive only as unclassifiable sherds. Therefore fewer Types can be reliably identified. As more vessels are published and exhibited in museums, many more Types will doubtless emerge. The area of least information as yet is Dacia, where there is a lot of material waiting to be published, and many more face jars and face beakers may come to light in future years from this province.

One fact that fairly clearly emerges from this limited survey is that there are many more face beakers than face jars in this region, particularly if one includes the tall face beakers of DAN Types 25 and 26, the exact opposite of what has been observed so far in all the other provinces except Noricum and in Italy itself. It also seems to be the case that face jars do not appear much, if at all, before the second century. However, the face beakers identified so far are mostly complete vessels, found predominantly in graves, while face jars, as far as can be seen, are more often found

It is difficult to make an accurate assessment of the “popularity” or otherwise of face pots in general in the Middle and Lower Danube regions as compared with the other provinces. The general impression, obtained from publications and from East European colleagues is that face beakers and face jars do not occur with the same frequency here as in the provinces of Germany and Britain, but this impression could be mistaken. The largest number identified in this survey come from Pannonia, but there appear to be quite a significant number of unpublished face pots and sherds from military sites in Dacia. Moesia seems to have the least, particularly Moesia Inferior, where so far they have only been identified in the four legionary bases along the lower Danube. This could be due in part to its proximity to Greece and the predominantly eastern focus of its early military garrison.

1 Unfortunately it has not been possible to include Dalmatia in this survey. A few rare face beakers are said to have been found there, two of which may be in the Archaeological Museum at Split. This was closed for repairs after war damage when I tried to visit it in 1997. 2 So far site names in this study have been given in the language of the present-day country concerned apart from one or two exceptions such as Vindonissa in Switzerland, Vindolanda in Britain, and Virunum, Flavia Solva and Lauriacum in Austria, which are best known by their Latin names. But in the countries of the middle and Lower Danube major Roman archeological sites are best known by their Latin names when these are known, and for ease of reference I have followed the same practice in this study.

205

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER VIII A.

The conquest and total occupation of Pannonia was achieved over a period of thirty to forty years. The decisive first step was Octavian’s expedition from Aquileia in 35 BC down the Sava river which ended in his capture of the strategic Pannonian or Scordiscan stronghold of Siscia, at the confluence of the Sava and the Kulpa rivers9. A strong garrison was maintained at Siscia, and another military base was almost certainly established at Emona. In 16 BC Augustus sent a large force under Tiberius against the Scordisci who were defeated and became allies of Rome. Tiberius then led several more campaigns to subdue the Pannonians, which ended in 11 BC after very tough fighting with their total defeat, and the enslavement of all the adolescent males, an unusually severe measure (ibid 34). Pannonia was incorporated into the Empire as a part of the new province of Illyricum, whose northern boundary was said to be the Danube. There is little evidence however for any move to occupy the northern part of the province for another twenty years or more, until just before the death of Augustus when a legionary fortress was founded at Carnuntum for legio XV Apollinaris at the point where the Amber Road crossed the Danube. Another fortress was built at Poetovio on the Drava at the conjunction of the Amber Road and the main east-west highway leading westwards into Italy and eastwards down the Drava to the Lower Danube.

THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

A.1. The conquest and constitution of the provinces of Pannonia and Moesia The histories of the two provinces of Pannonia and Moesia in the early imperial period are closely interwoven. They were the key to Rome’s access to the regions of the Middle and Lower Danube, and to the securing of safe, overland communications between the eastern and western halves of the Empire. Under Augustus, the rather loosely defined region that was later to make up the provinces of Pannonia and Dalmatia and part of Upper Moesia was officially annexed into the Empire in 11 BC as one province called Illyricum. Unlike Noricum, there were no proto-countries already in existence in this region which could have become allies or client kingdoms of Rome, but only what appear to have been loose associations of tribes. The Pannonians are believed to have been of Illyrian stock and to have come from northern Dalmatia and the valley of the Sava3. They also seem to have inhabited the northern half of what was to be Moesia Superior. The tribes in the mountains further south, and those living further east in Lower Moesia, are thought to have been related either to the Moesians and Thracians who had ancestors from western Asia Minor, or to the Geto-Dacian tribes living along the Lower Danube and to the north of it4. The Celts who came sweeping through this whole area in different waves from the fourth to the second century BC united some of the tribes under their hegemony, and left their most enduring imprint on the region that is now northern Hungary where the kingdom of the Boii was established stretching from the eastern borders of Noricum to the Tisza river5. During the second quarter of the first century BC the Dacian leader Burebista built up a huge kingdom north of the lower Danube, and eventually took on the Boii and destroyed their Celtic state. But on his death a few years later in 44BC, the year Julius Caesar was murdered, his kingdom too disintegrated into inter-tribal warfare6. The Scordisci, who figure most prominently in the history of the Roman conquest of Illyricum, had first stormed across the Danubian plain into Greece, sacking Delphi in 279, but they then returned to settle in the lands where many of the Pannonian tribes were living along the lower reaches of the Sava river and along the Danube as far as the junction with the Morava river, as well as in the territory south of the Danube in what is now Serbia78. The Celtic Taurisci took the lands further west towards the Adriatic. It is only when the Romans had subdued these Celtic overlords that we hear more of the many Pannonian/Illyrian tribes living under their domination.

In 6 AD the Pannonians and Dalmatians rose in revolt, apparently against the Governor’s attempted recruitment campaign and a three year war ensued, which ended with Illyricum being divided into two parts, later to be called Dalmatia and Pannonia. All the youths of the South Pannonian tribes who had taken part in the rebellion were forced into auxiliary cohorts, but those of the north were not enlisted until after the middle of the century (ibid, 39). During the war as many as ten legions were fighting in Illyricum. At the end of it, just seven remained as the garrison of the three new provinces; VIII Augusta, IX Hispana and XV Apollinaris in Pannonia, VII and XI in Dalmatia, and IIII Scythica and V Macedonica in what was to be Moesia. The rest went to the Rhine to replace Varus’ legions10. Then, on the death of Augustus in 14 AD, came the mutiny of the three Pannonian legions. Many of the legionaries had been in active service in Pannonia for 20 years or more and were due to be soon retired, and according to Tacitus (Annals I. 16) they had no wish to end their days beside fortresses or in veteran colonies “in a water-logged swamp or on some untilled mountainside”. Tiberius put down the mutiny11 and concentrated on consolidating the two new provinces of Pannonia and Dalmatia, and also on the incorporation of what was to be the new province of Moesia, though the date of its constitution may not have

3

Mócsy 1974, 13, Wilkes 1990, 74. Mócsy 1974, 27 and 65. 5 Barkóczi 1980, 87. 6 Hoddinott 1981, 148. 7 Wilkes 1990, 201. 8 By the time their names are recorded on tombstones in Roman times, they turn out to have predominantly Illyrian personal names (Mócsy 1979, 12) and presumably theirs was a conquest by a ruler caste, like the Vikings in Normandy or Russia who also quickly took on local names, rather than a major immigration of people. 4

9

Mócsy 1974, 32-3. Thought to have been XIII Gemina, XIV Gemina and XX, the latter two later to take part in the invasion of Britain. in AD 43. 11 One of the measures Tiberius took to propitiate the soldiers is thought to have been the foundation of a veteran colony at the already prosperous site of Emona, a very popular move given its excellent position overlooking the river on the main trade route from Italy. 10

206

THE FACE POTS OF PANNONIA, MOESIA AND DACIA been before the reign of Claudius. In contrast to Pannonia’s protracted and bloody conquest, Moesia seems to have succumbed almost without a blow, and evidence of this can presumably be seen in the complete absence of Moesian auxiliary regiments with the exception of one cohort of Dardanians raised under Vespasian12.

particularly under Domitian, all the legions and the bulk of the auxilia were moved up to the Danube frontier, to counter the threat from the Dacians, Sarmatians and the Marcommani. For the next one and a half centuries, the main focus of military activity shifts from the Rhineland and Britain to the Danube and the East. Auxiliary forts were built at regular intervals all along the Danube in Pannonia and along vulnerable stretches of the river frontier in Upper Moesia with watch towers in between. In the course of twenty years, between 70 - 90 AD, seven fresh legions were drafted into this area and stationed along the river frontier, though two of them, legio V Alaudae and legio XXI Rapax are thought to have been destroyed within a few years of their arrival18. Only one legion was transferred westwards, legio VIII Augusta from Novae, which had presumably left in 68 to take part in the fighting during the War of the Four Emperors and never returned to base, ending up at Strasbourg in AD 71 or possibly not until c. 90-9219.

Under Tiberius a huge road building programme was started, which was continued by Claudius: from Aquileia down the Sava and the Drava, up to Carnuntum through Poetovio, and all along the Danube13. The organisation of the Danube fleet may also date from this period, and the construction of tow paths along the river banks. Two legions certainly remained in Pannonia throughout this period, the Fifteeth at Carnuntum, and the Eighth at Poetovio, though as we have seen in the previous chapter, vexillations of both may have been based in Noricum in the Tiberian period, while part of the Fifteenth Legion may have remained for a time at Savaria before moving permanently to Carnuntum14. The Ninth probably remained at Siscia until its transfer to Britain in AD 43. In Moesia legio V Macedonica was at the fortress at Oescus, which may have been founded in the time of Augustus, while legio IIII Scythica was probably in the south, at either Naissus or Scupi, controlling the route to Macedonia. In 45 AD legio XIII Gemina was transferred back to the Danube from Vindonissa replacing legio VIII Augusta at Poetovio, which was in turn moved to a new fortress on the Lower Danube at Novae15. The distribution of auxiliary troops along the Middle Danube frontier is still not clear. Almost no forts have been found of Tiberian date, and very few of the Claudian period. It has been suggested that the bulk of the auxiliary troops were still based in the interior of the two new provinces, to maintain control over the new civitates16. In addition, cavalry units were stationed along the principle roads to the river frontier, and ala forts of this period have been found along the Amber Road, while a fort at Gorsium may also have served the same purpose. As a result, only a small number of auxiliary troops were probably stationed on the river itself until the early Flavian period..

As a result of these reinforcements, Pannonia and Moesia now each had four legions. Pannonia gained the recently raised legiones I and II Adiutrix from Mainz and Britain respectively, and Moesia received legio IV Flavia from Burnum on the Dalmatian coast and the newly raised legio I Italica. In Pannonia new fortresses were built at Vienna and Aquincum, and probably at Mursa and/or Sirmium (ibid, 86). Moesia was divided into two, with two legions in each province. In Upper Moesia new legionary bases were built at Singidunum and Viminacium, while in Lower Moesia, Oescus and Novae remained. A fortress may also have been built at Ratiaria . During these tumultuous years it is far from clear where all the legions were based. The fleet was re-organised, and divided into the classis Flavia Pannonica, with ports at Carnuntum, Brigetio, Mursa, Novi Banovci and Taurunum20 and the classis Moesica with bases at Sexaginta Prisca and at Noviodunum, close to the Delta21. The numbers of auxiliary troops were also considerably increased, both with transfers from the Rhineland and with new levies. A.3.

The Conquest of Dacia

Under Trajan, in preparation for his Dacian campaigns, Pannonia was divided into two, with three of its four legions assigned to the much larger province of Upper Pannonia and stationed on the northern frontier facing the Germans, while just one legion based at the new fortress at Aquincum plus a large auxiliary garrison were left to cover the long, narrow, frontier province of Lower Pannonia. Along the Lower Danube, two new legionary bases were built at Durosturum and Troesmis. A further major reinforcement of troops was brought in from the Rhineland to ensure that the Danube frontier was adequately guarded while the Dacian campaign was in progress. Some of these troops later returned, but others, including legio XI Claudia from Vindonissa and the newly raised XXX Ulpia, stayed22.

A.2. Reorganisation after the Civil Wars of AD 68-69 The frontier seems to have remained relatively quiet until the Civil Wars of 68-9, when so many of the best Danubian troops left their bases to take part in the fighting. From 6870 Sarmatian forces attacked Moesia and in 85 the province was disastrously invaded by the Dacians, now reunited under a powerful new leader, Decebalus. Then in 92 the Sarmatians invaded Pannonia17. Under the Flavians, and 12

Holder 1980, 226. This included building a road through the Iron Gates and the Kazan Gorge of the Djerdap. It used to be thought that this was only achieved under Trajan, but a new reading of the Tabula Peutingeria implies that Trajan only re-built and improved the road constructed by Tiberius and Claudius (Mócsy 1974, 47). 14 Wilkes 2000, 112. 15 For more details of these deployments and of the subsequent movement of the Danubian legions see Appendix II, and Wilkes 2000, 101-116. 16 Mócsy 1974, 49-50. 17 Wilkes 2000, 103. 13

18

Ibid, 81, 85. see Chapter V1, A.1. 20 Fitz, 1980, 132. 21 Maxfield 1987, 178. 22 See Appendix II. 19

207

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER VIII along the internal road network25, but hardly occurs at all along the Danube except at Carnuntum, the one early military fortress in northern Pannonia. North Italian influence is much less marked on early sites in Moesia. Though IV Scythica, and V Macedonica, the two first legions based in the as yet unconstituted province, may both have drawn many of their recruits from northern Italy, much of their earlier experience had been in the eastern Mediterranean, and both for this reason and because of geography, the links with northern Italy in Moesia seem to have been much less strong.

The conquest of Dacia was achieved remarkably swiftly, and the province was stabilised by the deployment of auxiliary troops in forts strategically placed across the province, and in particular along the vulnerable frontier in the north west, known as the Limes Porolissensis. The acquisition of this new province across the Danube must have removed much of the pressure from the river frontier in southern Pannonia and Upper Moesia, but in fact only one of the six legions who had taken part in the Dacian campaigns, legio XIII Gemina remained permanently based in Dacia, at Apulum, and the rest appear to have been withdrawn by 114 or 118 to fortresses on the Danube or elsewhere23. Singidunum and Viminacium continued as legionary bases, but Oescus and Ratiaria were vacated and both became colonies24. In 166 legio V Macedonica, or perhaps a part of it, was moved to Potaisa from its base at Troesmis, and remained there until Dacia was given up in 271 AD.

B.

Only towards the end of the first century AD with the arrival of new regiments from the west and the opening of the trade route from the middle Rhineland along the Upper Danube do influences from the Rhineland and possibly also from Britain start to become evident26, and with them the appearance of face jars with Rhineland face masks, at first in northern Pannonia (DAN Types 21 and 22, Fig. H7), and then in Dacia and on the Lower Danube (Fig. H11), though as yet only a lot of virtually unclassifiable fragments and one cleverly reconstructed face jar from Brigetio (DAN

THE DANUBIAN FACE POTS

In the Danubian provinces, as in the Rhineland, face pots seem to divide quite easily into three chronological groups reflecting the historical developments in the region, with an early, first century period during which Roman control of the provinces of Pannonia and Moesia was consolidated and the frontier along Danube established; a second period from the late first to the later third century with a considerable influx of new troops and the conquest and occupation of Dacia, ending with the barbarian invasions of 260-75 and the loss of Dacia; and a third period with far fewer face pots from the later third to the later fourth century. Face beakers occur in all these periods, but face jars do not start until the second period and may not extend much if at all beyond it. It has been found simplest therefore to treat all the face beakers together, divided into the three chronological groups, with the face jars and large face beakers placed at the end in one second to third century group. As can be seen from the map on Fig. H1, the earliest face beakers occur along the Sava and Drava rivers, gradually moving up to the Danube frontier during the later first century. Throughout the first century, Italian influence in Pannonia was undoubtably very strong. The original garrison of three legions, VIII Augusta, XV Apollinaris, IX Hispana, all raised almost exclusively from Italy (Mann 1983, 116-7 and 131), had been stationed in the then province of Illyricum since the early years of the first century AD, and had had no spell in Germany to dilute the Italian influences of their homeland, while the barbarian auxilia who accompanied them are also unlikely to have had any experience of the Gallo-German version of romanitas that was developing in the Rhineland. Trade was almost all from northern Italy, with important Italian trading centres set up alongside the military bases on the routes emanating from Aquileia, such as Magdalensberg, Emona, Poetovio, Siscia and Sirmium. North Italian terra sigillata is found on virtually all first century sites all over Pannonia

Type 21, Fig. H7: 1) survive to tell the tale. The conquest of Dacia was achieved at the time when both face jars and face beakers were in use in the Roman army on the Danube, and coincided with the hey-day of face pot production on both the Rhine and the Danube frontiers. From the present scanty evidence it seems probable that both face jars and beakers were used in many if not most of the forts in Dacia during the early occupation of that province, along with what might be seen as an amalgamation of the two types, namely the large face beaker which emerges in the later

23

25

24

Pl. H2. Museum copy (with reconstructed rim) of the first century face beaker with a goatee beard of DAN Type 5 in orange-red ware from Gorsium in the Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum Budapest; height 8.5 cm.

Ibid. Both were re-occupied after Dacia was given up (Wilkes 2000, 116).

26

208

Bónis 1980, 360. Mócsy 1974, 122.

THE FACE POTS OF PANNONIA, MOESIA AND DACIA second century (Dan Types 25- 26), though this could be too simplistic an explanation for all the large face beakers which occur at this time, not only along the Middle and Lower Danube, but also in Noricum, northern Switzerland and the Upper Rhineland.

This grinning or grimacing mask, known from the barbotine face beakers of IT Types 20-22 occurs on the imported face beaker of DAN Type 3, though on this the barbotine features have been applied with some kind of a fluted nozzle (Fig. H2: 4).

Face jars and large face beakers appear to fade out during the later third century, but face beakers in glazed and grey wares continue into the fourth.

The beak-nosed mask. This mask occurs on the two imported Aquileia-type face beakers from northern Italy of DAN Type 2, a virtually complete beaker from Emona and a fragment from Poetovio (Fig. H2: 2-3), though on the latter the actual nose is missing but can be surmised from the surviving eye and eyebrow and the beaker rim. It also occurs on the locally produced face beaker of DAN Type 5 found at Emona, which has a grotesque pierced nose, thick raised eyelids and large pierced ears (Fig. H2: 5).

B.1.

EARLY FACE BEAKERS OF THE FIRST CENTURY (DAN Types 1-5)

Forms and fabrics The earliest face beakers from sites along the Sava and Drava rivers are all in thin-walled oxidised wares (DAN Types 1-3, Fig. H2: 1-4), and are almost certainly all imports from north Italy. The globular Tiberian beakers of IT Type 19 with a grooved cylindrical rim and grotesque nose, probably from the Aquileia region, are already known from Magalensberg and Salzburg in Noricum (UD Type 21) and occur here at Emona and Poetovio (DAN Type 2)

Face masks with protruding chin or goatee beard. Though the faces of the three locally produced face beakers of DAN Type 5 (Fig. H2: 5-7 and Pl. H2 above) are all rather different from one another, they do have one feature in common, namely a projecting chin or pointed goatee beard. Such chins or beards are unknown on Italian face beakers and they are a clear indication that these early face beakers were made locally. They are to occur on almost all the face beakers from the Danubian provinces and on many of the face jars, and must have been a characteristic feature of some local face mask that was well known in this region of Pannonia before the arrival of the Roman army. The Gorsium face beaker (Pl. H2) also has another feature that often occurs on Danubian face pots with a goatee beard, and that is a large down-turned mouth with parted lips. Similar mouths occur on some of the masks and heads in Celtic La Tène metal work, such as the nine egg-shaped heads on the gold plaque from Manerbio in northern Italy29.

The tall face beaker from Siscia of DAN Type 1 could be of Augustan date, as a form very similar to this, with tall “collared” neck, but without the grooved, slightly everted rim, was the most popular beaker form in thin-walled wares in the Augustan period27. The globular beaker from Sirmium of DAN Type 3, with its unusual ribbed barbotine features, could be Tiberian, or even Claudian. Neither of the last two face beakers are documented in Italy, but must almost certainly have come from there. It seems likely that some of the popular conical thin-walled face beakers of northern Italy of IT Types 15, or of the similar IT Type 28 with a larger, sharper nose, known so far only at Magdalensberg, must also have been exported here, even though no examples have as yet been found, in view of the fact that the first locally produced face beakers (of DAN Type 5, Fig. H3: 3-5) appear to copy their highshouldered conical bodies and everted rims, while at least one, from Emona has a large beaked nose. These local face beakers are now close to the Danube and as far north as Gorsium, where a first century auxiliary turf fort has been identified28.

As has been seen, projecting, goatee-type beards are also found in the Upper Danube region (Figs. G5: 4-5, G6: 1 and G7: 1), but probably not before the middle of the second century, and may possibly have been introduced there by reinforcements from the Danube drafted in during the Marcomannic Wars. As mentioned in Chapter V under FS Type 16, only very rarely do such protruding chins or beards occur on face pots in western Europe north of the Alps, and where they do, it is possible that they reflect the presence of troops transferred from the Danube.

Faces All three of the face mask types known from Italy occur on the early imported face beakers found in southern Pannonia, but as local copying begins, these Italian masks start to be combined with a local mask with pointed chin or beard.

B.2 FACE BEAKERS OF THE SECOND TO EARLY THIRD CENTURY (DAN Types 6-12) Forms and fabrics During the second century globular face beakers, often very small, and some with handles at the side, are produced in a variety of relatively coarse red or buff wares, no longer thin-walled, and are found along the Danube between Ratiaria and Vasas, and on scattered sites in in southern Pannonia, Upper Moesia and Dacia (DAN Types 6-8, Fig. H3: 1-6).

The “serene” mask The one clear example of this mask from this early period is portrayed on the imported face beaker found at Siscia of IT Type 1 (Fig. H2: 1). The comic actor mask 27 28

Marabini Moevs 1973, Form XXXII. Mócsy 1974, 51.

29

209

See Chapter II, Pt III, A.2, Fig. B14: 4.

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER VIII Around the beginning of the second century a new beaker form appears in the north of Pannonia, at Carnuntum and Vienna , which is narrower and has straight sides. It is made at first in thin-walled red ware, some examples of which are folded. A small number of these have faces on them (DAN Type 9, Fig. H4:1). Later versions (DAN Type 10) are slightly more rounded and less thin-walled.

on these two beakers and on one or two face jars found in Britain, though the latter are totally different in form31. B.3. FACE BEAKERS OF THE LATER THIRD TO FOURTH CENTURIES (DAN Types 13-17) Forms and fabrics Small globular face beakers continue to be produced in the third century and possibly in the fourth, though now with higher, funnel-shaped necks and in grey or glazed wares (DAN Types 13-14 Fig. H5: 1-5). These later examples seem to have the widest distribution of all the Danubian face beakers, stretching across Pannonia from Savaria to Intercisa, and along the Danube frontier from Brigetio to Ratiaria, though as far as can be seen, they only occur on military or former military sites, or sites of veteran settlement. As yet there is no clear evidence that they extended into Dacia.

Two very different face beakers in plain or colour-coated red fabric are those of DAN Types 11-12 (Fig. H4: 4-5), which have very unusual pedestal bases. Neither come from recorded contexts so they are not easy to place chronologically, but they could be of late second to third century date. Pedestal bases are found on some Danubian head vases of this period, and it is possible that these may be stylised copies of such vessels (see B.5. below). Faces The faces of the second and third century face beakers and face jars of the Danube region do not divide up so easily into “serene”, comic, and beak-nosed types as do the north Italian face beakers. Most of them have protruding chins or beards.

As is the case throughout the provinces of the middle and lower Danube, though in particular in Pannonia, glazed wares become increasingly popular in the third and fourth centuries. As a result, many of the face beakers of this period, and particularly the later ones, are in glazed ware which can be greenish yellow or reddish brown.

The faces of the small, globular beakers of DAN Types 6-8 are all fairly similar and virtually all of them have coffee bean eyes and thick, notched eyebrows. Most but not all have protruding chins or goatee beards, sometimes neatly striated.

In northern Pannonia face beakers with similar faces to the earlier ones of DAN Types 9-10 but now with rounder bellies and with handles at the back or at the sides, continue into the later Roman period in plain red or glazed wares (DAN Types 15-16, Fig. H6: 1-3).

What appear to be horns, lying above and parallel to the eyebrows occur on the face beaker from Ratiaria of DAN Type 6 (Fig. H4: 2). Similar horns are also found on the large face jar fragment with a lizard on the cheek from Novae of DAN Type 33, Fig. H11: 7. As we have seen, somewhat similar horizontal “horns” also occur on a face jar fragment from the Upper Danube and goat-like horns on another face fragment (UD Type 4, Fig. G5: 1-2). Such faces are reminiscent of the face masks that appear on the Thracian or Thrako-Dacian silver gilt helmets of second or third century BC date found in this lower Danube region, one of them retrieved from the Danube where it flows through the Iron Gates30, and it is conceivable that similar “horned” masks were still current in his area. At the beginning of the second century, and possibly at the end of the first, “serene” face masks of Rhineland type occur at Vienna and Carnuntum on the new type of face beaker with straight sides of DAN Types 9-10 (Fig. H4: 13). Where the lower part of the face survives however, these faces generally have the characteristic Danubian protruding chins.

Pl. H3. Grey face beaker of DAN Type 13 from Intercisa in the István Király Múseum, Shékesfehérvar; height 12.5 cm. (photo: courtesy of Dr Jeno Fitz.)

“Serene” faces of a different, somewhat more naturalistic type, again perhaps reflecting the influence of head vases, occur on the two face beakers with pedestal bases of DAN Types 11 and 12 (Fig. H4: 4-5). Their beards, made of applied, flat pellets are a rare feature, and are known only

30

Faces Pointed Danubian chins or beards continue to be a feature on most of the face beakers of this period, either pushed 31

Piggott 1965, Pl. XL. See Chapter XII, B.2, Fig. M7: 4.

210

See Chapter 12 under RB Type 21D, Figs. J11: 7 and J16: 8-9.

THE FACE POTS OF PANNONIA, MOESIA AND DACIA out or applied. The small globular beakers with funnel necks of DAN Types 13-14 (Fig. H5) seem to have rather more grotesque faces than their earlier counterparts, with heavy, notched eyebrows or eyelids, and sometimes notched teeth, or projecting lug-shaped ears as in the case of DAN Type 13 (Pl. H3 above).

similar to these in face and form, but mostly in a coarse greyish-buff fabric appear at about the same time or slightly later at Vienna Carnuntum and Aquincum (DAN Types 27 and 28, Fig. H10: 1-4 and Pl. H4 below ).

The larger beakers of DAN Types 15-17 (Fig. H6) which are found along the Danube between Vienna and Intercisa retain the “serene”, beardless faces of the earlier face beakers in this area with small features and coffee bean eyes. B.4. FACE JARS AND LARGE FACE BEAKERS OF THE SECOND TO THIRD CENTURY, (DAN Types 21-22 and 25-28) Forms and fabrics The first face jars appear in northern Pannonia at the beginning of the second century, in Vienna, Carnuntum and Brigetio, alongside the early second century face beakers of DAN Types 9 and 10 and spread southwards down the Danube. As far as can be seen they are fairly similar in form and face to the face jars of the Rhineland and the Upper Danube of this period, though generally with more sloping shoulders and a lower girth, but so far only in one case can the complete pot be reconstructed, namely the face jar, from Brigetio of DAN Type 21 (Fig. H7: 1). Many of the fragments found at Gorsium, Vienna and Carnuntum of DAN Type 22 (Fig. H7: 3-6) are in the same fine, hard, red fabric with glossy red colour-coat as the face beakers from the same sites of DAN Type 10 (Fig. H4: 2-3). As with the colour-coated face jars and face beakers of RL Types 4 A-B and 11 A-B in the Rhineland, there seems to have been a variety of sizes, and it can be difficult to tell in some cases whether the sherd comes from a face jar or a face beaker. Rhineland influences are perhaps less evident on the face pots of the Lower Danube where legio XI Claudia, based at Durosturum, is the only legion known to have come from the Rhineland, and then only from Vindonissa, although auxiliary units from the west must almost certainly have been sent there as well. There is one sherd from Novae with a phallus on the cheek, which is a clear sign of Rhenish influence as phalli are an exceptionally rare feature on face pots outside the Rhineland32.

Pl. H4 Face jar in coarse orange-buff ware of DAN Type 28 from Vienna in the Museum der Stadt Wien; height 23.5 cm.

Their conical form with carinated shoulder and large bearded face recall some of the mask beakers made at Lyon and other sites in the Rhône valley, in particular those with the bearded mask of a satyr, Bacchus or Jupiter Ammon33, though there is little sign of any obvious connection between the two. Face jar sherds have been found in Moesia and Dacia, but none large enough to reconstruct the pot profile, so they are difficult to classify. Those with similar or particularly unusual features have been divided up into a few very provisional Types (DAN Types 30-33). The rest are listed at the end of the Catalogue, along with the unclassifiable sherds from Pannonia, under the sites where they have been found.

During the later second century a specifically Danubian type of face jar, or rather large face beaker, emerges in Dacia and Moesia (DAN Types 25 and 26, Figs. H8 and H9), similar in size to the large folded face beakers of Noricum (UD Type 25, Fig. G9: 1-2) or the cylindricalnecked face beakers of the Upper Rhineland (RL Type 39, Fig. D16: 9-10), but more conical in form. These are in relatively fine red or buff wares, with a large beaked nose, and many of them have a protruding, ruff-like beard, stretching from ear to ear. A group of face jars somewhat

Faces “Serene” face masks, with coffee-bean or almond-shaped eyes and generally, if not always, with Danubian protruding chins34, one or two of which show traces of a hatched beard, appear to be the standard faces on north Pannonian face jars for most of the second century. A different face with larger, more expressive features emerges in Dacia and on the lower Danube, possibly

32

This is the only phallus found so far on a face pot outside the Rhineland (Fig. H11: 6), other than the early one from Kingsholm, Gloucester of RB Type 2 (Fig. J3: 1). It is unlikely to have been brought by legio XI from Vindonissa where phalli are unknown and it probably reflects the presence of an auxiliary unit from the middle or lower Rhine.

33

See Appendix V, A, Fig. S6: 12-13. Though in many cases not enough of the lower part of the face survives to clearly demonstrate this.

34

211

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER VIII sometime in the later part of the second century, on the large face beakers of DAN Type 25 (Figs. H8: 1-3 and H9: 1). These all have a protruding, ruff-like beard which stretches round the chin from ear to ear, standing well away from the wall of the pot. They also all have large noses, some of which are prominent or beak-like, big mouths with thick lips, and several have large almond-shaped eyes with raised eyelids. These could represent another version of the north Italian, beak-nosed mask, though none of these face masks seem particularly grotesque or comic and there is no evidence of teeth. Somewhat similar faces occur on the late second to early third century face jars made in coarser fabrics in Vienna, Carnuntum and Aquincum of DAN Types 27-28 (Fig. H10).

B.6.

Virtually all the face beakers and face jars identified come from forts and fortresses along the Danube or from the towns that developed alongside them, apart from a few from early military sites in southern Pannonia or from sites of known veteran settlement such as Savaria or Scarbantia38. As in the other provinces, there appears to be no evidence for face beaker traditions developing in purely civilian regions inside the provinces. The two apparent exceptions to this rule, namely the face beakers of DAN Types 6 and 12 from Guberevac and Azanja in the hills well to the south of the Danube frontier in Upper Moesia, come from the important silver and lead-mining area around Mount Kosmaj where auxiliary units are known to have been stationed to protect the mines39.

The horns, lying parallel to the eyebrows on the large fragment from Novae of DAN Type 33 (Fig. H11: 7) have already been mentioned above in B.2.

It has not been possible to obtain much in the way of detailed contextual information on the face pots from these three provinces. Where face beakers are concerned, most of the complete examples from recorded contexts seem to have come from graves, including one of DAN Type 15 from Vienna of Late Roman date which was found in a child’s sarcophagus. One or two however are reported to be from settlement contexts, such as the one-handled globular beaker of DAN Type 8 (Fig. H3: 6) said to have been found inside the fort at Taurunum, or the thin-walled beaker found on the edge of the temple complex dedicated to oriental deities outside the fortress at Carnuntum (DAN Type 9, Fig. H4: 1), while there are also several face beaker sherds which have been found inside forts or veteran colonies.

There are several examples from Dacia and the Lower Danube forts with the m-shaped mask with semi-circular eyebrows and a straight nose (DAN Type 30, Fig. H11: 13). This non-Italian, possibly Celtic mask, known otherwise only in the Rhineland, Britain or on the Upper Danube, could be of local origin, but may have been brought in by troops from the west. B. 5.

SITES AND CONTEXTS

HEAD VASES

These are barely known in the other provinces except in Britain, but quite a number are found along the middle and Lower Danube, particularly in Pannonia, where they were certainly made at Aquincum and Brigetio35, while others were probably imported from the Black Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean. As mentioned above, Danubian head vase traditions may have influenced the form and faces of the unusual face beakers of DAN Types 11 and 12 (Figs. H5: 4-5) with their pedestal bases, while their unusual beards made up of applied flattened pellets could be in imitation of the raised dots or bosses depicting beards on imported head vases like the one found at Stobi, near Scupi in Upper Moesia, which is very probably an import from Knidos36. Some of the mould-made head vases from Aquincum portray the wrinkled face of a satyr or old hag, often with a toothy grin or grimace (Fig. S3: 4-5). Satyr faces with similar grins occur on east Mediterranean and north African head vases (Fig. S2: 5, Pl. S6: b). Some of the later Pannonian face beakers, particularly those with teeth (Fig. H5: 1 and 3-4), could be loose, stylised copies of these. The only other province where head vases appear to have noticeably influenced face pot traditions is Britain37.

Where face jars are concerned, there is not enough information to provide any safe conclusions about contexts, but to judge by the few complete or reconstructable face jars that have survived, most of them were not used in graves except for those of DAN Type 27 of later second to third century date from Vienna and Carnuntum (Fig. H10: 1-3). Even in the case of the large face beakers of DAN Types 25-26, of which more whole or reconstructable examples have survived, only one, from Oescus, is recorded as coming from a grave (Fig. H9: 1).

38 Savaria became a veteran colony under Claudius, principally for legio XV Apollinaris (Mócsy 1974. 76-7). Scarbantia, modern Sopron, on the road between Savaria and Carnuntum almost certainly housed an auxiliary unit in the first half of the first century (ibid 50), and seems to have become a focus for auxiliary veteran settlement thereafter (ibid, 73-4). 39 Mócsy 1974, 133 and 195.

35

See Appendix IV, A.7, Fig. S3: 1-7. Ibid, A.3, Fig. S1: 9. 37 See Chapter IX, Part III, RB Types 28 and 37, and Appendix IV, A.8. 36

212

THE FACE POTS OF PANNONIA, MOESIA AND DACIA 35 BC onwards41, this beaker could also be of Augustan date, though it may also be slightly later. It has a slightly pushed out chin which is a feature unknown on other Italian face beakers. It is not unlike the early face beaker from Ensérune, in Provence (FS Type 1, Fig. E2: 1) which is also tall, with barbotine facial features, and is in the equally common but probably slightly earlier and more situlashaped form with a grooved, everted rim, but without the pushed-out chin.

CATALOGUE40 FACE BEAKERS FIRST CENTURY (DAN Types1-5) DAN Type 1

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

Tall conical thin-walled face beaker with high, wide neck, grooved, slightly everted rim, and barbotine face (Fig. H2: 1)

DAN Type 2

12.5 cm. Unspecified. Barbotine features, almond-shaped eyes, slightly pushed out chin. Siscia 1.c (Vikic-Belancic 1968, 509, Pl. 5:21; Archaeological Museum, Zagreb). Probably grave. Augustan? Early Tiberian?

Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution:

Context: Date:

Pl. H5, Imported thin-walled face beaker of DAN Type 1 from Siscia in the Archaeological Museum Zagreb; height 12.5 cm. (photo: courtesy of Dr Valerija Damevski)

Thin-walled face beaker with, grooved cylindrical rim, large protruding nose and ears, and heavy, notched eyebrows (Fig. H2: 2-3) 8-10 cm, occasionally up to 12.5 cm. Fine ochre or pinkish buff; glossy reddish brown or black-brown colourcoat. Long, protruding nose; thick, notched eyebrows; coffee bean eyes and large slit mouth. For faces on face beakers of this Type in other provinces see under IT Type 19 and UD Type 21. North East Italy, South and Central Austria, and Slovenia, 39+ examples (6c.and 33+ f.). 2 egs. have been found in this region (1c. and 1f.): Emona 1c. (Plesnicar-Gec 1972, 123, Pl. 206:2); Poetovio 1f. (Mikl Curk 1976, Pl VI: 11). Other egs. are known from: Pozzuolo (Aquileia) 1c. (Museo Arch. di Aquileia, No 115.543; Magdalensberg 4c. and 30+ f. (Schindler Kaudelka 1975, 130, pl. 27; ibid 2000, 271-4); Salzburg 2f. (Hegar 1986, 146, fig. 12: 76); Graves (Pozzuolo and Emona); pottery store, and domestic contexts (Magdalensberg); refuse pit (Salzburg). Tiberian-early Claudian.

This Type is also listed in the Catalogues of Chapters III and VII as IT Type 19 and UD Type 21.

This face beaker is clearly an import, almost certainly from northern Italy, though no examples of this Type have so far been identified there or anywhere else. It is also listed in Chapter III under IT Type 27 with the other face beakers exported from Italy.

It seems probable that all the examples of this Type came from a production centre somewhere in north-east Italy, very possibly in the Aquileia region where the one example known so far in Italy (from Pozzuolo, see right insert) has been found, as well as a very similar but much larger face jar from Aquileia itself (IT Type 36), though no kilns making such pottery have so far been identified in this area. The dating for this Type comes from Salzburg and

No information as regards date or context could be obtained for this beaker but, as mentioned in Chapter III, the tall beaker form with “collared” neck became one of the most common forms in the thin-walled pottery repertoire during the Augustan period. As Siscia was in Roman hands from

40

This catalogue of Danubian face pots Types can only be very provisional. It is bound to need substantial revision once more face pots are published or become accessible, and therefore only a few gaps have been left in the Type Series.

41 It is thought to have been occupied by legio VIIII Hispana during the Tiberian period and possibly earlier.

213

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER VIII Magdalensberg where examples have been found in deposits of Tiberian and early Claudian date. They generally have a dark red or dark brown colour-coat, but in some cases this is missing, as may have been the case with the example from Emona42. For further details see under IT Type 19 and UD Type 21. DAN Type 3

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

three examples must almost certainly have been locally produced, copied from imported north Italian face beakers. The beaker from Emona (No 5) with its prominent beaked nose with a large hole pierced through the bridge, as well as pierced ears and thick raised eyelids like those of the imported face beakers of DAN Type 2, is the only example so far identified in this region of a locally produced face beaker with the grotesque, beak-nosed mask. It is not known if the two fragments from similar face beakers found recently in settlement contexts have the same mask.

Thin-walled face beaker with grooved, everted rim and barbotine face (Fig. H2: 4) 10 cm. Fine orange-brown, with metallic orange colour-coat. Barbotine features made with a fluted nozzle; grinning mouth, no chin. Sirmium 1c. (Brukner 1981, 75,Pl. 47: 1). Unprovenanced, presumably grave. Probably Tiberian.

It is assumed that this too must be a north Italian import, and it is listed in Chapter III as IT Type 29, though as with DAN Type 1, no closely similar face beakers are known as yet from northern Italy. DAN Type 4

Gap left in Type Series

DAN Type 5

Conical face beakers with everted rims and protruding chins or beards from south or central Pannonia (Fig. H2: 5-7; Pl. H2)

Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution:

Context: Date:

Pl. H6. Buff face beaker of DAN Type 5 from Emona with pierced, beak nose in the Mestni Muzej Ljubljana; height c 11 cm. (photo: courtesy of Dr Verena. Vidrih Perko)

10-12cm. Fine red or orange-ochre fabric, but not thin-walled; no colour-coat. Applied features; protruding bearded chins or goatee beards; large ears; pierced nose and ears and thick raised eyelids (No 5). Southern and central Pannonia 5 (3c and 2f.) Examples have been found at Emona, 1c. and 2f. (comp: Mestni Muzej No GR23-201[5]; frags: Dr Verena Vidrih Perko 1996, private info.); Baranya region, 1c. (Fülep, 1958, 376, Fig. 6:6 [6]); Gorsium 1c. (Thomas, 1964, 320, Pl. CCIV [7]). Grave (Emona comp.); villa (Gorsium); domestic contexts (Emona frags.) Later first century?

A grotesque face mask with a large nose occurs later on, on some of the large face beakers of DAN Type 25 found in Dacia and Lower Moesia, though with a different, ruff-like beard stretching from ear to ear.

SECOND TO EARLY THIRD CENTURY FACE BEAKERS (DAN Types 6-12) DAN Type 6

Height: Fabric: Face:

While the facial features are all rather different on these three complete beakers, they are all in a fairly similar form and fabric and all have a protruding bearded chin or pointed goatee beard. As mentioned in B.1 above, this feature is not found on any Italian face beakers, and indicates that all 42 This beaker is reported to be in a “plain yellowish grey” (Plesnicar-Gec 1972, 123).

Distribution:

fabric

214

Small globular face beakers in red or buff fabric with an everted or grooved rim (Fig. H3: 1-3). 6.7-9.5 cm. Red or buff coarse ware, Applied features, mostly coffee bean eyes, generally pointed chin or beard. Sava river, Lower Danube and Dacia 5 (3c. and 2f.) Examples have been found at: Vasas 1c. (Fülep, 1958, 376, Pl. IV: 4a and b); Guberevac 1c.(Belgrade Nat. Museum No 3488/III); Ratiaria 1c. (Mitova Djonova 1972, 203, Fig. 1); Bologa 1f.(Gudea, 1977, 83, Fig. 18: 8); Sarmizegetusa 1f. (Gudea, 1986, Unpub.

THE FACE POTS OF PANNONIA, MOESIA AND DACIA

Context: Date:

info, Find No UTS 7.6.2). Graves (Vasas, Guberevac, Ratiaria); inside barrack block (Bologa); within town (Sarmizegetusa). Second century, possibly early third.

The facial features of this face beaker are strikingly similar to those of the face jar from Brigetio (DAN Type 21, Fig. H7: 1), and it has been suggested that both vessels could have been made by the same potter43. It is the most Rhenish-looking of the face beakers from the Sava-Drava area. Neviodunum, a former military and trading post on the river Sava, was one of the first municipia to be created in Pannonia, under Vespasian, at the same time as Scarbantia, and like the latter also seems to have been an area of veteran settlement and recruitment for the Pannonian army44.

These second century face beakers are more widely spread, though mainly in Moesia Superior and Dacia, and seemingly not further north than Vasas, near Sopianae. Only the one example, from Ratiaria (No 2), has been identified with horns, but it too has a characteristic, and neatly striated, goatee beard. As already mentioned in B.2 above, similar horizontal horns, lying above the eyebrows also occur on the fragment from a large face jar from Novae of DAN Type 33 (Fig. H11: 7) from this same area of the Lower Danube. The two fragments from Dacia, from Bologa and Sarmizegetusa, have been included in this Type, but these have rounded eyes, not coffee bean-shaped ones. DAN Type 7

Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution: Context: Date:

DAN Type 8

Height: Fabric: Face:

High-shouldered face beaker with grooved rim and narrow base (Fig. H3: 4).

Distribution:

9.5 cm. Red. Very carefully modelled features, sharp, protruding eyebrows; shallow ears placed very low down; coffee bean eyes and mouth. Neviodunum 1c. (Petru, 1978, 74, pl. 37:10; Mestni Muzej Ljubljana No R. 566). Unspecified. Second century.

Context: Date:

Face beakers with a grooved rim and a handle at the side from Moesia Superior (Fig. H3: 5-6). 7-12 cm Red. Projecting chin, notched beard, coffeebean eyes, missing nose (Viminacium); round pellet eyes and sharp, projecting nose (Taurunum). Lower Danube 2c. Examples have been found at: Taurunum-Zemum 1c. (Brukner 1981, 75, Pl 47:3); Viminacium 1c. (Zolotovic and Jordanic 1990, 11, Fig. 5) Cemetery (Viminacium); inside fort (Taurunum) Second century

The example from Viminacium is rather larger than the one from Taurunum, and with a handle placed lower down, but for the time being they have been included in this same Type. Handles only start to appear on Roman pottery in this area in the second century45. DAN Type 9

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution:

Context: Pl. H7. Red face beaker of DAN Type 7 from Neviodunum in the Mestni Muzej Ljubljana; height c 9.5 cm. (photo: courtesy of Dr Verena. Vidrih Perko)

43

Narrow thin-walled face beakers with straight sides and a grooved or beaded rim (Fig. H4: 1) 9 cm, possibly up to 14 cm. Fine red, generally with a red or redbrown colour coat, often with a metallic sheen. Small shallow, applied features, including chin and occasional beards. Large mouth (No 1) North east Pannonia 6 (1c and 5f.). Examples have been found at: Carnuntum 1c. and 4f. (comp: Museum Carnuntinum No 929/82; frags: Grünewald 1983, Fig. 23: 4-6; Museum Carnuntinum No 6377); Vienna If. (Md S Wien No MU22107/3). Fortress cemetery (Vienna); settlement beside temple complex outside fortress

Nagy 1986, 23. Mocsy 1974, 115 and 235-6. 45 Bónis 1980, 362. 44

215

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER VIII

Date:

(No 1) and fortress rubbish dump (Carnuntum). c.90?-140,

These are very different in form to the face beakers listed so far, and all come from the north of Pannonia, mostly from the fortress at Carnuntum, but one fragment at least is from Vienna. Straight-sided beakers of this form, many of them folded beakers, are thought to have been locally produced in this area, first in red wares during the Trajanic and Hadrianic periods, and then later in black colour-coated wares46. The early red ones (No 1) have egg-shell thin walls, often with a metallic red or red-brown colour coat.

Distribution:

Context: Date:

the pot wall is unaffected, and the features are very similar to the serene face masks of Rhineland face pots, though without pellets in the eyes or mouth. North east Pannonia (5f.) Examples have been found at: Vienna 1f. (MdS Wien No MV 2201 [Pl. H9]); Carnuntum 1 f. (Benoit 1955, Pl. 1:3, Museum Carnuntinum No 6250); Brigetio 3f. (Pavlovicz 1941, 129, Pl. 21:16; Nagy 1986, pers.comm). Graves or unprovenanced. Second century?

Pl. H9. Face beaker fragment in fine orange colour-coated ware of DAN Type 10 from Vienna in the Museum der Stadt Wien; size 6.5 x 7.7cm.

These are in a thicker, harder ware than the thin-walled face beakers above. None of the fragments so far come from dated contexts. The two fragments from Vienna and Carnuntum appear to be in the same fine hard red fabric with a glossy red colour coat as are some of the face jars of DAN Type 22 found on the same two sites (see below, Fig. H7:3-5). None seem to be from folded beakers.

Pl. H8. Red, thin-walled face beaker of DAN Type 9 from Carnuntum in the Museum Carnuntinum; height 9cm.

Only these early ones appear to have had faces and only a very few of them. Just one face beaker has survived more or less complete (see Pl. H8 above), found in what was probably a small settlement beside a sanctuary dedicated to oriental deities outside the legionary fortress at Carnuntum47. Tiny sherds of three or more face beakers were found in the fortress rubbish dump. Not enough survives to tell if any of these came from folded beakers, but the one small sherd from Vienna, found in a cemetery area, looks as though it might have done. DAN Type 10

Height: Fabric: Face:

46 47

DAN Type 11 Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution:

Red colour-coated face beakers with wider body, and everted rim from north east Pannonia (Fig. H4: 2-3)

Context: Date:

c. 12 cm. Mainly hard red with glossy red colour coat. One face (No 3) with the wall of the pot pushed in and out to model the eyes, mouth and cheeks. With the other faces

Face beaker with grooved rim and pedestal base (Fig. H4: 4) 12 cm. Reddish buff. Applied features; almond-shaped eyes with applied eyelids; largish ears; beard depicted with rows of applied flat pellets. Cumidava (Dacia) 1c. (Gudea and Pop 1971, 49, Fig. 35). Inside barrack block of fort. Late second to mid third century?

This vessel is very similar in face and form to the face beaker from Asanja below, except that the latter has barbotine features and handles at the sides. The pedestal foot is a rare feature, and as already mentioned in B.5 above, could be derived from mould-made head vases. The “serene” face with its carefully applied eyelids and pupils and chiselled eyebrows and nose is found on a number of face jars and fragments along the Lower Danube and in Dacia. The beard has been laboriously applied using flat

Grünewald 1979, 37, Pl. 22. V. Gassner pers. comm, 1985.

216

THE FACE POTS OF PANNONIA, MOESIA AND DACIA pellets, as opposed to the much easier barbotine blobs of the one below. The only other face pots with similar pellet beards known to the author come from Britain48. DAN Type 12

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

THIRD TO FOURTH CENTURY FACE BEAKERS (DAN Types 13-17) DAN Type 13

Face beaker with grooved rim, pedestal foot, and two handles, and with incised zig-zag pattern at the back (Fig. H4: 5)

Height: Fabric: Face:

14.5 cm. Fine hard red with glossy red colourcoat. Barbotine blobs for beard and eyebrows, encircling face; barbotine eyelids, applied chin. Azanja (Upper Moesia) 1c. (Belgrade Nat. Mus. No 4018/III). Unprovenanced. Later second to mid third century?

Distribution:

Context: Date:

Globular face beakers in grey or buff wares with tallish neck and lug-shaped ears (Fig. H5: 1-3) 8-12 cm. Plain grey or buff. Protruding, lug-shaped ears; almond eyes with applied eyelids (notched in one case) or coffee bean eyes; two examples with teeth; no beards; eyebrows forming projecting “peak” above eyes (No 1). Middle and Lower Danube 3 c. Examples have been found at: Intercisa 2c. (Vago, 1971, Pl. LI: 2[1]; Istvan Kiraly (Intercisa) Museum No 4022 [2]); Taliata 1c. (Arheolosko Blago Derdapa, Belgrade, Exhib. Cat. 1978, No 182). Grave (Intercisa). Possibly all third century.

Pl. H10 Orange-red colour-coated face beaker with a pedestal base of DAN Type 12 from Azanja (Serbia) in the National Museum Belgrade; height 14.5 cm. (photo: courtesy of Dr Tatiana Cvetecjanin

This face beaker with its glossy red colour-coat looks like imitation sigillata. The barbotine dots of the beard could be an attempt to copy the beards of imported head vases such as the one believed to come from Knidos found at Stobi, to the south of Scupi in Moesia Superior49. The zig-zag decoration at the back, with vertical dashes in between, incised with a rather blunt instrument recalls decorative motifs found on some of the head vases produced at Aquincum50.

Pl. H11. Orange-buff face beaker of DAN Type 13 from Intercisa in the István Király Múseum, Shékesfehérvar; height 9.5 cm. (photo: courtesy of Dr Jeno Fitz.)

With examples only found at Intercisa and Taliata, it is not clear to what extent this Type may have spread along the Danube in between these two sites. It is possible that the faces represented on these two face beakers are stylised versions of the wrinkled satyr or old hag masks portrayed on several head vases from Aquincum, which often have a toothy grin or grimace51. The curious peaked “eyebrows” of the Intercisa face beaker (No 1, Pl. H3 above) is an odd feature and hard to interpret. What may be a similar “peak” occurs on a Late Roman glazed face beaker from Flavia

48

From Lincoln (RB Type 21D, Fig. J11: 7), Little Chester and Felixstowe (Face Group 5, Fig. J16: 8-9). 49 Appendix IV. A.3, Fig. S1: 9. 50 Ibid, Fig. S3: 5.

51

217

Ibid, Fig. S3: 4

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER VIII Solva of UD Type 30, and on a small face fragment from London in early second century London ware52. DAN Type 14 Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution:

Context: Date:

Small glazed face beakers with funnel neck and no ears (Fig. H5: 4-5)

Context: Date:

8-9 cm. Red fabric, with green or brown-yellow glaze. Wide-curved, notched eyebrows; round pellet eyes; applied pointed chins; no ears or beards. Pannonia Superior 2c. Examples have been found at Brigetio 1c. (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, No IV.4346); Savaria 1c. (Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum, Budapest, No 132.1872.VI.1) Unprovenanced Probably later third to fourth century

Examples have been found at: Vienna 1c. (Schorgendorfer 1942, 66, Pl. 46: 563); Intercisa 1c. (Schumacher 1911, 345, Pl. 159: 1080). Child’s sarcophagus (Vienna). Later third to fourth century?53.

The faces in this region of northern Pannonia retain the coffee bean eyes and the small “serene” features of the earlier face beakers and face jars from this area, but they tend to be more sketchily applied, as also happens at this time in the Rhineland. Handles are now common. DAN Type 16 Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution:

These are of very similar form to the grey face beakers of DAN Type 13 above, but the faces are more schematic, and they do not have ears. They could be of slightly later date.

Context: Date:

Glazed bag-shaped face beaker with two handles (Fig. H6: 3) 11 cm. Reddish buff fabric, with brown-yellow glaze. Same as above. Ebergassing, (Vienna) 1c. (MdS Wien No MV 8816). Unknown. Later third to fourth century?

This two-handled beaker form could be a later, more simplified version of the face beaker with pedestal base from Azanja of DAN Type 12 (Fig. H4: 5), but the face in this case has no beard. DAN Type 17 Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: 52

Unknown. Diameter of rim: 9-10 cm. Brown fabric with red-brown glaze. Carefully modelled, with applied eyelids and eyes and hollowed-out pupils. Brigetio 1f. (Künsthistoriches Museum, Vienna, No IV.4347). Unknown. Later third to fourth century?

Only a small rim sherd of this Type has been identified. It is quite distinct from all the other glazed face beakers, and enough survives to show that the upper part of the vessel was cylindrical, with no hint of the pot wall swelling out lower down.

Pl. H12. Brown-glazed face beaker of DAN Type 14 from Savaria in the National Musseum Budapest; height 9 cm. (photo: courtesy of Dr Tibor Kemenczei)

DAN Type 15

Glazed face beaker with cylindrical neck (Fig. H6: 4)

DAN Types 18-20 Gap left in Type Series

Globular face beakers in red ware with tallish, funnel neck and a handle at the back from north east Pannonia (Fig. H6: 1-2) 9-12 cm. Red coarseware; red colour coat (No 2). Coffee bean eyes; applied chin; no notching or beards. North east Pannonnia 2c..

53 Schorgendorfer (1942. 66) suggests a date in the second half of the third century for the example from Vienna .

See Chapter IX, Part II, Miscellaneous Face Fragment No 3, Fig. J16: 14

218

THE FACE POTS OF PANNONIA, MOESIA AND DACIA same potter, who could have moved from Aquincum to Neviodunum or vice versa.

FACE JARS AND LARGE FACE BEAKERS SECOND TO THIRD CENTURY (DAN Types 21-33) Throughout the three provinces, very few face jars have survived complete or in reconstructable form, and as a result there is a comparatively large number of unclassifiable sherds. These have been grouped where possible into provisional Types, and the rest are listed at the end under the sites where they have been found. As already mentioned face jars do not seem to occur until the end of the first century, and as yet no face jars or large face beakers of the fourth century have been identified. DAN Type 21 Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution:

Context: Date:

Face jar with cylindrical, grooved neck and rounded body (Fig. H7: 1-2) 26 cm. Light reddish-brown granular ware. Sharply projecting, curved, carefully notched eyebrows; coffee bean eyes; slitpellet mouth; finger-made groove round lower half of the face.. North Pannonia 2 (1c. and 1f). Examples have been found at: Brigetio 1c. (much reconstructed; Nagy 1986, 1726, Figs. 7-10, Szépmüvészeti Múzeum, Budapest, No 65.91.A); Aquincum 1f.? (Szépmüvészeti Múzeum, Budapest No 77.34.A). Unknown. Later second to early third century?

Pl. H13. Red-brown face jar of DAN Type 21 from Brigetio in the Szépmüvészeti Múzeum, Budapest; height 26 cm. (photo: courtesy of Dr Arpad Nagy)

As mentioned above, there is a face jar fragment from Aquincum which has similarly shaped eyebrows (No 2, Pl. H1), but the rest of the face is very different, with the wall of the pot being pushed in to shape the mouth and the eyes, and it is in a cream fabric with a red colour-coat. It has been provisionally placed in this Type.

As with the face beakers from this region of DAN Type 10, the face jars of this Type and of Type 22 below show clear signs of Rhineland influence.

DAN Type 22

The form of the Brigetio face jar (No 1) with its rounded body and multi-grooved rim is quite similar to, though larger than, that of the Upper Rhineland face beakers of RL Type 39 (Fig. D16: 9-10), and it is possible that this vessel like them is of later second to early third century date. Its face meanwhile with its aquiline nose and protruding chin recalls the face jars of the Upper Danube (UD Types 6-7, Fig. G6: 5-6), which are of much the same date. The unusual, projecting, slightly concave eyebrows may be a local feature, and occur on one or two other face jars and beakers from Aquincum, such as the fragment listed here (No 2 and Pl. H1) and the face jar of DAN Type 28 (Pl. H17). Arpad Nagy in his study of this face jar (1986, 1726) can find no close parallels for it among the other Pannonian face jars, but is struck by its close resemblance to the plain red-ware face beaker from Neviodunum of DAN Type 7 (Pl. H7, Fig. H3:4). This has a slightly different profile, but the modelling of the features, with the same-shaped eyebrows with a careful row of notching on the outer edge, as well as the coffee bean eyes and round, split-pellet mouth, is strikingly similar. It is possible, as Nagy suggests, that they could both have been made by the

Height: Fabric:

Face:

Distribution:

219

Red or brown colour-coated face jars with plain everted rim from north east Pannonia (Fig. H7: 3-5) Unknown. Diameter of rim: c.16-18; one example of c. 10 cm (No 6). At Vienna and Carnuntum, there appear to be three separate fabrics involved: a fine hard red ware with glossy colour coat which is most common (Nos 4-5); a more sandy orange fabric with or without a flaky brown colour-coat (No 3; Pl. H14a); and a plain pinkish buff selfslipped ware (No 6; Pl. H14b). “Serene” features; coffee bean eyes, or almond-shaped eyes with incised or applied lids; plain or notched eyebrows; frequently two small nostril holes in the nose; one example (not illustrated) is large enough to show the beginning of a dotted beard. North east Pannonia 16f. Examples have been found at: Vienna

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER VIII

Context: Date:

5f. (Schorgendorfer 1942, 66, Pl. 46:562, MdSWien No MU 1783 [5]; MdSWien Nos MU 22107/4; MU 2197-8; MU 66 [4]; Carnuntum 7f. (Museum Carnuntinum Nos 6378-82; 6249 [Pl. H14a] and 6251[6, Pl. H14b]); Gorsium 1f. (Istvan Kiraly Múzeum, Székesfehérvar, No 61.329.1) [3]; Brigetio 3f. (Pavlovics 1941, 129, Pl. 21: 16; Bonis 1979, Fig. 18: 9). Inside late Roman “palace” (Gorsium); fortress cemetery (Vienna). Second to third century.

DAN Type 25

Height: Fabric: Face:

This is inevitably just a very provisional grouping, as only fragments from the rims and shoulders of the vessels have survived, plus one base, and for the most part there is no trace of the lower features of the faces. The fine, hard red fabric with a glossy red colour coat in which some of the face jars from Vienna and Carnuntum are made seems to be the same as that used for the face beakers of DAN Type 10 which come from the same sites and have very similar “serene” faces (Fig. H4:2-3)

Distribution:

Context:

There are also several face jar sherds from Carnuntum in an orange or pinkish buff self-slipped ware which have rather different, less Rhenish-looking faces with applied or pushed-out almond-shaped eyes with notched eyebrows and sometimes dotted eyelashes along the upper eyelids, and what may have been quite large open and probably downturned mouths, which have broken along the line of the projecting upper lip54 (see Pl. H14 a-b).

Date:

Large conical face beakers with beaked nose and a protruding, ruff-like beard from Dacia and the lower Danube (Figs. H8: 1-3 and H9: 1) 14-18 cm. Fine red or buff, generally with brownred colour coat but one example (from Micasasa) has a red-brown glaze. Large nose that can be beaked or pointed; notched or dotted ruff-like beard stretching around the lower face from ear to ear; notched or dotted eyebrows; almond-shaped eyes with raised eyelids or applied slit eyes; one example with pierced ears (Fig. H8: 1); mostly large mouths with thick lips. Lower Moesia and Dacia 4 (2c. and 2f.). Examples have been found at: Oescus 1c. (Mitova Djonova 1969, 205, Fig. 4); Durosturum 1c. (Culica 1976, 567, Fig. 1); Buciumi 1f. (Gudea 1977, 42, No 3, Pl. LI:3); Micasasa 1f. (Mitrofan 1991, 176, Fig. 12:1). Grave (Oescus); pottery workshop (Micasasa); inside the south tower of the porta pricipalis of the fort (Buciumi); inside canabae (Durosturum). Second to third century.

These large face beakers could possibly have evolved from the late first century conical face beakers of DAN Type 5 (Fig. H2: 3-5). The ruff-like beard running round the chin which sticks out like a ruff or frill from the wall of the pot is one of the distinguishing characteristics of these vessels. The large beaked nose is also a prominent feature. A very similar beard is found on some of the face jars of DAN Type 27, from north-east Pannonia though the jars themselves are of different, more globular form (Fig. H10: 2-3). The rims can be everted or cylindrical, and often have several grooves.

There is also the lower half of a face pot from Brigetio that looks as though it could be of this Type and has been included here. It is described in German as being in “yellow ware with red paint”, which could be a bad translation of “cream fabric with a red colour-coat”55. The other two face jar fragments from Brigetio listed here are in grey ware and were found in a kiln56 .

a b Pl. H14. Two face jar sherds in pinkish buff ware of DAN Type 22 from Carnuntum in the Museum Carnuntinum; size approx 8 x 8 cm.

54

Musuem Carnuntinum Nos 6381-2 and 6249 and 6251. Pavlovics also mentions two face beakers (or beaker fragments?) from Brigetio which were found in graves, but he gives no details 56 Bonis 1979, Fig. 18: 9. 55

Pl. H15. Part of a large face beaker in red fabric with a red-brown glaze of DAN Type 26 from Micasasa (Dacia); height 9 cm. (photo: courtesy of Professor Ion Mitrofan)

220

THE FACE POTS OF PANNONIA, MOESIA AND DACIA There is no evidence that these vessels were used as cremation urns. In the case of the one vessel known to have been found in a cremation grave, at Oescus, the cremated bones were found lying beside the face beaker, but not inside it. DAN Type 26

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

Large Dacian face beaker similar to the above, but apparently without the rufflike beard (Fig. H9: 2) 16 cm. Fine red with red colour-coat Protruding nose and chin. Buciumi 1c. (Gudea, 1977, 42, Pl. LIV: A and B). Barrack block 4 of fort. Second to third century.

Only one example of this Type is known, and it is badly damaged, with most of the features missing. It is possible that it also had a ruff-like beard that was knocked off. DAN Type 27

Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution:

Context: Date:

Pl. H16. Face jar in coarse buff ware with projedcting beard of DAN Type 27 from the fortress cemetery, Vienna; height 19.3 cm

Face jars in coarse buff ware from north east Pannonia with hollow mouths (Fig. H10: 1-3).

DAN Type 28

19 - c.28 cm Coarse buff ware, with large black gritty inclusions Applied lips forming a hollow “mouth” inside; projecting ruff-like beard or notched beard; nostril holes in nose; lidded, almond-shaped eyes. North Panonia 3 (1c. and 2f.). Examples have been found at: Vienna 1c. and 1f. (comp: Schorgendorfer 1942, 66, Pl. 47:567, MdS Wien No MU 575; frag: MdS Wien No MW 2228); Carnuntum 1f. (Museum Carnuntinum No 6376). Fortress cemetery, Vienna (Nos 2-3). Later second to third century.

Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution:

These are a very interesting group. There is a marked lack of standardisation, both in form and facial features, but the one feature that unites them, apart from the gritty buff fabric, is the very unusual formation of the mouth. This is made by applying two flaps of clay to the wall of the pot, one for the top lip and the other for the bottom lip, and leaving a hollow cavity underneath. As yet this technique has been found nowhere else except at Lauriacum where there is a small face fragment in grey ware with a somewhat similar mouth57. These face jars and the example of Type 28 from Vienna below are all made in the same coarse fabric with its characteristic black grit inclusions, which varies in colour from light grey to orange buff, and they may all have come from one local pottery. They are all thought to come from deposits post-dating the Marcomannic wars. 57

Context: Date:

Face jars or large face beakers in coarse ware from north Pannonia with goatee beard and sharply protruding nose (Fig. H10: 4-5 and Pls. H3 and H16) 23.5 cm. Coarse orange buff ware (No 4), reddish brown (No 5). Sharply protruding nose and neat, striated, goatee beard; applied mouth; incised eyes; scale-like notching all round face, possibly made with a thumb nail (No 4); concave eyebrows (No 5). North Pannonia 4? (3?c. and 1f.). Examples have been found at: Vienna 1c. (Neumann 1977, Pl. 34, MdS Wien No MW 8757); Aquincum 1f. (Tortonéti Múzeum Budapest No 69.10.317; possibly also Aquincum 1c and Scarbantia 1c. (see below). No information. Later second to third century.

The two face jars illustrated are of similar, conical form to the large face beakers from Dacia and Lower Moesia of DAN Types 25 and 26 above, but they are larger, are made in coarser wares, and have somewhat different necks or rims. The jar from Vienna is made of the same gritty fabric as the face jars of DAN Type 27 above.

Museum der Stadt Enns No RM 795.

221

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER VIII

Context: Date:

Museum No 207/11); Drajna-de-Sus (Dacia) 1f. (Stefan 1945, 131, Fig. 13:1); Troesmis 1f. (Museul Deltei Dunarii, Tulcea, No 9386). Grave (Guberevac). Second to third century.

This is a Type that has been defined on the basis of the rim, the eyebrows and the nose, and the sherds listed here could turn out to belong to several different Types. The fragment from Guberevac is the only one on which the lower face has survived, so it is not known if the other examples also had the typical Danubian goatee beard and large, down-turned mouth. As has been seen, m-shaped face masks with semi-circular eyebrows and a straight nose are known in several other provinces. There seem to be two different types: one which is small and compact with eyebrows that are generally notched which seems to be limited mainly to the Upper Danube, as on the face jars of UD Types 1 and 11 (Figs. G2: 1-4 and G7: 1); and a larger mask which is more spread out across the pot, with no ears, generally with no notching on the eyebrows, and sometimes with downdrooping almond-shaped eyes.

Pl. H17. Partially reconstructed red face jar of DAN Type 28 from Aquincum in the Tortonéti Múzeum Budapest; height 17 cm.

The fragmentary face jar from Aquincum above has similar eyes, nose and striated, goatee beard to the Vienna example (Pl. H4), but it is in a redder, less gritty fabric. It has unusual protruding concave eyebrows like those of DAN Types 7 and 2158. With its large down-turned mouth and neat goatee beard it looks very similar to the first century face beaker from Gorsium of DAN Type 5 (Fig. H2: 7). Two other face jars, from Aquincum59 and Scarbantia60 may belong to this Type, but only very scanty information has been available on them both, with no details of the dimensions or fabric. From the published photograph of the former, it is clear that it is very worn, and much of the detail of the face is missing, and the same appears to be true of the example from Scarbantia61. DAN Type 30

Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution:

Pl. H18. Face jar sherd in orange-red fabric of DAN Type 30 with mshaped eyebrows from Guberevac, Serbia, in the National Museum Belgrade; size 6.7 x 7.6 cm. (photo courtesy of Dr Tatiana Cvetecjanin)

Face jars with everted rim and semicircular eyebrows from Moesia and Dacia (Fig. H11: 1-3)

This latter type, to which these Lower Danubian masks may belong, and which occurs sporadically throughout the western provinces, though with little evidence of permanence or continuity in any one region, is somewhat reminiscent of the masks known on Celtic metal work, and could reflect native Celtic influences. Other examples are known from Regensburg on the Upper Danube (Fig. G5: 3), from Wiesbaden (Fig. D3: 2), Xanten (Fig. D6:1) and Nijmegen (Figs. D3: 7 and D8: 5-6) in the Rhineland; and from Welwyn (Fig. J7: 4), Colchester (Fig. J10: 5), Darenth (Fig. J14: 7) and Wroxeter (Fig. J16: 2-3) in Britain. None of the examples from other provinces however have this goatee beard and down-turned mouth.

Smallish face jars or tall face beakers. Orange-red (Guberevac); beige with brown colour-coat (Troesmis). Down-drooping m-shaped eyebrows; straight, narrow nose with nostril slits; coffee bean eyes or round shallow bosses. Lower Danube and Dacia 3f. Examples have been found at: Guberevac 1f. (Belgrade National

58 The original fragments out of which this jar was reconstructed are hard to discern, but it seems that all the main features of the face had survived. 59 Kuszinsky, 1932, 347-8. 60 Póczy, 1965, 41. 61 To judge by the sketch kindly sent to me by Dr Jéno Fitz.

222

THE FACE POTS OF PANNONIA, MOESIA AND DACIA DAN Type 31 Face jars in sandy red fabric with projecting eyebrows and close-set coffee bean eyes from Buciumi (Fig. H11: 4)

Distribution:

Height: Fabric:

Context: Date:

Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

Medium to quite large face jars. Sandy red fabric, one example in finer ware with red colour coat. Projecting, notched eyebrows; coffee bean eyes. Buciumi 4f (Gudea 1977, 42, Pl. LI: 2 and 4; Gudea 1986, unpub. drawings [4]). Inside fort (barrack blocks 4 and 5, and praetorium) Second to third century

This fragment is of particular interest, and comes from what must have been a very large face jar. It is very unfortunate that more of the pot has not survived. The lizard, if that is what it is, the horns, and the size of vessel are all most unusual, and the combination is quite unique. The horns, lying along the top of the eyebrows, are very similar to the horns on the little globular face beaker of DAN Type 6 (Fig. H3:2) from the former Moesian fortress and colonia at Ratiaria, further up the Danube. This could be a local image (see under DAN Type 6), or one brought to this area by troops from the Upper Danube where horned face masks also occur on face jars (RD Type 4, Fig. G6: 12). The horns on this piece are speckled with tiny holes made with a sharp tool, and not notched as on the Ratiaria face beaker or the Upper Danube face jars, but such speckling sometimes seems to replace notching in the Lower Danube area as can be seen from the speckled beards of some of the large face beakers of DAN Type 25 (Fig. H8: 1 and 3).

These face jar fragments all come from Buciumi, the auxiliary fort on the north western Dacian Limes. They could well be a local sub-group of a Type that is more wide-spread. Somewhat similar, projecting eyebrows, though more arched and slightly concave, occur on the face jars from Brigetio and Aquincum of DAN Types 21 and 28 (Figs. H7: 1-2 and H10: 5), and it could be that these fragments belong to one of these two Types or to some other Type as yet unidentified. DAN Type 32 Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

Face jar fragment with applied eyelids and a phallus on the cheek (Fig. H11: 6)

The lizard63 is most unusual and is the only one so far identified on any face pot known to the author. Though it is incomplete, it looks very similar to the often poorly modelled lizards applied to the wall of snake vases, generally in the company of other animals such as frogs, tortoises and scorpions, most of which appear to have been connected with the cult of Sabazius, and possibly also with a syncretised cult of Dionysus and Sabazius, two closely related deities whose cults may have been combined in some areas or among some groups64. Both these deities were much honoured in the regions of the lower Danube, and snake vases appear to have been used in their worship, though so far no examples with lizards or similar animals seem to have been found in this area. The closest examples may be from Carnuntum where two sherds thought to come from snake vases, one with a frog and the other with a lizard, have been found in association with a mithraeumlike building outside the legionary fortress65. Other instances come from the Upper Danube area where two isolated sherds with applied lizards climbing vertically up the pot have been found at Pfaffenhofen and Westheim in Bavaria66, and a fragmentary snake pot, with handles but no spouts and with a lizard, frog and snake climbing up the sides, has been found at Straubing on the Danube, just across the Austrian border67. However possibly the largest concentration of pottery vessels thought to be associated

Unknown. Brown sandy fabric with white slip. Ribbon-strip eyelids; applied phallus pointing at left eye; dotted beard?. Novae 1f. (Mitova Djonova, 1972, 204, Fig. 3a [6]). Unspecified. Second to third century.

This fragment, and the one of DAN Type 33 below, both from Novae, are very interesting as they provide clear evidence of the import of Rhineland face pot traditions into the Lower Danube region. This is the only face jar found so far in the Danubian provinces with a phallus on the face. It is very similar to the applied phalli on Rhineland face jars, and like some of them it has notching on it. The eye, however with its carefully cut, ribbon eyelids and flat circular pupil would be quite out of place on any Rhineland face pot. A fragment with a very similar eye comes from Margum, in Upper Moesia (Fig. H11: 5), and another from Durosturum, though this one is less carefully chiselled62. DAN Type 33

Height: Fabric: Face:

dotted “horns” lying above notched eyebrows; applied “lizard” on left cheek. Novae 1f. ((Mitova Djonova, 1972, 2045, Fig. 3b [7]). Unspecified. Early second century?

Large face jar with dotted horns and a incomplete “lizard” on the cheek (Fig. H11: 7) Very large vessel, c. 30 cm or more. Fine red fabric with red colour-coat. Rectangular slit eyes; long narrow nose;

63

It is just conceivable that it is some kind of legged phallus of the kind often found on apotropaic charms or tintinabuli (Johns 1982, 68), but the head does not look particularly phallic. 64 See Bird 1996, in particular 123-5; and Appendix VI, 2-3 65 Gassner 1990, Figs 2, 3 and 5. 66 Ulbert 1963, 62, Fig. 6: 1-2. 67 See Appendix VI, B.2, Pls. T3 and T5..

62 Culica 1976, 569, Fig. 2. These two latter fragments are listed with the unclassified sherds at the end of this chapter.

223

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER VIII with the cult of Sabazius, as well as three of the characteristic but very rare bronze hands encrusted with the symbols of his cult, come from north Switzerland68. Most of the pottery vessels, decorated with snakes, frogs, tortoises, lizards and scorpions and dated to the second half of the first century, have been found in the fortress of Vindonissa69, all just fragments apart from one virtually complete example though this unfortunately is only decorated with snakes and schematic-looking trees or branches70. Two others are known from Augst, one nearly complete (with applied frogs and tortoises in place of the trees), and one from Avenches.

tradition with which they are associated during the first half of the second century. The lizard if such it is, could help to shed more light on the origins of this Roman tradition, though as Sabazius was a well-known deity in Thrace and on the lower Danube, the lizard could be a local addition rather than part of a cult imported from Switzerland. Alternatively of course, the phallic jug tradition could have been brought here from the Rhineland through other channels, possibly by auxiliary units transferred to the Lower Danube during the Antonine period, as may have been the case with the other unusual face jar fragment from Novae listed above with a phallus on the cheek.

This sherd from Novae is clearly from an unusually large vessel, and it does not appear to have come from either a normal-shaped face jar nor a snake vase such as the ones from Vindonissa and Augst. The surviving wall of the pot hardly has any curve on the vertical axis, though more on the horizontal one, implying a rather cylindrical shape. Mitova Djonova (1972, 207, Fig. 3b) suggests that it might have come from a large phallic jug of the kind found at Zugmantel, Nida Heddernheim and Niederbieber71. Certainly the phallic jugs were made in large sizes, as can be seen from the large fragment found at Zugmantel (Fig. D16: 3). None of these, as far as we know, had lizards or frogs on them, and as yet no other phallic jugs have been clearly identified outside the Middle Rhineland, apart from the phallic spout in red ware found in the fortress rubbish dump at Vindonissa72 which must almost certainly have come from such a vessel (Fig. D16: 6), and the mica-dusted phallic spout from London73 (Fig. D16: 7).

B.2 MISCELLANEOUS FACE JAR SHERDS THAT CANNOT BE INCLUDED IN ANY OF THE ABOVE TYPES OR GROUPINGS PANNONIA Vienna 1. Ear fragment in sandy orange fabric (MdS Wien No MU 22107/2) 2. Everted rim fragment with nose and part of notched eyebrows in lightish grey smooth fabric (MdS Wien No 2200) 3. Body fragment with shallow nose, notched eyebrows and a painted black slit for the eye in orange buff fabric (MdS Wien, unnumbered) Carnuntum 1. Eye fragment with applied slit, almond-shaped eye in indented eye-socket, and protruding notched eyebrow in quite fine orange buff fabric (Museum Carnuntinum No 6382) 2. Eye fragment in similar fabric with incised almondshaped eye with shallow notching around it (Museum Carnuntinum No 6381) Brigetio Body fragment with nose and unnotched eyebrows, and almond-shaped eyes with applied eyelids in grey fabric (Bónis 1979, Fig. 18:9).

One obvious link between the cult traditions of Vindonissa and this far-removed fragment of a face jar from Novae on the Lower Danube is legio XI Claudia, the last legion to be stationed at Vindonissa, which was transferred to the Danube and to Lower Moesia under Trajan. With the exception of legiones V Alaudae and XXI Rapax which were transferred to the Lower Danube from Gemany in the 70s and 80s and subsequently destroyed, the Eleventh Legion is the only legion from the Rhineland which was permanently transferred to Lower Moesia, and though it was in fact based at Durosturum, some of its veterans are almost certain to have settled at Novae, particularly in the early days before Durosturum had developed comparable civilian amenities. The legion would undoubtably have had a strong influence on the ceramic traditions in this area in the early part of the second century. At present there is a gap of half a century or more between the Vindonissa phallic spout which cannot be later than AD 10174, and the phallic jugs of the Wetterau which are thought to date from the later second to early third century. If this fragment is from a phallic jug, then it would demonstrate the continuing use by the army of these jugs, and the continuity of the cult

DACIA Sarmizegetusa Two body sherds: a nose fragment with large, hooked nose, and a fragment with what looks like a mould-stamped eyebrow and a round applied eye with triangular stamp in the centre, both in fine red fabric (Gudea, N, 1985, unpublished drawings) Romula Two body sherds with shallow, unnotched eyebrows, and round applied eyes (Stefan 1945-7, 131-2, Fig. 13: 2-3) Porolissum Unspecified face jar fragments found in fort and civilian settlement (Gudea, N, 1985, personal comment).

68

Bird 1996, 123. Schmid 1991, Group B. 70 See Chapter VII, Fig. G7: 3. 71 See Chapter IV, Pt II, RL Type 33, Fig. D16. 72 Vindonissa Museum No 25.1152. 73 Which unfortunately it has not yet been possible to examine. 74 See Chapter VI, Note 19. 69

224

THE FACE POTS OF PANNONIA, MOESIA AND DACIA MOESIA Margum, Face jar fragment showing chiselled nose and eyebrows and almond-shaped eye with raised eyelids in red fabric with a red colour-coat, Fig. H11: 5 (Belgrade National Museum, Roman Collection, No 4059/III). Durosturum, a face sherd with similar features to the above, but more worn, in a local pinkish buff fabric (Culica 1976, 569, Fig. 2). Bononia and Ratiaria Unspecified face jar fragments (Culica 1976, 571).

225

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER VIII IMPORTED FACE BEAKERS AND EARLY COPIES OF DAN TYPES 1-5

Fig. H2. Type 1, No 1; Type 2, Nos 2-3; Type 3, No 4; Type 5, Nos 5-7. (Scale 1:2) 1, Siscia; 2, Emona; 3, Poetovio; 4, Sirmium; 5, Emona; 6, Baranya (Hung.); 7, Gorsium

226

THE FACE POTS OF PANNONIA, MOESIA AND DACIA SECOND CENTURY FACE BEAKERS OF SOUTH PANNONIA AND UPPER MOESIA OF DAN TYPES 6-8

Fig. H3. Type 6, Nos 1-3; Type 7, No 4; Type 8, Nos 5-6. (Scale 1:2) 1, Vasas (Hung.); 2, Ratiaria; 3, Guberevac (Serbia); 4, Neviodunum; 5, Viminacium; 6, Taurunum.

227

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER VIII SECOND CENTURY FACE BEAKERS OF NORTH PANNONIA (1-3) AND MOESIA AND DACIA (4-5) OF DAN TYPES 9-12

Fig. H4. Type 9, No1; Type 10, Nos 2-3; Type 11, No 4; Type 12, No 5. (Scale 1:2) 1, Carnuntum; 2, Vienna; 3, Carnuntum; 4, Cumidava; 5, Asanja (Serbia).

228

THE FACE POTS OF PANNONIA, MOESIA AND DACIA THIRD TO FOURTH CENTURY FACE BEAKERS FROM NORTH PANNONIA AND UPPER MOESIA OF DAN TYPES 13 AND 14

Fig. H5. Type 13, Nos 1-3; Type 14, Nos 4-5. (Scale 1:2) 1-2, Intercisa; 3, Taliata; 4, Savaria; 5, Brigetio

229

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER VIII THIRD TO FOURTH CENTURY FACE BEAKERS FROM NORTH PANNONIA OF DAN TYPES 15-17

Fig. H6.

Type 15, Nos 1-2; Type 16, No 3; Type 17, No 4. (Scale 1;2) 1, Vienna; 2, Intercisa; 3, Vienna; 4, Brigetio

230

THE FACE POTS OF PANNONIA, MOESIA AND DACIA SECOND CENTURY FACE JARS FROM NORTH PANNONIA OF DAN TYPES 21-22

Fig. H7. Type 21, Nos 1-2; Type 22, Nos 3-6. (scale 1: 4 except No 2 at 1:2) 1, Brigetio; 2, Aquincum; 3-4, Vienna; 5, Gorsium; 6, Carnuntum 231

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER VIII SECOND TO THIRD CENTURY LARGE FACE BEAKERS FROM DACIA AND THE LOWER DANUBE OF DAN TYPE 25

Fig. H8. Type 25, Nos 1-3 (Scale 1:2) 1, Durosturum; 2, Micasasa (Roumania); 3, Buciumi

232

THE FACE POTS OF PANNONIA, MOESIA AND DACIA SECOND TO THIRD CENTURY LARGE FACE BEAKERS FROM DACIA AND THE LOWER DANUBE OF DAN TYPES 25 AND 26

Fig. H9.

Type 25, No 1; Type 26, No 2. (Scale 1:2) 1, Oescus; 2, Buciumi. 233

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER VIII LATE SECOND TO THIRD CENTURY FACE JARS FROM NORTH PANNONIA OF DAN TYPES 27-28

Fig. H10. Type 27, Nos 1-3; Type 28, No 4-5. (Scale 1:4) 1, Carnuntum; 2-4, Vienna; 5, Aquincum.

234

THE FACE POTS OF PANNONIA, MOESIA AND DACIA FACE POT FRAGMENTS FROM DACIA AND THE LOWER DANUBE OF DAN TYPES 30-33

Fig. H11. Type 30, Nos 1-3; Type 31, No 4; Type 32, No 6; Type 33, No 7. (Scale 1:2) 1, Guberevac (Serbia); 2, Troesmis; 3, Drajna de Sus (Roumania.); 4, Buciumi (Roumania); 5, Margum; 6-7, Novae.

235

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART I

CHAPTER NINE The face jars and face beakers of Roman Britain

Pl. J1. Three buff face jars of RB Type 13A from Colchester of Period II in the Colchester and Essex Museum (photo; Museum postcard).

the early conquest campaigns and occupation. After this face pots become more standardised, with the emergence by the end of the first century of the characteristic threehandled or sometimes two-handled face jars of RB Type 13 which are unique to Britain, and which are found particularly in the south east but also, in smaller numbers, across much of occupied Britain in a variety of slightly different local forms or sub-types. They are the most common face pots of the second century, and continue to some extent into the third century and, in the south east, possibly into the fourth. During the third century however, grey handle-less face jars of RB Type 21 (Figs. J 10-12) , found only in east Britain, soon begin to outnumber them and become the dominant British Type. These, like the handled face jars, can also be sub-divided into a number of local sub-groups. Finally, in the later third and fourth centuries, when on the Continent face jars have virtually disappeared and just a few face beakers remain, there is almost a renaissance of face jars, with at least two major new Types appearing, and several other less easily definable ones. Alongside these, there are the relatively rare head pots which seem to start in the early third century, and the somewhat more numerous face jugs (or face-neck flagons) which start towards the end of the third century and

CHRONOLOGICAL DIVISIONS Romano-British face pots1 do not fall into quite the same chronological periods as they do in the Rhineland, or in the Danubian provinces. There is a somewhat similar “early period”, which lasts from the invasion in AD 43 until about 85, with quite a wide variety of different types, mostly in oxidised wares, and virtually all from sites associated with

1 Since the publication of my earlier paper on the face pots and head pots of Roman Britain (Braithwaite 1984) quite a number of new face pots have been excavated in Britain, while older ones have also come to light providing evidence for several new British face pot groups or Types which were previously unsuspected, in particular some early large face beakers. Added to which these last few years have seen the publication of a number of books and papers on Romano-British pottery providing invaluable information on the development of the pottery industries in Roman Britain, and making it possible to identify many more of the major and minor production centres which were involved in the production of face pots. New information relevant to face pot development has also been emerging on the military side, particularly as regards the movement of the Roman legions during the first forty years after the invasion of Britain, and the various stages of legionary occupation at Exeter, Kingsholm, Gloucester, Usk and Caerleon. The time is ripe therefore for a reassessment of the face pots of Roman Britain, and for a more comprehensive Type Series in line with those attempted in the previous chapters for the other provinces.

237

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER NINE civilian sites in the south east far from the areas of contemporary military occupation, in apparent contrast to the Continental face pots which are found mainly within the zones of military activity and veteran settlement. This apparently anomalous distribution of British face pots is discussed at greater length in Chapter XI together with the whole question of the connection between face pots and the Roman army and the military community.

continue all through the fourth, as well as a variety of very unusual or unique anthropomorphic pots of different kinds, mostly from east Britain2. There is no distinct break or hiatus in face jar traditions in the second half of the third century as there is on the Continent, reflecting the series of disastrous barbarian invasions which Britain largely escaped, nor does the shortlived period of independent rule under Carausius and Allectus from 286-296 and its termination by Constantius appear to have caused any noticeable disruption. Instead however one can detect some kind of gradual change taking place in the distribution of face pots and the types of face pots used in the last years of the second century and in the early years of the third. This happens to be around the time of the disastrous bid by the Governor of Britain, Clodius Albinus to make himself Emperor in 196 and the emergency that followed, culminating in the visit of the Emperor Septimius Severus to Britain ten years later to win back lowland Scotland and punish the Scots (see Part III, A), but it is hard to see any very obvious connection between these events and the changes noticeable in face pots. There is no abrupt cessation of earlier face pot Types or the sudden appearance of completely new ones, but rather a gradual process during which the light buff or white-slipped face jars with handles found mainly in the south east, but also on the western side of Britain, gradually fade out, and are replaced, or rather outnumbered, by grey handle-less face jars found only in east Britain, mainly Suffolk, Norfolk and east Yorkshire, areas where previously few face pots had been known.

The shortage of complete vessels Despite the relatively high numbers of face pots identified in Britain, far fewer whole or reconstructable vessels have been found here than in the Rhineland or in the Danubian provinces, and one reason for this seems to be the shortage of examples found in graves. It is not clear if fewer face pots were actually used as cremation urns or grave goods in Britain, or whether this just reflects the lack of systematic excavation of Roman cemeteries in Britain, and in particular military ones. Twenty years ago face jars that had been buried in graves were only known for certain from Colchester and Welwyn. Now quite a number have been identified from the London-Verulamium area (of RB Type 13D), four or five are known or suspected from Gloucester (RB Types 1A and 1B), and one or two other isolated examples, such as the one from East Studdale in north Kent found beside the road between Canterbury and London, are presumed to have come from graves. Elsewhere however most of the limited number of whole or reconstructable face pots from recorded contexts appear to have come from kiln sites or votive deposits. By far the largest number of face pots, or rather face pot sherds, have been found on settlement sites, both military and civilian, in what appear to be domestic or rubbish contexts, which include bath buildings and shops as well as private dwellings. These are invariably only fragmentary, unless they are from a votive deposit inside a building, and often just a face sherd survives with no rim or base. The result is that there are a great many sherds which cannot be adequately classified, particularly it seems during the second century and early third. These are listed at the end of the Catalogue to Part III, grouped where possible according to facial characteristics under Face Groups, or failing that just listed as miscellaneous sherds.

Using the watershed of the Severan campaign in Scotland as a very flexible dividing line, it is possible to group the British face pots into three overlapping periods, allowing a division of this chapter into three parts. Part I covers the period of the military conquest from the invasion in AD 43 to the departure of Agricola after his defeat of the Scottish tribes in 84. Part II covers the second period which extends from the later first century to the end of the second with some Types continuing into the third century. Part III covers the period from the turn of the second century to the end of the Roman period. At the end an additional Part IV has been added to include a number of rare anthropomorphic vessels that have some features in common with face pots, most of which are unique to Britain (RB Types 41-44). FACE POT DISTRIBUTION Face pots are more evenly spread across the country in Britain than in other Roman provinces with the possible exception of Dacia, though by the later second century they seem to be concentrated mostly on the eastern side of Britain. After the first century they frequently occur on 2 British head pots are discussed in my earlier paper (Braithwaite 1984) and the largest group, those from York, by Swan and Monaghan (1993, 21-38). They are briefly summarised here in Appendix IV. A. 8. Face jugs, or faceneck flagons, the other most common type of anthropomorphic vessel in Britain after face pots, appear to be a quite separate development, with different origins and cult associations, and have not been included here. They are the subject of a recent monograph by Franziska Dövener (2000).

238

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART I

PART I THE FACE POTS OF THE CONQUEST PERIOD AD 43-84. A. A.1.

across the territory of the Durotriges in Dorset, at Hod Hill, Waddon Hill, Lake Farm and possibly at Dorchester, with what may have been a very early legionary fortress at Silchester and another later one at Exeter, on the boundaries of the Dumnonii, where the legion is now believed to have been based from c.55-75. However the finding of a tombstone of a veteran of the Second Augusta at Alchester in Oxfordshire, well to the north of Dorset, where a fort large enough to house a legion has recently been identified10, could imply that the Second Legion was based there in the winter months throughout the early conquest period, leaving auxiliary units to man the Dorset forts, and moving on to Exeter in the mid fifties, though such a base would seem very far removed from its theatre of operation. Other forts further west in Devon and Cornwall of probable Neronian date indicate a slightly later campaign to subdue and garrison the Dumnoni11, presumably by the same legion from its base at Exeter. Legio II had then been assumed to have moved to the fortress site at Gloucester built c. 65, before moving to its final base in the newly constructed fortress at Caerleon c.74/5. However evidence has now emerged suggesting that all or part of the legion remained at Exeter until 75, moving directly to Caerleon12.

THE MILITARY BACKGROUND. The early conquest campaigns 43-753

1. The Roman invasion of Britain took place in AD 43, under the command of Aulus Plautus, previously Governor of Pannonia. The four legions he brought with him were legio XX4 from Neuss, legio XIIII Gemina from Mainz, legio VIIII Hispana from Pannonia, which had probably been based at Siscia, and legio II Augusta almost certainly from Strasbourg. With them would have been thirty or more auxiliary units providing roughly the same number of soldiers as the four legions. After the victory at Camulodunum, the army is thought to have been split up, with each legion, together with a complement of auxilia, operating in different regions of lowland Britain (see Chapter XI, Pt I, Fig. L2). Before the construction of permanent legionary fortresses, the legions may also have been divided up into vexillations, again accompanied by auxiliary units, and based in separate winter quarters. A number of larger forts of intermediate size, in between an auxiliary fort and a legionary fortress, have been identified in Britain dating from this early period which could have served as their winter quarters. Alternatively these forts, or some of them at least, may have been the winter quarters for combined groups of auxiliary regiments5.

4. Much less is known about the activities of legio XIIII, but it seems to have advanced into the east Midlands, probably along the route of what was to be Watling Street. Forts large enough to take a vexillation of the legion have been identified at Wall, Kinvaston and Leighton, and there was probably another at Leicester13. Around AD 55 the Fourteenth is thought to have moved to its last base in Britain at Wroxeter, guarding the route up the Severn valley into the heart of north Wales. The whole legion, together with a vexillation of legio XX took part in the invasion of Anglesey, and then in the suppression of the Boudiccan revolt, when it is generally thought to have gained the title Martia Victrix. In 67 AD it was transferred back to Mainz. It may have been accompanied during part or all of its tour in Britain by eight cohorts of Batavians, as Tacitus mentions that eight such cohorts were withdrawn from Britain along with the legion14. They subsequently fell out with the Fourteenth during the Civil War, and went over to Civilis and had to be disbanded.

2. The first legionary fortress was built beside the oppidum of the defeated Catuvellauni at Camulodunum immediately after the conquest, and was probably occupied by legio XX until its conversion into a veteran colony in AD 496. This legion is then thought to have been based just outside Gloucester, at Kingsholm from c. 49-55, before moving to a newly built fortress at Usk on the borders of Wales7. It played a key role in the suppression of the Boudiccan revolt and it is probably as a result of this that it acquired the title Valeria Victrix. In 66 or 67, the legion has traditionally been thought to have moved to Wroxeter, replacing legio XIIII (see below)8. 3. Legio II Augusta, under the future emperor Vespasian, who, according to Suetonius9, subdued two tribes and the Isle of Wight and captured over 20 hill-forts (oppida), has traditionally been presumed to have campaigned in the south and south-west. A number of large forts that could have housed half or even all of a legion have been identified

10

Sauer 2005, 101-134. Salway, 1981, 93. 12 Holbrook and Bidwell, 1993, 3-8. If legio XX did not occupy Gloucester at this time, it is possible that half of legio II moved there, while the other half remained at Exeter until 75. 13 Leicester, where the Fosse Way intersects with another pre-Roman trackway from Camelodunum , has always seemed an obvious site for a legionary base, and Hassall (2000, 61) suggests that a full-sized fortress, or even a double-sized one housing both the Fourteenth and Ninth legions, may have been established there. An alternative site would be at High Cross where the Fosse Way crosses Watling Street. 14 Hist. i, 59, and ii, 66. 11

3

See map on Fig. L2 in Chapter XI, Part I. Legio XX was later awarded the title of Valeria Victrix. See Hassall 2000, 64. 6 But see Chapter XI, Part I, J.3. 7 There are close similarities between the pottery from Kingsholm and from Usk which support such a transfer (Darling, 1977, 62). 8 An alternative suggestion put forward by Hassall (2000, 62) is that it first moved back to Gloucester, to the site later occupied by the colonia and then on to Wroxeter in 75. 9 Vespasian, 4. 4 5

239

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER NINE

240

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART I the Thames to the Tyne, and the other two further north and inland at Hayton and Malton, are thought to date from this campaign22. Venutius was defeated at Stanwick, with the aid of legio XX who had marched north from Wroxeter under its legate Agricola. Under the governor Frontinus who succeeded Cerialis in 74 AD, the theatre of action changed to Wales and a campaign was launched against the Silures. Around this time legio II Augusta was moved to Caerleon, and soon afterwards a new fortress for legio II Adiutrix was founded at Chester. Exeter, Gloucester and Lincoln were vacated and in the next fifteen to twenty years the latter two sites became veteran colonies. In the years following the conquest of Wales, a network of roads and forts was created across the country, cordoning off each separate block of mountains and hills. This network may have remained more or less in place, though with a progressively reduced garrison, until the later Roman period.

5. Legio VIIII Hispana is thought to have had the role of campaigning northwards along the route of the future Ermine Street up the eastern side of England, skirting the territory of the Iceni, who had become allies of Rome, and the impenetrable fens, and advancing through Lincolnshire to the shores of the Humber estuary. Vexillation-size forts have been discovered at Longthorpe, Newton-on-Trent, Rossington Bridge and Osmanthorpe15 which may have housed parts of the legion until the fortress was constructed at Lincoln some time in the late fifties or early sixties16. Alternatively, as mentioned above, the legion may have been housed in a double fortress at Leicester. In 60, when the Boudiccan revolt broke out, it was the Ninth who first came to the aid of the veteran colonists of Camulodunum, besieged inside the temple of Claudius, though they arrived too late and were roundly defeated by the rebels, all but their legate Petilius Cerialis and the cavalry being massacred.17 Though Tacitus speaks of a legion being lost, in fact as only 2,000 legionary soldiers were sent over from Germany as reinforcements, along with nine or ten auxiliary units, it seems likely that it was only half the legion, possibly based at Longthorpe, the nearest of the vexillation forts identified. Once the rebellion had been put down, the Iceni and their allies the Trinovantes were ruthlessly suppressed and a series of new forts were established on their territory and to the south, evidence for which has been found at Chelmsford, Great Chesterford, Long Melford, Coddenham, and Pakenham, and possibly also at Scole18. Further north in Norfolk other forts must have been established, as is almost certainly the case at Caistor-byNorwich19, while military equipment together with coins of this period have been found at Brampton20, Woodcock Hall near Saham Toney and Swanton Morley near Worthing21.

A.2.

Agricola’s campaigns in the North AD 78-84

In 78 Agricola returned to Britain, replacing Frontinus as governor. He completed the conquest of Wales, and then, in 79, he launched a series of six campaigns, each one faithfully recorded by his son-in-law Tacitus, to settle the north of Britain once and for all. Leaving legio II Augusta at Chester, Agricola advanced up through the western side of Brigantian territory, at the head of his old legion, legio XX, while legio VIIII advanced in parallel on the eastern side, as far as the Tyne-Solway isthmus. Their routes can be surmised from the road and fort network that was soon put in place, with the two major north-south roads on either side of the Pennines and transverse roads linking them through the passes, though some of the forts now known may have been founded earlier and some later23.The drive northwards continued, and over the next two to three years a similar network of roads and forts was established in southern Scotland south of the Forth-Clyde isthmus. It is assumed that a line of forts was constructed across the isthmus at this time which was then overlaid by the later Antonine Wall, but so far only two forts of this period have been securely identified, at Camelon and Mumrills. In 83, despite the necessity to send vexillations of all four legions to take part in Domitian’s Chattan war, Agricola continued his offensive, and embarked on his campaign against the Caledonian tribes of the Highlands, together with part of the British fleet which completed the first Roman circumnavigation of Scotland. That winter, work seems to have been started on building a new fortress for legio XX at Inchtuthil on the northern shores of the Tay, guarding the entrance to the Highlands. The following year battle was finally joined with a fully mobilised Caledonian army at Mons Graupius, and the Caledonians were decisively defeated with great loss of life. But no more reinforcements were forthcoming, rather the reverse, and this final advance and victory was never to be consolidated. That same year, at the end of 84, Agricola was re-called to Rome.

6. In 71, the same Cerialis, who had been responsible for suppressing the Civilis revolt and bringing order back to the Rhineland, was posted back to Britain, this time as governor. With him he brought legio II Adiutrix, which had been raised from the marines of the Ravenna fleet during the Civil War. In northern Britain the alliance with the Brigantes, under their queen Cartimandua, had broken down during the emergency, and the tribe, led by her divorced husband Venutius, had risen in revolt. Cerialis stationed legio II Adiutrix in Lincoln, and set out northwards with his old legion, legio VIIII, into the territory of the Parisi, the neighbours of the Brigantes, and established a new base for the legion at York. Three early Flavian forts in this area, one at Brough on the north bank of the Humber which was to become a key port on the long haul up the east coast from 15

Keppie 2000, 85. Frere, 1978, 87. 17 Tacitus Annals, XIV, 29-39. 18 Moore et al. 1988, Fig. III.18. 19 Also known as Caistor St Edmund. See Pt II under RB Type 13C, Note 41. 20 Knowles, 1977, 211. 21 Moore et al. 1988, Fig. III.18. For the position of these forts in Suffolk and Norfolk see map in Chapter XI, Fig L3. Garrisons for many of these forts may have been drawn from the new auxiliary units sent over as reinforcements from the Rhineland in 61 AD., though to begin with, according to Tacitus (Annals XIV, 38) they were brigaded together in one large fort, possibly at Great Chesterford (Frere 1978, 107). 16

22 23

241

Breeze and Dobson 1985, Fig. 1. Ibid, 4, Fig. 2

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER NINE

B.

Face jars with no handles or spouts RB Types 2-3 (Fig. J3) These jars, with their large faces spread across the body or upper half of the pot, bear more resemblance to some of the early Rhineland face jars. The face of the one example of RB Type 2 with its notched eyebrows and eyelids, slashed beard and applied phallus is recognisably Italo-Rhenish, but it is represented only by a large rim fragment so the vessel form is not certain, and it could conceivably have had spouts. The single examples representing Types 3 A-D are all quite different from each other but they all have large faces placed on or near the girth of the pot, and they are all necked jars with high shoulders. Only two come from reasonnably securely dated early contexts, the unusually shaped, reconstructed jar from Camerton and the one from Carlisle with its typically Rhineland face and pot profile (Types 3C-D, Fig. J3: 3-4). The other three have been provisionally given an early date on account of their faces as well as in some cases their apparently early fabrics.

THE FACE POTS OF PERIOD ONE The Conquest Period, AD 43-84.

The not very numerous and rather fragmentary early British face pots have all been found on sites occupied by units of the Roman army in this period, or on sites which were connected with the conquest campaigns24, and there can be little doubt that, as in the other provinces, they were introduced by the army. That being the case, it seems rather surprising that there are few if any instantly recognisable Continental types in among the early face jars. This is perhaps less unexpected than it seems however, as face jar traditions were only just beginning on the Rhine and the upper Danube when the invasion of Britain took place, and as has been seen in Chapters IV and VII, the few examples known on the Continent from the first half of the first century are far from standardised. Face beakers on the other hand developed earlier on the Continent than face jars, in both Italy and in Illyricum, so legionaries from these areas would have arrived in Britain with a clearer idea of the kind of vessel, and face mask, that they wanted copied. This seems to be born out by the fragmentary early British face beakers that have survived, though they are quite a bit larger than Italian face beakers. Later reinforcements brought in after the Boudiccan revolt in 60 AD would have included soldiers already acquainted with the more standardised face jars being produced in the middle and lower Rhineland by that time, and this may be discernible in some of the spoutless face jars of RB Types 2 and 3 with their larger, more recognisable faces, as well as in the earliest examples of the later face jars with three handles of RB Type 13.

Large face beakers RB Types 6-9 (Fig. J4) The early face beakers are all of roughly the same form with high shoulders, plain everted rim and no neck, similar to many of the Italian face beakers and to the colour-coated face beakers of the Rhineland of RL Type 11. They are in oxidised wares, mostly quite fine red, with one fragment from London with a large, pierced ear in mica-dusted ware (Fig. J4: 6). They are all large-size beakers, not so very different in size from some of the smaller face jars. The faces are on the girth and cover most of the body of the pot. Though the pots are mostly very fragmentary, there appear to be strong similarities with the faces of some of the north Italian face beakers. Those of the two incomplete beakers from Colchester and Lincoln (Fig. J4 1a and 2 a-b) would seem to have much in common with the beak-nosed faces of the Aquileia-type beakers of IT Type 19. Tentative reconstruction drawings are given for both of them (Fig. J4: 1b-c and 2c), though unfortunately no evidence survives for the ears and little for the nose in the case of the Colchester vessel. The face on the example from Trent Vale (Fig. J4: 3) is more similar to that on the large face beaker from Milan of IT Type 24 (Fig. C8: 2). The red face pot fragment from the early fort at Hayton of B Type 8B (Fig. J4: 4) has been included with the large face beakers on account of its face, though in form it appears to have been more similar to the early face jars of RB Type 3. Admittedly not much of the face survives, but it is said to have barbotine eyebrows, which is rare for face jars, and there is the beginning of what could have been a large nose. It also appears to have had large eyes. Apart from the example from Trent Vale, all the other large early face beakers have been found on the east side of Britain, and could well be connected with the Ninth Legion. This is the one conquest legion that was not stationed in the Rhineland before its arrival in Britain, but in Illyricum, very probably at Siscia on the river Sava, and before that it is thought to have been based for a while at Aquileia25. It was therefore the legion most likely to have

FORMS, TYPES AND FACES Three basic forms can be identified in this early period - jars with spouts, jars with no spouts, and large globular face beakers with high shoulders and short, everted rim. FACE JARS Face jars with spouts, RB Types I A-B (Fig. J2) These do not bear any very close resemblance to the early spouted jars of the Rhineland or the Upper Danube of RL Types 2 A-B, 20A and UD Type 1 . They are either rather narrow jars with low sloping shoulders (RB Type 1A) or what would appear to be large jars with a constricted neck and wide, very high shoulders known only from small rim fragments (RB Type 1B). Their everted rims can be frilled, notched or plain. The complete or reconstructable examples of Type 1A have just two spouts, but there are no examples of Type 1B complete enough to say whether they originally had two or three spouts. The spouts may be pierced or blind. Unlike the early Rhineland face jars with spouts, which are in grey or buff wares, these early spouted face jars all seem to be in plain red (or orange) fabrics. The faces, with just one or two exceptions, as at Usk, are mostly small, abbreviated and compact, and generally placed high up on the shoulder or squashed up against the rim . 24

25

A brief account of the conquest campaigns is included in Appendix II.

242

Mann 1983, 31.

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART I included soldiers already accustomed to using face beakers26.

SITES AND CONTEXTS As mentioned above, all the early face pots have been found on sites occupied by the invasion forces during the conquest campaigns. Few contexts unfortunately have been securely identified, and of these kilns (see above) and graves are the most common.

FACES As can be seen from Figs. J2-J4, there is relatively little standardisation of either faces or forms at this period, reflecting the still formative stage of the face pot tradition before it reached Britain from the Continent in AD 43, and the relative isolation of the four individual legions and their accompanying auxilia as they pursued their separate conquest campaigns in different regions of Britain.

The two most complete face jars from Gloucester come from graves (RB Types 1A and 2), the former of which is known to have been a cremation urn, while at least two other sherds from Gloucester of RB Types 1A and B were found in the area of a cemetery. Others have been found inside forts and fortresses, and two in ditches: one at Camerton beside the Fosse Way (RB Type 3A) and the other in the fort ditch at Hayton (RB Type 8A).

It is possible however to identify three main face-mask types that occur in this early period: 1. The “serene” mask The large faces on the face jars of RB Types 3 A-D all seem to be versions of this Rhineland mask, as are the faces on the spouted jars of RB Type 1A from Usk. 2. The beak-nosed mask The grotesque version of this mask occurs on the large face beakers of RB Types 6 A-B, and probably on those of Types 8-9, though as the face fragments are so small in these latter cases it is not certain that they came from such a mask. The large face beaker from Trent Vale with its big nose and round eyes, like the one it appears to resembles from Milan of IT Type 24, may represent the more restrained version of this same mask.

CATALOGUE TO PERIOD ONE FACE JARS WITH SPOUTS RB Type 1

Face jars with spouts, sometimes with a frilled rim (Figs. J2 and J5)

A small number of early spout sherds have been found at Staines and Gloucester which are too small to show if they came from face jars or not. However they are so similar to the local face jars with spouts from the same sites of RB Types 1 A-B that they have been counted in with them as face jar sherds. Fragments from a jar with pierced cupshaped spouts on the shoulder described as applied “vases” have also been found in an unpublished early kiln at Reed Avenue in Canterbury28.. It is not clear whether enough of the jar survived to show that it could not have had a face, but as no other face pots with spouts have so far been found in Canterbury, this has not been listed here with the early spouted face jars.

3. Small abbreviated face masks, tucked beneath the rim These faces occur on many of the face jars with spouts of RB Types 1A-B. They are unique to Britain, and appear to have virtually no connection with the faces of the early Rhineland face jars. They prove to be remarkably longlasting, occurring also on some of the handled face jars of RB Type 13 in the south east in the second to third centuries, and again on the popular Much Hadham face jars in the fourth century (RB Type 31A, Fig. J14: 3-5). They may reflect some non-Italian face mask tradition that was already in existence in Britain before the invasion or one that was introduced by non-Italian, auxiliary soldiers.

RB Type 1A

FABRICS AND KILNS Most of these early face pots are in fabrics that are closely if not exclusively associated with the occupying forces, both legions and auxilia. Three or four have been found on known or suspected military kiln sites as at Gloucester (RB Type 1A), Trent Vale (RB Type 7), York (RB Type 8B) and possibly at Brampton (RB Type 3C). Apart from the large grey face jar of RB Type 3B from Wroxeter, they are all in oxidised wares, predominantly red or orange in colour27.

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution:

26

This question is further discussed in Chapter X1, Pt I, J.2. Red face jars are virtually unknown in Period II, but become more frequent again in Period III.

Red-ware face jars with two or three spouts, un-notched eyebrows, low, sloping shoulders and narrowish girth (Fig. J2: 1-3) c. 22-26 cm. Red or orange; sandy or quite fine. Applied features; small faces except for Usk; un-notched eyebrows; no evidence for ears. London to Usk 20 (1c. and 19+f.) London (Billingsgate) 1f. (Jones, 1974, 54, Fig. 30:206); Staines 12+f. (Davies et al, 1994, 62a; Staines Arch. Unit Nos 4398-9, 4456, 4458-60, 4463, 4466 [1], 4468, 44712, 4467); Gloucester (Kingsholm) 1c. (J.Timby, 1986, unpub. drawing, Glos City Excav. Unit No 9/83 II (44)) [2]; Gloucester

27

28

243

Pollard 1988, 52, Fig. 16: 47-48.

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER NINE

Context: Date:

fortress/colonia 2f. (Wallace, 1989, 92, Fig. 1: B and D); Usk 4-5f. (Greene, K, 1993, 35, Type 18 [3]; Webster 1993, 323, Fig. 152: 78). Cremation urn (No 2); inside fort (Usk); kilns (Gloucester frag). Possibly late Neronian to late first or early second century.

RB Type 1B Large red ware face jars with spouts, constricted neck, a notched or plain rim and high, almost flat shoulders (Fig. J2:4-5) Height: Fabric: Decoration: Face:

These various vessels, of which only one with three blind spouts is more or less complete (No 2), were probably all roughly similar in form, though the Usk examples seem to be alone in having frilled rims. The faces however are all rather different, and placed in varying positions on the pot: just below the rim at Staines and Billingsgate, on the shoulder at Kingsholm and on the girth at Usk.

Distribution: Context: Date:

Large jars; rim diam.: 21-22 cm. Red or orange. Roller-stamped band below neck on one e.g. (No 5). Abbreviated face placed immediately beneath the vessel rim; no eyebrows, slit eyes and applied nose. Gloucester 3f. (Wallace 1989, 92, Fig. 1: C [5]; Green, C, 1935, Pl. 6: 12 [6]and 15). Possibly graves (Gloucester). Probably later first century.

The three Gloucester sherds are all very small; one has a face but no spout (No 6), the other two have just a spout, but it seems probable that they all come from large spouted face jars of this Type. The sherd with a blind spout and a band of roller-stamping around the shoulder (No 5) comes from the same Southgate deposit as the spout sherd of RB Type 1A mentioned above and is in the same orange Glevum ware. The other two, the face sherd (No 6) and a sherd with a pierced tubular spout, are in what is described as “red ware” and come from a cemetery area on Denmark Road, to the east of the Kingsholm fort, dated to the last quarter of the first century35.

The ones from Staines come from a site beside the river Thames thought to have been occupied by the troops who built and then guarded the important bridge over the river. They have been dated to the early Flavian period29. Only small sherds survive, so it is not clear how many spouts there were, but some were blind and some pierced. All except for two of the spout sherds30 are in a sandy, brickred fabric. The London sherd (No 4), is in a fabric very similar to these and also comes from a Flavian deposit, in the timber revetment of the Thames river bank in the Billingsgate Market area. The complete face jar from Kingsholm, Gloucester, found in the cemetery to the north of the early fortress (No 2) is in “Early Seven Valley Ware”, a hard fine sandy orange fabric, which is of later first to early second century date31. The two other fragments listed from Gloucester from what appear to be similar-shaped jars are just spout sherds but are assumed to have come from face jars. They are in a fine micaceous orange ware limited to the fortress and the colonia, and dating from the late Neronian period until around the end of the first century 32(ibid, 246). One was found in a second century dump layer on Southgate Street, outside the colonia walls, in an area where several urned cremations have been found, together with one other sherd in the same fabric but belonging to RB Type 1B33. The other sherd comes from an extra-mural kiln site at the College of Art (ibid).

FACE JARS WITHOUT SPOUTS RB Type 2

Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution:

The Usk drawing (No 3) is an amalgam of fragments from several vessels34. They were all found inside the fortress in occupation levels dating to the earlier occupation of c. 5569 AD, when all or part of Legio XX is believed to have been the garrison, and are made in the same local fabric as much of the pottery used by the legion at this period (ibid 1993, 8).

Context: Date:

Large bearded face jar with plain everted rim, heavily notched features and a phallus on the cheek and another tiny one on the rim (Fig. J3: 1) Rim diam.: 20 cm. Hard gritty orange ware with a blue-grey core (Kingsholm Military ware, TF 36). Notched eyebrows and eyelids; slashed beard; small pellets for teeth and curved strip for tongue; applied notched phallus on right cheek (and also on rim of jar) Gloucester (Kingsholm) 1f. (J.Timby, unpub drawing, 1986, Glos City Excav Unit No 9/83 XXVIII (15)). In cemetery outside the Kingsholm fort. c. 50-67 AD.

Only a large rim fragment survived from this vessel, so there is no knowing if the face jar had spouts or not. The notched eyelids and eyebrows are very similar to the north Italian-influenced face jars and face beakers of Vindonissa and Mainz36, particularly the one from Mainz which also has a phallus on each cheek. This is the only example found so far in Britain with applied phalli37. The small

29

Davies et al. 1994, 61. These are in Verulamium region coarse white-slipped ware (VCWS) from later Hadrianic and Antonine levels, listed under RB Type 1C. 31 Glos fabric TF11 D (Jane Timby pers.comm and 1990, 249). 32 Gloucester Glevum ware Type 11A (Timby 1990, 246). 33 Wallace 1989, 92. 34 Greene 1993, 35 and pers. comm. 30

35

Green 1935, 199. RD Types 22 and 25, Fig .F4: 2-3 and RL Type 1, Fig. D2:4 37 It has sometimes been suggested that phalli can be discerned on some of the Colchester face jars, but it has not been possible to identify any that resemble the standard Rhineland phalli, and it could be that particularly protuberant chin blobs have been interpreted as phalli. 36

244

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART I phallus stuck incongruously on the rim seems to be unique. It is possible that this pot with its large, centrally-positioned face may have been of the same form as the spout-less face jars of RB Type 3 below, but as it has such a different face from them and has these two unusual phalli, it has been classified separately. It was found in the same cemetery as the complete spouted face jar of RB Type 1A, to the north of the Kingsholm fortress. It is in “Kingsholm Military ware”, the fabric in which most or all of the locally produced pottery on the Kingsholm site was made, with a date bracket of c. 49-67 AD38. RB Type 3

Distribution: Context: Date:

shaped ear(s); applied chin with possible dimple. Wroxeter 1c. (Wroxeter Baths Museum Inv. No WB (84) 52; M Darling, unpub drawing, 1981). Inside Roman town in area of the Hadrianic macellum. Probably later first century.

Face jars in varying fabrics with constricted neck, frilled or plain rim, and large face on the girth (Fig. J3: 2-4)

These four rather dissimilar and widely separated face jars have been loosely grouped together under this Type because they are all necked jars without spouts and they all have a large, centrally-placed face, a rare occurrence on British face jars and one that is either an early feature, copied from the Rhineland, or a characteristic of the Late Roman face jars with stamped bosses of RB Types 28 A-B to which none of these face jars belong. Only the examples from Camerton (No 3) and Carlisle (No 4) are from secure first century contexts. These face jars could be the prototypes for the much more numerous grey face jars with no spouts or handles of the later second to fourth centuries of RB Types 21 A-F. RB Type 3A Height: Fabric: Decoration: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

Wide-bellied face jar with narrow neck and frilled rim (Fig. J3: 3)

Pl. J2. Front half of a large grey face jar of RB Type 3B from Wroxeter in the Wroxeter Baths Museum; height 34 cm

c. 23 cm. “Sandy biscuit cream-coloured”. Roller-stamped (or possibly rouletted) band below neck. Notched strip for beard and eyebrows. Camerton, Somerset 1c. (Wedlake 1958, 199, Fig. 48:600). In Fosse Way ditch. AD 55-90.

This incomplete face jar was found in Hadrianic layers inside the Roman town. However both the fabric and its large face suggest an earlier date. It came from an area of very disturbed stratigraphy together with a large quantity of “legionary” pottery very similar in form to that found in the first phase at Usk39. Apart from its large, centrallypositioned face however, this jar does not bear much resemblance to the only face pots so far known from Usk (of RB Type 1A, Fig. J2: 3) which are in red ware and have spouts. It is unusually large. The fabric is typical of the locally produced pottery at Wroxeter which dates from the period of legionary occupation (c. 58-87), but also continues into the civilian period and occurs in both red and grey wares (ibid).

Unfortunately little is known about this presumably fragmentary vessel with its strange-looking face apart from the published drawing reproduced here. The roller-stamped band at the base of the neck is similar to that on the spout fragment from Gloucester (Fig J2: 5), and it is just conceivable that it too could have had spouts which have not survived or were not recognised by the excavators. The unusual-looking frilled rim is described as having been made with thumb nail impressions. RB Type 3B Height: Fabric: Face:

38

RB Type 3C

Height: Fabric:

Large grey face jar with frilled rim and tallish, cylindrical neck (Fig. J3: 2)

Decoration:

34 cm. Hard grey “Wroxeter fabric”. Un-notched eyebrows; incised almondshaped eyes and mouth; applied crescent-

Face:

39

Timby, 1990, 243.

245

Face jar with constricted neck, plain everted rim and carinated shoulder (Fig. J3: 4) 21 cm. Very hard brick red-orange granular fabric with large quartz grits (Fabric 15). Band of incised single wavy line decoration between two grooves on the shoulder All features applied; widely arched, notched eyebrows, coffee-bean eyes, slit mouth and chin in one piece of clay, and crescent-

M. Darling, pers. comm.

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER NINE

Distribution: Context: Date:

eyes) characteristic of so many first century Rhineland face jars.

shaped ears. Carlisle 1c. (Caruana 1992, 59, Fig. 7: 5). In the ditch of the annexe of the Flavian fort AD 72/3-92.

RB Types 4-5

The face on this jar is an almost typical example of a standard Rhineland face of the first to second centuries, the only slightly different features being the nose which is somewhat sharper and more prominent than on most standard Rhineland faces, and the mouth which has been applied together with the chin in one blob of clay instead of separately. The granular fabric “with quite large grits giving a pimply surface” sounds similar, but for its oxidised, red colour, to the Rhineland Granular Grey ware of the first century Rhineland face jars of RL Type 1, while the jar form with carinated shoulder is also typical of many of the Rhineland Type 1 face jars, and of other jars and beakers made in this fabric (see Chapter IV, Pt I, under RL Type 1). The only auxiliary unit so far identified for the Flavian fort at Carlisle is the Ala Gallorum Sebosiana which is known to have occupied the fort during the second phase of occupation from AD 83/4-92, when the “annexe” (now known to have been an enlargement of the fort itself) was built, but it is not known if this unit was already there during the first phase from 72/3-8340. Before coming to Britain the Ala Gallorum is thought to have been for some time at Worms in the upper Rhineland, not a site that has so far produced any RGG ware face jars.

Gap left in Type Series

LARGE FACE BEAKERS OR SMALL FACE JARS RB Type 6A

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

Large face beaker with plain everted rim, grotesque features and notched eyebrows and eyelids (Fig. J4: 1a-c) c.21-22cm. Rim diam.: 18 cm. Medium fine, flower pot red. Notched eyebrows; raised eyes with applied notched eyelids; applied, protruding strap lips and tongue; notched beard. Colchester If. (Symonds and Wade 1999, Fig. 6.23: No 656). Inside fortress or colonia Mid to later first century.

A fragment of another face jar with a large face, this time in grey ware, has also been found at Carlisle, which could date to this early period. It is too small to be classified unfortunately, and is listed with the Miscellaneous Face Pot Sherds (No 6) at the end of Part III. RB Type 3D

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

Face jar with constricted neck, plain everted rim and pellet tongue in the mouth (Fig. J3: 4)

Pl. J3. Part of a large red face beaker of RB Type 6A from Colchester in the Colchester Archaeological Trust stores; size c. 13 x15 cm.

This recently excavated and sadly fragmentary pot is the closest copy of a north Italian face beaker found so far in Britain, though it is more a face jar than a face beaker. It was found inside the area of the fortress, but in levels that probably immediately post-date the Boudiccan revolt42. Apart from its beard, it has many features that are very similar to the face beakers and large face jar from Aquilea of IT Types 19 and 36 (Figs. C6: 1-4 and C10: 2), both in form and facial features. The notching of the eyelids is in fact more like pricking, with a bluntly pointed implement. Tentative reconstruction drawings are given in Fig. J4: 1b-c. If one puts in the large ears which very probably existed, the resemblance to the north Italian face beakers found at Magdalensberg (of IT Type 19) and the face jar from Aquileia (of IT Type 36) is quite striking, though none of the Aquileia-type face pots have beards.

c. 18-20 cm. Rim diam. 14 cm. Unspecified. Un-notched eyebrows, applied lips with pellet tongue; applied eyes, possibly also with pellets. Brampton 1f. (A K. Knowles, unpub.photo). Unspecified. Possibly later first century.

So far nothing can be discovered about this unusual face jar except a black and white photo. There seems little doubt that it came from Brampton. Brampton is known for its very extensive kiln site, which has never been systematically excavated, but which is believed to date from the later first century until the end of the third and possibly later41. A first century fort is also thought to have existed somewhere in the vicinity. Quite a number of face jars are known from this site, but this is the only one that has what appear to be first century features, namely the large face on the girth and the pellet tongue in the mouth (and possibly pellets in the 40 41

Vivian Swan 2006, pers. comm.) A K. Knowles, 1977, 209-224, and D.Gurney, pers com. 1986.

42

246

R. Symonds, pers com.

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART I

RB Type 6B

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

Large, similar-shaped face beaker with grotesque face but no notched eyelids (Fig. J4: 2a-c) c. 15-16 cm. Rim diam. 11.5 cm. Quite fine pinkish cream fabric. Remains of huge, hooked, narrow nose and projecting lips; large applied conical eye; scar where large ear is missing. Lincoln 1f. (Lincoln Arch Unit, Cottesford Place CP 56. A10. SF 206; M. Darling, unpub drawing, 1993, ). Disturbed deposits under later bath house. Third quarter of the first century, until c. AD 71. Pl. J4. Large orange face beaker or small face jar of RB Type 7 from Trent Vale; height 17 cm.

This appears to be another somewhat similar vessel, but equally incomplete. The large ear is missing but the surface of the pot where it used to be is a different shade of pink. The face beaker was found in the foundations of a second century bath house along with quantities of residual pottery of the legionary period disturbed by the construction of the building and its hypocausts43. The pinkish cream fabric is local and closely if not exclusively connected with the earliest legionary occupation of the fortress by the Ninth Legion (ibid) which lasted until AD 71. This face beaker therefore almost certainly dates to the period when legio VIIII Hispana was at Lincoln, rather than legio II Adiutrix which replaced it. RB Type 7 Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

cylindrical neck from Milan (IT Type 24, Fig. C8: 2) which has a similar, large, wedge-shaped nose and round, hollow eyes. It is the only early face beaker found so far on the west side of Britain. RB Type 8A Height: Fabric: Decoration:

Large face beaker with short cylindrical neck (Fig. J4: 3)

Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

17 cm. Slightly gritty orange red, local product. Applied round hollow eyes; un-notched eyebrows; crescent ears. Trent Vale, near Stoke on Trent, 1c. (Mountford et al, 1968, 28, Pl. V: 8). Kiln site. Neronian.

RB Type 8B Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

44

Rim diam: 12 cm. Orange-red. Rusticated decoration on areas of the fragment not covered by the face. Barbotine, “bushy” eyebrows; almondshaped eyes. Hayton 1f. (Johnson, 1978, 94, Fig. 23: 34). In the fort ditch, in the destruction in-fill. c. 71 to mid eighties.

Hayton fort is thought to have been built for an auxiliary unit during the campaign of Cerialis against Venutius and the Brigantes and would therefore have been founded around 70 or 71 AD. It was abandoned some time in the eighties, thus giving a relatively close date for this face jar. Sadly the nose is missing. It is not clear from the published description whether the “large oval eyes” are incised or applied. The rusticated decoration is an unusual feature. It is possible that the fabric is Ebor 1 ware, the characteristic early York fabric which began life as “the staple coarseware of the Ninth Legion”45. Some sherds in this fabric have been found with rustication (ibid, 887).

This pot was reconstructed from 128 sherds. It was found on an early Neronian kiln site which had been producing pottery including mortaria with “distinct Continental influences”, whose “best parallels are at Hofheim”44. They were on the slopes of a hill much of which has now been removed through quarrying. On account of the large quantity of Neronian material that has been recovered from the vicinity, it is assumed that a Roman fort of the same date as the kilns was positioned on the top of this hill, overlooking an important ford across the river Trent at Hanford (ibid, 37). This face beaker, with its shallow ears placed close to the face rather than on either side of the pot bears little resemblance to the Aquileia-type face beakers above, but does recall the unusual large face beaker with a

43

Small red face jar with constricted neck and rusticated decoration (Fig. J4: 4)

M.Darling, pers. comm. 1999. Mountford et al, 1968, 32.

45

247

Large face beaker with protruding nose (Fig. J4: 5)

sharply

Unknown. Quite fine orange-red Ebor ware. Narrow beaked nose; coffee bean eye with pellet in centre; finely notched eyebrows. York 1f. (Addyman, 1975, 200, Fig. 9: 12). In kiln waster group. Later first century?.

Monaghan, 1997, 869.

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER NINE

This face fragment, also in Ebor 1 ware46, is hard to classify, with no section of the rim surviving. But the large beaked nose suggests north Italian influence, and for this reason, and on account of its fabric, it has been listed here. Apart from two large buff face jars from Colchester of RB Type 13A below47, it is the only other example known in Britain so far with a coffee bean eye with a pellet in the centre so characteristic of lower Rhineland first century face jars. It was found with kiln material in the grounds of the Borthwick Institute in York dated to the second half of the first century and the early years of the second, which included a lot of bricks and tiles, said to have included some with stamps of the Ninth Legion48. RB Type 9 Height: Fabric:

Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

Mica-slipped face beaker with everted rim and large pierced ears (Fig. J4: 6) c. 12 –13 cm. Hard, fine, pinkish-grey fabric with dark grey exterior covered with a thin bronzecoloured mica wash (London fabric Mica376). Large pierced ear; end of applied, apparently un-notched eyebrow. London 1f. (Davies et al. 1994, 140, Fig. 118: 758). Close to the Roman river front (New Fresh Wharf, upper Thames St). 60-160, but probably later first century.

Just one fragment of this large face beaker has survived showing a large, pierced ear and the end of an eyebrow, but it is enough to suggest that it comes from a north Italiantype face beaker. This also seems to be the only face beaker fragment found so far in Britain on which such an ear, characteristic of many of the Aquileia-type face beakers, has survived. It is also the only face pot fragment identified so far in this dark-grey, mica dusted ware, but one or two spout fragments and face fragments of RB Types 1C or 13D have been found in the more common and more golden London Mica dusted ware49 (LOMI), as well as a complete face jar from Welwyn (see Pt. II under RB Type 13D). This face beaker fragment was found in third century deposits but the mica-slipped fabric in which it was made dates mainly to the period AD 60-16050, while the Italianate ear suggests a date in the earlier part of that period. RB Types 10-12

Gap left in Type Series

46

Edna King, pers. comm. 1982. Hull, 1958, Fig. 120: 288. 48 The kiln material from the Borthwick Institute site has since been redated to the Hadrianic-early Antonine period (Moynaghan 1997, 870), which make the presence of stamp tiles of the Ninth Legion unlikely, unless there are two lots of material. This may rule out a first century date for this face pot. 49 Formerly known as Local Mica-dusted wares before the discovery of the Walbrook kilns where this ware was found to have been produced (Sealey and Drummond Murray 2005, 120). 50 Davies et al. 1994, 140b. 47

248

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART I RB TYPES 1 A-B

Fig. J2. Early face jars with spouts. Type 1A, Nos 1-4; Type 1B, Nos 5-6. (Scale 1:4) 1, Staines; 2, Gloucester (Kingsholm); 3, Usk; 4, London; 5-6, Gloucester.

249

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER NINE RB TYPES 2 AND 3 A-D

Fig. J3. Early face jars with large faces. Type 2, No 1; Type 3A, No 2; Type 3B, No 3; Type 3C, No 4; Type 3D, No 5 1, Kingsholm (Gloucester); 2, Wroxeter; 3, Camerton; 4, Carlisle; 5, Brampton. (Scale: 1:4)

250

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART I RB TYPES 6A-B AND 7-9

Fig. J4.

Large, beak-nosed face beakers. Type 6A, Nos 1 a-c; Type 6B, No 2 ; Type 7, No 3; Type 8A, No 4; Type 8B, No 5; Type 9, No 6. (Scale: 1:4) 1a-c, Colchester (b-c, reconstruction); 2, Lincoln; 3, Trent Vale; 4, Hayton; 5, York; 6, London. 251

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER NINE

Some of the face pots of this period from the London Museum (Photo: Museum of London copyright)

252

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART II

CHAPTER NINE, PART II Period two: the later first to the early third century A.

occupied, particularly those in the northern half3. When the frontier was moved up to the Antonine Wall that was built across the Forth-Clyde isthmus c. 142-3, entailing the reoccupation of lowland Scotland, many more of the Brigantian forts were vacated, though forts to the south such as Little Chester seem to have been re-occupied. By 170 however, after the Antonine Wall was abandoned, most of the forts in northern England were again occupied and were still held with just one or two exceptions in 220, after the end of the Severan campaign in Scotland and the return of Caraculla to Rome.

THE MILITARY BACKGROUND The military garrison of Britain during the late first and second centuries.

The year after Agricola’s departure, the peace that Vespasian had established on the Middle and Lower Danube after the Civil War was shattered when a large Dacian force broke across the river frontier and invaded Moesia. For the next century and a half the attention of Rome was to be drawn ever more towards the Danube, where the main threat from Barbaricum was to lie. In following ten to fifteen years, as we have seen in Chapter VIII, there was to be an appreciable movement of forces from the Rhine and Britain to the Danube frontier, in preparation for Trajan’s invasion and conquest of Dacia, most of which were never to return. By 92 legio II Adiutrix is known to have arrived in Moesia, and it is probable that it was withdrawn from Britain, together with some of the auxiliary regiments in 87/881. The immediate result it seems was that Legio XX had to be brought south from its still uncompleted base at Inchtuthil some time c. 88, and sent to fill the gap at Chester2. However, most of the forts in lowland Scotland seem to have remained occupied until around 105 when there was a strategic withdrawal, probably to the chain of forts across the Tyne Solway isthmus and the road built to link them that came to be known as the Stanegate. In 120, Hadrian took the decision to build a frontier wall just to the north of this road.

4. The military situation that developed in Britain, and the role and disposition of the armed forces, obviously differed quite considerably from what obtained on the Continent. Here the military garrison was much more widely dispersed across the province, and much of it was engaged in controlling the resident population and maintaining peace, rather than ranged up along a linear frontier keeping barbarians out. There was also far greater mobility during the second century than on the Continent, with the construction of two walled frontiers in the north, entailing considerable re-deployment of forces during the building, manning or re-manning of each wall. Unrest at the end of the century, leading to the Severan campaign at the beginning of the third would also have influenced the situation and limited the opportunity for a stable military zone with its inter-related civilian community to develop behind the northern frontier until the third century.

2. From the end of the first century until the late Roman period, York, Chester and Caerleon were to be the bases for the three legions of Britain. There was never again a fourth legion in Britain after legio II Adiutrix was withdrawn. Legio II Augusta remained at Caerleon and Legio XX at Chester. Legio VIIII presumably returned to York, but is thought to have been transferred to Nijmegen, some time between 110 and 122. The replacement legion, legio VI Victrix from Xanten, does not seem to have arrived until c.122 AD, and was to remain in York until the late Roman period. After the campaigns of Agricola, there seem to have been no more garrisoned forts in lowland Britain with the exception of the Cripplegate fort in London, the fort of the classis at Dover, and probably one or two other fleet bases at ports around the south and east coasts such as Lympne.

B.

THE FACE POTS OF PERIOD TWO

This is the period of greatest standardisation of face jars in Britain, both for forms and faces, and the heyday for face pot production in Britain4. One type of face jar, of RB Type 13 with two or three handles but no spouts predominates, with minor regional variations, both in the south east and in the military zone. Otherwise, there are a few spouted jars of RB Type 1C-F that still continue, almost all in the London Verulamium area, and one fragment from a very unusual two-handled face jar of RB Type 14, also from London. It must not be forgotten however that in East Anglia, and may be also in Kent, the first grey face jars of RB Type 21 which are listed in Part III are beginning to make their appearance during the later half of the second century.

The northern part of England which was inhabited by the Brigantes remained under virtually continuous military occupation for the rest of the Roman period, though not all the forts were garrisoned all the time. The building and manning of Hadrian’s Wall drew off a lot of troops, but at least half the forts in the region seem to have remained

Face beakers in Britain are extremely rare. There is just the one isolated example from London of RB Type 16, Fig. J8: 5) which clearly belongs with the face jars of this period as it is a reduced version of the handled jars of RB Type 13D, in the typical white-slipped Verulamium region fabric 3

Breeze and Dobson 1985, Fig. 5. A brief account of the military dispositions during this period appears in Appendix II.

1

4

Hobley 1989, 72 2 Pitts and St Joseph 1985, 279

253

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER NINE Colchester face jars of RB Type 13A, which have higher shoulders and narrower necks than most of the other RB Type 13 face jars. The frilled rims on the other hand are characteristic of the grey spouted face jars of the lower Rhineland. Both of these Rhineland Types start around the middle of the first century. It is as though the British face jars were an amalgam of the two, but the spouts have been replaced by handles, possibly because they had lost their significance.

(VCWS). There are also two large face beakers which might perhaps belong to this period, both quite similar, and quite unlike any other British face pots, one from Drayton Woods near Banbury in Oxfordshire and the other from somewhere near Holme-on-Spalding Moor in east Yorkshire. Both are old finds from unknown contexts which have recently come to light, and are very hard to date. However, on the analogy of the face beaker of somewhat similar face and form from Harfleur5, they are provisionally listed with the third century face pots in the Catalogue to Part III under RB Types 376. FACE JAR FORMS AND TYPES Face jars with spouts RB Types 1C-E (Fig J5: 1-5) The most numerous of these are those of RB Type 1C which almost all occur in the London-Verulamium area and are in the characteristic whitish buff or white-slipped wares of the Verulamium region (VRW or VCWS ware). They appear to be a continuation of the earlier face jars with spouts in red wares of RB Types 1 A-B. RB Type 1D is represented by a unique face jar from the banks of the Walbrook stream which is also in VCWS ware, but is unique from all the others in having two faces each positioned below a tubular spout which has two small handles attached to its sides (Fig. J5: 4). The one other face jar with spouts from this period, in a red fabric, comes from Little Chester in the West Midlands (RB Type 1E, Fig. J5: 5). Face jars with two or three handles RB Types 13 A-L (Figs. J6-8) These face jars, with the handles close to the rim, and a face on the shoulder, are by far the most common and long-lived of the British face jars. They start in the later first century7, and last through into the early third century and possibly even into the fourth at Colchester. The rims are often frilled, particularly at Colchester, but they can be plain or rouletted. Most examples have three handles rather than two.

Pl. J5. Large buff face jar of RB Type 13A from Colchester in the British Museum; height 30 cm. (photo: British Museum slide No PR 57)

There is also one very large and unusual face pot of RB Type 15 from Caister-on-Sea with a frilled rim and possibly handles, which is far bigger than any other British face pot, though still not as huge as the one from Frankfurt Zeilsheim of RL Type 29. This is thought to have been hand-built, not made on a wheel, and appears to have been inexplicably cut in half horizontally before firing.

The handles are a mystery, as they appear to have no precedents. No other face jars on the Rhine and the Danube have these handles, though as has been seen in Chapter VII, the earliest Raetian face jars of UD Type 1 have three handles together with three spouts on the shoulders, but both spouts and handles are well away from the rim and the tall jars are very different in form8. Apart from their handles, the shape of these British face jars and the faces themselves are quite similar to those of the middle Rhineland buff face jars with tubular spouts of RL Type 20A (Fig. D10:1-4), particularly in the case of the

FACES These too are now more standardised. The large, beaknosed faces have faded out, together with the large, widenecked face beakers. With the exception of a few skimpy faces tucked up beneath the rim on both spouted and handled face jars, most faces are now placed on the shoulder or on the top third of the pot. As mentioned above, they are very similar to the faces of the Rhineland face jars with tubular spouts of RL Type 20A, quite compact, with coffee bean eyes, round or slit mouths, medium-sized noses, crescent ears and sometimes stabbed or dotted beards. They seem to be a compact version of the standard Rhineland “serene” face mask, but with more beards. As in the Rhineland there is the occasional “Celtic” m-shaped face as on the face jar of RB Type 13D from Welwyn (Fig. J7: 4)

5

See Chapter V, FS Type 16, Fig. E4: 2. Prior to the discovery of the Harfleur face beaker (FS Type 16, Fig. E3: 3), I had assumed that such unusual Romano-British face beaker were more likely to belong to the early period of military expansion, an opinion also shared by Vivien Swan (Halkon 1992, 226), and this could yet turn out to be the case. 7 The earliest example so far identified that is thought to have been made in Colchester comes from an Agricolan pit at Camelon (RB Type 13A, Fig. J6: 3). 8 See Chapter VII, Fig. G2. 6

254

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART II listed here under RB Type 13E and in Chapter V under FS Type 12 (Fig. E3: 2).

and there is one face with horns from Colchester (Fig. J6: 2). There is also one unique face jar fragment from Old Penrith, just to the south of Hadrian’s Wall, with the remains of an applied snake just visible above the left eyebrow (RB Type 13K, Fig. J8: 4).

CONTEXTS Most if not all of the complete face jars with handles from Colchester appear to have come from graves, but so far only one complete one has been found in a grave in London9, though a dozen or so face jar sherds from handled and spouted jars have been found in cemetery areas outside the walls to the north and the west of the city. Otherwise just two other face jars, both with handles, are known or suspected to have come from graves, the one with a micaslip from Welwyn and the other from East Studdale in Kent, though another complete but unprovenanced face jar from Welwyn in VRW ware could also be from a grave. The other four complete face pots from London (three jars and one beaker of RB Type 16 have all come from the bed or the banks of the Walbrook river or stream, and were probably ritual offerings, including the two-faced spouted jar of RB Type 1D which was found in association with a shrine-like structure on the river bank. Face jar sherds of RB Type 13D were found in a ritual shaft at Folly Lane outside Verulamium10, and one fragment of RB Type 13F was found in a well at Springhead. A more or less complete jar of RB Type 13D, buried in a pit next to the macellum in Verulamium, may have been a votive or foundation offering. Face sherds of RB Types 1C and 13D have been found in bath buildings and in the theatre at Verulamium. They have also been found in domestic contexts at London and Verulamium together with the sherds of tazze (incense burners) and triple vases11. A possible explanation is that that all three types of vessel may have been used in rituals performed at house shrines, though the shrines themselves, often just a wooden cupboard or a niche in a wall, are seldom identified on archaeological sites12.

FABRICS AND KILNS With just one or two exceptions the face pots of this period seem to have been made in fabrics local to the area where they have been found. They are virtually all in sandy, oxidised fabrics, sometimes with a white slip. Face jar sherds are known from kiln contexts at London (RB Types 1C and 13D in the recently discovered Northgate House kilns in the Walbrook valley); Colchester (RB Type 13A); Caistor-by-Norwich (RB Type 13C); Canterbury (RB Type 13E); and Little Chester (RB Type 13F). The large fragment from an Agricolan pit at Camelon on the Forth-Clyde isthmus in Scotland (see Pl. J6 below) almost certainly comes from Colchester and was very probably made by the same potter who produced the face jar on the previous page in Pl. J6. to judge by the modelling of the face. As a result it has been listed with the other similar Colchester face jars under RB Type 13A.

Tazze Perhaps surprisingly, given that they are one of the most widely recognised Roman cult vessels, tazze seem also, like face pots, to have been closely associated with the army and the military community in the western provinces13. They are known in slightly different form in Rome and Campania from the third century BC14. They occur in the provinces in Continental Europe from the first to the third century, but seem to be limited mainly to the military areas along the Rhine and Danube frontiers. They are often found in association with Mithraea. The same link with the army and with areas of veteran settlement appears to continue in Britain15, though here tazze tend to fade out rather earlier,

Pl. J6. Upper part of large buff face jar of RB Type 13A from Camelon, almost certainly a product of the Colchester kilns (photo: courtesy of Dr Valerie Maxfield.)

Two other fragmentary face jars also from Camelon but of Antonine date in a coarse red fabric with barely visible traces of a cream slip could possibly be in the white-slipped ware (VCWS) characteristic of the London area, but this is less certain, and they have been listed separately under RB Type 13L (Fig. J8: 5). DISTRIBUTION The spouted jars, as already mentioned, almost all come from the London-Verulamium region. The handled face jars are more widely spread; they are found in the civilian south east in three main regional groups: round Colchester, in the London-Verulamium area, and in Kent. They are also found, in smaller numbers, on a range of military or former military sites across the rest of the country, as far north as Camelon. In addition there is also the three-handled face jar found in a grave at Boulogne, which is almost certainly an import from Britain and most likely from Kent. This is

9

Of RB Type 13D (Fig J5: 1), in the western cemetery. V. Rigby, pers comm 1987. 11 Recently additional support for a connection between face jars, tazze and triple vases has been provided by the new Oracle database of the Museum of London Archaeological Services (MOLAS ) which shows that tazze occur on almost all the recent sites listed in London where face jars have been found, while the much less common triple vases occur on nearly half of them. The majority of these sites seem to have been in areas of domestic housing (see Chapter XIII, B.4.a). 12 See under RB Type 13D, and Chapter XIII, B4. 13 Heukemes 1964, 84; Schörgendorfer 1942, 137 14 Mihailescu-Bîrliba 1996, 97, Fig. 3: 14). 15 Vivien Swan 2004, pers. comm. 10

255

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER NINE soon after the end of the second century16, and only a few have been found in association with the later grey face jars of RB Type 21.

a black surface has been found in association with a second century shrine on Castle Hill, Cambridge together with another similar jar, but it is not clear in either case whether enough of the pots survived to be sure that there was no face or other evidence of a cult vase such as snakes23. Otherwise the only vessels so far identified in Britain with spouts and definitely no face are from Colchester in a very different bowl-shaped form with what appear to be several strange, sideways-pointing spouts24. These all seem to be of later Roman date and may have come from some unusual kind of kernos25.

………………….

CATALOGUE TO PART II A.

FACE JARS WITH SPOUTS (RB Types 1C-E)

On the Continent, as we have seen, the spouted face jars of the middle Rhineland of RL Type 20 (Fig. D10) and the Raetian face jars of UD Type 1 (Fig. G2), which have plain, unfrilled rims and tubular spouts, both have parallel forms without faces. But so far no example has been found of a parallel, faceless form for the lower Rhineland dark grey face jars of RL Type 2B (Fig. D3: 3-5) which mostly have frilled rims and cup-shaped spouts. It seems probable therefore that dark grey spout fragments from the lower and middle Rhineland that are cup-shaped and have signs of a frilled rim will have come from face jars of RB Type 2B, though there can be no absolute certainty. The spouted face jars from the London-Verulamium region seem to be much less uniform as far as rims and spouts are concerned, some having cup-shaped spouts and others tubular ones, while rims are mostly plain but can also be frilled, so that there is as yet no way of establishing any criteria for judging whether a spout sherd has come from a face jar or not. It is clear however that spout sherds in London were made of the same fabrics as face jars, come from the same sites as them, and are found together with them in the same contexts, so that the jars to which they were attached were closely associated with face jars, if not face jars themselves.

These spouted face jars of Types 1 C-E are later sub-types of RB Type 1 from the Early Period. Quite a number of spout sherds have been found in Britain that belong to this period which are too small to show whether there was a face on the pot or not17. Most of the ones identified come from London, with just one or two from Staines18 and Colchester. With the possible exception of the ones from Colchester which are unstratified or unprovenanced and whose fabric is not specified19, they are all in fabrics in which face jars were also produced, and virtually all come from sites where face jars have also been found. They may well all come from face jars but as yet there is no way to prove this, and given their number (in London at least) it has seemed safer not to include them in the Catalogue20. The Colchester spout sherds published by Hull are of very similar form to many of the London ones and are pierced with a stick. No face jars with spouts have been identified as yet at Colchester, but the presence of these spout sherds opens up the possibility that they might have been made there also21.

RB Type 1C

Only one jar has been identified from Britain during this survey that is complete enough to show definitely that it had spouts but no face, namely a small 12 cm high jar in white-slipped red ware from Wroxeter (see insert) with three wide, tubular, pierced spouts similar to those on the face jars from Usk of RB Type 1A, dated to the first half of the second century 22. Recently an incomplete jar with two pierced spouts in coarse grey ware with fine white grits and

Height: Fabric: Decoration:

16

Bidwell and Croom 1999, 476, Cam 198. Those from Period I are discussed at the beginning of the Catalogue to Part I. 18 One in VRW ware and one in VCWS ware (Staines Arch. Unit Nos 1857 and 4455 respectively). 19 Hull 1958, Fig. 123, No 390. 20 In February 2005 the MOLAS database (on which only the more recent sites excavated from c. 1994–2000, plus a few earlier ones, had as yet been entered) listed 14 spout or “cup” sherds on which no face is present, and just 3 sherds that had both a spout and part of a face, all of them in characteristic local face jar fabrics Only the latter have been listed here with the spouted face jars of RB Type IC. 21 A spout sherd with a frilled rim in white-slipped ware of probable late first to early second century date has also been found in the potteries of the Twentieth Legion at Holt, close to Chester, which may have belonged to face pot (Grimes 1930, 170, Fig. 73: 217). 22 Published by Bushe Fox 1913, 76, Fig. 18: 39. The jar, which is now in

Face:

17

Distribution:

Face jars with two or three spouts, with plain or occasionally frilled rim and low girth, in buff or white-slipped wares from the London-Verulamium region (Fig. J5: 1-2 and Pl. J8) From c. 30-32 cm where ascertainable, but some could have been smaller. Mostly granular buff, varying from cream to pinkish orange (VRW ware) or coarse orange-red with cream slip (VCWS ware). Sometimes a band of around 5 to 7 grooves round the girth. Often close to the rim, with the eyebrows merging into it; mostly shallow coffee-bean eyes, but occasionally incised, almondshaped ones; wedge-like nose; sometimes notched or dotted beard; generally applied ears, occasionally incised (No 1). London and Verulamium areas and Staines, 13 (1c.and 12f.).

the Wroxeter Baths Museum, was found in an area of civilian settlement outside the fortress (Maggi Darling 2007, pers.comm.). 23 Alexander and Pullinger 1999, 45, Pl. CII, No 684. 24 Symonds and Wade 1999, 40, Fig. 6.27, Type 213. 25 See Chapter II, Pt III, C, Fig. B12: 10.

256

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART II

Context: Date:

and texture30. This ware first occurs c. 50 AD, and continues through to the middle of the second century going into sharp decline in London between 140-16031. The more restricted white-slipped red fabric (VCWS ware) which we now know was produced in London at the Northgate kilns, and possibly nowhere else, also occurs on early sites in London, but only in small quantities, and is most popular in the Antonine period when it eventually replaces VRW ware32.

8 examples in granular buff VRW ware (1c., 7f.): London 3f. (Davies et al, 1994, 47, Fig. 37: 182; MOLAS database Nos BGE98 and GSM97 B44); Enfield 1f. (Gentry et al, 1977, 148, Fig. 24: 24.3; Verulamium, 1c and 3f. Frere 1972, Fig. 125 [2], No: 910). 5 examples white-slipped red VCWS ware (1c and 4f.): London 1c. and 3f. (comp: Davies et al 1994, 59, Fig. 47: 267 [1 and Pl. J7]; frags: ibid Fig. 47: 270; London Museum No 2994/25 D.8 [3]; MOLAS database No TEA98 OA4); Enfield 1f. (Gentry et al 1977, 143, Fig. 20: 4.4). Domestic contexts in town and settlement sites; Walbrook stream bed and banks; cremation grave26 (No 1) Probably late first century to mid second century.

These face jars with spouts occur less frequently than the ones in the same fabrics with handles (of RB Type 13D), and it seem probable that many of them, particularly those in plain buff ware, are of a slightly earlier date, following on from the early red ware ones found at Staines and London-Billingsgate, though as yet no examples that are closely enough dated have been identified. However they clearly extended into the Antonine period where they overlapped with the handled face jars27. Where smallish face fragments are concerned, which are too small or incomplete to show if they came from face jars with spouts or with handles, they have been listed under the commoner RB Type 13D, but it is quite possible that some of them will have come from spouted jars. The number of examples belonging to this RB Type 1C would also be increased if all the spout sherds without signs of a face were included (see Note 20 above).

Pl. J7. Face jar of RB Type 1C from London in white-slipped red ware (VCWS) with three missing spouts (two blind at the front and one pierced at the back) in the Museum of London; height 26 cm. (Photo: Museum of London copyright)

In addition to the spouted face jars in these two main fabrics, there are also a few spout fragments with evidence of a face in other red, grey or white-slipped wares, most of them from London. Some of these may be of earlier, or later, date. One unusual example is a face jar fragment from Princes St, in the area of the Walbrook stream-bed (No 3) with a cup-shaped spout, a large ear and an incised almondshaped eye. It is in a quite fine red fabric with ochrecoloured surfaces. One or two of the other sherds are in a red or orange fabric with a grey core and thin bronzecoloured mica slip33.

The two wares in which both the spouted and handled face jars occur, namely the widely popular granular buff ware known as Verulamium region white ware (VRW) and the geographically more limited white slipped red ware known as Verulamium region coarse white-slipped ware (VCWS), are the two most common fabrics of the London region during the later first and second centuries, while VWR is the most popular ware of the Verulamium area28. The granular buff VRW fabric is generally off-white or cream in colour, but it can also vary from greyish buff to pinkish orange or even red. It is well tempered with evenly sorted multi-coloured quartz. Since the recent discovery of the Northgate House kilns in the Walbrook valley29, it is now known that the buff VRW ware was also produced in London alongside VCWS ware. Many of the VRW products from these kilns are indistinguishable from those made in VRW ware at Verulamium or in the kilns along Watling Street between London and Verulamium, but some of the London products show more than usual variation in colour

30

This is thought to be due to the fact that the basic white clay, which may have been imported from the Brockley Hill kiln area on Watling Street, was sometimes mixed, or contaminated with, local red-firing, micaceous clays from the Walbrook valley (ibid, 176). 31 Davies et al. 1994, 41. 32 Ibid, 54-5. Included within VCWS ware for the purpose of this study is another very similar red fabric with a white slip known in London as RWS (red white-slipped) ware in which some London face jars were also made. This ware does not seem to be differentiated from VCWS ware in publications describing the face pots of the London-Verulamium region, except for the occasional fragment listed on the MOLAS database. 33 This is almost certainly the relatively popular fabric now known as London mica-dusted ware (LOMI) which was also produced at the Northgate House kilns (Seeley and Drummond-Murray 2005, 120).

26

In London’s western cemetery. Davies et al. 1994, 47; Frere 1972, 330, Cat. Nos 910 and 911. 28 The term “Verulamium area” is used in this study to describe the area to the north west of London, extending to a radius of about 30 miles. 29 See recent publication by Seeley and Drummond-Murray, 2005. 27

257

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER NINE interpreted as a shrine36, on the Bucklersbury House site close to the Walbrook stream bed, an area which has a particular concentration of face jars of second and possibly third century date37.

Most of the spouts are tubular in shape, but a few are more cup-shaped. As with the spouted face jars in the Rhineland, they can be pierced or blind. A few of the spouts have a well formed hole carefully moulded through the pot wall, but in the majority of cases they seem to have just been pierced using a stick. The face jar from London (No 1 and Pl. J8) has no surviving spouts, but the scars where three had been can just be made out on the shoulder of the jar. The front two must have been blind and the remaining scars are indistinguishable from scars left by handles, but the spout at the back was pierced with a stick and the hole is clearly visible towards the base of the scar34. To judge by published illustrations, it seems probable that some of the face jars of this Type only had two spouts, but this is not certain, as apart from the two-spouted face jar of RB Type 1D (No 4), the only face jar that seems to have survived complete enough to provide a clear indication is the now spoutless one mentioned above.

RB Type 1E Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution: Context: Date:

Unknown; rim diam. 12cm. Sandy orange ware, local product. Protruding, long, narrow nose; applied boss eyes; applied slit mouth; thin groove round face; applied ears. Little Chester (Midlands) 1f. (Brassington 1971, 60, Fig. 11: 254). Kiln complex. End of first century, beginning of second.

Very little of this face jar has survived, and just part of a round hole can be seen to the left of the face, with what looks like the base of a spout. This must almost certainly be the remains of a spout and, to judge by its position close to the face, probably one of three. The form may have been much the same as for the RB Type 1A face jars. The face however is very different from the other face jars with spouts, with its round boss eyes, long narrow nose and a thin groove almost all round it giving the impression of an applied pumpkin-style mask38. It was found in the kiln complex in the industrial vicus outside the Little Chester fort, on what is now the Derby racecourse, in deposits thought to be of Trajanic date, with a terminus post quem of c.110-120. Another, handled face jar in what could be a similar orange fabric also comes from the same kiln site but from what was probably a slightly later kiln deposit (RB Type 13 F, Fig. J8:1).

In the few cases where the girth and lower part of the face jar has survived, it is clear that some examples, but not all, had a broad band of wide grooves around the girth of the vessel. This is also a characteristic feature of the handled face jars of RB Type 13D from this area, on which bands of rouletting are also common. The London face jar which is complete but for its spouts (No 1 and Pl. J8 ) is unusual in having bands of rouletting inside the body grooves. On this face jar however, rouletting has run wild, and even the beard and eyebrows have been notched using a rouletting tool. RB Type 1D

Red-ware face jar with round face and probably three spouts (Fig J5: 5)

Two-faced jar with frilled rim and two tubular spouts with lug handles in whiteslipped ware (Fig. J5: 3 a-b) 33 cm. White-slipped ware. Two very similar “serene”-type faces with applied features; stabbed beards; almondshaped eyes with incised eye-lids and bulbous pupils. London 1c. (Cotton 1996, Fig. 10.5c). Found in association with a shrine beside the Walbrook stream. Later first to second century.

Several fragmentary face jars in Severn Valley–type fabrics with round or oval faces with similarly crude schematic features which may be applied as an appliqué medallion or just simply outlined with an incised line or groove as in this case, have been found on sites along the eastern edges of Exmoor and Wales, continuing into the later Roman period (RB Type 34, Fig. J14: 8, and Face Group 6). It is possible therefore that the face on this jar represents a local face mask from this part of Britain.

This is the most unusual of the spouted face jars found in Britain. On almost all other spouted face jars the face is placed between two spouts, not below them35. The two tubular spouts each have two small strap handles one on each side, a unique feature, and they are placed on the shoulder immediately above the two faces, like a hat, instead of on either side of them as is normally the case. The faces are more carefully modelled than most of the London or Verulamium face jars. It appears to be in the standard Verulamium White Slipped Ware (VCWS). It was found in association with a small, arcaded wooden structure

36

Wilmott, 1991, 28-30. There is one other two-faced jar known from Britain, a black-burnished jar of RB Type 21E (Fig. J 12: 6), but others may well have existed but not enough of the pots survived to show this. Two-faced face jars occur sporadically for no apparent reason in most of the provinces where face jars have been found, but they are always rare (see Chapter III, under IT Type 3). 38 Such as the crude, terracotta mask illustrated in Appendix V, C.7.4, Fig. S9: 7. 37

34

A drawing of this jar has been published without spouts, but showing one of the scars on the shoulder (Davies et al 1994, Fig. 47: 267). 35 The only other face jars with the face below a spout come from Raetia of UD Type 1, which have three handles and three spouts, and the one face is placed below one of the spouts (see chapter VII, Fig G2: 1-4).

258

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART II

FACE JARS WITH HANDLES (RB Types 13 A-L, 14 and 16) RB Type 13

Face jars with two or three strap handles and a plain, frilled or rouletted rim and generally in buff or white-slipped fabrics (Figs J6, J7, and J8: 1-5) Context:

As can be seen the different sub-divisions of RB Type 13 face jars are in effect regional groups, with production in local fabrics, and with slightly differing local features. In the south east, there are many examples in each sub-group, but in the military zone there tends to be just one or two face jars in each one. In these cases one cannot be sure whether there was in fact a local group centred in or around this particular area, or whether they were imported from potteries elsewhere. In the case of the Camelon face jar which was almost certainly made at Colchester (RB Type 13A), this has been listed under the relevant sub-group in the south east. But where no obvious “parent” group is known from elsewhere, as is the case with the other two face jars from Camelon and the three-handled face jars found at York and Old Penrith (RB Types 13 H, J and K), and also the one from Caerwent of RB Type 13G39, they have each been given a separate sub-heading. RB Type 13A

Height: Fabric: Decoration: Face:

Distribution:

Date:

285, Fig. 120: 288; frags; Hull 1963, 133 and 162, Figs. 71: 18 and 93: 12; Symonds and Wade 1999, Types 171-5, Fig. 6.23, Nos 649-655 and 657-8); Billericay 1f. (Journal of Brit. Arch Assoc. III, 250); Elms Farm, Heybridge 1f, (Essex Arch. Unit No 94.16073; Camelon 1f. (Swan and Bidwell, 1998, 27, Fig. 2: 8) [3 and Pl. J6]. Cremation urns; kilns (Colchester); domestic contexts. Later first century to third; possibly continuing into the fourth century in creamslipped ware.

Large face jars with constricted neck, mostly with a frilled rim and three handles, in light buff ware from Colchester and East Essex (Fig. J6: 1-3 and Pls. J1, J5, J6 and J9) From 20-28 cm, but mostly c. 24-26 cm. Quite fine, hard, light buff. One example with two roller-stamped bands on the shoulder (No 2). On the top half of the pot; arched, notched eyebrows; coffee bean eyes, occasionally with a pellet in the split; some slashed or notched beards; one example with goat-like horns (No 2); often a chin blob on beardless face jars, or occasionally an applied ring on the chin, or in place of the mouth (No 2). Colchester and East Essex, and Camelon 33+ (9+ c. and 24+ f.) Examples have been found at: Colchester40 9+c. and 22+f. (comp: Colchester and Essex Museum; May 1930, Pl. LI A: 1-7 [2]; British Museum [1 and Pl. J5]; Hull 1958,

Pl. J9. Light buff face jar of RB Type 13A, as found in a tile grave at Colchester, in the Colchester and Essex Museum.

But for the one example reported to have been found in an Agricolan pit at Camelon (No 3 and Pl. J7), there would be no clear evidence that these well known Colchester face jars, many of which are cremation urns, were produced as early as the Flavian period. Hull (1958, 285, No 288) gave them a date of c.120-220, which is probably the heyday of their production. However, the fact that at least two of them have coffee-bean eyes with pellets in them, a feature very characteristic of first century Rhineland face jars but much rarer after that, also suggests a first century beginning. They are all produced locally in a characteristic light buff Colchester fabric. Production continued into the third century, in a slightly more sandy, greyish buff ware41, and there are also a few examples in red fabric with a cream slip from kiln 32 dated by Hull to the fourth century (ibid, 172), but reassessed by Vivien Swan (1984, 282) and now thought to date to c. 230. The example from Camelon is the

39 There is a possibility that this face jar may not have been accurately reconstructed and that it did not originally have handles 40 The number of sherds from handled face jars found at Colchester is hard to estimate. In comparison with the number of complete face jars found there, relatively few face jar sherds seem to have been published in any detail except very recently by Symonds and Wade (1999, Types 171-5). Hull (1963, 133 and 162) uses the words “several” for the earlier ones from kilns No 15-31 and “a quantity” for the later, taller-necked ones from kilns No 27-8, so I have substituted 3+ for several and 10+ for “a quantity”. But these are arbitrary figures, and it is clear from recent excavations inside and outside the Roman town of Colchester (Robin Symonds pers. comm.) and from Hull’s comments that many more face jar fragments have been found in rubbish deposits and in graves than the figures given here.

41

259

Hull, 1963, 162.

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER NINE There seems to be only one face jar of this Type in the Colchester and Essex Museum, though the drawing published by Hull (1958, Fig. 120. No 289) shows no body grooves (perhaps missed by the illustrator). He mentions that it was the only face jar of its kind known at the time, and can suggest no date for it. Museum records show that it was a cremation urn and found with a lid, as were several of the Type 13A face jars. Its profile is much more bag-shaped than the standard type, more like the spouted face jars of RB Type 1A, and the base is well domed, though again with a beaded offset. In the Colchester Museum Annual Report of 1929, a face jar very similar to this is illustrated on Plate VI, No 363.28, and is said to have come from a grave dated to c.50-100 AD. It seems possible that this jar is the same vessel44.

only one to be identified so far outside the county of Essex42. These Colchester buff-ware face jars, with the exception of the one below of RB Type 13B, all seem to be of the “necked jar” form (with a somewhat constricted neck), mostly with quite high shoulders, unlike most of the other handled face jars in the south east which tend to have a lower girth and virtually no neck. Most of them have three handles, evenly spaced out around the rim, but there are some that just have two. A feature of all these buff face jars from the late first to the third century is a flat base with a beaded offset43. One or two of them have a band of wide grooves round the girth, similar to those from the LondonVerulamium area of RB Type 13D, and on one of the later ones the whole body is lightly grooved or fluted. There are generally two or more grooves at the base of the neck or just above the handles. RB Type 13B

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

RB Type 13C

Very large face jar from Colchester with three loop handles, a plain everted rim, sloping shoulders, body grooves and low girth (Fig. J6: 4 and Pl. J10)

Height: Fabric: Face:

33 cm. Buff. Down-drooping, notched eyebrows and almond-shaped eyes and mouth. Colchester 1c. (Hull, 1958, Fig. 120: 289) Grave Second half first century?

Distribution:

Context: Date:

Large, wide-necked grey face jars with frilled rim and two handles and longnosed, bearded face from Caistor-byNorwich (Fig. J6: 5-7) c. 28-30 cm. (height of fragment 13 cm.) Grey coarseware. Long straight nose; applied chin attached to mouth and nose; close-set, protruding, ballshaped eyes or incised crescent-shaped eyes; stabbed or pricked beard. Caistor-by Norwich and London 6+f Examples have been found at: Caistor-byNorwich 5+f. (Swan, 1981, 139, Fig. 6: 14)[5]; Atkinson 1932, 46, Fig. 6) [6]; London 1f. (London Museum No 21739 D.3.) [7]. Kiln complex (Caistor). Probably c. 60-80.

The examples from Caistor-by-Norwich (also known as Caistor St. Edmund) all come from a kiln site excavated in 1930, which was first thought to have been in operation from 110-14045. Vivien Swan, re-examining the pottery in 1981, concluded that this was a specifically military assemblage of late Neronian-early Flavian date, with close parallels with the assemblages of other military sites of this period such as Usk or Hayton, and that the kilns must have been serving an early fort which either underlies the Roman civitas capital of Venta Icenorum or was situated close by46. This is in keeping with the early samian of Claudian and Neronian date found within the town and the various pieces of early military equipment (ibid 124).

44 Though the Colchester cemeteries have produced a unique collection of Roman material, they were in fact excavated in a fairly random manner by local collectors in the nineteenth century and virtually no documentary records were kept, though some of the grave groups were retained intact (Hull 1958, 250-2). 45 Atkinson 1932, 93. 46 Swan 1981, 126. This suggestion has recently been further supported by Shepherd Frere (2005, 319-20) who refers to three spaced ditches visible in aerial photographs lying just outside the Roman town walls of Caistor, which must almost certainly have belonged to a pre-Flavian fort on which the Roman civitas capital was later built, and which now lies buried beneath the modern town..

Pl. J10. Very large buff face jar of RB Type 13B from Colchester in the Colchester and Essex museum; height 33 cm. 42

The example from Billericay, from a cremation cemetery, is a large body fragment with no surviving handles from early excavations, and the fabric is not specified in the report. It has tentatively been included here on geographical and stylistic grounds. 43 Hull, 1958, 285.

260

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART II A number of face jar fragments were found on the kiln site, but no complete pots, and the excavator attempted a reconstruction drawing from a number of sherds47. The rim seems unusually wide, and it is shown with just two handles. The faces are very different from most other face jars of this period, with close-set, ball-shaped eyes on either side of a long straight nose, and with the nose, mouth and chin continuously moulded and applied in one long vertically-applied ridge. The closely dotted beard is also unusual for this period.

Distribution:

The face fragment from London (Pl. J11 and No 7), which is in a very similar dark grey fabric and with what appear to be very similar features including the stabbed beard, the close-set, ball-shaped eyes and long straight nose, is quite different from all the other face jars found in London, and might possibly belong to this group48.

Pl. J11. Fragment of a large dark grey face jar possibly of RB Type 13C, from London, in the London Museum; size: 13 x10 cm.

RB Type 13D

Height: Fabric:

Decoration: Face:

Face jars with three or occasionally two handles and frilled, rouletted or plain rims in buff or white-slipped wares from the London-Verulamium region (Fig. J7: 1-4 and Pl. J12) 20-28.7 cm. Granular buff, varying from cream to pinkish orange (VRW ware) or coarse red with a white or cream slip, occasionally with mica-dusting. A band of 5-7 grooves round the girth, occasionally with bands of rouletting, particularly in the Verulamium area. Either small and set close up to the rim, often with no eyebrows (Verulamium region), or larger and set slightly lower with notched or rouletted eyebrows (London); two examples with rounded, m-shaped eyebrows and nose [2]; shallow slit or coffee

bean eyes, but some egs. from London with round, ring-stamped eyes49; generally slit mouth or none at all; applied ears; few if any beards apart from the occasional chin-strap groove or narrow band of rouletting around the lower part of the face. London and the London-Verulamium region as far as Baldock and Towcester 44+ (5c. and 39+f.) plus 7 possible examples. 30+ examples in granular buff (VRW) ware (4c and 26f) at : London 1c. and 3f. (comp: Davies et al 1994, 47, Fig. 37: 183 [2 and Pl. J12b]; frags: Seeley and Drummond-Murray 2005, 85, Nos P235 and P102, Fig. 133; MOLAS No CID 90 517); Enfield 3f (Gentry et al 1977, 148, Fig. 21: 10; Fig. 23: 16 and Fig. 24:27.3); Verulamium 2c. and 19+f. (comp: Richardson 1944, 117, Fig. 16: 12) [1]; Wheeler 1936, 186, Fig. 30:33; frags: Frere 1972, Fig. 125, No 911 and Fig. 132, No 1079; Hinchcliffe 1979, 18, Fig. 8: 13; Verulamium Museum Nos 218, 230, 271, 303, 344-5; 372; 424; VT 34 P871 (theatre); M.Biddle pers comm [Chapter House site]; Stead and Rigby 1989 [King Harry Lane site], Fig. 34, No 33 and Fig. 37, Nos 13-14; V. Rigby pers. comm: 3f. from Folly Lane site); Welwyn 1c. (Cambridge University Museum No 23.507); Baldock 1f. (V. Rigby pers. comm.). 7 possible examples in other unslipped oxidised wares (1c. and 6f.): London 2f (Blurton 1977, 37, Fig. 6: 113 and 117); Baldock 2f. (Letchworth Museum Nos 35501); Towcester, 2f. (Brown and Alexander 1982, 46, Nos 183-4, Fig. 15); Unprovenanced 1c. (Oxford Ashmoleum Museum No 1896-1908, R.268 [Pl. J14]). 1 example in mixed fabric: London 1f. (jar in London oxidised ware (LOXI) with an applied ear in VRW ware, Sealey and Drummond-Murray 2005, Fig. 112, No P281). 14 examples in white-slipped red (VCWS) ware (1c. and 13f.): London 1c. and 10f. (comp: Davies et al 1994, 59, Fig. 47:267 [3 and Pl. J12 a]; frags: Davies et al, 1994, Fig. 47:269; Seeley and Drummond-Murray 2005, Fig. 146, No P200; Trans.LAMAS 13, 1979, 18, Fig. 9:39; London Museum Nos A 16410; 12,423 A; 21674. D2; MOLAS Nos 179BHS79,161; ONE94, 12616; CW83,42; CID90, 515; GSM97,2072; GSM97,1887; and GSM97,1889. I example in mica-slipped ware: Welwyn 1c (Old Millhouse Museum, Hatfield [4 and Pl. J13].

47

Atkinson 1932, Fig. 6. Though it has not as yet been possible compare the fabrics with one another. 48

49 Very similar to the face on the Canterbury sherd of RB Type 13E illustrated in Pl. J16b.

261

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER NINE Context:

Date:

earlier, but they do appear to fade out before those in VCWS ware, at any rate inside London.

Graves (Welwyn, London?); Walbrook stream bed and banks (London, 7 e.gs.); ritual shaft (Verulamium, Folly Lane), theatre and shops (Verulamium), baths (Verulamium, Branch Road); domestic contexts (London, Enfield and Verulamium). Second century to early third; possibly late first.

There are some slight stylistic differences between the face jars found in London and those in the Verulamium area further north. On the London ones the faces tend to be placed slightly lower, on the shoulder of the vessel rather than immediately below the rim, and they have strongly marked, notched or rouletted eyebrows whereas on the ones found north of the city the eyebrows have often got lost in the rim. The rims too tend to differ, as the London ones are mostly plain, whereas in the Verulamium area there is much more variety, with almost equal numbers of frilled, rouletted, or plain rims. There are also several examples with both frilled and rouletted rims as on No 1. Where it is possible to tell, most if not all the face jars from the Verulamium area have three handles, while two of the three complete handled face pots from London have only two: the face jar from the London Museum in VRW ware (Pl. J12b) and the face beaker of RB Type 16 in VCWS ware. The handled face jars inside London and outside the city seem, on the whole, to be slightly smaller than the spouted face jars, though there are so few complete or reconstructable spouted ones that it is hard to tell the average size of these. There is also one face beaker version of the handled type, from London, in white-slipped ware (RB Type 16, Fig. J 8: 7) which is roughly half the size of the average face jar. The band of grooves round the girth is a characteristic feature of the three-handled face jars from this region, whereas it is found on some but not all of the face jars with spouts. One three-handled complete example from Welwyn in Ver region buff ware with a rouletted rim, now in the Cambridge University Museum (No 23.507) has three bands of rouletting round the girth instead of grooves.

a b Pl. J12 Two face jars of RB Type 13D from London in the Museum of London; a) with three handles in white-slipped red ware (VCWS), height 27 cm; b) with two handles in buff ware (VRW), height 22 cm. (photo: Museum of London copyright)

As can be seen, many more of these three-handled face jars are listed from the London-Verulamium area than the ones in similar fabrics with spouts of RB Type 1C, outnumbering them by over four to one. However, as has been explained above under RB Type 1C, some of the face fragments listed under this RB Type 13D may in fact have belonged to spouted face jars, and the true ratio of handled jars to spouted jars is likely to be lower than 4:150.

Welwyn has also produced another complete and unusual three-handled face jar (No 4 and Pl. J13), with a grooved rim and a “Celtic-looking” face with m-shaped eyebrows and nose (and pushed-out chin) from a cemetery believed to date mainly to the later first and second centuries53. Such faces seldom occur on British face pots, and are otherwise known only from a few examples in the Kent region and in the west Midlands, though these are almost all of a Late Roman date54. The Welwyn jar is in a reddish-orange fabric with an unsual grooved, cylindrical rim, and is covered inside and out with a remarkably well preserved, glossy, honey-coloured mica slip55. The position of the three handles is also unusual, as they are not evenly spaced round the neck of the pot but two are placed diametrically

Where these face jars have been found in closed contexts, as at Verulamium and London, the dates are mostly second to early third century, and in particular the Antonine period. The production of white-slipped face jars is known from the Hadrianic period51, though it could have started slightly earlier, and continues into the third century52. There seems no evidence to suggest that those in VRW ware started any

53 This cemetery could conceivably be the source for the other face jar from Welwyn mentioned above which is unprovenanced. 54 There is also one other face fragment from London in greyish-buff VRW ware with the remains of a similar face though with light notching on the eyebrows, which is listed under this Type (MOLAS No CID 90, 617). These face jars are further discussed under RB Type 35 in Part III of this chapter. 55 Traces of a mica slip or mica-dusting are not unusual in the London and Verulamium areas, occurring mainly on vessels of early to late second century date (Davies et al 1994, 136b), though it is rare on face pots. It has already been noted in relation to the early face jar fragment of RB Type 9 and to one or two London spout sherds mentioned under RB Type 1C. Mica-dusted face sherds have also been found in a kiln at Canterbury (see below under RB Type 13E).

50

The MOLAS database in February 2005 listed 54 face sherds from London without spouts in VRW and VCWS wares,and other similar wares, as opposed to the 17 sherds with spouts (of which 3 had faces) which are mentioned under RB Type 1C in Note 20. If one assumed that all the spout sherds came from face jars, this would give a ratio of handled jars to spouted jars of c.3:1 which could be closer to reality. However only the MOLAS sherds that have been examined by the author have been listed in this Catalogue. 51 Trans. Lamas 30, 1979, 18. 52 As with the spouted face jars it has not been possible to distinguish between sherds in VCWS ware and the less frequent ones in a somewhat darker red fabric with a cream-coloured slip known as RWS, see Note 27 above.

262

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART II RB Type 13E from East Studdale below, this jar too may have connections with the north Kent region east of London. The ring-stamping done with a narrow tube or straw is a feature more often found on third century face jars, but it also occurs on the not dissimilar face jar from Little Chester of RB Type 13F which is dated to the early second century.

opposite each other on either side of the face, and the third is placed in between them at the back, opposite the face. Such handles occur on several of the face jars of RB Type 13E found in north Kent but, with the exception of this Welwyn face jar and an unprovenanced face jar in the Ashmoleum Museum (see Pl J14 below), have not been identified on face jars elsewhere. It is just possible therefore that this face jar could have come from the north Kent region to the east of London, or have been influenced by a potter from there.

Pl. J14. Small, unprovenanced, 3-handled face jar in buff-orange fabric, possibly of RB Type 13E, in the Ashmoleum Museum, Oxford; 18 cm.

Some of the best, if still far from adequate, information as regards sites and contexts for face jars comes from the London-Verulamium region56. Only one of these face jars is securely recorded as coming from a grave as a cremation urn, namely one of the two complete face jars from Welwyn (No 4), though a number of fragments have been found outside the Roman walls of London in areas to the west and north of the city where cemeteries are known to have been situated. Far more appear to have come from votive or ritual deposits. In London three complete face pots (including the face beaker of RB Type 16) and quite a number of fragments have been found in or beside what used to be the Walbrook stream bed, while in Verulamium in Insula XIV a complete face jar was found buried in a pit beside the stone macellum which had been re-built after the fire of 160 (No 1) and several other fragmentary face jars were found in a ritual shaft at the Folly Lane site57. At Verulamium face jars have been found in a wide variety of secular contexts in addition to those just mentioned: in the theatre, in baths, and in houses and shops. In London too, as already mentioned, face jar sherds have been found in areas of domestic housing and shops together with tazze and triple vases (as also in Insula XIV at Verulamium). Unusually high numbers of both tazze and face pot sherds as well as the remains of at least two triple vases have recently been found on two sites on Gresham Street58 just to the south of the Cripplegate fort in an area of domestic housing that is thought to have had many of the functions of a fort vicus59.

Pl. J13. Large 3-handled mica-slipped face jar of RB Type 13D from Welwyn (side handles missing), in the Old Millhouse Museum, Hatfield; height 28.7 cm.

An unusual variation, possibly of later date, on the standard handled jar is shown on a face fragment from the King Harry Lane site at Verulamium listed here (Stead and Rigby 1989, Fig. 37: 14). This is in a classic Ver region pinkishbuff fabric (VRW) but instead of a frilled rim it has a frilled cordon around the shoulder below a plain beaded rim, similar to some of the later grey, handle-less face jars from East Anglia of RB Type 21 A-D, but in this case with two small loop handles just below the cordon. An applied nose descending from the frill is all that remains (or perhaps ever was) of the abbreviated face. There are six examples in unslipped oxidised fabrics which do not seem to be VRW ware, but which have been tentatively included here in the absence of any other identified sub-Type to which they might belong. They are all just face fragments with no obvious distinguishing features. There is also one complete, unprovenanced face jar in the Oxford Ashmoleum Museum (see Pl. J14 ) in a buff-orange fabric that is slightly less coarse and granular than the standard VRW ware, with an everted flat-topped rim with single horizontal groove, and an unusual abbreviated face consisting of a large wedge-shaped nose attached to the rim, two tiny ring-stamped eyes, no mouth and a lightly ringstamped beard. Given its similarity in form to the face jar of

56

This is further discussed in Chapter XIII, ??? Malcolm. Lyne pers. comm. 1987 58 R. Featherby 2004, pers. comm. and MOLAS data base sites GHT00 and GSM97. 59 H. Sheldon, pers comm. 2004. Two or three other sites producing face jars and Tazze listed on the data base or in older Museum of London 57

263

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER NINE Road in Canterbury dated to the early second century 61 and are now in the Royal Museum62.

By the late third century the London-Verulamium production of face jars seems to have given way to the Late Roman Much Hadham pottery industry whose widelydistributed burnished red wares include a narrower version of the three handled face jar, with frilled rim, three flattened handles and a small rather skimpy face tucked beneath the rim (RB Type 31, Fig. J14: 3-4). RB Type 13E

Height: Fabric: Decoration: Face:

Distribution:

Context: Date:

Three-handled face jars with a plain or frilled rim in orange and occasionally white-slipped wares from Kent and east Sussex (Fig. J7:5-8, Pls. J12-13) 20 - c. 30 cm. Sandy orange-buff, or red with a white slip. Occasional mica-dusting (Canterbury). Often a wide band of grooves round the girth. Similar to the London-Verulamium face jars, generally close up to the rim, with notched eyebrows and coffee bean eyes; eyebrows are sometimes missing (No 7) or unnotched (No 5); some stabbed beards; East and north Kent, east Sussex border 26 (1c. and 25+f.) 26 examples in orange-buff ware (1c. and 25f.): Canterbury 22+ f. (Jenkins 1958, 127, and unpublished notes from the Royal Museum, Canterbury {20+ frags from kiln} [7]; Royal Museum Canterbury {2 frags.} [Pl. J13]); East Studdale 1c. (British Museum Stores No 1927, 6-7,2. [8], Pollard 1988. Fig. 28:72); Bodiam 1f. Lemmon and Darrell Hill 1966, 90, Pl. IV: A) [6]). 2 examples in white-slipped ware (2f.): Canterbury, 1f. (Wilson 1982, 136, Fig. 72: 18); Springhead 1f. (J. Shepherd, unpub photo 1982) [5]. 2 possible examples (1c. and 1f): Dover 1f. (Rigold1961, 99, Fig. 6:11); Boulogne 1c. (Chateau Musée Boulogne No 4916/5; Belot et Camut, 1994, Fig. 10). Possibly grave (East Studdale); well (Springhead); kilns (Canterbury). Second century, possibly continuing into early third in white-slipped ware..

Pl. J15. Orange-buff 3-handled face jar of RB Type 13E from East Studdale, in the British Museum pottery stores; height 19.7 cm.

The faces on these pots are somewhat different from those on the East Studdale face jar, with a semi-circle of neatly stabbed notches around the face presumably representing a beard and moustache (No 7). At least two of the fragments were said to have been mica-dusted though this is now hard to detect63. These were thought by Jenkins to be from rather larger vessels than the others, and both have unusual raised ridges or cordons, possibly portraying hair, on either side of the face. One other face jar fragment from the kiln was in a less gritty, dark reddish-brown fabric and had a neatly incised ear, a feature lacking on most of the other face jars. There seem to have been both frilled and plain rims.

a b Pl. J16. Two face jar fragments in sandy orange-buff ware of RB Type 13E from St John’s Lane (left) and St Gabriel’s chapel in Canterbury, in the Royal Museum Canterbury; size: a, 9.5 x 10 cm; b, 9 x 15 cm. (Photo by Andrew Savage)

Only one complete face jar of this Type has been found so far in this corner of south east England60, the one from East Studdale in north Kent (No 8 and Pl. J15), which was found beside the road from Canterbury to London, and could have come from a grave. This has three handles in the same position as those on the Welwyn face jar of RB Type 13D above. Several face jar fragments with similarly placed handles in sandy orange ware with a pimply surface, some with mica-dusting, were found in a kiln on the Whitehall

Two other face fragments in the Museum, found on sites inside the city (see Pl. J16 below), also belong to this Type, and are in the same orange-buff sandy fabric as the kiln fragments. This is typical of Canterbury pottery of mid 61

Jenkins 1958, 127. I am greatly indebted to Andrew Savage of the Canterbury Archaeological Trust who has provided me with photos and drawings of the face pots in the Royal Museum, Canterbury, and also copies of unpublished notes and drawings by F. Jenkins on face pots he had excavated from the Canterbury kiln published in 1958. 63 Andrew Savage pers.comm.. 62

records also appear to come from this same area. 60 Though as mentioned above the mica-dusted face jar with m-shaped face from Welwyn (No 2) may have come from here

264

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART II Flavian to Antonine date and is known as “Canterbury ware”64. The unusual round eyes made with a large ring stamp on the St. Gabriel’s fragment are also found on a few face jars of Type 13D from London.

RB Type 13F

The fragment from Bodiam in East Sussex in a “reddish sandy ware” (No 6) is strikingly similar to the one from St John’s Lane (in Pl. J13 above) and would seem to belong to this Type. It is the only example of a face jar so far to have been found in Sussex, or anywhere else along the south coast apart from the one found at Dover. It could perhaps have come from Dover, and have found its way to Bodiam through the iron-working activities of the classis Britannica in the Weald of east Sussex65. This region of east Sussex was extremely rich in iron, and the iron works in this area may have been used for supplying the army in the military zones of Britain, probably under direct Imperial management (ibid). Beauport Park, the largest of the ironworking sites known to have been associated with the Fleet, is situated near Battle, just to the south of Bodiam, and it seems that there may have been a river port at Bodiam which was used for the shipment of ore from the Weald. Stamped tiles of the fleet have also been found at Bodiam.

Height: Fabric: Decoration:

Two-handled red-ware face jar with long nose and double band of zig-zag decoration on the shoulder from Little Chester (Fig. J 8: 1)

c. 18-20cm. Orange with a grey core Double band of incised zig-zag and groove decoration on shoulder. Face: Large nose, close to rim; no eyebrows; shallow, slit eyes and slit mouth; ringstamped beard; Distribution: Little Chester 1f. (Brassington 1980, Fig. 16: 458). Context: Derby racecourse kiln 5 Date: Early second century This fragmentary face jar from Little Chester in the Midlands is the only example of this sub-type known so far. It was found on the Derby racecourse kiln site just outside the Roman fort, inside the stoke hole of kiln 5 in a waster group dated provisionally to the Trajanic-Hadrianic period66. The base shown in the published re-construction drawing illustrated here may not have belonged to the upper half, as the fabric is slightly softer67.

It is not clear however whether face jars of this Type were made at Dover. So far just fragments from the upper half of what seems to have been a very large face jar in “red ware” have been found there, with a narrower, unfrilled rim and a much less abbreviated face which includes ears, mouth, a chin-blob and a wide-spread hatched beard, similar to many of the faces on Type 13 face jars from London or Colchester.

This vessel is very different from the other face jar from these kilns (RB Type 1F, Fig. J5: 5). The fabric however seems to be much the same except that this piece has a grey core. Though the date bracket for both face jars is roughly the same, it would seem likely that this one dates from a different and probably slightly later phase of occupation of the Little Chester fort.

One other face jar that may have come from Dover is the complete three-handled face jar from a grave at Boulogne. Boulogne is the only base for the classis Britannica identified so far in France and would certainly have had close contacts with Dover. This jar has already been described in Chapter V under FS Type 12 (Fig. E3: 1 and Pl .E5 ). The fact that it has three handles attached to the rim, a feature unknown on Continental face pots, is a strong indication that it was made in Britain, or by a potter who came from there. It is in a sandy orange fabric apparently very similar to “Canterbury ware”. However it has an even more abbreviated face than the Canterbury face jars, with no mouth or eyebrows, and while it does have a frilled rim, its handles are equally spaced out around the rim and it has no body grooves.

There are known links between the Little Chester potters and those working at Mancetter and Hartshill to the south, particularly as far as mortaria production was concerned, and it is possible that the rimless face fragments from Mancetter may have been of this three-handled type, though they are all in the characteristic whitish fabric of the Mancetter-Hartshill kilns68. RB Type 13G

Height: Fabric: Decoration:

For want of any other obvious group to which these two face jars could belong, they have both been tentatively listed under this Type.

Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

Red-ware face jar from Caerwent, possibly with two or three handles (Fig. J8: 2) c. 22cm. Fine orange brown. Band of three wavy lines around the shoulder Notched eyebrows and strip beard; incised eyelids and lips; applied pupils. Caerwent 1f. (National Museum of Wales, Cardiff). In passage way between two bath buildings. Second century, but possibly later first?

This incomplete face jar, now in the National Museum of Wales at Cardiff, has been reconstructed with two handles 66

Swan 1984, 250. Brassington 1980, 44. 68 See Part III, C, Miscellaneous Face Fragments Nos 2-3, Fig. J16: 13.

64

67

Pollard 1988, 599. 65 Brodribb and Cleere, 1988, 240.

265

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER NINE Face:

and a plain everted rim, as shown in Fig. J8: 2, Pl. J17). But in a photograph taken before reconstruction, there seems to be no evidence for either the rim or the handles. It is not clear therefore whether these were added by analogy with the best known face jars in Britain at the time, namely those from London and Colchester, or whether there were some fragments not included in the original photo which provided evidence for both the handles and the rim. Meanwhile, in the absence of any better information, the reconstructed form has been taken at face value.

Distribution: Context: Date:

Very few face jars have come to light so far in York from the earlier half of the Roman period70, possibly only this one and the fragment of a large red face beaker or small face jar of RB Type 9 (Fig. J4: 5). Grey wares are unusual at York, and Moynaghan (ibid) assumes this face jar must have been made elsewhere. With its tallish, narrow neck and flaring shoulders it appears to be of similar form to the Colchester three-handled face jars of RB Type 13A (Fig. J6: 1-3) and there is a face jar fragment from there with a very similar face with up-raised eyebrows with herringbone notching71. Rouletted rims however are unknown on Colchester face jars and only seem to occur on those from the London-Verulamium region which are of a different form with a wider rim, sloping shoulders and no pronounced neck. The only other handled face jars in grey ware come from Caistor-by-Norwich (RB Type 13C) or from Old Penrith (RB Type 13K below), but these too are very different in either face or form. Some kind of Colchester connection seems the most likely, and perhaps it was after all locally made by a potter from Colchester, or even brought from there (despite its rouletted rim) as the Colchester buff ware can sometimes be described as grey.

The large face, stretching across the body of the pot, is very unlike those found on other three-handled face jars, where the face is generally smaller and positioned on the shoulder or just below the rim. In this it is more akin to the early spouted face jars from Usk of RB Type 1A (Fig. J2: 3) or the early face jars of RB Types 2 and 3 (Fig. J3).

RB Type 13K

Height: Fabric: Face:

Pl. J17. Reconstructed face jar of RB Type 13G from Caerwent in the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff; height 22 cm.

On the basis of the face, therefore, it would be surprising if this face jar did originally have three handles (it might even have had spouts), and it may well be older than the second century deposits in which it was found. The rather irregular wavy lines around the shoulder seem to be a feature of several face jars on this western side of Britain, as on the face jar from Little Chester above, and are also characteristic of Severn Valley pottery69. RB Type 13 H

Gap left in Type Series

RB Type 13J

Grey three-handled face jar with narrowish neck and rouletted rim from York (Fig. J8: 3)

Height: Fabric:

Distribution: Context: Date:

Grey two-handled face jar from Old Penrith with frilled rim, and applied spiral bosses and a snake’s head above the eyebrows (Fig. J8: 5) Large pot. Fine hard, medium grey . Applied features, with slightly bulbous, incised eyes and penannular irises; herringbone eyebrows; a row of applied concave pellet-bosses with incised spiral design above the eyebrows and possibly all round the face; the head of an applied snake just visible on the forehead. Old Penrith 1f. (Austen, 1991, 173, Fig. 85) Unstratified, inside area of early fort and later vicus Possibly later second to third century.

This is one of the most unusual face jars found so far in Britain, and it is frustrating that so few fragments have survived. The features have been modelled with meticulous care, and one has the impression of some very particular cult vessel. The applied pellet bosses with spiral design may have continued in a circle round the face as two body sherds have survived with similar bosses on them. It was an unstratified find and is very difficult to date. The early fort at Old Penrith was probably founded after the withdrawal from Scotland under Domitian c. 86-90. The fort appears to

Unknown. Rim diam. 12.5 cm. Grey.

70 69

Up-curved, horn-like eyebrows with herringbone notching; coffee-bean eyes; applied ears and chin. York 1f. (May, 1903-11, 35, PL. XIII a: 5) Unknown. Probably later first to second century.

71

Tyers, 1986, Fig. 253.

266

Moynaghan 1997, 914. Hull 1963, Fig. 71: 18.

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART II Most relevant perhaps are the Gallo-Belgic bust vases of Group 376, with a large bust of Mercury with two rows of spiral bosses round his head portraying hair, and a snake or snakes coiling round the shoulders of the vessel. It is conceivable that this very unusual face jar may be related in some way to these vases. Some of the Bavay face jars also have a circle of applied spiral bosses round the face (FS Type 21, Fig. E5: 1), very similar to the ones on this face jar from Old Penrith. Circles of spiral bosses round the face also occur on some of the bossed face jars of RB Type 28A (Fig. J13: 1)77. The mask on this face jar is further discussed in Chapter XII, B.7.

have been vacated c. 125 and not occupied again until the abandonment of the Antonine Wall in the early 160s, when a new fort was built just to the north of the old one, with a vicus growing up on the old site. This fort remained in occupation until the mid third century, when the garrison, the Cohors Equitata Gallorum was withdrawn, followed by renewed occupation around the end of the third century until some time in the mid fourth century72. The face jar therefore could be from any one of these three periods of occupation. The form with its narrowish neck, frilled rim and handles so similar to the Colchester face jars suggests the earlier date; the large face situated well down near the girth can also be an early feature. But the slightly bulbous, naturalistic eyes with their incised penannular irises are quite unlike any first century or early second century face jar, and are much closer to those of the York head pots of third century date73. These head pots appear to merge with face jars in north east England at the end of the third century to produce the bossed face jars of the fourth century of RB Types 28 A and B (Fig J13), with a face on the girth and a circle of bosses round the face. These latter might seem to provide the closest parallels, but the modelling is very different. With these, as with the head pots, though to a lesser extent, the wall of the pot is pushed in and out to model the cheeks, chin, and eye-sockets, while the bosses too are made by pressing the wall of the pot from the inside into stamped moulds, but there is no evidence for any of this on the Old Penrith face jar. Also, as far as can be seen from the incomplete examples that have survived, none of them had handles or a frilled rim. On balance, a third century date is probably the most likely and this face jar should perhaps be seen as bridging the gap between the handled face jars of the late first and second century and the bossed face jars of the fourth74.

RB Type 13L

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

Two-handled face jars with rouletted rim in white-slipped red ware from Camelon (Fig. J8: 5). Large jars, rim c.15-16 cm. Brick–red fabric with grey core; traces of cream-coloured slip. Applied, un-notched eyebrows and coffee bean eyes; nostril holes in nose; large, shallowly applied ear. Camelon 2f. (Robertson, 1972/4, 285). In fort vicus 140-160.

These two fragmentary face jars from Camelon from Antonine deposits are very similar to the RB Type 13D face jars from London and Verulamium, and may have come from there, but it has not been possible to compare the fabrics. It is however just possible that they were made by a potter who had moved to the north from the LondonVerulamium region. They were found in the “south camp” which is thought to have been the industrial/civilian annexe for the Antonine fort78.

The snake’s head is of particular interest. Though only the head survives, it seems very likely that it belonged to an applied snake which would very probably have been curled around the shoulders of the pot above the face. Vessels with snakes round the shoulders and climbing up the handles or spouts have been found along the Rhine and the Danube and are thought to have been mainly associated with the cults of Mithras, Sabazius, and Bacchus-Liber, and possibly Mercury (see Appendix VI). This is the only example known to the author of a face pot with a snake, though a face pot fragment from Novae has what looks like an applied lizard on the left cheek, which could imply a connection with Sabazius and the possibility that the original pot may also have had applied snakes which have not survived75.

76

See Appendix III, Fig. R4: 3-4. One other face fragment, from a very different vessel but which shares several of the unusual features of this face jar (including the herring bone notching of the eyebrows, the applied pellet bosses around the head and the somewhat bulbous eyes) and which comes from much closer to hand, is the bearded head from Carlisle which must have been attached to the neck of some huge cult vessel (see RB Type 43, Fig. J19: 2a-c). Flat pellets are also used to denote hair on a face jar from Lincoln and on one or two others (see RB Type 21C in the following chapter). Also from Carlisle comes a fragment of a finely modelled snake with neatly notched scales and a crested head with what appear to be ram’s horns, which could have come from the rim or handle of a snake pot (Green 1978, 51, No 13, Pl. 92). It is quite a bit larger than most snakes found on snake pots, so if it did come from a pot, it must have been a very large vessel, similar in size to the one with the bearded spout-head. A not dissimilar snake fragment, though smaller, without its head and made of bronze, has been found at Corbridge (ibid, 58, No 39, Pl. 74). Snake pots are very rare in Britain. Bird (1996) mentions two other examples, both from the LondonVerulamium area, neither of which appear to have much connection with this face pot. One is a fragment in Ver Region White Ware from London, recovered from the Walbrook which has a crested snake climbing up a handle (ibid, 125b); the other is an early find from Marshalswick, near Verulamium, known only from an engraving, which was a pear-shaped cremation urn with two handles made of writhing snakes (ibid, 120b, Note 5). 78 Robertson, 1972-4, 285. 77

72

Austen, 1991, Table 6, 230. Swan and Monaghan 1993, 21-38, Braithwaite 1984, Fig.11: 6-7. Vivien Swan has brought my attention to a vessel of identical profile to this one in the Trentholme Drive cemetery in York which Gillam describes as “probably third century” (Gillam 1968, Fig. 21: 5), which supports the suggestion of a third century date for this face jar. 75 See Chapter VIII, DAN Type 33, Fig. H11: 7. 73 74

267

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER NINE RB Type 14

Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution: Context: Date:

the base is thin and poorly finished, and the jar appears to have been made by hand rather than on a wheel, possible coil-built. Not all the pot was recovered and more sherds may still be buried, as it was recently found during a small evaluation excavation. It could have weighed as much as 8 kilos. The other pottery from the kiln-waste deposit was mostly mortaria, in the same grey coarse-ware as the face jar, a very unusual fabric for mortaria except in Norfolk. They have been dated on typological grounds to the later part of the second century. A herring-bone stamp similar to the one on the face jar (to the left of the face) also occurs on one of the mortaria, though not from the same die. It is assumed that another stamp, now missing, had been placed on the right of the face81.

Two-handled face jar with narrow cylindrical neck and rouletted rim (Fig. J8: 6) Unknown.. Quite fine red with grey core; possibly orange slip. Applied nose; lightly moulded eye with incised eyelid and eyebrow with rows of pricked dots; possibly remains of applied ear to left of face. London 1f. (Museum of London No 3001, I) 7. Unprovenanced Later first to third century?

One large ribbed strap handle was found among the excavated pottery which very probably belonged to this pot, as well as a body sherd with a scar where a handle had been attached, though unfortunately it could not be matched with any of the sherds that have so far been fitted together to indicate where exactly the handle might have been placed.

This jar would presumably have had two quite large strap handles. It appears to be of a different form from all the other two-handled face jars in Britain. Its narrow cylindrical neck is reminiscent of the phallic face jugs from the Wetterau region of RB Type 33 (Fig. D16), and it is just possible that it comes from such a jug. A phallic spout of probable early second century date has been found in London that might also come from such a face jug, but it is in fine mica-dusted ware79. The Rhineland face jugs are in a fine buff or orange buff ware, often with mica dusting, but the phallic spout found at Vindonissa which probably also comes from such a jug is in a plain sandy red ware.

The face is quite unlike any of the faces on the handled jars of RB Type 13, and is much closer to the bearded and rather monkey-like faces on the grey face jars of RB Type 21 C found in East Anglia which first appear around this time (see Part III). It is in fact strikingly similar to a face sherd from Brampton in Norfolk, close to Caister, which also has vertical incised lines above the eyebrows indicating hair, a very rare feature on face pots, suggesting that this could be a face mask local to this corner of Norfolk82.

The date of this fragment is virtually impossible to judge. The Rhineland face jugs are of second to third century date, while the Vindonissa phallic spout, which comes from the legionary rubbish dump, cadnnot be later than the end of the first century. In the Rhineland, incised eyes and eyebrows normally suggest a later third or fourth century date, but this would seem to be too late a date for this piece. RB Type 15

Height: Fabric: Decoration: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

The dimensions of the face jar, 32 cm tall and 36 cm wide, with a 30 cm rim, are quite similar to those of some of the large cauldrons found in cult hoards along the Upper Danube frontier in the third century, such as the ones found at Mauer an der Url and Weissenburg83. It is just possible therefore that this huge pot may have been intended for some kind of similar cult use. No explanation however has as yet been found as to why it should have been cut in half.

Huge thick-walled face jar from Caisteron-Sea with frilled rim and a small, bearded face (Fig. J8: 8) 32 cm. Grey coarse-ware, some sherds partly oxidised. Herring-bone stamp to left of face. Small round face, pushed out from the inside; incised hair and beard; slit pellet eyes with incised eyelashes (or eyebrows?) Caister-on-Sea 1c. (Maggi Darling 2006, unpub. info.80) Deposit containing waste pottery from a kiln site. Probably second half of 2nd century.

The pottery deposit was found just outside the door of Holy Trinity Church, just 300 metres away from the east defences of the fort at Caister-on-Sea. This inevitably brings into question earlier estimates for the fort’s foundation, which had for some time been thought to be one of the earliest of the Saxon Shore forts, but with a foundation date some time in the early years of the third century84.

81 It has been suggested that the herringbone stamp might have been intended to depict be a schematic votive leaf or feathered plaque of the kind found in cult hoards (M. Darling pers. comm.). Some of the ones found in Britain are dedicated to Vulcan, the Smith God (see Appendix I, G.3.3. and Chapter XII, B.6) 82 See Part III, Fig. J11: 5. 83 Noll 1980 and Kellner and Zahlhaas 1984. See Appendix I, G.3.2 and H.3. 84 Darling 1993, xvi. Two rim and handle sherds that may have come from RB Type 13 face jars with frilled rims in a fine, light brown fabric “with creamish surfaces” have also been found inside the fort at Caister, as well as fragments from three Much Hadham face jars (ibid, 60, Fig. 143: 2213).

This is a very unusual face jar, not just because of its size and strangely frilled rim with a deep internal groove or channel, but because it seems to have been cut in half horizontally before firing. It is very thick-walled, though 79

See Chapter IV, RL Type 33, Fig. D16: 7. I am very grateful to Maggi Darling for all the information on this as yet unpublished pot and its associated pottery. 80

268

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART II FACE BEAKER (RB Type 16) As already mentioned, there seems to be just this one face beaker from London which can be assigned to this period. RB Type 16 Height: Fabric: Decoration: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

Two-handled face beaker from London in cream-slipped red ware (Fig. J8: 6) 11.5cm Cream-slipped red ware (VCWS). Wide grooves around the body. Coffee bean eyes; rouletted eyebrows; slit mouth; incised ears. London 1c (Davies et al 1994, Fig. 47: 268).. Walbrook stream bed (Cannon street). Probably second to early third century.

Pl. J18. Two-handled face beaker in white-slipped red ware (VCWS) of RB Type 16 from London in the London Museum; height 11.5 cm (photo: Museum of London copyright)

This is a smaller, half-size version of the large face jars of RB Type 13D, of which two out of three complete examples also only have two handles. It is the only example of a handled face beaker identified so far in Britain. Similar face beakers which are also half-size versions of face jars but without handles were made in the Rhineland (see RL Types 11 A-B, Fig. D7: 1-3). RB Type 15

Gap left in Type Series

269

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER NINE RB TYPES 1 C-E

Fig. J5. Face jars with spouts. Type 1C, Nos 1-3; Type 1D, No4; Type 1E, No 5. 1, London; 2, Verulamium; 3-4, London; 5, Little Chester.

270

(Scale: 1:4)

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART II RB TYPES 13 A-C

Fig. J6. Face jars with handles. Type 13A, Nos 1-3; Type 13B, No 4; Type 13C, Nos 5-7. 1, 2 and 4, Colchester; 3, Camelon; 5-6, Caistor-by-Norwich; 7, London. (Scale: 1:4)

271

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER NINE RB TYPES 13 D-E

Fig. J7. Face jars with handles. Type 13D, Nos 1-4; Type 13E, Nos 6-9. (Scale: 1:4) 1, Verulamium; 2-3, London; 4, Welwyn; 5, Springhead; 6, Bodiam; 7, Canterbury; 8, East Studdale. 272

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART II RB TYPES 13 F-L, 14, 15 AND 16

Fig. J8. Face jars and face beaker with handles. Type 13F, No 1; Type 13G, No 2; Type 13 J, No 3; Type 13 K, No 4; Type 13L, No 5; Type 14, No 6; Type 15, No 8; Type 16, No 7. (Scale: 1:4) 1, Little Chester; 2, Caerwent; 3, York; 4, Old Penrith; 5, Camelon; 6-7, London; 8, Caister-on-Sea. 273

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER NINE

274

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART III

CHAPTER NINE, PART III Period Three: the later second to fourth century A.

that are of an earlier construction with interior earth ramparts behind the outer walls and no external towers or bastions: Brancaster on the west Norfolk coast at the entrance to the Wash2, Caister-on-Sea close to what was then the entrance to the Yare estuary on the south Norfolk coast3, and Reculver in north Kent at the entrance to the Thames estuary4. These are now thought to have been built towards the end of the second century and the beginning of the third, and to have belonged to an earlier coastal defence system around the eastern shores of Britain together with the second century fort of the classis Britannica at Dover to the south and what was very probably a fortified naval base at Brough-on-Humber to the north5.

THE MILITARY BACKGROUND Military dispositions in Britain in the third and fourth centuries.

Britain’s three legions are thought to have remained in their previous bases at Caerleon, Chester and York throughout the third century and into the fourth, though units would have been detached for various duties around the province, including serving on the governor’s staff in London. The division of the province into two in 197 following the defeat of Albinus, with the Governor of the new province of Britannia Inferior based in York, will have considerably increased that city’s importance, though his staff would presumably have been drawn mainly from legio VI Victrix, the resident legion. The further division of the province into four at the end of the third century will however have meant more dispersal of legionary staff detached to serve the new governors in Cirencester and Lincoln.

The bulk of the auxiliary forces remained concentrated in northern England and Wales until the later third century, when many of the forts appear to have been abandoned6. Even some of the forts on the Wall were vacated or had their garrisons reduced and the troops moved elsewhere, many of them perhaps to the new forts of the Saxon Shore. By the later fourth century however, as a result of the disastrous attacks of the “barbarian conspiracy” of 367, and the measures taken by Count Theodosius to rebuild and strengthen the defences along the northern frontier and around the coasts, as well as inside the province7, it appears that many of the Brigantian forts were once more occupied, though now with the smaller new-style units of the kind listed in the Notitia Dignitatum8. In addition a chain of fortified watchtowers was built around the north east coast from Filey to Huntcliffe and probably beyond to link up with the eastern end of the Wall. These measures appear to have restored a remarkable degree of security and stability to the province during the last quarter of the fourth century9, in contrast to the invasions and civil wars taking place at this time on the Continent, and ensured the continuity of Roman rule until Stilicho withdrew most of the troops around the turn of the century.

Clodius Albinus’ ill-fated bid for the Empire in 196 undoubtably left its mark on Britain, on both the troops he had taken with him who had been bloodily defeated by Severus at Lyons, and on the inhabitants who had suddenly found themselves open to possible attack by hostile tribes from the north and across the seas, and even by a Roman army if by chance Albinus and his British forces had been pursued back to Britain. The subsequent restoration of order and the re-building and re-organisation of the defences in the north took ten years, followed by a full-scale campaign led by the ailing Severus accompanied by his wife and sons to re-establish Roman control in the Scottish lowlands and to punish the Highland tribes. Further south, it has been suggested that the apparently hasty fortification of towns that began in Britain at this time, long before most town walls were built on the Continent, could have been a direct result of these events1, either on the orders of Albinus prior to his departure for the Continent with the best troops he could muster from the garrison of his province, or perhaps at the demand of the townspeople when they realised the danger they were in.

2

Johnson 1989, 131 Darling 1993, 6 4 Salway 1981, 257. Both Brancaster and Reculver seem to have been built by units detached from the northern frontier, the former by Cohors I Aquitanorum, and the latter by Cohors I Baetasiorum who remained in occupation until the time of the Notitia Dignitatum (Mann 1989, 4 ). 5 Wacher 1975, 395. 6 Breeze and Dobson 1985, 13-15, Fig. 9. 7 As well as restoring many of the forts, and walled towns, Theodsius is also thought to have instigated the construction of external towers to the walled circuits of many if not most British towns (Wacher 1975, 75). 8 Breeze and Dobson 1985, 16-17, Figs 10-11. 9 Frere 1978, 399. 3

No serious invasions are recorded in Britain in the third century, but there was clearly an increasing threat of raiders from the sea, particularly around the coasts of East Anglia, Kent and Sussex. In response to this a chain of forts came to be built around these coasts, known as the forts of the Saxon Shore. Many of these are typical forts of the late third and early fourth centuries, but there are at least three 1

Wacher 1975, 75

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FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER NINE

B.

Anglia of RB Type 21 B and C appear to start somewhat earlier than those in Kent or further north, sometime in the later second century, and continue into the late third; those further north may not start much if at all before the third century and continue into the fourth.

THE FACE POTS OF PERIOD THREE

The third and fourth centuries see the development of increasingly insular face pot traditions in Britain. Whereas the face jars of the preceding one and a half centuries can be seen to be related to parallel traditions on the Continent, those of the next two centuries, with the exception of the few face beakers, bear very little relationship to their cousins on the Rhine and Danube in either face or form. A shift in the distribution patterns also occurs, or rather becomes more evident. Whereas in the second century face pots had been most common in the south east, but with a thin scattering in the west Midlands and in the northern military zone, now the focus shifts almost entirely to the east, with just a few mainly unclassifiable sherds in the west Midlands (see Map on Fig. J9). Unlike other provinces, there seem to be almost as many face pots produced in the fourth century as in the third, though by now they are mainly in the north east to the north of the Humber or in the south east with very little in between, and the number of kiln sites involved is far fewer. TYPES, FORMS AND FABRICS FACE JARS As already mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, there was no abrupt break between the second and third centuries, and during the first half of the third century the handled face jars of RB Type 13 were still being produced in the south east, and possibly later at London and Colchester.

Pl. J20. Large grey face jar of RB Type 21 C from Ixworth (Pakenham ) in the Ipswich Museum; height 31.5 cm.

Bossed face jars of RB Types 28 A-B (Fig. J13) These are red or grey jars decorated with raised stamped bosses which generally encircle a large centrally placed face. These face jars seem to have been strongly influenced by the large head pots produced in Yorkshire in the early third century. The earliest known examples appear in York around the middle of the third century in red fabrics similar to the head pots, but by the fourth century they seem to be mostly in grey wares. Their distribution is limited to the north east between the Humber and the Tyne, where they co-exist with the grey face jars and then gradually seem to replace them. Some of these bossed jars are also decorated with smith’s tools.

Apart from these, there are three main face jar Types in the third and fourth centuries, which can be fairly easily distinguished on the basis of form, fabric and face type: Grey face jars of RB Types 21 A-F (Figs. J10-12) These are all grey, handle-less jars with compact faces on the shoulder, often with a frilled rim and a notched cordon just above the face. Unlike the earlier, handled face jars which were of a form limited almost entirely to face jars, the later second to third century grey face jars are in standard Romano-British storage jar or cooking pot forms, and many of them have a band of burnished or incised hatching on the body or bands of wavy lines. However the frilled rim on many of the face jars from Kent, Essex and Suffolk makes them distinct from most other grey-ware jars, while quite a number of them are unusually tall. They are in a variety of grey fabrics, and for the most part they appear to have been produced locally, though the two fragments from Chesters could possibly have come from Colchester or Suffolk (RB Type 21F, Fig. J 12: 7).

Fine red face jars of RB Type 31 (Fig J14: 3-5) These are tall, narrow-necked jars with a frilled rim, three flat residual handles on the neck and a skimpy face immediately below the rim. With one or two possible exceptions, they were all probably made in the large Late Roman potteries in the area of Much Hadham in Hertfordshire. Two examples are decorated with figurative or symbolic designs, both particularly large though incomplete jars: one, from Littlecote villa (Fig. J14: 4, Pl. J34), has a triangular arrangements of raised bosses and a leaping felines on the girth; the other, from Harlow (Fig J14: 5), has several long-handled implements on the surviving left side of the vessel neck, which seem to include a bill hook, a caduceus, and a mallet. It is possible that other face jars of this Type may also have been decorated but in most cases only a small neck fragment with the face has survived, being the toughest part, and the rest of the pot

These are the most numerous face jars of the third century and spread from Kent up the east side of Britain to the Wall, though with particular concentrations in East Anglia and between the Humber and the Tyne, areas that up to now have not seen all that many face pots. Only at Canterbury and Colchester does their distribution overlap with that of the handled face jars of RB Type 13. The ones in east

276

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART III is lost. They do not seem to start much before the beginning of the fourth century, and continue to the end of it. They are wide-spread across south east Britain, though mostly north of the Thames, with a particular concentration in the home counties north of London. One example is known from Oudenburg in Belgium ( which is also listed in chapter V under FS Type 10, Fig. E3: 1).

face types is found on the grey jars of RB Type 21, though virtually all of them have quite small and compact faces. The serene mask. Versions of the “serene” beardless mask can still be found on the Colchester face jars of RB Type 21B, on the large face beakers of RB Type 37 (Fig. J15: 1-2), and on some of the unclassifiable sherds (Fig. J16: 12, 13 and 15).

Other face jar Types and unclassifiable sherds

Compact, closely bearded masks. North of Essex, the faces on the jars of RB Types 21 tend to have a neat, monkey-like beard, in particular those in Suffolk and Norfolk (see Fig. J11: 1-5) and bear little resemblance to the original Italian “serene” mask. Ringstamping using a small hollow tool such as a straw is often used to portray hair, as well as the usual notching or slashing.

In addition to the above, there are a number of face fragments in the Welsh Marches and south of Gloucester in red and grey fabrics, probably all Severn Valley wares, with small abstract, appliqué or roundel-type faces, which make their appearance in the Late Roman period. But only in one case can the vessel form be reconstructed (RB Type 34, Fig. J14: 9); the rest have been listed under Face Group 6. Apart from these, there are just a few very rare face jar Types from this later period that can also be identified, RB Types 32, 33 and 35 (Fig. J14: 7, 8 and10). This still leaves quite a large number of face pot sherds from this period, and in particular from the preceding Period II, which cannot be classified under the Types so far identified, and these are listed in section C of the Catalogue to Part III, with some sherds illustrated in Fig. J 16. Where possible they have been grouped according to facial characteristics into Face Groups Nos 1-6, while the rest have been listed under “miscellaneous face pot fragments”. Many of them come from the west Midlands.

Pl. J21. Detail of face mask on the face jar from Lakenheath of RB Type 21 C (see Pl. 24 below) (Photo by Christopher Mycock)

FACE BEAKERS

Goat-horned masks Five examples of this mask have been identified from different regions of east England, all with short horns in the centre of the forehead just above the eyebrows, four of them on grey face jars of RB Type 21 from Canterbury, Snetisham, Lincoln and Catterick (Figs. J10: 2; J11: 6-7 and J12: 5), and one on a buff face jar of RB Type 13A from Colchester (Fig. J6: 2). Only one other example is known of this mask, on a face jar from Raetia with long, down-curving eyebrows (UD Type 4, Fig. G5: 1).

As in the previous period, face beakers continue to be very rare. Of possible third century date are the two large face beakers from unknown contexts from Drayton Woods and Holme-on-Spalding Moor, mentioned at the beginning of Part II above, which are listed in this catalogue as RB Types 37 A and B (Fig. J15: 1-2). With their funnel necks and unusual faces with protruding chins they are quite similar to the Later Roman face beakers of the Danubian provinces or to the second to third century face beaker from Harfleur of FS Type 16 (Fig. E4: 2). They are also of not dissimilar form to some of the Late Roman British head pots (see Appendix IV, Fig. S4: 7-9) and they could conceivably be derived from these.

The example from Lincoln (Pl. J 22 below) has a beard and hair above the eyebrows made of applied flat pellets, as on the Danubian face beakers with pedestal base of DAN Types 11 and 12 (Fig. H4: 4-5). Somewhat similar “hair pellets” occur on two unclassifiable face fragments, one from Felixstowe and one from Little Chester (Face Group 5, Fig. J16: 8-9).

There are also three small grey face beakers of RB Types 38-40, from Sicklesmere, London and Brampton (Fig. J15: 3-4), one of which (from Sicklesmere, Pl. J36) appears to be a miniature version of the face jars of RB Type 21C though with a more abbreviated face, while the other two are reminiscent of some of the Late Roman face beakers from the Rhineland of RL Types 50C and 47B (Figs. D21: 4-5 and D20: 2-5).

m-shaped masks These occur on a face jar from Colchester of RB Type 21B (Fig. J10: 5), on one from Darenth in north Kent of RB Type 31B (Fig. J14: 7), and on vessels that may have been bowls from the temple at Springhead in Kent (RB Type 35, Fig. J14: 10). There are also a number of face masks with eyebrows curving down below the level of the nose from Wroxeter and Gloucester (Unclassifiable Face Group 1, Fig. J16: 1-3).

FACES As with the face jar forms, the faces too become more specifically British and less Roman. The greatest variety of

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FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER NINE

Pl. J23. Face sherd of RB Type 31 A from the Cripplegate fort, London in Much Hadham red-ware, with a small, abbreviated face tucked under the frilled rim; size of sherd: 4.5 x 3.8 cm.

Pl. J22. Detail of face mask with applied pellet beard and short vertical horns on the face jar from Lincoln of RB Type 21D. Photo courtesy of Maggi Darling

A face mask with a jutting, ruff-like beard One face unlike any of the others is on a unique and very large smith-face jar in red ware from Vindolanda (RB Type 22, Fig. J12: 8, Pl. J30) which has a projecting beard similar to those on the Danubian face jars and large face beakers of DAN Types 25-7 (Figs. H8-10). Smith’s tools are applied beneath the face. Unfortunately the upper half of the face is missing.

Medallion-shaped masks Moving northwards, the faces tend to become more oval or roundel-shaped with simplified, abstract features, some separately applied, others encircled with ring-stamps (Fig. J12: 1-2 and 6-7). Rather similar masks occur on face jars in the west country. Already at the turn of the first century we have seen one on the early spouted jar from Little Chester of RB Type 1F,(Fig. J5: 5), and these now occur on the Late Roman jars of RB Type 34, (Fig. J14: 8), and on the face fragments of Face Group 6 (Fig. J16: 10-11) either as appliqué masks, or outlined by an incised groove. Such medallion-type masks have not been identified in any of the other West Roman provinces, and would seem to belong to British popular tradition, though a number of masks on the Continent have a finger-width groove around the lower part of the face, perhaps to suggest an oval-shaped mask

SMITH’S TOOLS AND SMITH POTS There is clearly some kind of relationship between face jars and smith pots. The latter are pottery jars with applied smith’s tools on the shoulder or girth - generally a hammer, tongs and anvil, but sometimes other articles and symbols as well. They seem to first occur some time in the second century, in much the same forms and fabrics as face jars; a few are known in white-slipped wares with handles similar to RB Type 13 face jars, but many more occur in the same form and fabrics as the grey face jars of RB Type 21, particularly north of the Wash where they are often found on the same sites as face jars (see map on Fig. J9). There are also a small number of red Much Hadham smith pots with frilled rims but no handles from the Late Roman period. A number of the grey face jars of RB Type 21 and of the bossed face jars of RB Type 28 also have applied smith’s tools on them, generally just below the face, or sometimes on either side of it. These are described in this study as “smith-face jars”. They, and smith pots, are further discussed under RB Type 21E in the Catalogue below.

The abbreviated face mask tucked beneath the rim The faces on the Much Hadham jars of RB Type 31A are all strikingly similar and all of this type10, like the faces on the early spouted face jars of RB Type 1, or on some of the handled jars of RB Type 13. None of them have beards. These skimpy faces are unique to Britain, occurring on some of the earliest face pots and on the latest. Faces with stamped bosses indicating hair, often encircling the face The faces on the bossed face jars of RB Type 28 (Fig. J13, Pls J31-32) are very different from all the others, though they are all quite similar one to another. They are all large and spread out across the body of the jar with big almondshaped eyes and several have moustaches. The eyes and position of the face are reminiscent of the York head pots, later versions of which were also decorated with stamped bosses, but the circle of bosses around the face is different, and recalls some of the face jars of the Bavay region, which are the only other face jars with hair and beard depicted in this manner (See Chapter V, FS Type 21, Fig. E5: 1-2). 10 Though there is no evidence that they are made with moulds as with the female faces on the Hadham face-neck flagons.

278

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART III Shiptonthorpe, Bielby and Elmswell in East Yorkshire where evidence is emerging for an important iron-smelting industry along the banks of the rivers running south into the Humber estuary, or at Lincoln on the St Mark’s Church site where smithing workshops have been identified12. In the fourth century the later face jars of RB Types 28-30 appear to have replaced them to some extent in the north east. In the south the Much Hadham face jars become the dominant face jars of the fourth century, and these too have a mainly rural distribution, with quite a number of villa sites now involved. On the whole they appear to have been most popular in the areas north and east of London and in London itself where the handled face jars of RB Types 13 A and D had previously occurred, but a few are found in East Anglia, including the two Saxon Shore forts of Caisteron-Sea and Burgh Castle on the Norfolk-Suffolk coast. There is little detailed evidence for contexts in this later period. Most fragments, if they are not unstratified, unprovenanced or with no context identifiable from the published report, tend to have come from rubbish deposits. Of the rest, apart from those from kiln sites, the majority are from unidentified areas within domestic buildings, shops or work shops. Four or five are from known or suspected temples or shrines – at Elmswell in Yorkshire (RB Type 21E), at Brenley Corner and Springhead in Kent (Types 21A and 35), at Littlecote Villa in Berkshire (Type 31A) and one from inside the doorway of the “Mithraeum”13 at Colchester (also Type 31A) in the same deposit as a smith pot fragment though this could just be rubbish infill. There is virtually no secure evidence for any buried in graves apart from the one found at Oudenburg (RB Type 31A), but some of the complete jars from Colchester Castle Museum of Types 21B and 31A may be from graves as may the smith-face jar from Canterbury (Type 21A). Other complete or reconstructable jars appear to have been ritual deposits – four of them in Suffolk, two at Lakenheath and one each at Freckenham and Pakenham (both Type 21C), and at Chester-le-Street and Stanwix (both Type 21D).

Pl. J24. Large grey face jar with smith’s tools (tongs visible on left and hammer and twist of flux? on right) of RB Type 21 from Canterbury in the Royal Museum Canterbury; lower part of f ace missing; height 32 cm. (photo by Andrew. Savage)

KILNS AND POTTERY PRODUCTION CENTRES The grey face jars of RB Type 21 appear to have been produced in quite a number of different local kilns and potteries, but only a few examples have actually been found inside kilns or on kiln sites, mostly in East Anglia: at Colchester in Essex (RB Type 21B), at Wattisfield, Elmswell and West Stow in Suffolk, and at Brampton in Norfolk (all of RB Type 21C), but also at Norton, close to the fort at Malton in Yorkshire11.

HEAD POTS

By the fourth century pottery production in Britain, as on the Continent, had become increasingly concentrated in a few major potteries, and this can be observed in face pots also. The extensive Much Hadham kilns in the south, and the Crambeck potteries in the north-east appear to have produced the bulk of the Late Roman face pots (RB Types 31-2 and 28-30 respectively). The smaller and more amorphous group of fragmentary face jars in the west country (RB Type 34 and Face Group 6) may belong to the Late Roman Severn Valley pottery industry, but this is less clearly defined, and none are associated with specific kilns.

Romano-British head pots are not included in this chapter, but are briefly discussed in Appendix IV, A.8. It is worth noting here however that British head pots differ from their counterparts on the Continent in that few if any were made using moulds. As a result, the effects of copying and stylisation soon make themselves felt, and by the later third to fourth century the distinction between degenerate copies of head pots and face pots becomes increasingly blurred. Particularly in the case of the bossed face jars of RB Types 28 A-B (Fig. J13) )and the large face beakers of RB Type 37 (Fig. J15: 1-2).

SITES AND CONTEXTS The grey face jars of RB Type 21 and the smith jars associated with them occur mainly on rural sites in East Anglia or in the forts (and in particular in their vici) in the north east and along and behind the Wall. Some also occur on sites connected with iron-working or extraction, as at

12 11

13

Wenham and Heywood 1997, 101.

279

See Smith Pots under RB Type 21E. This is now thought to have been a Nymphaeum (Toynbee 1964, 192).

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER NINE two-faced jar from Stanwix (RB Type 21E, Fig. J12: 6). It seems probable that quite a number of the face jars of Type 21E found in the north east, as also the smith pots, were made in the Norton kilns near Malton, where face jar fragments with characteristic ring stamps have been found in one of the kilns14.

OTHER, RARE FORMS OF ANTHROPOMORPHIC POTTERY Britain has a wider range of anthropomorphic pottery in the later Roman period than probably any other western Roman province, particularly in the north and east of the country. There is a flowering of new and unusual forms which is remarkable in such a remote province on the northern fringes of the Empire. Some, such as the head pots, faceneck flagons and figurine jugs, are of east Mediterranean or north African inspiration, though with a definite British stamp, while others seem to be unique British inventions and adaptations. As already explained, face jugs or faceneck flagons are outside the scope of this study, but there are one or two other, rarer types of anthropomorphic pottery, in particular the few fragments of figurine vases found in Britain and other pot fragments seemingly related to this tradition, which can be confused with face pots, and for this reason they have been listed in Part IV at the end of this Chapter, under RB Types 41-44 (Figs. J17-19), along with one or two other rare forms that seem to have a bearing on face pot traditions.

Like so many of the ubiquitous grey-ware jars of Roman Britain, these jars can be very hard to date, particularly the old finds, and so far it has not been possible to identify any obvious differences in form or face portrayal that indicate changes in date. There are unfortunately very few finds from closed contexts. Most of the examples tend to have a general date bracket of third to fourth century, but there is one fragment of an RB Type 21C face jar from Hacheston in Suffolk which was found in a pit dated to the late second century15. Those from Colchester may have started even earlier (see Under RB Type 21B). Those further north, at any rate those made at Norton may not start until the early third century which is when the Norton kilns are thought to start operating16. As mentioned above, some of these grey face jars have smith’s tools on them (see under RB Type 21E). Four or more of the grey face jars also have horns, a feature hitherto found in Britain only on one of the buff face jars from Colchester of RB Type 13A (Fig. J6: 2).

CATALOGUE TO PART III FACE JARS

RB Type 21A

Later second to early fourth century (RB Types 21A-F and 22) RB Type 21

Height: Fabric: Decoration:

Grey-ware face jars with no spouts or handles and small faces on the shoulder.

These grey face jars become the second commonest form of British face jar after those with two or three handles. It is possible that they represent the continuation of the earlier face jars of RB Type 3 which are also without spouts or handles, though the faces are now quite different. They are all in standard Romano-British storage jar or cooking pot forms, and many of them have a band of burnished or incised hatching on the body, or bands of wavy lines. Those south of the Humber often have a frilled rim and a notched cordon on the shoulder just above the face which makes them distinct from other grey-ware jars. The face is placed on the shoulder and, as mentioned above, it now tends to be an identifiably British face mask, small and compact, and frequently bearded. They are found almost entirely in eastern England north of the Thames, with just one or two further south in north Kent. They seem to have been made in the local grey wares of the areas where they are found, and there is little evidence to suggest they were transported great distances, except perhaps for two face fragments found at Chesters of RB Type 21F, one of which has a notched cordon above the face which suggests that it could have come from Colchester or somewhere else south of the Humber (Fig. J12: 7). None seem to have been made in the widely traded Dorset Black Burnished Ware (BB1), nor as far as can be seen, in BB2 ware either, though one or two vessels are of very similar type and fabric, particularly the

Face: Distribution:

Context: Date:

Grey-ware face jars from Canterbury, one with frilled rim and smith’s tools (Fig. J10: 1-2 and Pl. J24) 32cm (No 1). Grey ware. Frilled or notched cordon above the face; smith’s tools on either side of face and a pronounced finger-width body groove above and below the girth (No 1). No consistent face type identifiable; horns on one e.g. (No 2); ring stamped eyebrows and beard (Canterbury, not illustrated). North Kent 4 (1c. and 3f.) Examples have been found at: Canterbury 1c and 2f. (comp: Toynbee, 1962, 192; Canterbury Arch Trust, unpub. photo [1]; frags: R. Pollard, unpub drawing, 1982) [2], and Canterbury Arch Trust, unpub. photo); Brenley Corner 1f. (Wilson 1973, 322). Probably grave (No 1); possible shrine (Brenley Corner). Probably third to fourth century.

The large and virtually complete face jar with smith’s tools from Canterbury (No 1 and Pl. J24) is the only example of a smith-face jar so far identified in south east England, though several smith pots without faces have been found in the south east (see below under RB Type 21E). It was found 14

Wenham and Heywood 1997, 101. Blagg et al 2004, 178-80 16 Wenham and Heywood 1997, 100. 15

280

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART III in 1871 in the Vauxhall area in the north east of the city, on the Roman road to Reculver, and very probably came from the Roman cremation cemetery there. Its grey sandy fabric is very similar to the oxidised fabric of the earlier Canterbury face jars of RB Type 13E and it is almost certainly a local product17. It has an unusual number of smith’s tools on it: to the left of the face are tongs, a small round knob18and what looks like an axe or a pick; to the right are a hammer, a twist of something that looks like rope but which could conceivably be flux , and a wedge or anvil. The centre of the face is missing, and just the rounded eyebrows, part of the nose and two solidly-made ears survive.

Where rims survive, they seem to have been mostly everted rolled over rims, with a frill running along the lower edge. They may all have been made at Colchester. Hull (1963) lists two fragments found in Colchester kilns Nos 32 and 25, the first dating to the mid third century, and the second to the mid fourth20. Production of grey handle-less face jars may have started earlier however as fragments from jars similar to the large face jar with a plain rim (No 4) are said to have been found at Ardleigh in deposits dated to c. 10012021. Several other fragments from grey face jars come from rubbish deposits outside the Roman walls of Colchester. A slightly different version of these face jars, with a frilled rim and taller neck with four grooves around it (No 6), was found in the doorway of the “Mithraeum” at Colchester22, which seems to have been used as a fourth century rubbish dump23.

Three other face sherds from Kent may also belong to this Type, and have been provisionally included here: one from Brenley Corner on Watling Street, in a grey-buff sandy fabric, with a face with notched eyebrows and stabbed beard beneath a notched cordon and two others in a smoother, non-sandy grey fabric from the Marlowe Car Park in Canterbury, both found in sub Roman deposits, one with small horns (No 2) and the other with a rather crude, small, compact face with applied features and ring stamps on the eyebrows and cheeks possibly continuing on round the chin19. The three sherds are too small to show if there had originally been smith’s tools on any of the vessels they came from. RB Type 21B

Height: Fabric: Decoration: Face:

Distribution:

Context: Date:

RB Type 21C

Grey-ware face jars from Suffolk and Norfolk, many with frilled rims and notched cordons, and with small, generally bearded, monkey-like faces (Fig. J11: 1-6, Pls. J20, J21 and J26.)

Grey ware face jars from Essex, often with frilled rims and/or a notched cordon above a small beardless face (Fig. J10: 3-6). 21-29 cm. Dark grey coarse ware. One or more grooves around the girth; occasionally bands of wavy lines. Rather shallow coffee-bean eyes; notched or un-notched eyebrows; applied slit mouths; no beards; one e.g. with m-shaped face and pushed out cheeks (No 5). East Essex 14 (2c. and 12f.). Examples have been found at: Colchester 2c. and 8f (comp: May 1930, 143, Pl. LII [4]; Colchester Castle Museum No 4595.23 [3]; frags: Hull 1958, 137, Fig. 64: 60 [6]; Hull, 1963, Fig. 89: 27 and Fig. 97: 7; Symonds and Wade 1999, 418, Fig. 6.83: 820-24 [5]; Braintree 4f. (P. Cheer 1987, unpub. drawings, Braintree Community Services Dept, Nos S.F. 185, 281, 549 and 1006). Graves (possibly Nos 3-4); rubbish deposits; kilns (Colchester); doorway of “Mithraeum” (No 6). Second? to fourth century.

Fig. J25. Very large grey face jar of RB Type 21C from Lakenheath in the Mildenhall Museum, Bury St. Edmunds; height 35 cm. (photo by Christopher Mycock, Museum Curator)

Height: Fabric: Decoration: 20

31-36 cm. Hard, dark grey coarseware. Sometimes bands of grooves and/or wavy

Hull, 1963, Fig. 89: 27 and Fig. 97: 7. Ibid, Type No 287. 22 This is now thought more likely to have been a nymphaeum (Toynbee 1964, 192. 23 Hull, 1958, 132 and 137, Fig. 64, No 60.

17

21

A. Savage pers. comm. 1998. 18 Not unlike the two odd stumps that occur on the Bavay face jars (FS Types 21-23, Fig. E4: 1-5). 19 A. Savage, Canterbury Archaeological Trust, private info.

281

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER NINE

Face:

Distribution:

Context:

Date:

lines and/or lattice on body. Similar to Type 21B above, but with neatly notched or ring-stamped beards often surrounding the face; coffee-bean or plain round eyes, sometimes with dotted or circular pupils; occasionally applied or indented ears, placed high up; one e.g. with an appliqué face with small, applied horns (No 6). Suffolk and Norfolk 19 (2c. and 17f.). 12 Examples from Suffolk (2c. and 10f.), have been found at: Ixworth/Pakenham 1c (Ipswich Museum No 1946.134 [1 and Pl. J20 ]); Lakenheath 1c. and 1f.. (Briscoe 1958, 176, Pl. XXXVI [4]; ibid 1957, 80 [3]); Hacheston 4f. (Blagg 1977, unpub drawing24 [2]; Blagg et al 2004, Figs.113: 35 and 129: 2; Ipswich Museum No 965.4); Wattisfield 1f. (PSIA 22, 1936, 194); Elmswell 1f (Moyses Hall Museum, No H.173); West Stow 2f. (West 1990, 86, Fig. 60: 304-5); Freckenham 1f. (J. Plouviez 2004, unpub. drawing). 8 Examples from Norfolk (8f.) have been found at: Brampton 4f. (Green 1973-4, 74, Fig. 32: 130; ibid, 1977, Fig. 37: 266; Keith Knowles, unpub drawings and photos) [5]; Saham Toney 1f. (Norwich Castle Museum, unnumbered frag.). Scole 1f. (Rogerson 1977, 190, Fig. 80: 169); Brancaster 1f. (J.Hinchcliffe, unpub. drawing); Snettisham 1f. (Norwich Castle Museum No 33. 950) [6]. Votive deposit? (Lakenheath, both jars and Freckenham); ritual pit (Pakenham); kiln site (Wattisfield, Elmswell, West Stow and Brampton). Second to fourth century.

being positioned immediately below the rim, with no notched cordon above, and it is possible that they belong to another as yet unidentified Type. Only two of the examples are from dated deposits, both of them from Hacheston: one from a pit dated to the second half of the second century (No 2)26 and the other from a later and much larger pit thought to date to the early fourth century27. RB Type 21D Grey-ware face jar from Lincoln with narrow, everted rim and heavily bearded face with flat pellets (Fig. J11: 7) Height: Fabric: Decoration: Face:

Distribution: Context: Date:

22.4 cm. Hard, dark grey with metallic sheen. Band of incised lattice around the girth. Incised almond-shaped eyes and pupils; pushed out cheeks; beard and hair formed with applied, flat pellets; possibly two horns in hair above forehead. Lincoln 1c. (Darling 1980-1, 27, Fig. 11). In an area of shops and workshops with hearths. Probably early third century

This pot was found on the St Marks Church site in Lincoln in what is thought to have been an area of shops and workshops with hearths, just to the south of the Roman city, along Ermine Street. Fragments from four smith pots, in reduced ware and of fairly similar form to this one, but with notched cordons round the neck and shoulder, were also found on another part of the same site, in workshops some of which showed evidence of iron-working. A further smith pot, this time in red ware, but of identical form (Fig. J12: 11), was found close by28. The impressive, heavily bearded face on this jar with what appear to be two horns in the hair in the centre of the forehead, and the beard itself with its unusual flat pellets denoting dense curly hair are of particular interest. Horns are found on several of these grey face jars of RB Type 21, from Canterbury (Fig. J10: 2), Snetisham (Fig. J11: 6) and Catterick (Fig. J12: 5). The use of flat pellets to denote hair has already been noted on the face jar from Old Penrith of RB Type 13K and on the protome head from Carlisle (RB Type 43). Only two other face jar fragments with similar pellet beards have been found in Britain during this survey, on a face fragment in sandy orange ware recently excavated at Felixstowe in Suffolk and on another from Little Chester in Derbyshire, both described under Face Group 5 in section C of this chapter. There is however a face jar from Shiptonthorpe of RB Type 21E below which has a much smaller face with what appear to be rather smudged flat pellets around it and in a double row under the mouth (Fig. J12: 1) and also an eye-sherd from Malton29. The only

These are very similar to the grey face jars from Colchester and Braintree above, but they tend to be taller and to have plain, everted or rolled-over rims, which are only occasionally notched or frilled along the lower edge. One or two of them have bands of incised or burnished latticed decoration on the body, and these may have existed on other examples, but most of the sherds are too small to show this. There is generally a notched cordon between the neck and the face, as with the Colchester ones. The faces are almost all bearded. The fragment from Snettisham in Norfolk (No 6) with a small appliqué face has what appear to be horns on the forehead. The face on the incomplete face jar from Lakenheath with a circular ringstamped beard (No 3) is very similar to the faces on the two-faced pot from Stanwix (Fig. J12: 6). The faces on the two fragments from West Stow and on one of the sherds from Hacheston25 are differently placed from the others,

26

Ibid, Fig. 117: 4. Ibid, Fig. 113: 35. 28 Darling 1989-90, 21-23, Figs. 1-5. 29 Wenham and Heywood 1997, 106, Fig. 40: 7.

24

27

This face pot has now been published, but the drawing does not show any body grooves (Blagg et al 2004, Fig. 117: 4). 25 Blagg et al 2004, Fig.129: 2

282

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART III examples of this technique on the Continent come from the Danubian provinces, one from Cumidava in Dacia, and the other from Azanja in Moesia Superior (DAN Types 11-12, Fig. H5; 4-5). However the vessels themselves, orangeware face beakers with pedestal bases, are in a very different ceramic tradition from this typically British greyware jar, and it may just be coincidence that the potters in both areas have used this technique for portraying thick curly hair.

RB Type 21E

Grey-ware face jars, with compact bearded faces, some with applied smith’s tools from north east England (Fig. J12: 1-6)

Pl.J27. Small, two-faced jar in dark grey ware of RB Type 21E from Tarraby Lane in the Vallum 250 metres east of the fort at Stanwix; height 18.5 cm.

Height: Fabric: Decoration: Face:

Pl. J26. Incomplete dark grey face jar with vertical horns and applied pellet beard of RB Type 21D from Lincoln; height 22.4 cm, photo courtesy of Maggi Darling

The face with its pellet beard is not unlike the three protome heads on the little bronze smith pot from a grave at Three Nun’s Bridge, Huntingdon with projecting round bosses representing the hair and beard (Fig. J19: 3), or the bearded face of the appliqué figure of a smith on the grey ware jars from Corbridge discussed under RB Type 21 E below30. The lugubrious expression with wide almond-shaped eyes and long chin is also reminiscent of some of the stone heads found in the northern military zone, in particular perhaps the so-called “Maponus” head from Corbridge31.

Distribution:

A number of unclassified face jar sherds in grey wares have been found in and around Lincoln, of later third to fourth century date which could be of Type 21, but no description is available at present32.

Context: 30

Toynbee, 1962, Cat. No 161, Pl. 256. Ross, 1967, 83, Pl. 24: a and b. 32 M. Darling 2005, pers.comm. 31

283

From c.20-32 cm. Dark grey wares, various. Incised or burnished lattice or wavy lines. Very varied; sometimes very schematic; often surrounded by a circle of ring-stamps or, more rarely, flat pellets as on (No 1); several e.gs. with appliqué or medallionshaped faces; eyes can be applied round pellets or incised and almond-shaped; slashed or ring-stamped beards; one example with horns (No 5). East Yorkshire, County Durham and Hadrian’s Wall 16 (3c. and 13f.) Examples have been found at: Brough-onHumber 1f. (Wacher 1969, 200, Fig. 80: 737); Shiptonthorpe 1c. and 1f. (Halkon 1992, 224, Fig. 5 [1] and Fig. 6: b); Elmswell 1f. (Halkon 1992, 226, Fig. 6: a); Malton 5f. (Malton Museum 4 f. [3 & 4]; Green 1978, Pls. 107-8; Wenham and Heywood, 1997, 106, Fig.40: 7); Norton 3f. (Hayes 1988, Pl. 12: 2 and 6) Catterick (Bainesse) 1f. (Evans 2000, Fig. 8.3: 16) [5]; Piercebridge 1f. (Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, No 2260); Chester-le-Street, 1c. (Goodburn 1979, 285, Pl. XV: 6) [2]; Stanwix 1c. (Smith 1978, 31, Fig. 19: 40) [6]. Votive deposit (Chester-le-Street and Stanwix); possible shrine beside spring (Elmswell); inside town (Catterick); kilns

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER NINE

Date:

(Norton) Third century and early later.

fourth, possibly

These face jars form a less homogenous group than those of East Essex or Suffolk, and they have been grouped together more for geographical reasons than stylistic ones. Almost certainly they come from several different kiln centres. None of the examples so far identified show signs of a frilled rim or notched cordon, though notched cordons are present on some of the many smith pot fragments found at Malton (see below). Several jars have ring stamps around the face as in the case of the one from Stanwix33 which has two identical faces, one on each side, very similar to the face on the Lakenheath fragment of RB Type 21C above (Fig. J11: 3), though in form and fabric the two face jars are quite different. The face jar sherds found at Malton, most of which are thought to have come from the Norton kilns just across the river34, all seem to have incised almond-shaped eyes, and this may be a characteristic feature of Norton-made face jars. These kilns operated during the third century, and are now believed to have continued into the early fourth35. It is possible that the face jars from Shiptonthorpe and Elmswell could have been made in the kilns at Holme-on-Spalding Moor which started production in the late third century36. Wacher (ibid) suggests the Throlam kilns for the Brough face fragment, and this could be the source for the Stanwix jar also.

Pl. J28. Grey face jar with smith’s tools (hammer on left and tongs and wedge-shaped anvil on right) of RB Type 21E from the Late Roman fort at Chester-le-Street, in the Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle; height 28 cm.

Smith face jars of other Type have been found at Vindolanda (RB Type 22, Fig. J12: 8), at Crambeck (RB Type 28A, Fig. J13: 2), at Catterick (RB Type 28B, Fig. J13: 8) and at Malton (RB Type 30, Fig. J14: 2). It is possible that some of the other face jar fragments of RB Type 21 may also have had smith’s tools on them which have not survived, particularly those from Malton. These latter are in the same dark grey fabric as the many smith sherds also found on the site, which almost certainly comes from the local kilns at Norton just across the river38. One other quite different example of a smith pot with faces on it is the little bronze pot (possibly an incense burner) from Three Nun’s Bridge, Huntingdon (Fig. J19: 3) which has a carrying handle and three identical bearded heads projecting from the girth, with smith’s tools in relief in between them39.

Smith-face jars As already mentioned a number of the grey face jars of RB Type 21, and the bossed or painted face jars of RB Types 28 and 30 have smith’s tools - generally a hammer, anvil and tongs - applied to the wall of the pot beside or below the face. Only one smith-face jar has so far been identified south of the Humber, the one of RB Type 21A from Canterbury. All the rest are from the north east between the Humber and the Tyne. Of the Type 21E jars, the one from Chester-le-Street37 (No 2 and Pl. J28 below) has a hammer on one side of the face and a pair of tongs with a triangular anvil on the other side and the Shiptonthorpe face jar (No 1) is thought to have an upside-down pair of tongs to the left of the face.

Smith pots As already mentioned, Roman smith pots only seem to occur in Britain, and apart from . one isolated example from Wroxeter, they are only found on the east side of England from Canterbury to Chester-le-Street. They all have applied smith’s tools, either on the shoulder or the girth. For the most part these just consist of a hammer, tongs and a triangular or wedge-shaped anvil, but in some cases, and in particular at Malton, there may also be spoked wheels and crosses. In one or two cases, as at Lincoln, there is an axe instead of a hammer (see Fig. J12: 9-11). They first seem to occur some time in the later second century and continue through into the fourth, with probably more from the later period. Some of the few smith pot sherds from dated

33 This jar was found buried in the ground on the edge of the Vallum at Tarraby Lane, 250 metres east of the fort at Stanwix, presumably as some kind of votive offering. In my 1984 paper (118, Fig. 9: 8) it was described as coming from Tarraby Lane. For other two-faced face jars see Part II above under RB Type 1E. 34 Wenham and Heywood 1997, 98. 35 Ibid, 103a 36 Halkon 1992, 226. 37 This jar was found buried as a foundations offering beneath the floor of a tower of the Late Roman fort at Chester-le-Street, together with the bones of a small dog or a cat (Goodburn 1979, 285).

38 39

284

Wenham and Heywood, 1997, 98. Green 1976, 209, Pl. XII: e. See also under RB Type 44.

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART III deposits come from the Malton vicus where they are found in late third to early fourth century contexts40. Smith pots have been found at: Canterbury 1c. (Toynbee, 1964, 404, Pl. XCI: c); Southwark (London) 1c. (Dennis,1978, 369, Fig. 166: 1273); London 1f. (London Museum No 12360H); Colchester 1c and 1 f. (May 1930, 147, Fig. 3; Hull 1958, 144, Fig. 57); Pakenham (Suffolk) 1f. (Suffolk Arch Unit No PKM 005. 0304); Lincoln 5f. (Darling, 1989-90, 23, Nos 1-5) [11]; Winterton (south Humberside) 1f.(Darling 1989-90, 21); York 1f. (York Museum); Bielby (E. Yorks) 1f. (Didsbury 1984, 239); Elmswell (E.Yorks) 1f. (Leach 1962, 40, Pl. VI, Fig. 5); Malton 15+ f. (Malton Museum; Wenham, 1974, Pl. V: 9; Wenham and Heywood, 1997, 98, Fig. 39: 1-5) [9-10]; Norton 1f. (Leach 1962, Fig. 6: 10); Aldborough (East Yorks) 1f., (Wenham and Heywood, 1997, 98); Catterick 3f. (Evans 2002, 350, Fig. 193a, No DBS5); Greta Bridge 1f. (Casey and Hoffmann 1998, 169, Fig. 20: 24); Piercebridge 1f. (Bowes Museum No HS 7726, 10E2); Chester-le-Street 1f. (Hawkes 1940, 497, Fig. 1; Toynbee 1962, 192, No 162); Wroxeter 1f. (Webster 1989, 19, Fig. 6: 57b)41.

of third century date which has an applied and painted spoked wheel42. As can be seen from the distribution map on Fig. J9, quite a number of face jars, and particularly the grey face jars of Type 21, have been found on the same sites as smith pots, particularly to the north of the Humber. Malton has the highest numbers of face jar and smith pot sherds, but examples of both types have also been found together at Crambeck, Elmswell, Shiptonthorpe, Catterick, Piercebridge and Chester-le-Street. It is generally believed that smith pots, and smith-face jars, are associated with Vulcan or the native British Smith God with whom he was equated43. There is quite a lot of evidence for smith pots and smith-face jars being found on sites associated with iron extraction and iron working, as at Shiptonthorpe, Bielby and Elmswell in east Yorkshire where increasing evidence is emerging for a major ironsmelting industry using the many rivers that run into the Humber (Halkon 1992, 227), or at Bodiam in East Sussex (see RB Type 13E), or on sites with smithing workshops as at Lincoln (Darling 1989-90, 21 ff.). Wroxeter, the one site on the west of Britain known to have produced a smith pot44, also lies in an area of well known iron ore deposits, later fully exploited by the iron industries of Ironbridge and the Severn valley. RB Type 21F Height: Fabric: Decoration: Face:

Pl. J29. Part of a smith pot from the fort at Malton, in the Malton Museum; size c. 12 x 16 cm.

Distribution: Context: Date:

Smith pots appear to have been made in the same fabrics in which face jars were produced after the first century, and in the same forms. Those found north of the Wash are almost all in grey wares, but those further south seeam to be in a variety of fabrics. The two from the London area of late second century date are of similar form to the RB Type 13D face jars and in white-slipped ware (VCWS); of the two from Colchester of fourth century date with frilled rims and tallish, constricted necks, the (almost) complete example with a triangular group of plain bosses below the anvil is in red Much Hadham fabric while the fragment is in a “thin, hard brownish (ware) with a dull white coating on the outside". One other possible smith pot fragment comes from Pakenham in Suffolk in red-painted parchment ware

Large grey-ware face jars with lowrelief faces from Chesters (Fig. J12: 7) Unknown; large pots. Dark grey. Notched cordon above the face and burnished wavy lines below the face visible on larger sherd (No 7). Applied features in low relief; burnished lines for beard (No 7); round or coffee-bean eyes; slit mouths. Chesters 2f. (Chesters Museum Nos 311-12; Green 1978, Pls. 106 and 109). Unknown. Probably second to third century.

These two fragments, with a notched cordon above the face (just visible on the top edge of the smaller sherd), are not unlike some of the grey-ware face jars from Colchester of RB Type 21A, though the latter do not have beards, and the facial features are in higher relief. They could possibly be copies by a potter who had moved up to the Wall from Colchester. There is very little curve on the sherds so they obviously came from large pots, though the faces themselves are quite small.

40

42

41

43

Wenham and Heywood, 1997, 98. This is by no means a comprehensive list, it just comprises the examples that have come to this author’s notice.

Head pots are known in this fabric, but as yet no face jars. This connection is further explored in Chapter 12, B.6. 44 Webster 1989, 19, Fig. 6: 57b

285

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER NINE RB Type 22 Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution: Context: Date:

Large red face jar with projecting chin and smith’s tools (Fig. J12: 8)

LATE ROMAN FACE JARS Mid third to fourth century RB Types 28-35

Huge vessel, possibly 40-45 cm. tall. Orange-red, medium fine fabric with glossy dark red slip on outer surface. Only the lower half of the face survives, with a projecting, bearded chin covered with incised criss-cross striations; sharp, thin, prominent nose; slit mouth; incised line from nose to upper lip; applied hammer and anvil beneath the chin. Vindolanda 1f. (Vindolanda Museum No VS76, Drawing No 4870; R. Birley private info. Inside civilian settlement, to east of roadway. Post 213 AD.

RB Type 28

Wide-bellied face jars in red or grey ware with faces on the girth and decorated with raised, stamped bosses and occasionally with smith’s tools (Fig. J13)

These face jars with their raised, stamped bosses, pushed out from the inside of the pot wall into a negative stamp, belong to a body of Late Romano-British pottery that came to be known as Romano-Saxon45. It was thought to have been associated with Germanic immigrants or military units living in eastern Britain during the Late Roman period. It soon became clear however that this style was too widespread to be only associated with intrusive groups, and that it was a type of decoration characteristic of many later Roman pots in eastern Britain, which may possibly have been partially inspired by Germanic pottery or designs. The faces on these face jars, and on the related face jars of RB Types 29-30 with stamped or painted decoration but not raised bosses (Figs. J13: 9 and J14: 1-2), are quite unlike those of any other British face jars, being large and placed on the girth of the pot, and having rather bulbous almondshaped eyes with incised eyelids and pupils. The pot wall has often been pushed in and out to some limited extent to help model the face, a feature very rarely found on face jars. These north eastern face jars seem to have been strongly influenced by the large head pots produced in Yorkshire in the early third century. which share all the above features, These are thought to have been produced in York in the early years of the third century in a pinkishorange Ebor-like fabric, and were at first very naturalistically and finely sculpted in the shape of a human head46. With time however they became increasingly stylised and jar-shaped, and their hair began to be portrayed by raised bosses with spiral stamps. Eventually in north eastern Britain they appear to have evolved into this hybrid form mid-way between a face jar and a large, degenerate copy of a head pot, and could be described as either47.

Pl. J30. Part of a very large face jar with smith’s tools (hammer and anvil below face on left) of RB Type 22 from the vicus of the fort at Vindolanda, in the Vindolanda Museum; size c. 16 x 32 cm (photo by Robin Birley).

This large fragment (six sherds) comes from what must have been an unprecedentedly large face pot, more like a cauldron than a jar. It is the only smith-face pot found so far in the vicinity of Hadrian’s Wall. It has an equally unusual face, not found elsewhere in Britain, with its beard projecting rather like a ruff around the face, quite similar to some of the face jars and large face beakers from Pannonia and Dacia (DAN Types 25 and 27, Figs. H9: 1-3, H10: 1 and H11: 2-3). It is conceivable that it may have had stamped bosses around the face which have not survived, like the face jars of RB Type 28 below, some of which are also quite large and have smith’s tools on the girth.

The earliest examples of these hybrid vessels appear in York around the middle of the third century in red fabrics similar to the head pots48, but by the fourth century they seem to be mostly in grey wares produced mainly in the Crambeck kilns, and probably at another kiln site located somewhere near Catterick49. Face jars were also produced in Crambeck parchment wares, as were head pots, with redpainted features and decoration (see RB Type 30 below).

RB Types 23-27 Gap left in Type Series 45

See monograph by Roberts (1982). See Appendix IV, A.8; Swan and Monaghan 1993, and Monaghan 1997, 914-121. 47 In my earlier paper these hybrid jars were described as the Yorkshire Group of “Romano Saxon” head pots (Braithwaite 1984, 121), but given their size and shape, and the occasional presence of smiths’ tools, it seems more accurate to classify them as face jars. 48 Moynaghan 1997, 922. 49 J. Evans, pers.com.1999.. 46

286

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART III Unfortunately no complete or reconstructable examples of the bossed face jars have survived, and only four examples have been identified out of twenty four fragmentary pots where the rim and/or neck has survived, three from Catterick, one from Crambeck and none from York. The one from Crambeck has an everted rim with a groove on the outer lip and virtually no neck, and like the examples from York, seems to be from a vessel that was roughly as wide as it was high (No 2). The fragments from Catterick seem to be from somewhat narrower vessels, and of the three rim pieces that have survived (Nos 6-8) two appear to be from flask-shaped jars with tallish funnel necks while one has just a plain everted rim with virtually no neck. With so many rimless sherds, it is very difficult to know which belong to which rim form. They occur in both red and grey fabrics; the red ones could be the earliest, and were probably mostly made at York but some were made at Crambeck. In the absence of any rim forms from York, all the examples from York and the east Riding (which are all thought to have come from the York or Crambeck kilns) have been grouped under sub-type 28A, together with the two examples from Hadrian’s Wall (from Corbridge and Vindolanda) which could also have come from the same kilns, on the provisional assumption that they were all wide-bellied pots with a plain everted rim similar to the face jar from Crambeck (No 2). The examples from Catterick which are mostly in a grey fabric which is slightly different from Crambeck ware50 and which, in the cases where bosses survive, are all stamped with knobbed crosses and pellets, are listed under RB Type 28B. The examples from Piercebridge have been divided between the two sub-types on the basis of their fabric, bosses and facial features.

RB Type 28A

Height: Fabric: Decoration:

Face:

Distribution:

It is not clear if there was any overlap in time between the Norton face jars of RB Type 21 E and these bossed face jars. On the whole Crambeck wares in east Yorkshire seem to take over as production from the Norton kilns dries up. However the latest evidence indicates that Crambeck kilns started production in the late third century51, while those at Norton continued into the early fourth52, so that some overlap would have been possible. The fact that at least three of these face jars have smith’s tools on them would seem to imply the same close association with the Smith God as the earlier grey face jars of RB Type 21, and that therefore, despite the very different faces and forms of the pots themselves, there may have been a connection and degree of continuity between the two Types. Context: Date:

50

Ibid Evans 1989, 80. 52 Wenham and Heywood 1997, 103. 51

287

Wide-bellied face jars with incised or stamped bosses and large faces on the girth in red, grey or buff fabrics from north east Britain (Fig. 13: 1-4) From c. 22 to30 cm. Red/orange, grey or pinkish buff; medium fine. Raised bosses in a circle around the face, with incised spirals (York, Corbridge and Vindolanda) or stamped with concentric circles (York), or rosettes or crosses and pellets. Wall of pot often pushed in and out to model eyes, cheeks and chin; eyes often slightly bulbous (pushed out) with incised eyelids and irises; eyebrows and nose generally applied; (York); occasionally a stamped boss for the eye; one e.g. with a ringstamped beard as well as a circle of bosses (No 1). North east England 21 f. 14 examples in red ware have been found at: York 9f. (Roberts, 1982, 124, Figs. 43-4, Nos D. 39.2 and D. 39.8-10; Perrin, 1990, Fig. 127: 1445; Monaghan, 1993, 804, Fig. 301: 3081; Monaghan 1997, 926, and Fig. 358:3265); Crambeck 1f. (Corder, 1928, 41, Fig. 20); Malton vicus 1f. (Wenham and Heywood, 1997, 104, Fig. 40: 3); Piercebridge 2f. (Bowes Museum No HS 77.8 (1614) and un-numbered frag.); Vindolanda 1f. (Vindolanda Museum No 3147). 6 examples in grey ware have been found at: York 2f. (Moynaghan 1997, Fig. 359: 3290; York Museum No 1974.84 [1 and Pl. J31]); Hutton Ambo 1f (E.King, pers.comm.); Crambeck 2f. (Corder, 1928, 41, Fig. 20: 194 [2]; ibid, 1937, 405, Pl. LXXXVII: 3; Malton Museum, unnumbered sherd); Catterick 3f. (Evans 2002, 350, Fig. 222: f100); Corbridge 1f. (Corbridge Museum [4 and Pl. J32]). One example in pinkish buff has been found at York 1f. (Roberts 1982, No D 39.3) [3]. Kilns (Crambeck); domestic contexts inside forts and civilian settlements. Mid third to fourth century

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER NINE

Pl. J32. Fragment of a grey face jar of RB Type 28A with spiral-bossed beard and carefully modelled moustache from Corbridge in the Corbridge Museum; size 6 x 10 cm.

Two of the four face jars from Piercebridge are listed here; on account of their bosses or fabric: one, in reddish-brown ware, has a circle of bosses stamped with concentric circles, with only an ear surviving from the face, while the other is a small face sherd in finer orange ware and has two shallow bosses for eyes with rosette stamps on them, and an applied wedge-shaped nose. However, as more examples come to light, these distinctions may prove to be without significance.

Pl. J31. Part of very large dark grey face jar of RB Type 28A from Heworth, York; in the Yorkshire Museum, York; size 24 x 20 cm.

It is probable that the red face jars found at York were made in or near York, and possibly some of the grey ones. The rest probably all came from the Crambeck kilns. Almost all the York examples have stamped bosses with concentric circles on them apart from one with incised spirals53 and another sherd, in grey ware which has an eye in the form of a rosette-stamped boss54. At Crambeck, Hutton Ambo and Malton on the other hand, there seem to be no examples with incised spirals or stamped concentric circles, only rosettes and crosses and pellets. The York examples, where stratified, come predominantly from third century contexts, and Monaghan (1977, 922,) suggests that the bossed face jar tradition may have died out in York by the early fourth century.

Stamped crosses, concentric circles and rosettes occur on many of the Venus figurines in France, and also on tomb stones. They have been interpreted as astral signs, symbolic of life in the world beyond55. It is not clear however whether spirals were thought to have a similar meaning. Round circles with crosses or just crosses also occur on the black and white painted Etruscan face beakers decorated with swans (see Chapter II, Fig. B9: 1-2). One of the red-ware face jars from York, in the Yorkshire Museum, has smith’s tools on it56, and one from Crambeck was very probably also a smith-face jar57 (No 2).

Those from Crambeck, Malton and Hutton Ambo, all it seems products of the Crambeck kilns, cannot start much before the tail end of the third century to judge by present estimates for the life span of the kilns (see above and Evans 1989, 79), and are probably mostly of fourth century date. It may be possible to suggest therefore that spirals and concentric stamps on north eastern face jars indicate a York origin, and pre-date face jars with other types of stamps. The two face sherds from the Wall, from Corbridge and Vindolanda, which both have bosses with incised spirals, may possibly have come from York, particularly the one in fine grey ware with carefully sculpted moustache from Corbridge (No 4 and Pl. J27) which is similar, though much superior, to the York moustached face jar from the Mount (No 3), and both could be of mid third to early fourth century date. Rosette stamps may have been used at York and Crambeck.

RB Type 28B

Height: Fabric: Decoration:

Face:

55

54

From c. 28 to c. 36 cm Medium coarse, light grey, known as “Crambeck copy” grey ware. A band of incised wavy lines or grooves round the neck and vertical and diagonal cross-hatching on the girth (No 6); bosses all stamped with knobbed-crosses. Incised almond-shaped eyes; unusual downturned mouth with slit upper lip (Nos 5 and

Lambrechts 1942, 110. Vivien Swan, pers. comm. In the case of this Crambeck face jar, a sherd with what looks like an applied hammer on it was interpreted by the excavator as a nose and placed in that position in the published drawing (Corder 1928, 41, Fig. 20). But it is unlike any other face jar nose, and in Fig J13: 2 it has been tentatively re-located to the side of the face, in much the same position as the hammers on the other two late Roman smith-face jars of RB Types 28B and 29 below (Figs. J13: 8 and J14: 2). 56 57

53

Grey face jars from north east Britain similar to the above, but narrower and some with flask necks (Fig. J13: 5-8)

Monaghan 1997, Fig. 359: 3290. Monaghan 1993, 804, Fig. 301: 3081.

288

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART III

Distribution:

Context: Date:

6); applied ears with an impressed dot in the centre (Nos 5 and 6). County Durham 6f. Examples have been found at: Catterick 4f (Evans 2002, 273 and 350, Fig. 139, Nos SS 85-88); Piercebridge 2f. (Bowes Museum No HS78 21.7 SN3 and un-numbered frag). Bath house (Nos6-8) and strip house (Catterick). Mid to late fourth century.

RB Type 30

Height: Fabric: Decoration:

The face jars sherds from Catterick are in a fabric very similar to Crambeck but with slight differences and it is thought they must come from an as yet unidentified kiln site somewhere in the vicinity of Catterick and Piercebridge. They start at a later date than the Crambeck face jars58. Where stamped bosses survive, they all appear to have knobbed crosses on them, with barely visible pellets in between the bars of the cross. From the fragmentary vessels that have survived, there does not seem to have been a standardised arrangement of bosses around the face, as on the York and Crambeck face jars.

Face: Distribution:

Context: Date:

Two grey face fragments from Piercebridge have been included in this sub-type on account of their facial features. One (No 5) has the same very unusual incised, down-turned mouth59 and applied ear with a pricked dot in the middle as one of the face jars from Catterick (No 6), and the other sherd has a very similar ear. Both fragments are too small to show if the pots they came from had bosses or not, but it is clear from the fabric that they are different from the other two fragmentary face jars from Piercebridge listed under RB Type 28A. RB Type 29 Height: Fabric: Decoration: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

Parchment ware face jars with red or brown painted decoration and facial features (Fig. J14: 1-2). Unknown; some very large Hard whitish buff, generally with smooth burnished outer surface (Malton); sandy yellow buff (Catterick). Red-painted horizontal bands round the shoulder and cross hatching round the girth (No 2); generally red-painted band around the face; one sherd with bosses outlined with red paint (Malton); applied hammer on one of the large fragments from Malton (No 2). Painted features which are sometimes also applied or incised; down-curving eyebrows with D-shaped ears attached. North east England 5f. Examples have been found at: Malton (vicus) 4f (Braithwaite, 1997, 103, Fig. 40: 1 a-d); Catterick 1f. (Evans, 1993, No DBS6). Unspecified. Fourth century.

Crambeck painted parchment ware is the latest of the Crambeck fabrics. It was not thought to start much before 360, but recent studies have shown that it may have begun some time in the second quarter of the fourth century60. The fragments from Malton all came from the latest Roman and post Roman deposits. The large face jar from Malton (No 1) which just has painted features with no relief modelling is unique, and may represent the culmination of the process whereby paint replaced plastically modelled or incised features. The others, except for one small sherd, also from Malton, all have applied or incised features, which have often been over-painted. There is one sherd from Malton which appears to have a circle of shallow bosses, which are outlined in red paint, instead of a painted band around the face61. The Catterick face jar, which just has one surviving eye with brown-painted barbotine eyelids and pupil, may, like the grey bossed face jars from this site, be from a production centre other than Crambeck. There are also a number of painted head pots and face neck flagons in similar parchment ware with red or brown painted features, some from the Crambeck kilns, and others from east Anglia and the Fens62.

Red ware face jar with stamps round the face, but no bosses (Fig. J13: 9 Unknown, quite large pot. Hard orange with slightly burnished outer surface. Rosette stamps with no bosses surrounding the face, possibly more thickly on the chin. Incised and pushed-out eye; small applied ear in among the stamps; incised mouth with down-turned corner; notched eyebrow. Hibaldstow, south Humberside, 1f. (Green 1984, Fig. 1) In road-side settlement beside Ermine Street. Third to fourth century.

RB Type 31A

This is the only face jar found so far which has stamps but no bosses. There appears to have been at least two rows of stamps around the face. Height: Fabric: 58

60

59

61

J.Evans 1993, pers.com. A very similar down-turned mouth occurs on the small bronze La Tène mask from Skorsby in Denmark (see Chapter II, III, B.1, Fig. B13: 8).

Face jars in Much Hadham red ware with a tall, narrowish neck, sloping shoulders and globular body, with frilled rim, three or occasionally two flat vestigial handles on the neck, and a small face right beneath the rim (Fig. J14: 3-5 and Pls. J23, 33 and 34). c. 14-c.35 cm. Fine, micaceous, sandy orange ware, red-

Evans 1989, 80. Braithwaite 1997, Fig. 40: 1d 62 Braithwaite 1984, 119, Fig. 11: 5 and Fig. 12: 1-3.

289

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER NINE

Decoration:

Face

Distribution:

slipped and generally burnished, with marked vertical burnishing on the neck. Bands of grooves round the shoulder and sometimes the girth; occasional notched cordon (No 4); incised or applied figurative decoration (see below, Nos 4 and 5). Small, skimpy faces tucked beneath the frilled rim, with no room for eyebrows; shallow, applied, slit eyes and mouth; often applied cheeks and chin; generally no ears but occasionally the handles on either side of the face can be turned into ears as at Heybridge. In rare instances, the whole face has been applied, but the features remain much the same and are hand modelled, not made with a mould. Across south east England as far west as Littlecote villa (Berks) but not south of Canterbury; one e.g. across the Channel at Oudenburg, 41 examples (5c. and 36f.) Examples have been found at: Much Hadham 6+f (Kay Hartley excavs 1968, unpub drawings); Little Hadham 3+f. (J. Holmes excavs, unpub info 1985; ); Baldock 2f. (V. Rigby excavs, pers comm); Harlow 1f. (Harlow Museum) [5]; Bancroft villa 1f. (Marney 1989, 124, Fig. 47: 4); Verulamium 1f (Verulamium Museum No VT. 1932, Strip 8. P.39.3); Piddington villa (Northampton) 1f (R. Friendship Taylor excavs, unpub drawing, 1985); Cambridge (unprov) 1f. (Cambridge Univ. mus. No Z23398); Teversham, (Cambridge) 2f. (Pullinger and White 1984, 60, Nos D and E; Mucking 1f. (M.U. Jones, unpub drawing, 1985); Kelvedon 1c. and 1f. (complete: C.Going, pers comm, 1985; frag. Colchester Museum, Mr Campen Collection 1958); Colchester 2c. and 3f. (comp: Hull 1958, Fig. 120: 290, Colchester Castle Museum No 3709.18 [3]; Hull 1928, 46, No 6737.27; frags: Symonds and Wade 1999, 301, Fig. 5.56, Nos 147-8 and 152); Stebbing villa (Essex) 1f. (Essex Field Archaeology Unit TL 677, 244); Heybridge (Elms Farm), 1f (Essex Field Archaeology Unit, HYEF 94, 9425); Burgh Castle 1c. and 1f. (Johnson 1983, 92, Fig. 39: 54 and 56); Caister-onSea 3f. (Darling, 1993, 60, Fig. 143: 221-3); Caistor-by-Norwich 1f. (Norwich Castle Museum); Littlecote villa (Berks) 1f. (Bryn Walters, unpub. drawing, 1982 [4 and Pl. J34]). Towcester, 1f. (Charmian Woodfield, pers.comm. 2002); London 2f. (Museum of London reserve collection, no number; MOLAS No NST94, 1217 [Pl. J23])63; Fulham 1f. (Arthur and Whitehouse, 1978);

Context:

Date:

Canterbury 1f (C.Going, pers comm, 1985); Oudenburg (Belgium) 1c. Meertens and Van Impe 1971, 18-19, Fig. 7 and see Chapter 7, FS Type 10, Fig. E3: 1). Grave (Kelvedon); kilns (Much Hadham and Little Hadham); possible temple or schola (Littlecote); domestic deposits on settlement sites of all kinds, including villas; forts (Burgh Castle, Caister-on-Sea, Oudenburg, and one example from inside the Cripplegate fort in London. Fourth century, many from the later half.

Pl. J33. Late Roman Face jar of RB Type 31A in fine Much Hadham redware from Colchester; height 22.5 cm. (Photo: Colchester and Essex Museum)

Quite a number of face jar fragments have been found on the kiln sites at Much Hadham and Little Hadham, far more than are listed here64 and it seems very likely that all the examples listed under this Type were produced in these very successful Late Roman potteries. This is the one type of Roman face jar which was quite widely traded in Britain, though with the exception of the one from Littlecote villa and another from Oudenburg in Belgium65, they do not seem to have travelled much beyond the normal distribution area for Hadham wares within east Anglia, London and Hertfordshire66. It is interesting that at least five Much Hadham face jars have been found on villa sites, as very few other face jars have been villa-finds up 64

B. Barr, pers comm. 1998. Listed here and in Chapter 7 under FS Type 10, Fig. E3: 1. 66 C. Going 1987, pers.comm.

63

65

Three other face fragments are listed on the Molas data base which it has not been possible to examine.

290

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART III until now, but this may just be a reflection of the decline of urban centres and the increase in villas in the Late Roman period. They seem to have been made in various sizes from 14 cm to c.35cm tall. The smaller sizes appear to have been most common. The main floruit of the Late Roman Hadham potteries was in the fourth century, and especially in the second half67, and this dating fits well with all the face jars found in dated contexts.

have had two handles, has quite different decoration, consisting of four long-handled implements or symbols which are either incised or applied on the surviving neck of the jar to the left side of the face, and the remains of what could have been another long-handled object to the right of the face. Three of the four implements on the left appear to represent a bill hook, a caduceus and a mallet73. The fourth is partially abraded and unrecognisable.

The faces are all strikingly similar, all very abbreviated and squashed up against the rim like the faces on the early spouted face jars of RB Type 1. None of those identified so far have beards, so it is conceivable that they represent a female figure or deity, or that of a young man or child. A characteristic feature of virtually all the face jars is vertical burnishing on the neck of the jar. So far no example of a red Hadham jar of this form with frilled rim and small flat handles has been identified which can be clearly seen to have had no face. Symonds and Wade (1999) illustrate two rim fragments with frilled rim and flattened handles and no face under their Type 81 (Fig. 5.56: 147-8), but they may not have been complete enough to demonstrate whether there had been a face or not. However jars with just a frilled rim and no handles do seem to occur without faces, as in the case of a nearly complete red jar from Colchester in what appears to be Hadham ware with frilled rim and no handles which has smith tools instead of a face68. Late Roman Hadham vessels also occur in fine grey ware, the same fabric fired in a reducing atmosphere69 but so far no face jars have been identified in this ware, though there is a rim fragment with a frilled rim and flat strap handles from Bancroft villa in fine grey ware which could be a Hadham product and which might have had a face 70.

Pl. J34. Upper part of large red face jar of RB Type 31A from Littlecote villa with four applied “panthers” in between triangular arrangements of dimples; height of fragment: c. 18 cm; girth 26 cm.. (photo: courtesy of Dr Bryn Walters)

RB Type 31B

Only two examples have been identified with decoration other than the normal bands of grooves around the shoulder and sometimes round the girth, both of them large jars (Nos 4-5). However as so many of these face jars are known only from face fragments, it is quite possible that some of the others may have been decorated as well. The large but incomplete Littlecote face jar71 (No 4 and Pl. J34) has the remains of four relief-moulded leaping felines (possibly panthers) in between four triangular clusters of finger-size indentations on the upper half of the body of the jar72. It only has two handles. The even larger and more fragmentary jar from Harlow (No 5), which may also only

Height: Fabric: Decoration: Face:

Distribution:

67

Going 1999, 297. May 1930, 147, Fig. 3. 69 Going 1999, 297. 70 Marney 1989, 83, Fig 33:4. Face jars of second to third century date were also produced in the Much Hadham potteries in a white-slipped red ware (see below, Misc. face jar fragment No 13, Fig. J16: 16) 71 The surviving fragments of the Littlecote face jar were found in a late section of the villa, built sometime after the mid fourth century, in an apsed room with a large Dionysiac mosaic which has been interpreted as an Orphic Temple. The excavator suggested that the decoration might be of Dionysiac inspiration (Bryn Walters, pers comm. 1982). 72 Similar felines and triangular arrangements of bosses or dimples occur on other types of Much Hadham pottery which like the bossed face jars of RB Type 28, are also described as “Romano Saxon” (Roberts, 1984, Classes C 38 and D 38, Pls 31, 40 and 41). 68

Context: Date:

Similar face jars to Type 31A above but with no handles and a notched cordon in place of a frill below the rim (Fig. J14: 7) Unknown “Grey-orange paste, with orange surface” (No 7) or blackish-brown glossy ware (Great Chesterford). None surviving. m-shaped face with round pellet eyes (No 7) or standard Hadham face but with applied squashed-pellet ear. South east England 3f. Examples have been found at: Colchester 1f (Symonds and Wade Fig. 5.56:153); Darenth villa (north Kent) 1f. (Philp, 1973, 152, Fig. 45: 420 [7]); Great Chesterford 1f (Cambridge University Museum No Z.29231). Not recorded. Fourth century

73 Such implements could represent the attributes of the Roman gods Silvanus, Mercury and Dis Pater. These two jars are further discussed in Chapter XII, B.12.

291

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER NINE Only fragments of this Type have been identified, and they could all be from copies of RB Type 31A above. Neither the Darenth or the Great Chesterford examples appear to be in standard fourth century Hadham fabric which, if it is red and not grey, tends to be the same bright orange or red all the way through. The faces are also somewhat different from the standard red Hadham face jars, in particular the one from Darenth with its m-shaped face (No 7). Such “Celtic” faces are unknown on any of the Hadham face jars, but there are other face jars with this face mask in north Kent (see below under RB Type 35, Fig. J14: 9) and this could be a local Kentish copy.

Date:

These have a somewhat similar rim to the large face beakers of RB Type 25, but without the notched edge. Just these two rather isolated examples are known, both just fragments from the upper half of the jar or large beaker, and they are provisionally listed together here under the one Type. RB Type 34 . Height: Fabric: Decoration:

RB Type 32 Wide necked vessel in Much Hadham red ware with plain rim and small strap handles, and an applied, mould-made face (Fig. J14: 6) Height: Fabric: Decoration: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

Unknown Typical hard red Hadham fabric with vertical burnishing on the neck. Row of ring-stamped bosses below the face (No 6). Applied, mould-made plump female face with raised eyebrows and a curved row of dimples on either side. Colchester 1f. (Symonds and Wade 1999, 301, No 154). Unspecified. Probably later fourth century

Face:

Distribution:

Context: Date:

RB Type 35

Face jars with tall, flared neck in buff or red-slipped wares (Fig. J14: 8) Height:

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution:

Context: 74 75

Red-ware face jar with two handles on the girth and a small, medallion-shaped face on the shoulder (Fig. J14: 9) 20.3 cm. Light orange fine fabric, with grey core An incised wavy line running round the shoulder below the handles and above the face; cross-hatching around the girth; band of rouletting below girth. Shallow groove running round what has survived of the face, with a squiggly line just inside it, indicating hair (?); schematic face with ring-stamped eye and slit mouth. Shepton Mallet 1f. (Tyers, forthcoming publication, 197, Fig. 254; Jane Evans 1998, pers.com;. Birmingham University Field Archaeology Unit No SM 90, BK2. 62). Settlement site. Late fourth to fifth century.

A number of face sherds in orange or grey fabrics with small appliqué or roundel-type faces have been found along the eastern borders of Wales and down into Somerset dating to the later third and fourth centuries, but only this one example, from the site furthest to the south, has survived with some evidence as to its form. The other face sherds may be from vessels of similar form, or from more flasklike vessels, but as insufficient evidence as to their form survives, they have been listed separately under Face Group 6. These round or oval faces could be stylised versions of mould-made masks on fineware vessels as on some of the Hadham jars.

Only one example of this Type has been identified with a mould-made face, and this is now thought to have come from a bowl. The face is very similar to those on much Hadham face neck-flagons74, and was probably made from a similar mould. Like them, it appears to be female. There is also a flask-type vessel with a moulded “female” face on the girth from Enfield, set in between triangular arrangements of bosses stamped with concentric circles, with dotted cordons above and below75. Though a smaller mask, this is reminiscent of the red jars with three mouldmade female faces and triangular-shaped clusters of raised bosses found on the Upper Danube illustrated in Chapter VII, Fig. G6: 2-3. RB Type 33

Third to fourth century.

Unknown; rim diam. 10.5 cm. (Ixworth). Cream-slipped red (No 8) or parchment ware (Colchester) Applied features; notched or un-notched eyebrows; hollowed slits in applied eyes. Suffolk and Essex 2f. Examples have been found at: Ixworth 1f. (Moyses Hall Museum, Bury St Edmunds, No H.19 [8]); Colchester 1f. (Symonds and Wade 1999, Fig. 6.23, No 657).. Outside Balkerne Gate (Colchester).

Fabric: Decoration: Face:

Distribution: Context: Date:

See Johnson 1983, Fig. 39: 43 and 46. Gentry et al. 1977, 148, Fig. 23: 21.16.

292

Face jars with everted rims and small faces with m-shaped eyebrows round the neck (Fig. J14: 10). Unknown; large vessels, possibly bowlshaped; rim diam. 22-23 cm. Unspecified. Several notched cordons around the neck and shoulder; a band of burnished, running scroll design round the neck (No 9). Applied, down-drooping eyebrows, extending below the level of the wedgeshaped nose; applied flat pellet eyes with pricked pupils. Springhead, Kent 3f. (Penn 1962, 121, Fig. 4: 3-4). Temple site. Late third century.

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART III Only the upper parts of these face pots have survived. At least one of them appears to have been bowl-shaped. The best surviving face with its semi-circular eye-brows and flat, round eyes is very similar to the one on the Much Hadham face jar from Darenth of RB Type 31B(Fig. J14: 5), and this may have been a face mask that was well known in north Kent in the Late Roman period. As already mentioned in Part II of this chapter, fairly similar faces are known on face jars from other areas, such as the Welwyn and London of RB Type 13D (Fig. J7: 4), the fragment from Colchester of RB Type 21E (Fig. J10: 5) or those from Wroxeter of Face Group 1 (Fig. J16: 2-3). These faces are reminiscent of some of the faces on Late La Tène metal work such as the mounts for the Aylesford bucket (Cunliffe, 1974, Pl. 26a) or the masks round the rim of the Rynkeby cauldron76. The curvilinear running scroll design around the neck of No 9 also suggests Celtic influence. This Late Roman vessel could well be a copy of a metal vase or bowl with masks around the rim, possibly of similar shape to the La Tène II ceramic mask bowl from Avila illustrated in Chapter II (Fig. B13: 1).

Context: Date:

These two face beakers, both found many years ago, are surprisingly similar, and yet it was pure coincidence that they should both have finally been published quite recently within two years of each other. It is not known where either of them were actually found, just the general location78. The Holme-on-Spalding Moor face beaker has a wider, lower girth than the other, but the faces have virtually identical features apart from the eyes, and both pots have the same flaring neck with an unusual notched rim. The fabrics also seem to be rather similar, somewhat different in colour, but both with marked changes in coloration, as though they had been unevenly fired or subsequently burnt. Given their wide separation, it would be very surprising if they had both come from the same production site, but they could perhaps have been made by the same potter, as Paul Booth (ibid) suggests. The face pot from Yorkshire is described as “partially wheel-thrown”, but unfortunately too much is missing of the Drayton Woods vessel to say for sure whether it was wheel-made or not79.

As has been seen, similar faces with semi-circular eyebrows also crop up from time to time in the Rhineland and in the provinces of the Upper and Lower Danube (see Chapter VIII under DAN Type 30)77. Their occurrence seems always to be anomalous, and they never appear to be the standardised face mask in any one region. But they are perhaps a reflection of the shared early Celtic heritage that underlay the patchwork of different peoples and military castes that made up the population of western Europe under the Romans. RB Type 36

Yorks) 1c. (Halkon, 1992, 222-3, Fig. 4, Pl. XIIA). Unknown. Probably late second to third century, but could possibly be later first century.

Gap left in type Series

FACE BEAKERS RB Types 37- 40 LARGE FACE BEAKERS , 2ND TO 3RD CENTURY? RB Type 37

Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution:

76 77

Large face beakers with tallish, flaring neck, notched rim and a face placed low down on the girth with protruding chin and pierced ears (Fig. J15: 1-2) c. 15 cm. (No 1); 18 cm.(No 2). Hard, medium fine; dark reddish brown to black (No 1); light grey-brown to very dark brown (No 2). Applied features; no notching; applied, protruding chin; large pierced ears; plain round eyes, or almond-shaped eyes with incised eyelids; dotted pupils, slit mouth; snub nose with carefully modelled nostrils. Drayton Woods, Banbury 1f. (Banbury Museum No BM 537, Booth, 1994, 471, Fig. 1); Holme-on-Spalding Moor, (East

Pl. J35. Front half of large reddish-brown face beaker of RB Type 37 from Drayton Woods in the Banbury Museum, Banbury; height 15 cm.

As already mentioned in the introduction to the Catalogue in Part II, these two unprovenanced vessels are very difficult to date, and this can only be done on stylistic 78 It is presumed that the “Drayton Woods” where one of them was found are the woods to the west of Drayton near Banbury, given that the pot was donated to the Banbury museum, but it is just conceivable that it was found somewhere near the other Drayton in Oxfordshire which is near Abingdon. 79 There is a fragment of a face jar or beaker from Brampton which, from the photo, looks as though it has the same applied, pointed chin and slit mouth, and which presumably came from the Brampton kilns (K. Knowles, unpub. photo).

See Chapter II, Part III, B.1. Fig. B13: 8. This mask is further discussed in Chapter XII, under C10.

293

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER NINE grounds. The pierced ears are a north Italian or Danubian characteristic, and are found on the early face beaker from London (RB Type 9, Fig. J4: 5) and may be indicated on one or two of the Colchester face jars of Type 13A (Fig. J6: 1 and 3), as well as on some of the fourth century bossed face jars of RB Type 28B (Fig. J13: 5-6). The protruding, pointed chin is very unusual for Britain, but it is characteristic of many of the Danubian face beakers, some of which, from the later second to third century, also have funnel necks (DAN Types 14, 16, and 17, Figs. H6: 4-5 and H7: 2-3). Other Continental parallels are the small face beaker from the later first century legionary kilns at Nijmegen (RL Type 14A, Fig. D7: 6), and the face beaker from Harfleur, which is thought to be second to third century (FS Type 16, Fig. E3: 3). The funnel neck and sculpted, protruding chin are of course also characteristics of many head vases or head pots which make their appearance in Britain in the early third century, and were soon copied in increasingly stylised or degenerate forms80. On the whole the balance of probabilities for the time being seems to be in favour of a third century date.

fragments. It comes from a Romano-British settlement to the north of Long Melford, in the vicinity, or on the site, of a possible early Roman fort81. The face is so abbreviated and slight that it is easy to miss at first glance. LATE ROMAN SMALL FACE BEAKERS RB Type 39 Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

Height of extant pot, 9. 6cm. Dark grey, very thick-walled. Applied eyebrows, nose and ears; incised eyes. London 1f. (London Museum No S.30 RXI 282). Unknown Late third to fourth century?

This face beaker is somewhat similar to the colour-coated face beakers of the Middle Rhineland of RL Type 50 C (Fig. D21: 4-5), though it is of much coarser workmanship and in a thick grey fabric. The lower third of the pot is almost solid. It is much abraded and missing its rim.

SMALL FACE BEAKER 2ND –3RD CENTURY RB Type 38 Small face beaker in light grey ware with lightly frilled rim and skimpy face (Fig. J15: 3, Pl. J36)

RB Type 40

Height: Fabric: Face: Distribution:

Height: Fabric: Face:

Context: Date:

Small face beaker in thick grey fabric (Fig. J15: 4)

8. 5cm. Light grey, coarse ware. Barely visible applied nose and boss eyes Sicklesmere, Suffolk, 1c. (Ipswich Museum No 1932.14) Uncertain, possibly grave. Third century?

Distribution: Context: Date:

Face beaker with schematic, incised features (Fig. J15: 5) 9.3 cm. Grey? Incised abstract features; semi-circular eyebrows. Brampton 1c. (K. Knowles, unpub drawing No EB16, TG 2230 2406). Cess pit. Late third to fourth century.

This face beaker is not unlike the Lower Rhineland face beakers from Krefeld Gellep, Köln and Trier of RL Type 47B (Fig. D20: 2-7) with their stylised, incised features, though with a wider neck and with less oriental and more Celtic-looking features. RB Type 40

Gap left in the Type Series

UNCLASSIFIABLE FACE POT SHERDS (Fig J16: 1-13) As already mentioned, there are a number of face fragments, mainly from west Britain, which cannot be classified under any of the Types so far identified. They are from all periods, but mainly from the second and third centuries. Those that can be grouped according to facial characteristics are listed under Face Groups and the rest under Miscellaneous Face Fragments.

Pl. J 36 Small, light grey face beaker of RB Type 38 with barely visible skimpy face from Sicklesmere in the Ipswich Museum; height 8.5 cm

This unique tiny face beaker is very hard to date, but the frilled rim and line of vertical notches around the shoulder suggest that is a miniature version of the grey face jars of RB Type 21 C such as the one from Ixworth /Pakenham (Pl. J20). The pot is worn and reconstructed from 80

81

See Appendix IV, Fig. S 4: 6-8.

294

Jude Plouviez, pers.comm., 2006.

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART III FACE GROUPS 1-6 Face Group 1

Face Group 3

Small faces with close-set eyes and long down-curving eyebrows from Gloucester and Wroxeter and possibly Chester (Fig. J16: 1-3)

1. A fragment in hard buff fabric from Wall (Round 1979/80, 8) with pieces of green glass set in the centre of the pellet eyes; late first century [5]. 2. A fragment in soft, dark grey fabric with coffee-bean eyes from Wall (ibid); late first to early second century.

1. A fragment in powdery orange fabric (possibly Early Severn Valley ware) from Gloucester (Gloucester City Museum No A1329), with a frilled cordon, possibly representing eyebrows, drooping down round the face; from the in-fill of the ditch outside the east gate of the colonia; possibly late first century [1]. 2. Two fragments in orange fabric with cream slip from Wroxeter (Webster 1986, Fig. 7: B-C), one with unnotched eyebrows and coffee-bean eyes [2], and the other with notched eyebrows and button eyes with dots in the centre; second to fourth century. There is also a fragment from Chester in white-slipped orange ware with close set boss eyes, small slit mouth and stabbed beard but not enough of the eyebrows survives to tell if it belongs to this group or to Group 2 below (Alison Jones unpub drawing 1998, Chester Archaeology, CHE/OMH 67-8, Context L5(5), small find No 100. 3. A fragment in burnished orange ware (probably Severn Valley ware) from Wroxeter (Webster 1986, Fig. 7: A); second to fourth century [3].

The green glass pupils on the first piece are a unique feature, possibly reflecting a Late La Tène tradition of putting semi-precious stones or glass in the eyes of cult images. Face Group 4

Faces with criss-cross hatching above the eyebrows from Balmuidy (Fig J16: 6-7)

A fragment in orange-red fabric with darker red slip from Balmuildy on the Antonine Wall (Miller 1922, 94, Fig. 29) with applied eyebrows, nose and pellet eye; 140-170 AD. [7]. Another face fragment was also found at Balmuildy in the same fabric, but not enough survived to show if it too had criss-cross hatching above the eyebrows [6]. Several other fragments with similar hatching but with no facial features also survived (ibid, 94 and Fig. 28). These are all thought to be local products (V. Swan, pers. comm. 1999)82.

Down-drooping eyebrows also occur in the south east of Britain, but they tend to be semi-circular ones, mostly coming down level with the base of the nose (see above under RB Type 35). Face Group 2

Faces with sliced-mushroom-shaped eyebrows and nose, and close-set round pellet eyes from Wall (Fig. J16: 5)

Face Group 5

Faces with eyebrows with a horizontal groove from Chester and Lancaster (Fig. J16: 4)

Faces with applied flat pellets representing hair and/or beard (Fig. J16: 8-9)

1. Fragment in granular fawn fabric with a dark grey surface from Little Chester (Brassington 1980, 25, Fig. 13: 370), with barbotine eyebrows and eyelids and a row of flat, dotted pellets beside the face; found on a kiln site outside the fort [8]. Another sherd in similar fabric was also found on the same kiln site (ibid, Fig. 13: 371) which could also have had a flat pellet beard, but only the nose, eyebrow and eye survived; later second to third century. 2. Fragment in hard, sandy orange fabric with a grey core from Felixstowe (J. Plouviez, unpub. drawing 1995; Suffolk Arch Unit No 1/1 FEX 088 0036), with flat vertically notched pellets portraying a beard and moustache; found inside the Roman settlement to the east of the now vanished Saxon Shore fort at Walton Castle83; probably third century [9].

1. A body sherd from Lancaster in fine, burnished, orange fabric with applied nose, grooved, un-notched eyebrows (with a single groove), close-set, round, boss eyes with incised pupils, applied mouth with slashed moustache, and the beginnings of a notched beard just visible to the left of the face (Lancaster City Council Museum, unnumbered sherd) [4]. 2. A body sherd from Heronbridge, Chester, in buff fabric with a thin, white, slightly metallic slip, with similar eyebrows, applied nose, indented eye-sockets with no eyes (possibly missing), and the beginnings of a beard with diagonal criss-cross hatching to the left of the face (Petch, 1933, 38, Pl. XIV: 43). These two pieces are rather different from each other, but their most distinctive feature is the groove along the eyebrows, which is not found on other face jars, and could be a local characteristic of the Chester-Lancaster region.

These two pieces may have belonged to bearded faces similar to the one on the face jar from Lincoln of RB Type 21D (Fig. J11: 7), with its flat pellet beard and hair.

82 83

295

These sherds are further discussed in Chapter XII, B.14. This Saxon Shore fort has been washed away by coastal erosion.

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER NINE Face Group 6

Small round or oval faces, either applied or with an incised groove or line around all or most of the face (Fig. J16: 10-11)

MISCELLANEOUS FACE POT SHERDS (Fig. J16: 12-16) These sherds are either just one of a kind or too small and featureless to be included in any Face jar Type or Face Group.

1. Body sherd in fine grey ware from Worcester with a oval appliqué face (5.2 cm high) with applied nose and hollow round eyes and slit mouth, with two shallow cordons above the face and 2 grooves below it (Green 1976, 172, Pl. XXVIII:f) [10]. 2. Two body sherds in hard fine brownish grey ware from Worcester (Blackfriars site), showing part of a face with applied pointed chin, nose, coffee bean eye and ear, and with a faint incised line around the lower two thirds of the face; 1st to 3rd century (R. Roberts pers. comm., Birmingham Univ. Field Arch Unit, unpub. drawing 1987). This face may have been quite similar to the face on the cup-necked flagon from Tiddington not far from Worcester (see Pt IV below, RB Type 41F, Fig J18: 5). 3. Body sherd in medium fine light grey ware from Shepton Mallet (Fosse Lane site) with small, oval, appliqué face, 3.5 cm high with stabbed beard, raised mouth and round eyes, with two bands of rouletting below the face [11] found in inhumation grave, late 4th5th century (Birmingham Univ. Field Arch. Unit No SM’90 FN, MS3.11). 4. Body sherd from Shepton Mallet (Fosse Lane) in Severn Valley grey ware (SVOXGR) with applied, upturned eyebrows, pellet eye and wide shallow groove across the top of the face which may have continued round it; 2nd century (Birmingham Field Archaeology Unit No C 3303 F301). 5. Body sherd in sandy orange fabric from Hereford with an applied, shallow ear and shallow groove round the outside, presumably continuing on round the face (Worcester County Museum, No HWCM, 4072 1191). 6. Part of the upper half of an appliqué face (c. 6-7 cm high) in unspecified ware from Leicester (Jewry Wall) with a band of ring-stamps around the top and possibly the rest of the face, applied nose and pricked pellet eyes, with a ring-stamp on the forehead (Kenyon 1948, 212, Fig. 56: 41). If this is in grey fabric, it could have come from a face jar of RB Type 21.

1. Body sherd in orange fabric with a red-brown colourcoat from Caerleon with notched eyebrows and stabbed moustache and beard; found inside the fortress; late first century to early second (Zienkiewicz, 1992, 104, Fig. 8: 96) [12]. This sherd shows evidence of Rhineland influence. 2. A fragment in whitish fabric from Mancetter kiln site (Paul Booth, unpub. info., 1985) with applied round eyes and eyebrows, a long nose, a horse-shoe-stamped beard and a frilled cordon around the upper part of the face which might possibly have continued down round the sides; from the kiln site near the fort; probably Antonine date (13). 3. Two body sherds in granular white ware from Mancetter kiln site, one with a long nose and the other with an applied eyebrow and eye with a small slit (P. Booth unpub drawing, 1985); Antonine date. These could possibly belong to a face similar to the one from Mancetter listed above. 4. Small body sherd from London in fine hard dark grey London ware with glossy outer surface, with applied slit eyes and eyebrows and some kind of projecting peaked cap or head-dress just above the eyebrows (Marsh 1978, Fig.6.22:53; British Museum Stores No 1908 7.14-1); possibly second century [14]. The letter “N” appears to have been incised above the nose. What may have been a similar projecting “peak” occurs on a grey face beaker from Intercisa of DAN Type 13 (Fig. H5: 1). 5. Rim sherd from London from an unusually large jar with a tall and relatively narrow neck in red fabric with an ochre slip[15]. The face with its applied eyebrows and nose, indented, open mouth and lightly applied, slit eye, is placed high up on the neck of the jar. The fragment is too small to tell if there had been any handles. It could possibly come from a spouted of handles jar of RB Types 1C or 13D, though the neck appears to be too narrow. It is just possible that it belongs to a two-handled jar similar in form to RB Type 14, also from London (Fig. J6: 7). 6. Body sherd in hard, medium grey ware from Carlisle, from a large vessel, with long straight nose, applied, unnotched eyebrows, and applied almond-shaped eyes with incised eyelids (Braithwaite, 1984, 113, Fig. 9: 7); it could be from a face jar similar to the early red one of RB Type 3C also from Carlisle, or the grey face jar from Wroxeter of RB Type 3B; possibly later first or early second century. 7. Body sherd in sandy orange fabric from Vindolanda vicus with applied slit mouth and chin blob; late third century deposits (Vindolanda Museum No 860). 8. Body sherd in fine glossy red ware from Alcester with applied eyebrows and nose and two flat pellet eyes with dotted pupils (Oxford Arch unit Find No ALB 75; Paul Booth, private info 1982). This could belong to Face

With the possible exception of the last sherd, these are all from the west country and could all be in Severn Valley wares. Several of them are from the Late Roman period, and though the evidence is thin and fragmentary, there may perhaps have been a renewal of face jar traditions in this area at this time. So far only one of these Late Roman face jars can be reconstructed - the red face jar with two lug handles on the sides of RB Type 34 (Fig. J14: 8). Others may have been more flask-shaped. There is also an earlier abstract, appliqué face from this region on the face jar with spouts of RB Type 1F (see Part II, Fig. J5: 5). As has been seen, small appliqué-type faces also occur on face jars in east Britain on some of the grey face jars of RB Type 21 and on the three face jar fragments from Springhead in Kent of RB Type 35.

296

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART III Group 3, but not enough of the eyebrows survives to show if they were down-drooping or not. 9. Small fragment in highly burnished black ware from Little Chester (Brassington 1987, Fig. 12, Pl. XXVI: B) showing the upper half of a face, with a notched band across the forehead which may have continued down round the sides of the face, and incised almond-shaped eyes; found inside the Roman fort; possibly 2nd to 3rd century. A somewhat similar notched band above the face is found on the cup-shaped face fragments from Corbridge and Carlisle (RB Type 41 E, Fig. J118: 3). It is possible that this too comes from a similar vessel, or from a head pot. 10. Small body sherd in light buff fabric from Fincham, Norfolk, from a large vessel, with incised eye, indented eyeball, and notching to indicate eyelashes or eyebrows (Norwich Castle Museum No 120-963 (5)). 11. Small body sherd in sandy mica-dusted grey fabric from Spong Hill, Elmham, Norfolk with a ring-stamped eyebrow (D. Gurney unpub. info., No 1012 ELN 1242 DRG 301). 12. Small body sherd in orange buff coarse ware from Coddenham with a very large nose, c. 7cm long, with slightly indented nostrils; there is very little curvature on the sherd, suggesting it comes from a very large vessel c. 40-45 cm diameter; found in late second to early third century deposits. 13. Body sherd in white-slipped Much Hadham red ware from Elms Farm, Heybridge, Essex of 2nd to 3rd century date [16]; m-shaped face with sharply projecting eyebrows placed on the shoulder of the jar above a band of incised zig-zag decoration enclosed within two dotted grooves (Essex Arch. Unit No HYEF94, 8180, E. Biddulf unpub. drawing). 14. Body sherds from Binchester in a quite fine red-orange ware (Crambeck fabric?)and a thick, coarse dark grey ware, all to small to be classified (J. Evans, private info.)

297

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER NINE RB TYPES 21 A-B

Fig. J10. Grey face jars from Kent and Essex. Type 21A, Nos 1-2; Type 21B, Nos 3-6. 1-2, Canterbury; 3-6 Colchester. (Scale: 1:4 except No 2 at 1:2) 298

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART III RB TYPES 21 C-D

Fig. J11. Grey face jars from Suffolk, Norfolk and Lincoln. Type 21C, Nos 1-6; Type 21D, No 7. 1, Pakenham; 2, Hacheston; 3-4, Lakenheath; 5, Brampton; 6, Snetisham; 7, Lincoln. (Scale: 1:4 except Nos 5-6 at 1:2) 299

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER NINE RB TYPES 21 E-F AND 22, AND SMITH POTS

Fig. J12. Face jars, smith-face jars and smith pots from N.E. England and the Wall. Type 21E, Nos 1-6; Type 21F, No 7; Type 22, No 8; Smith pots, Nos 9-11. 1, Shiptonthorpe; 2, Chester-le-Street; 3-4 Malton (Norton); 5, Catterick; 6, Stanwix;7, Chesters; 8, Vindolanda; 9-10, Malton; 11, Lincoln.(Scale 1:4 except Nos 3-4,1:2)

300

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART III RB TYPES 28 A-B AND 29

Fig. J13. Late Roman bossed face jars. Type 28A, Nos 1-4; Type 28B, Nos 5-8; Type 29, No 9. 1, York; 2, Crambeck; 3, York; 4, Corbridge; 5, Chester-le-Street; 6-8, Catterick; 9, Hibaldstow. (Scale 1:4) 301

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER NINE RB TYPES 30, 31 A-B AND 32-35

Fig. J14. Late Roman face jars, various. Type 30, Nos 1-2; Type 31A, Nos 3-5; Type 31B, No 6; Type 32, No 7; Type 33, No 8; Type 34, No 9; Type 35, No10. 1-2, Malton (vicus); 3, Colchester; 4, Littlecote; 5, Harlow; 6, Colchester; 7, Darenth; 8, Ixworth; 9, Shepton Mallet; 10, Springhead. (Scale 1:4)

302

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART III RB TYPES 37- 39

Fig. J15. Face beakers. Type 37, Nos 1- 2; Type 38, No 3; Type 39, No 4; Type 40, No 5 (Scale 1:4) 1, Drayton Woods, Banbury; 2, Holme-on-Spalding Moor; 3, Sicklesmere; 4, London; 5, Brampton.

303

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER NINE UNCLASSIFIABLE FACE POT FRAGMENTS

Fig. J16. 1, Gloucester; 2-3, Wroxeter; 4, Lancaster; 5, Wall; 6-7, Balmuidy; 8, Little Chester; 9, Felixstowe; 10, Worcester; 11, Shepton Mallet;12, Caerleon; 13, Mancetter; 14-15, London; 16, Heybridge. (Scale 1:4, except Nos 2, 3, 10 and 11 at 1:2). 304

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART IV

CHAPTER NINE, PART IV SOME UNUSUAL TYPES OF ROMANO-BRITISH ANTHROPOMORPHIC POTTERY RB Types 41-43

RB Type 41A

As explained earlier, the following Romano-British Types are not face pots. However face fragments from such vessels with their hand-modelled features can be confused with face pot sherds, and so for this reason, and because they are little known and deserve more attention, they have been included in this chapter at the end of the Catalogue.

Height: Fabric: Decoration:

Britain in the later Roman period, and particularly the northern regions south of Hadrian’s Wall, appear to have had an unusual variety of different types of anthropomorphic pottery. Why this should have been the case in Britain is not very clear. Possibly it was because paganism lasted longer here, particularly perhaps in the north east, or because new military units were drafted in from north Africa and other regions. Native influences must also have played their part, and there does seem to have been a freedom and originality among British potters of this period that is very striking. However the explanation may be rather more prosaic. Most if not all of these very unusual vessels must have been cult vessels of some kind and could be copies of metal vases, normally made in gold, silver or bronze. Such precious vases may well have been unobtainable in the remote north of Britain or beyond the means of the soldiers and citizens living there, and so pottery was used instead. As a result these plebeian copies may have survived, or partially survived, while their more valuable prototypes, used in the south of Britain and in other provinces, ended in the melting pot.

Face:

Distribution: Context: Date:

Cup-necked face flagon or figurine vase with a strap handle at the back(Fig. J17: 1 a-b) Tall vessel, possibly c. 35-40 cm; rim diam. 7cm. Quite fine light grey ware with remains of a matt dark grey colour-coat. Row of incised dots and a dotted cordon around the neck, running through the handle. It appears to have been modelled by hand, not with a mould; cleft chin; incised ear (and ear-ring?); raised, dotted head-dress on forehead; indented, scallopped cordon around the back of the head to the base of the bun at the back; peaked bosses at the back indicating hair. Burgh-by-Sands 1f. (Ross, 1967, Pl. 38a; Dövener 2000, 143, Fig. 247; Tullie House Museum, Carlisle, No 143). Unknown. Third or fourth century?

RB Type 41 Figurine jugs or cup-necked flagons with a hand-modelled head or face on the neck (Figs. J17-18) There are a number of fragments in Britain which appear to have come from such vessels, though none of them are complete enough to allow for reconstruction. However on the basis of a small number of complete or reconstructed figurine jugs that exist on the Continent, it is possible to make tentative suggestions as to the original form of some of the larger and finer fragments. Others are less recognisable, but could perhaps be degenerate local copies of the former (Fig. J18: 4-7). Only one of these latter can be partially reconstructed, namely the unique and strangelooking vessel from Tidington in Warwickshire (RB Type 41D, Fig 18: 4). But this vessel provides a possible analogy for some of the other rather cruder and more schematic examples.

Pl. J37. Jug or flagon neck in fine grey ware of RB Type 41A from Burghby-Sands, hand modelled in the shape of a female head, probably from a large figurine jug, in the Tullie House Museum, Carlisle; height of fragment 15cm

It seems very probable that this finely-made piece was the head of a figurine jug, which would have had a globular body similar to the body fragment from Leicester listed below, with arms and hands and possibly small breasts

305

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART IV This Burgh-by-Sands vase, to judge by the head, must have been quite a lot larger than the Danubian green-glazed vases. But the head-dress and particularly the necklaces seem to be very similar. It seems quite possible that both this British vase and the Danubian ones were copies of more widely spread bronze or silver vessels which were associated with some particular cult, perhaps one of the mother goddess cults from the east which became popular in the later Roman period. A possible source for such a cult might have been the unit of Moors from north Africa, the numerus Maurorum Aurelianorum which is named in the Notitia Dignitatem as the garrison of the fort at Burgh-bySands. arly demonstrated between them and the vase, and also It is not known however at what date the numerus was transferred here, and it could conceivably have come over as early as the visit of the Emperor Severus at the beginning of the third century.

modelled on the top half of the vase, as well as details of female clothing. Necklaces, represented by the dotted cordon and row of dots can be seen around the neck1. Complete figurine jugs with a handle at the back, similar to this head fragment are known on the Continent, mostly from the eastern end of the Upper Danube, between Vienna and Györ (Arrabona). They are of two types: an earlier type, known only at Vienna (see Fig. J17:3) in red or red-colourcoated ware which may date to the late second or early third centuries2; and another slightly smaller type in green glazed ware which is more numerous and widely distributed, dating to the fourth century3. Both groups have recently been analysed by Franziska Dövener 2000, 151-156. They all represent a female figure, in what appears to be native dress, with some kind of stiff head-dress or ribbed crown that rises above the forehead, and necklaces about the neck. The arms are plastically modelled, and in the case of the earlier colour-coated jugs from Vienna they stand out from the body of the jug and the hands are empty (Fig. J17: 3). The arms of the green-glazed jugs on the other hand are moulded onto the wall of the pot, and the hands generally hold a tiny cup and sometimes other articles (Fig. J17: 4-5). On one jug from Györ which has the Greco-Latin motto IENVARIE PIE ZESES (“may Ianuarius live a godly life”), the right hand holds a cup, and the left hand holds what has been interpreted as a spindle and distaff (Fig. J17: 5). The figure represented on this vase has been identified as Klotho, one of the three Fates. This has led to the assumption that the glazed vases represent the Fates, and they have become known as the Parzenkrüge or Fate-jugs, though the identification is not certain. These glazed jugs have all been found in graves or in cemetery areas of the fourth century, but the earlier and taller colour-coated ones4 were found in the area of the legionary fortress at Vienna, and it seems unlikely that they came from graves.

This piece is unprovenanced unfortunately, and therefore difficult to date. Dövener cites a number of face-neck flagon heads from Britain with similar hair styles, all of presumed third to fourth century date5. Its similarity to the Danubian glazed vases also suggests a later, possibly fourth century date. RB Type 41B Height: Fabric: Body:

Distribution: No other examples of such sculpted figurine vases seem to be known from the western provinces of the Roman Empire, and their origins are a complete mystery. The form is clearly related to face-neck flagons, and like them has its origins in the eastern Mediterranean, and later in north Africa. Polychrome figurine vases strikingly similar to these Danubian vessels are known from Cyprus dating from the seventh and sixth centuries BC and are mentioned in Chapter I, section C.1 (Fig. B3: 5), but there seem to be no other known vases that compare with them from western Europe, or from the Roman period.

Context: Date:

Figurine vase in black ware with sculpted breasts and arms (Fig. J17: 2). Tall vessel, c. 30-35 cm. Very dark grey or black, fine, untempered ware, rather soapy to the touch. Applied arm; lightly pushed-out breasts and nipples; ring-stamps along the back of the arm and cross-hatching on the sleeve; incised lines on the body to indicate the lines of the dress. Leicester 1f. (Pollard, 1998, 353-6, Fig 15, Pl. XXIX: B). In drain of aisled building believed to be a temple. Late Antonine to Severan (Pollard, ibid).

Just a part of the top half of the body survives. This fragment has been interpreted as a cult figure which was sculpted from a pot thrown on the wheel (Pollard, ibid). However it could equally well have been part of a cult vase, with a cup-shaped head on the neck similar to the one above and to those of the Danubian figurine vases. The sleeve of the dress can be clearly seen with some kind of diagonal check pattern. Pollard suggests the hand may be holding a goat by the horns, and associates the figure with Mercury. However, as the other figurine vases all appear to be feminine, this figure with its well-marked nipples, if it is from a vase, seems likely to have been female as well. The Vienna figurine vase (Fig. J17: 3) has similar nipples. It could be holding “a spindle and distaff” with its left hand as is thought to be the case with the “Fate jug” from Györ and the one from Cluj in Rumania (see note 76), and perhaps it held a cup in its right hand.

1

There are also two unusual jugs from the Rhineland which have somewhat similar heads and a handle at the back, though these are much smaller head and have no necklaces or other decoration the body (see below under RB Type Type 41F). 2 Schorgendorfer 1942, Nos 566-7; Harl, 1974, 260-1, Fig. 1: 1-4. 3 Most of the examples of the green-glazed jugs have been found on sites along the Danube between Mautern and the Danube knee (Harl, 1974, Fig. 2: 5-9; Humer et al, 1990, 63, Pl. 10:12; Krakovska 1976, 43-5, Fig. 81:4, Pl. VI: 6), but one has been found well to the west at Como (Maccabruni and Nobile 1990, 367ff, No 5d. 2j; Dövener Fig. 263), and another further to the east at Cluj in Roumania, in this case possibly a local copy, in brown-glazed ware (Isac and Barbulescu, 1976, 177 ff, Pl 2: 3, Dövener 2000, Fig. 261). 4 Sadly these unique jugs were damaged in the War and only fragments plus the photos remain.

5

306

Dövener 2000, 144, Figs. 221, and 244-6.

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART IV the face6. But the face is the standard Hadham mould-made female face (Dövener Hadham Type C) surrounded on top and on both sides by a separately applied finger-indented cordon. There is also an unusual face flagon from York, which is equally tall, with two strap handles and quite a wide neck but instead of a sculpted head it has a small appliqué female face on the neck7. The face has no hair or head-dress, but it has an oddly similar expression. These examples might perhaps be derived from, or related to, vessels such as this one from Corbridge.

The fragment was found in the drain of an aisled building thought to have been a temple, in deposits dated to the Antonine-Severan period. It is a hundred years or so earlier than the green-glazed Fate jugs, but not much older if at all than the Vienna jugs. If as seems possible the common factor linking all these vases is a cult that involved the use of precious metal vases in the shape of a female figure, then the metal cult vases in question, and the cult, could have had a very long life, far longer than any ceramic cult vase. The glossy black surface of this fragment could well be intended to copy a bronze vessel. RB Type 41C

Height: Fabric: Decoration: Face: Distribution: Context: Date:

A possible analogy or prototype from the Rhineland for this fragment is provided by two tall, fragmentary head or face flagons in a white-slipped marbled ware from Rheinzabern in the Upper Rhineland (see insert and Fig. J18: 2) which also have a cup-shaped head above two strap handles forming the neck of the vessel8. There the similarity ends however, as the Rheinzabern flagons have two identical faces, on either side of the neck, and the more complete one has a spoked wheel which has been sculpted as though hanging from a cord around the vessel neck. Both come from graves, and are now believed to belong to the second half of the first century (Dövener ibid).

Cup-necked figurine vase or face-flagon with two strap handles on the neck (Fig.J18: 1). Unknown, very tall vessel. Rim diam. 6 cm. Whitish, mortaria-type fabric which may have had a light orange colour-coat (Corbridge). Frilled cordon around the flagon neck, running through the two handles. Possibly partly made with a mould; incised lines for the hair. Corbridge 1f. (Corbridge Museum No 75.8; Dövener 2000, 144, Fig. 248). Unknown. Later second to fourth century?

This Corbridge piece is also unprovenanced, and as difficult to date as the Burgh-by-Sands head. If, as seems possible, metal cult vases are again the common factor linking all these various two-handled, cup-necked head or face flagons, then they may have been around in the west Roman provinces from the first to the fourth centuries AD, if not earlier. There is no knowing at what point they could have reached Britain. RB Type 41D Pl. J38. Flagon neck hand-modelled in the shape of a female head in light buff ware of RB Type 41C from Corbridge in the Corbridge Museum; height of fragment 15.5 cm.

Height: Fabric: Decoration: Face:

This piece is somewhat different from the two above, with two strap handles and no modelling at the back of the head to indicate hair. There is a frilled cordon round the neck in place of the dotted bead necklaces, and an applied object, possibly a pelta is just visible on the figure’s right shoulder. The face has a rather severe hairstyle and expression. A number of large, two-handled face flagons with a face on a wide neck were made in the Much Hadham potteries, with the strap handles starting just below

Face fragment from a cup-necked face flagon(?) in buff ware from Verulamium (Fig. J18: 3) Unknown. Hard, granulated buff ware with a red core. Unknown. Hand modelled; applied features; notched eyebrows; slit mouth; round eyes with incised eyelids.

6 Dövener 2000, 177. Examples are known from Burgh Castle (Dövener, ibid); from Elms Farm Heybridge (E Biddulph, unpub. info. 1999; Essex Archaeological Unit No HYEF 94 20469) and from Harlow (Harlow Museum). 7 May 1930, 21, Pl. XIIIa. 8 Ludovici 1927, 275, K.25 and Dövener 2000, 19-22, Nos 1-2, Figs. 2329. See also RB Type 41D below.

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BRITISH FACE POTS, PART IV Distribution: Context: Date:

be intended to represent hair. This face, modelled as it is on a wider neck than those listed above, is closer to face jar faces than they are, and its pointed chin and large ears have something in common with those of the large face beakers of RB Type 25 (Fig. J15: 1-2).

Verulamium (Frere 1972, Fig. 122, No 816). In the front room of a house or shop on Watling Street. Antonine.

This small, curved face fragment is described as “probably from the top of a flagon”. The face bears quite a striking resemblance to the two faces of the Rheinzabern flagons mentioned above (Fig. J18: 2), with the same round eyes, slit mouth and somewhat protruding ears, and it is not inconceivable that it has come from such a vessel. The fabric sounds similar to the local Verulamium buff ware (VRW), so it is likely to be a local copy rather than an import. If so, its Antonine date is an indication that cupnecked face flagons of this kind and the cult associated with them were already known in Britain in the second century. RB Type 41E

The handles are now on the girth of the globular body, possibly to avoid getting in the way of the large ears, but perhaps replacing the arms of a proto-type figurine vase. It is thought to have been locally produced in what could be Severn valley ware.9 RB Type 41F

Height: Fabric: Decoration:

Cup-necked face flagon (or jar) with large ears and two strap handles on the girth (Fig. J18: 4)

Face: Height: Fabric: Decoration: Face:

Distribution: Context: Date:

Unknown, possibly c. 26-8 cm. Rim diam. 8-9cm Quite fine orange-red, possibly Severn Valley ware. Two grooves around the rim and a plain, flat cordon around the neck. Applied nose, eyes and pointed chin; slit mouth; pushed-in eye sockets; large applied ears (missing); incised vertical lines at the back possibly representing hair. Tiddington (Warwickshire) 1f. (Paul Booth, 1982, unpub. info). In ditch on edge of settlement. End second century.

Distribution:

Context: Date:

Cup-shaped face fragments with “hooded” face projecting above the rim (Fig. J18: 5) Unknown; rim diam. c. 8-10 cm. Medium fine, orange or grey. Three or more grooves round the neck of the vessel (Corbridge). Applied features; bulbous, incised eyes and pupils; narrow nose and pointed chin; slit mouth; notched cordon (hood?)around upper part of face. The Wall area and east Yorkshire 4f. Examples have been found at Corbridge 2f. (Corbridge Museum Nos 75.27 [5 and Pl. J40] and 75.31 [Pl. J41a]); Carlisle 1f. (Carlisle Museum No OM174, [Pl. J41b]); Brough-on-Humber 1f (Corder and Romans 1937, 44, Fig. 8: 10). Unknown Third to fourth century?

Pl. J40. Cup-shaped face-neck fragment in quite fine red ware of RB Type 41F from Corbridge in the Corbridge Museum; diameter of rim c.10 cm.

Pl. J39. Cup-shaped face-neck fragment in quite fine red ware from a large jar with two handles on the body of RB Type 41E from Tiddington, near Stratfiord-on-Avon; diameter of rim c. 9 cm.

These face fragments, and the ones listed under RB Types 41 G-H are all too curved or the wrong shape to be from face jars or face beakers, though they can sometimes be mistaken for such,

It is just conceivable that this most unusual-looking vessel could also be a local copy of a figurine vase from the Continent, such as the Rheinzabern head flagons, but if so, then a lot of native stylisation has taken place.

The examples listed under this Type all have a notched cordon around the upper part of the face which could represent hair or a head-dress, or possibly a hood. The upper part of the face projects above the flagon rim. On the

The face originally had large ears that have not survived, but the scars where they had been are clearly visible. They would have given the pot an even more extraordinary appearance. The incised lines at the back of the neck could

9

308

Graham Webster 1982 pers. comm..

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART IV one example from Corbridge with a complete face (No 5), there is a narrow pointed chin and a small slit mouth but no ears.

RB Type 41G

The Carlisle and Corbridge examples are all in very similar fabrics, grey in the case of two of them (see Pl. J35 below), and orange in the case of the most complete example from Corbridge, all of which could possibly be Severn Valley wares.

Height: Fabric: Decoration: Face:

Distribution:

Cup-necked face-fragments with small “hooded” face flush with the rim (Fig. J18: 6) Unknown; rim diam. c. 6-7 cm Red with white-painted decoration. White-painted band around the rim with ring-stamps. Applied nose, mouth and eyelids; notched cordon (eyebrows?) around the upper, surviving, part of the face with ring stamps above (No 6); ring-stamped eyebrows (Brough). East Yorkshire 8f. Examples have been found at: Malton fort 1f (Corder 1930, 35, Fig. 6: 22) [6]; Brough on Humber 1f. (Wacher 1969, 200, Fig. 80: 738); Holme-on-Spalding Moor 3?f. (J. Evans (pers. comm. 1999); Shiptonthorpe 3?f. (J. Evans pers. comm.). Unspecified. First half third century (Corder,ibid), possibly later.

a b Pl. J41. Two grey face fragments from Corbridge (a) and Carlisle (b) from cup-shaped necks of similar diameter to the example in Pl. J40 above.

Context: Date:

The Brough fragment, in unspecified grey ware, has a similarly “hooded” face projecting above the rim, but the eyes, as shown in the drawing, are round circles and there is no mouth or chin, though these could have been abraded.

The faces on these fragments do not project above the top of the rim which in the case of the Malton sherd has a white painted and ring-stamped band around the top of it.

A small face fragment in glossy black ware which might also be from a similar jar comes from Little Chester, but it is too small to tell, and is listed under Miscellaneous Face Pot Fragments at the end of the Catalogue to Part III (No 9). It is very difficult to know to what type of vessel these cup-shaped faces belonged. The most likely interpretation is that they come from vessels such as the one from Piddington, or from degenerate copies of RB Types 41 A-D, or possibly from face jugs such as this one from Trier with a handle at the back or another very similar one from Köln, though these two unusual jugs are quite a bit smaller with a rim diameter of only around 5cm10. None of the British fragments show evidence for handles, but they are in any case too small, as the handles would presumably have come below the face, or at the back.

RB Type 41H

Cup-necked face-fragment with crudely modelled face (Fig. J18: 7)

Height: Fabric: Face:

Unknown; rim diam. c. 8 cm. Slightly sandy pinkish buff; thick-walled. Applied mouth, eyebrows, nose, ears and round flat pellet eyes with pricked pupils. Colchester 1f. (Symonds and Wade 1999, Fig. 6.23: 660; Colchester Arch. Unit No BUC 77, C 1240. Butt Road cemetery. Third to fourth century

Distribution: Context: Date:

This flagon neck, if neck it is, is more cup-shaped than some of the preceding examples, and it is just conceivable that this is part of a very small, squat face beaker and not the neck of a face flagon, though it is very thick-walled for a face beaker (however see RB Type 39 above which is also very thick-walled). The face with its straight eyebrows and flat pellet eyes is similar to some of the faces from the Rhine Danube corner, but it may have been the shape of the pot that dictated the shape of the eyebrows. RB Type 42 Height: Fabric: Faces:

10

These two Rhineland jugs are described by Dövener (2000, 87, Figs. 141-3.

309

Multi-headed flagon with two handles on the neck (Fig. J19: 1) Tall vessel; rim diam. 8.5 cm. Medium fine red, with blackened exterior. Originally it would have had three faces in the centre, probably all female, and two bearded male heads at the sides, one on each handle, all modelled by hand; hooded, ring-stamped head-dresses are on the two female heads whose faces have

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART IV

Distribution: Context: Date:

top of stylised, boss-like, spiral curls. The three bearded heads on the little bronze smith pot are also quite similar (Fig. J19: 3).

raised eyelids, pupils, noses and lips. The male heads have ring-stamped hair. Burgh-by-Sands 1f. (Ross 1967, Pl. 38c; Tullie House Museum, Carlisle, No R.F.103). Unspecified. Possibly third to fourth century.

This is part of a unique vessel. The faces could be the three Mothers, as the two surviving ones appear to be female, while the two male heads could perhaps represent some form of divine twins. A somewhat similar flagon neck with what may have been several heads was found at Brancaster during J. Hinchcliffe’s excavations (Tony Bell 1985, unpub. drawing). RB Type 43 Height: Fabric: Face:

Distribution: Context: Date:

Hollow bearded projecting head from huge cult vessel (Fig. J19: 2 a- b) Unknown; height of fragment: 14.5 cm. Medium fine red. Applied features; bulbous eyes with notched eyelashes, incised irises and dotted pupils; notched eyelashes; herring bone notching on beard and moustache; flat, slashed pellets round forehead and down the side and back of the head; some kind of crown or cap (top missing) with frilled or scalloped brim. Carlisle 1f. (Ross 1967, 102, Pl. 38b; Tullie House Museum, Carlisle, No 16-1902). Unknown. Possibly third century.

Pl. J42. Spout-shaped head of RB Type 43 from Carlisle in medium fine red ware from the shoulder of a huge vessel, in the Tullie House Museum, Carlisle; height of fragment 14.5 cm. (Photo: Museum slide)

A fragment of a finely sculpted crested snake with ram’s horns and neatly notched scales, which looks very much as though it had come from some pottery cult vase, has also been found at Carlisle12. It is bigger than most of the snakes on snake pots, and must have come from a large vessel. There is no reason to believe that it came from this one, but it seems to be evidence for the production, or at any rate the use, of very big cult vases in the Carlisle area. A second snake fragment, this time in bronze, comes from Corbridge, but the head of the snake is missing (ibid, Pl. 74). Cult vases with spouts and snakes were used in the Roman period in the worship of Liber-Dionysos and Sabazius, as well as in that of Mithras (see under Snake Pots in Appendix VI).

As can be seen from the attempted reconstruction drawing on Fig. J19: 2b this unique piece was probably one of two or three heads attached like spouts to the quite narrow neck of a very large vessel. It is very hard to find any parallels for such a vessel, but it must have been of considerable size, and clearly designed for some kind of cult use. The elegantly stylised face has been sculpted with meticulous care. The top of the head is broken, so there is no knowing if it was open, like a spout, or closed with some kind of a crown or domed cap11 (see reconstruction drawing). The head has been described as wearing a coronet, and the flat pellets as a disc head band (Ross 1967, 102). However the pellets do not continue right round the head, but go vertically downwards behind the ears, and in the light of other face vessels where flat pellets represent hair, they may indicate hair here too. The closest parallels for such a face or head are the masks of Dionysos depicted on some of the marble reliefs with Bacchic masks described in Appendix V, F, (see Pl. S28), where he is shown with a very similar stiffly-jutting beard, and with a crown-type head-dress on

RB Type 44

Height: Fabric:

Decoration:

11

Spouts with faces do occasionally occur. There is a spout fragment in fine grey ware from Tongres (Belgium) in the Musée d’Archéologie Curtius at Liège with a bearded mould-made face, or rather bust, similar to the bearded faces on bust vases, on the lower side of a tubular-shaped spout (Amand 1989, 180). There is also a pierced spout from Chester, possibly from a ring vase, in coarse orange ware with white-painted detail with an appliqué mould-made female face, similar to the faces on faceneck flagons (Alison Jones pers. comm., Chester Archaeology CHE/PP89, context 235, small find No 235).

Heads:

12

310

Two handled grey jars, some with frilled rims, with small projecting heads on the shoulder (Fig. J19: 4-6) c. 23 cm. Hard dark grey ware, or brownish grey, except for the Heybridge fragment which is in a pinkish orange fabric with a grey-black colour coat. Sometimes notched cordons on the shoulder, on top of which the head would be placed. Normally solid, and made with a mould, but at least one head is pushed out into a negative mould (No 5); some are bearded,

Green 1978, Pl. 92.

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART IV others obviously female; three beardless heads with pointed cap (Lower Hacheston (No 6), Heybridge and Colchester). East Anglia and the Wall area 23 (1c. and 22f.). Examples have been found at: Brampton 18+ (K.Knowles, unpub drawings and photos [5]; Green 1977, 67, Fig. 28: 36; Norwich Castle Museum, 3 unnumbered frags.); Caistor-by-Norwich 1f. (Atkinson’s Excavs No M.79); Caister-on-Sea 1c. (Darling 1993, 177, Fig. 147: 371) [4]; Lower Hacheston 1f. (Ipswich Museum No 965.4) [6]; Corbridge 1f. (Corbridge Museum); Heybridge (Elms Farm) 1f. (Essex Arch. Unit No HYEF 94, Archive 671). Kiln site (Brampton). Third to fourth century.

cum-Wilton in Norfolk13. These male, bearded Brampton faces have something of the monkey-like quality observable in the faces of the Suffolk and Norfolk grey face jars with hair all round the face (Fig. J11), and they are also rather similar to the bearded heads on the bronze smith pot. The fragment from Hacheston with the head with a pointed cap (No 6) seems to be in the same fabric as these others and to belong to this same group. The colour-coated sherd from Heyridge however was obviously made elsewhere, but it has a very similar-looking applied head on it, though without the incised lines on the cap or the bust, and no trace of the rim of the pot has survived. Such heads could represent either Attis or Mithras, both of whom have pointed Phrygian caps and are beardless, though Attis is perhaps more likely as the cult of Mithras is not well documented in East Anglia, while several cult items relating to Attis have been found in this area14. The face of Attis can also occur as a mask, as can be seen by a terracotta mask from Pompeii with holes for the eyes and mouth15.

Only one complete or reconstructable example of this Type has been found, at Caister-on-Sea (No 4), but quite a number of heads thought to have come from such pots have come to light, mostly from Brampton where they were probably all produced. The exception is the fragment from Heybridge which is in a different, grey-black colour-coated ware possibly made at Colchester. The one complete jar is in dark grey ware with a burnished band below the face and burnished lines around the body. It is assumed that the other heads came from similar vessels. Two rims from similar pots survive which have a narrow frill or notched cordon along the lower edge of the rim. The Caister vessel just has the one projecting head, but this may not have been the rule, and some jars may have had several different heads or busts around the shoulders, as with the Bavay bust vases which have up to seven.

There is no knowing what relationship these grey jars with protruding heads had with face jars, but the fact that their form is so similar to face jar forms, and that a head is placed prominently on the shoulder, does suggest some similarity of function and significance.

Distribution:

Context: Date:

The only parallel in Britain for such vessels is the small bronze pot from a grave at Three Nun’s Bridge, Huntingdon with smith’s tools and three projecting bearded heads, possibly representations of the Smith God (No3), which has already been mentioned with regard to smith pots and smith-face jars under RB Type 21E. The third century BC Celtic face jar from Novo Mesto in Slovenia, with two handles and a projecting appliqué head on either side discussed in Chapter II, Part III, Section A2 (Fig. B14: 2), is not unlike the Caister pot, though its snake-edged handles, almost certainly derived from metal prototypes, are much more decorative. They could both be expressions of the long-lasting Celtic tradition for putting small, appliqué, masks on the necks of cauldrons and cult vessels, which continues well after the Roman period on Celtic hanging bowls. The faces on these grey-ware jars are of more classical or Roman style however, as are the heads on the bronze smith pot. But it is interesting that several of the heads such as No 5 show a bearded man with dense boss-curls all round the face which is not unlike the face masks on the ritual bronze crown found in a late fourth century deposit at Hockwold-

13

Toynbee, 1962, Cat No 128, Pl. 139. On the site of a Romano-British temple at Hockwold-cum-Wilton in Norfolk, where several ritual crowns were discovered, including the one with four face masks mentioned above, a bronze jug with a relief figure of Attis on the handle has been found and also a bronze hand holding a pine branch which could belong to the same god (Green 1976, 212, Pl. IV: a-b). From Mildenhall in Suffolk comes a bronze head of Attis (ibid 213, Pl. XXIII: b), and at Felixstowe, also in Suffolk, a steelyard weight thought to be in his image has been found (ibid, 218). 15 See Appendix V, Fig. S7: 5. 14

311

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART IV FIGURINE VASES (and Danubian “Fate Jugs”), RB TYPES 41 A-B

Fig. J17. Type 41A, No 1a-b; Type 41B, No 2; Danubian “Fate Jugs”, Nos 3-5. 1a-b, Burgh-by-Sands; 2, Leicester; 3, Vienna; 4, Gerulata Rusovce; 5, Györ. (Scale 1-4 except No 2 at 1:2)

312

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART IV CUP-NECKED FACE FLAGONS (and Rhineland face flagon), RB TYPES 41 C-H

Fig. J18. Type 41C, No 1; Type 41D, No 3; Type 41E, No 4; Type 41F, No 5; Type 41G, No 6; Type 41H, No 7; Rhineland face flagon, No 2. (Scale 1:4 except Nos 3, 6 and 7 at 1:2) 1, Corbridge; 2, Rheinzabern; 3, Verulamium; 4, Tiddington; 5, Corbridge; 6, Malton (fort); 7, Colchester

313

BRITISH FACE POTS, PART IV VESSELS WITH PROJECTING HEADS

Fig. J19. Type 42, No 1; Type 43, No 2; Type 44, Nos 4-6; Bronze Smith Pot No 3. 1a-b, Burgh-by-Sands; 2a-b, Carlisle; 3; Huntingdon; 4, Caister-on-Sea; 5, Brampton; 6, Lower Hacheston. (Scale 1:4 except Nos 2a, 3, 5 and 6 at 1:2).

314

FACE JARS AND FACE BEAKERS: ONE TRADITION OR TWO

CHAPTER TEN FACE JARS AND FACE BEAKERS: ONE TRADITION OR TWO The last chapter concludes the catalogue of face jars and face beakers of the Western Roman Empire. It now remains to look more closely at the body of face jars as a whole, and try and find answers to some of the outstanding questions, namely: 1. What was the relationship between face jars and face beakers; was there just one Italian tradition which produced face beakers in Italy and in the Danubian provinces to the east, and face jars north of the Alps, or were there originally two separate traditions, a face beaker tradition in Italy and a face jar tradition in the north which met and to some extent merged? 2. Was this tradition or were these traditions limited to the military community of soldiers, veterans, their families and other closely associated groups, or were these vessels used by the wider civilian population as well? 3. Whose were the faces depicted on them? 4. For what were the vessels used?

and western Austria. But in other areas, the two types of face pot do intermingle to a certain extent, particularly in the Rhineland, and in the provinces of the middle and lower Danube during the second and third centuries. Clearly there was a relationship of some kind between the two, as can be seen by the occurrence of face jars with face beaker faces, or of face beakers which are simply half-size versions of face jars. The question is, did all the Roman provincial face pots develop out of the one Italian face pot tradition that had its roots in Etruscan Italy, or was there a separate Late Iron Age face jar tradition still in existence in parts of Europe north of the Alps prior to the Roman invasions, which gained new life with the arrival of experienced Roman potters, interacted with the Italian face beaker tradition and to some extent merged with it? A closer look at the earliest examples of both types of face pot found in the provinces may help to answer this question. A. 1.

There are no simple answers to any of these questions, least of all to the last one. There are no references in classical literature to vessels of this kind, and no representations in painting mosaic or sculpture. None of the pots carry votive inscriptions which might offer a clue to the identity of the faces sculpted on them1, nor it seems have any been found with traces of substances in them (apart from cremated bones) which would help to indicate their function. The only information we have with which to answer these questions has to come from the pots themselves, the places where they were found, and the limited comparisons that can be made with other types of Roman anthropomorphic pottery such as head vases and mask vases, or with antefixes, marble reliefs of Bacchic masks and terracotta or metal masks.

The first known Roman face pots are face beakers and, as has been seen in Chapter III, these have all been found in Italy. The earliest examples, of second and first century BC date, come from central Italy, from more or less the same region where the Etruscan face beakers occurred two or three centuries earlier2. Though unbroken continuity into the Roman period cannot be demonstrated, it seems very likely that they are descended from the same tradition. Like the Etruscan face beakers, the Roman ones are also in fine wares, but now in the popular Early Roman “thin-walled wares”. From central Italy they seem to have spread south into Campania and north into the Po valley, becoming part, if only a very small part, of the standard repertoire of Italian thin-walled pottery of each region. In the first half of the first century AD and possibly earlier, face beakers were exported from Italy in limited numbers along with far larger quantities of other thin-walled pottery to the provinces, a few examples going to the west to civilian sites around the western Mediterranean, but mostly to the east, to sites which at that time would all have had military garrisons: to Magdalensberg and Salzburg in Noricum3 and to the Roman strongholds such as Emona, Poetovio, Siscia and Sirmium along the Sava and Drava rivers leading down to the Danube in southern Pannonia4. Some must also have been exported north of the Alps, though so far only two examples have been identified, one from northern Italy at Chur on the Alpine Rhine, and another almost certainly from Campania found at Mainz-Weisenau5. In the western Mediterranean

This chapter will attempt to answer the first question. ONE TRADITION OR TWO? So far, face jars and the much smaller face beakers have, on the whole, been treated as two separate but closely related types of vessel, though the distinction between the two begins to break down when it comes to the large face beakers of later second to third century date. The maps on Figs. K1 and K2 shows the geographical distribution of all the face jars and face beakers identified in the course of this survey. It is immediately obvious that there are rather different distribution patterns for face jars and face beakers, with far more face jars found north of the Alps, while many more face beakers occur to the south and east of them. In some regions such as Italy there are almost no face jars, while in Switzerland there are almost no face beakers, and no face beakers at all along the Upper Danube in Bavaria 1

The development of Roman face beakers

2

See Chapter II, Part I, B.3.c. A vexillation from Legio VIII is known to have been based on the Magdalensberg at the beginning of the reign of Augustus and quite possibly for longer (Alföldy1974, 65) and there was almost certainly a military unit based at the important cross-roads at Salzburg. 4 See Chapter III, IT Types 19 and 26-29. 5 IT Types 30 and 7, Figs C10: 5 and C4: 4. 3

But see Chapter XII, Note 1.

315

CHAPTER TEN

316

FACE JARS AND FACE BEAKERS: ONE TRADITION OR TWO

317

CHAPTER TEN second century in the region of the gold and silver mines in north west Spain where a military presence was maintained.

the only local copies so far identified all come from the area around Tarragona on the Catalan coast, where, they seem to die out by the end of the first century AD, if not before6, with the exception of one possible, unprovenanced example from Ampurias further north along the same coast. But to the east, where the Roman army was consolidating its hold on the new Danubian provinces of Pannonia and Moesia, local copies soon start to make their appearance on military or former military sites and face beakers continue in some areas well into the Late Roman period.

As has been seen in Chapter VIII, face beakers continue to occur in Pannonia and Moesia until the Late Roman period, though restricted mainly to sites along the Danube frontier, and also in the later province of Dacia until it was given up in c. 270. The forms vary to some extent to reflect changes in Roman ceramic traditions, and the faces also change, reflecting to some extent the influences of other local masks. In the Rhineland small numbers of face beakers of various sizes continue to occur in the second and early third centuries, but they become somewhat more common in the later Roman period, out-numbering face jars, whose numbers greatly diminish at this time except in the TrierLuxembourg region. As far as can be seen, face beakers never occur along the Upper Danube in Raetia and western Noricum, nor to the west of the Rhineland except for one isolated example with a Danubian chin found at Harfleur7. They make an occasional appearance in Britain, mostly in the first century in large sizes with Italian-style faces, though three are known of probable second to third century date, two of them with unusual, possibly Danubian-style projecting chins and three of Late Roman date showing probable Rhineland influences8.

A few locally produced face beakers also occur north of the Alps, in the Rhineland and in Britain, but these tend to be larger than the standard Italian and Danubian ones, c. 12-16 cm tall. Only four small-sized face beakers in local wares are known from the northern provinces in the first century, two from Vindonissa (RD Types 21 and 22, Fig. F4: 1-2), and one each from Köln and Nijmegen, the latter two both with faces showing signs of Danubian influence with protruding chins (RL Types 14 A-B, Fig. D6: 5-6). No evidence has so far been found for pre-Roman face beakers in the Illyrian and Danubian provinces, and there seems little doubt that the face beaker tradition was introduced there by the invading Roman armies from Italy, around the end of the first century BC and in the early years of the first century AD, predominantly from northern Italy judging by the face beaker Types that first occur. In Chapter VIII, A.1 we have seen how a succession of campaigns were led by Augustus and then Tiberius out of northern Italy, across the Julian Alps and down the Sava and Drava rivers to gain access to the middle Danube, ending in the conquest of Dalmatia, Pannonia and Moesia. Each campaign would have had to be organised from northern Italy, with Aquileia as the main supply base, and must have included a great many legionaries drawn from this region. As will be seen in Chapter XI, A.2.b, Fig. L1, the overowhelming majority of legionaries in the Roman army of the first century AD came from northern Italy, and in particular from the areas where face beakers are found. It is no surprise therefore to find exported face beakers from the Po valley basin and later local copies in most of the legionary bases on the Sava and Drava rivers and in or near other military sites in southern Noricum and Pannonia where units of the Roman army were based in the later first century BC and the first half of the first century AD.

A.2.

Face jars were not completely unknown in Italy, as can be seen by the two face jars found there so far, one from a grave in Aquileia and the other unprovenanced, possibly from Milan9 (IT Types 35-36, Fig. C12: 1-2). On the basis of their similarity to face beaker Types, the former could be of Tiberian date and the latter possibly slightly earlier. It is therefore just possible that Roman face jars, like the face beakers, could also have started in Italy, and crossed from there into western Europe north of the Alps, where for some reason they became by far the most popular type of face pot. In addition to these two face jars, there is also a small number of larger-sized face beakers from northern Italy: the glazed face beaker of probable Flavian date found at Chur (IT Type 30, Fig. C10: 5), the unusual large face beaker from Milan (IT Type 24, Fig. C9: 2), and the unprovenanced barbotine beaker in the Bologna museum (IT Type 20C, Fig. C8: 3). It seems likely however that these larger face beakers could all be of later first century date, so that while they may indicate that there was already a tendency towards bigger-size face beakers in northern Italy at this time, it is unlikely that they could have influenced the earliest face jars appearing north of the Alps in the two Germanies, in Britain and in Raetia.

There were of course traders and other people following in the wake of the army who had also come from northern Italy and they too may have used face beakers and brought some with them. But north Italian traders were also trading in the other western provinces at this time such as Gaul and Spain which were no longer under military occupation, as can be seen by the quantities of imported Arretine and thinwalled pottery to be found there. If they were the bearers of a durable face beaker tradition, one would expect to find face beaker traditions developing in these provinces too. Instead just a few rare examples occur around the Mediterranean coasts of Provence and Catalonia, soon to disappear, with just one isolated group that lasted into the

The face jar tradition cannot have started in the Rhineland any later than the second quarter of the first century AD if it was to have become well enough established for the troops that had been stationed there, in particular legiones XIIII and XX, to take it with them when they invaded Britain in 7

See Chapter V, FS Type 16, Fig. E4: 2) See Chapter IX, Part III, RB Types 37-40, Fig. J15: 1-4) Though as mentioned in Chapter III, it is possible that this is not Roman at all. 8 9

6

The development of Roman face jars

See Chapter V, FS Type 7.

318

FACE JARS AND FACE BEAKERS: ONE TRADITION OR TWO It must be said that though the forms of these early Rhineland face jars have little if anything in common with the Italian face pots, and though the occurrence of spouts on many of them is still a mystery, there is nothing in any of them (except perhaps the m-shaped eyebrows of the incomplete jar from Wiesbaden) that gives any hint of a native, pre-Roman face jar tradition from which these face jars could have developed.

AD 43. It is hard however to find much evidence for the earliest beginnings of the Roman face jar tradition in the Rhineland, firstly because only one face jar could be identified in this survey from a relatively closely dated context that is earlier than AD 69, and secondly because there seems to be a remarkable scarcity of non-standardised, experimental prototypes that could represent the earliest examples. Instead the three most popular Types of the first century – the granular grey ware face jars with barbotine decoration of RL Types 1, the dark grey face jars with frilled rims and cup-like spouts of RL Type 2B and the plain, red-colour-coated face jars of RL Type 4A - seem to emerge out of nowhere in their standardised forms and with strikingly similar faces with virtually no evidence for the first stages of development10.

The earliest face jars in Britain illustrated here in Fig. K4: 1-5 are much less standardised and there is far more variety of form and face. This may well reflect the still relatively ill-defined state of the Rhineland face jar tradition at the time of the invasion, and the fact that during the conquest campaigns the four legions and their accompanying auxilia seem to have been relatively isolated one from another and therefore probably went on to develop their own independent versions of the tradition during the early years of the occupation, particularly those on the western side of Britain who may have received few if any of the fresh troops from the Rhineland sent out in 61 to make up the losses sustained during the Boudiccan rebellion12.

Just two face jars seem to stand out as possible prototypes, both listed in the Rhineland Catalogue under RL Type 2A. One is the unusual face jar from Neuss with its large, cupshaped spouts, its unique medallion-stamped face that might represent a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, and its deep rim that is only frilled along the lower edge illustrated here in Fig. K3: 1. This is in fact the one face jar identified from a pre-mid first century context, from a rich grave which among the many grave goods contained a terrasigillata bowl dated to c. AD 40. The other is the incomplete and undated jar found at the bottom of a well at Wiesbaden (Fig. K3: 2) with its large, crudely formed tubular spouts, its unique rim with zig-zag notching, and the remains of a large, m-shaped face with D-shaped “ears” attached to the outside of the eyebrows, a face that is quite different from all the other faces on the spouted face jars of RL Type 2. Both these face jars, and in particular their faces, have nothing in common with the Italian face jars and face beakers.

The two earliest face jars that can be reasonably closely dated are from the early fortresses at Kingsholm (Gloucester) and at Usk (Nos 1-2) of RB Types 1A and 2, both now thought to have been occupied consecutively by legio XX during the early conquest campaigns after it had left its first base at Colchester, the first between c. 48-56 and the second from c.56-6713. The Kingsholm piece (No 1) shows clear signs of Italian and Rhineland influence with its Italian-style raised, notched eyelids and its Rhenish phallus and beard. The Usk face jar with its spouts and frilled rim (No 2) also bears a close relationship to Rhineland face jars, though its staring, ear-less face is in fact a composite of several fragments from different jars14 and is too lacking in detail to be very indicative. Fragments of somewhat similar face jars with spouts, listed under the same RB Type 1A, have been found in what was almost certainly a fort by the river Thames at Staines in deposits which were at first thought to be of Neronian date, though it is now deemed more likely that they date from the early Flavian period (No 3). These however have much smaller, more compact faces placed high up on the shoulder of the jar close to the rim. A fragment from what appears to be a very similar jar comes from Flavian deposits in London15. Spouted jars with even smaller or more abbreviated faces (Nos 4-5) have been found at the site of the second fortress at Gloucester, which later became a veteran colony, in wares that are dated to the last half or to the last quarter of the first century16. The faces on these latter face jars appear

The situation is very different by the time of the next closed context identified for face jars in the Rhineland, namely the Claudian turf fort at Hofheim which was originally thought to have been destroyed in AD 51, but its destruction is now attributed to the Civilis uprising of 6911. Four face jars have been found here, all of different Types (RL Types 1, 2B, 6 and 20A) shown here in Fig. K3: 3-6. With the exception of the fragmentary jar with tubular spouts (No 5), the faces of these jars now all show unmistakable signs of Italian influence: they are large and spread out across the body of the pot, as on the Italian face beakers, and they bear quite a close resemblance to either the “serene” mask with its widely arched eyebrows and small coffee bean eyes (Nos 34) or the beak-nosed mask with its big nose, heavy notched eyebrows and large eyes with raised eyelids (No 6). The former two however now have pellets in the eyes and applied phalli placed (somewhat impressionistically in the case of No 3) on the cheeks, as on so many Rhineland first century face jars, while the latter has a notched beard, a feature not found on Italian beak-nosed masks.

12

See Chapter IX, Pt I, Note 20. There seems to be a general consensus on these dates, give or take a year or two, though the evidence is still largely circumstantial (see Manning 2000, 71, Fig. 7.1 and Hassall 2000, 61, Tables 6..9 and 6.10). For more detailed dating of the face pots see under the individual Types in Chapter IX, Pt. I. 14 K. Greene 1999, pers. comm. 15 See Chapter IX, Pt I, RB Type 1A(Fig. J2: 4) 16 See Chapter IX, under RB Types 1 A and B. 13

10 More detailed research into little known or unpublished material from recent excavations could well change this picture, but has been beyond the scope of this survey. 11 Baatz and Herrmann 1982, 354.

319

CHAPTER TEN

Early face jars from the Rhineland

Fig. K3.

RL Type 1, No 3; Type 2A, Nos 1-2; Type 2B, No 4; Type 6, No 6; Type 20A, No 5 1, Neuss; 2, Wiesbaden; 3-6, Hofheim. (Scale 1:4)

320

FACE JARS AND FACE BEAKERS: ONE TRADITION OR TWO Early face jars from Britain and Raetia

Fig. K4. British face jars: RB Type 1A, Nos 2-4; RB Type 1B, No 5; RB Type 2, No 1. Raetian face jars: UD Type 1, No 6; UD Type 2, No 7; UD Type 3, No 8. 1, Kingsholm; 2, Usk; 3, Staines; 4-5, Gloucester; 6, Burghöfe; 7-8, Faimingen. (Scale 1:4) 321

CHAPTER TEN

traded face jars of RB Type 31A from the Much Hadham potteries22.

to have little if anything in common with the Italian face pot faces, and almost certainly reflect local or at any rate nonItalian influences. They are in sharp contrast to the clearly Italianate beak-nosed faces on the large-size face beakers of first century date found in Britain of RB Types 6-1017, and to the large and centrally placed “serene” face masks on the early spouted face jars from Usk (No 2) and on the spoutless face jars of RB Types 3 A-D18. Such influences could represent a separate face pot or face mask tradition native to Britain which was already in existence before the Roman invasion, or one that was introduced by non-Italian auxiliary troops from other provinces. It is not possible however, with the material at present available, to separate the two sets of influences from each other to show whether one pre-dated the other as far as the development of British face jars is concerned, nor, for the most part, whether either can be particularly identified with either legionary or auxiliary troops in Britain19.

It is clear from the above that in the Rhineland and particularly in Britain, non-Italian native influences played a part in the development of face jar traditions, but so intertwined are they with the Italian face masks introduced by the Roman legionaries23 that it is impossible to discern which provided the key stimulus for the development of the Roman face jar tradition north of the Alps. There is one region however with a well developed face pot tradition in the first and early second centuries, where no face beakers are known and where no trace of Italian or Rhineland influence can be detected either in the forms or the faces of the face jars. This is the stretch of the Upper Danube in the province of Raetia where three separate face jar Types of the first and second centuries of UD Types 1-3 are found that are quite different from either the Rhineland or British face jars (see below in Fig K4: 6-8)24. The face jars of UD Type 1 (Fig. K4: 6) are the only Raetian ones to have spouts (and handles), but those of UD Types 2 and 3 are also of a distinctly local, pitcher-shaped form, with faces that are quite different from those of Italian face jars and face beakers. The earliest face jars are all from military sites, as is the case with face pots in all the other provinces, but a crucial difference in Raetia’s military garrison is the absence of any legionary troops. The forts of the Upper Danube were occupied only by auxiliary units, and no legion is believed to have been stationed in the province from c.16 AD, when Legio XIII was transferred to the new fortress at Vindonissa, until the beginning of the Marcomannic wars in the later second century25. Only towards the end of the second century, after reinforcements and two new legions had been urgently drafted in by Marcus Aurelius, do face jars in Roman ceramic forms start to appear with faces closer to Italian, Rhineland and middle Danubian face masks, though there are still no face beakers. The Raetian face jars of the first and early second century would seem then to provide us with the clearest indication so far that Roman face jars could develop without any obvious connection with the Italian face beaker tradition. Other influences and traditions must, it seems, have been operating, and these could only have come from either the local tribes, or from some of the auxiliary units who were manning the forts. Similar influences were almost certainly present in the Rhineland and in Britain but at present it is virtually impossible to make a clear distinction between them and the Italian influences of the legions.

As regards the later development of face jars in the Rhineland and in Britain, the Italian influences continue strongly in the Rhineland, as has been seen in Chapter IV, Part II, with two dominant face mask types both seemingly of Italian origin, the serene mask with small features and widely arched eyebrows that is found on many of the Campanian and central Italian face beakers which is far away the most common face mask in the Rhineland, and the grotesque beak-nosed mask of the Aquileia-type face pots which is less widespread but well represented in the middle Rhineland. One or two other face masks of probable nonItalian origin continue alongside these two in the Rhineland, such as the “Celtic” m-shaped mask already present on the early spouted jar from Wiesbaden (Fig. K3: 2) which crops up from time to time on a number of different Types, though mainly on first century and early second century face pots, and the more common, compact, and bearded mask placed on the shoulder of most of the spouted face jars of RL Types 20 A-B20. This latter seems to represent a combination of the Rhineland serene mask, minus the phalli and the pellets in the eyes and mouth, and a more compact and abbreviated local bearded mask. In Britain however the large faces with Italian features of the Neronian period soon disappear, giving way to more compact and frequently bearded face masks placed on the shoulder, very similar at first to those of the Rhineland spouted face jars just mentioned21. Meanwhile the skimpy abbreviated faces squashed up against the rim of the early face jars from Staines and Gloucester also continue in a few corners of the south east such as the Verulamium region or Kent, emerging again strongly in the fourth century in the widely

22 See Chapter IX, Part I, Fig. J 2, I and 6;, Part II, Fig. J7; and Part III, Fig. J14: 3-5. 23 The Italian face masks must obviously have been introduced by legionaries from northern Italy or the Danube, but given that only one imported Italian face beaker has been identified in this survey, it seems likely that they must have been introduced through some other medium as well as face pots. 24 This is not to forget the one face beaker that has been found in Raetia, namely the imported green glazed beaker of of IT Type 30 or UD Type 9 found at Chur. But Chur is far from the Danube, situated high up on the Alpine Rhine north of Vindonissa, and was exposed to quite different cultural and military influences. 25 See Chapter VII, A.3.

17

See Chapter IX, Pt I, Fig. J4 Ibid, Fig J3: 2-5. 19 This is not the case with the early, large, beak-nosed face beakers of RB Types 6-10 however, where it seems quite possible that most if not all of them were associated specifically with legionary troops, in particular those of legio VIIII (see Chapter XI, Part I, J.2). 20 See Chapter IV, Pt II, Fig. D10: 1-3. 21 These are most clearly seen on the handled face jars of RB Types 13B and 13D at Colchester and London. 18

322

FACE JARS AND FACE BEAKERS: ONE TRADITION OR TWO group in Anhalt Saxony, not so far from Bavaria. Face pots with faces very similar to the small, compact faces of the early Raetian face jars of UD Types 1 and 11 were being produced in Hessen in free Germany yet closer to Bavaria in the second or third centuries to judge by the face pot fragment found at Maden in Hessen32. The southerly migration of tribes in Germany during the later Iron Age could have brought face urn-using peoples into the regions of the Upper Rhine and Danube. This is also the area where the Early La Tène Celtic metal-work masks have been found, and the long, dotted, outward-spiralling eyebrows of UD Type 2 face jars are very similar to some of the Celtic “Hathor-lock” masks33. The faces on both Types could therefore reflect local mask traditions. In this area, where Italian faces do not appear to have penetrated until later, these native faces and also local ceramic forms last well into the second century.

As has been seen in Chapter II, there were a number of related Early and Middle Iron Age face urn cultures in parts of northern Europe26, and though these had largely disappeared from the archaeological record by the Late Iron Age, there is evidence for the possible continuation of these traditions in the rather rare face urns of Roman Iron Age date found in Denmark and the one face fragment of similar date found at Maden in North Hessen in free Germany, as well as in the much more frequent eye urns in Romanised ceramic forms found in the Lowlands to the east and west of the Rhine delta in native cemeteries of the first to the third century AD27. The custom of using face jars or eye urns could have been picked up from the local inhabitants by the auxiliary garrisons of the Rhine delta forts, and spread into other regiments from there. More likely perhaps is it that auxiliary troops recruited from the tribes inhabiting the marginal marshlands of the North Sea coast from the Rhine delta area to north eastern France where eye urns occur28, could have brought such a tradition with them to the military garrisons or expeditionary forces where they were sent. Auxiliary units from the Batavi, Frisiavones, Menapii29, Nervi, and Tungri, all of which seem to have come from this general area, are attested in Britain30, though it is not known how many of them were in the original invasion army, apart that is from the Batavi who are known to have been associated with legio XIIII and may well have come over with them in AD 4331. The skimpy, schematic faces, often with no eyebrows, ears or mouth that occur on some of the face jars from Britain, particularly the early spouted face jars of RB Types 1A and 1B, or on the face jar from Boulogne and on some of those from the Bavay region could well be a reflection of this latent North Sea face jar tradition. It would only have been a relatively small step to replace the simple eye dents or barely recognisable faces with the more overtly anthropomorphic and Romanised face masks already becoming familiar to soldiers in the Rhineland, of which the earliest example might be the face jar with a stamped medallion face from Neuss (Fig. K3: 1).

The spouts on west Roman face jars are an enigma. However, like the frilled rims, notched cordons and handles found on so many provincial Roman face jars, they appear to be features associated with cult vessels such as Roman snake pots34 or other rare vessels like ring vases, and may have had no original association with face jars at all35. The only precedents that can be identified in western or central Europe are a few rare cauldron-type vessels of the Hallstatt D period from the upper Rhine and Slovenia, with four or eight spouts on the neck or shoulder, almost certainly all designed for some kind of cult use, and quite possibly derived from metal vessels. They appear to be closely related to the Greek kernoi36. No examples seem to be known of Late Iron Age date, but given the number of Roman face jars and snake vases with spouts in the Rhineland and Britain and to a lesser extent on the Upper Danube, and given the fact that so many of the earliest face jars have spouts, it is not impossible that some kind of tradition involving cult vessels with spouts, perhaps made mostly of bronze, may have continued in central and western Europe up to the Roman period. Why the number of spouts should have been reduced to three or only two is not clear, but it is the same on the snake pots and on most of the few plain jars that have spouts, some of them with handles as well.

On the Upper Danube, rather different native-type faces occur on the early face jars, with much more pronounced eyebrows, either of the compact m-shaped type with a short stubby nose, or long and down-drooping with out-curling ends, though again often without mouths or ears (Fig. K4: 6-7). These could imply a separate face mask or face pot tradition or a later development of the same North European Iron Age Face Urn Culture which, as can be seen from the map on Fig. B6 in Chapter II, included a more southerly

As has been seen from the above, there is unfortunately no convenient, clear-cut evidence for a well established face jar tradition of the late first century BC and early first century AD in areas of northern Europe from where Roman auxiliary soldiers were recruited or where the Roman army of the Rhine and Upper Danube came to be stationed, as there is in the case of the Italian face beaker tradition which occurs in just those areas of northern Italy from where the bulk of the Italian legionary soldiers were recruited in the first century and where many of them were based for a while before or during the Danubian campaigns37. Further research into the Danish Roman Iron Age face jars and the

26

See Chapter II, Part III, A.3, Fig. B12 and map on Fig. B6 See Chapter V, Group C2, FS Type 27, Fig. E3: 3-4. 28 As well as the occasional Romano-Belgic jar or amphora with a small schematic face scratched on, or applied to, a handle or rim (see Chapter V under FS Type 27). 29 The Frisiavones were believed to have come in recent memory from the other side of the Rhine delta, where their presumed relatives the Frisii continued to dwell (Wightman 1985, 54, map on pages xii-xiii), and the tribe of the marsh-dwelling Menapii, according to Caesar (de Bello Gallico, IV, 4) extended eastwards from north Belgium along the coast beyond the Rhine mouth. 30 Holder 1982, 111-122. 31 Tacitus, Hist. I, 59 and ii, 66.The Batavi would be the ideal candidates for introducing or influencing the face jar tradition in the Roman army, as far more auxiliaries were recruited from them than from any other native tribe in Europe– nine cohorts and one ala (Derks and Roymans 2002, 87). 27

32

Chapter II, Fig. B12: 7. See Chapter II, Part III, A.1, Fig. B13: 3-5 and 7. 34 See Appendix VI. 35 Spouts are further discussed in Chapter XIII, A.1.b. 36 See Chapter II, Part III, C. 37 See next chapter, Pt I, A.1-2, Fig. L 1. 33

323

CHAPTER TEN to answer the last question, concerning the use of face pots. The fact that faces from Italian face beakers could be placed on northern face jars and vice versa implies that the two traditions must from the outset have had quite a lot in common, in particular as regards the significance of the face masks placed upon the pots. These masks almost certainly belonged to a popular Italian mask tradition that found expression on the face beakers but also existed quite independently of them, and it was this popular mask tradition, as much as the face beakers themselves, which was taken by the Italian legionaries into the provinces. The fact that both Italian and native masks can occur on face jars, (and on face beakers in the Danubian provinces) is evidence that compatible local face mask traditions already existed in the provinces, though in some regions more than in others. One of the few clues to the identity or significance of the enigmatic native face masks is the apparent ease with which they can replace, or be replaced by, an Italian mask, but this brings us to the complex problem of the identification of face pot masks, and is best left to Chapter XII.

eye-urns of northern Holland and Belgium, and also into tribal movements along the German North Sea coast and on either side of the Rhine delta during the Late Iron Age, might yield some vital clues. But one of the main reasons for the lack of evidence could well be the general shortage of pottery among the Roman native populations in this part of Europe before the Roman conquest. It is doubtful that any face pot and face mask traditions would have been primarily expressed in durable pottery at this time, and they are much more likely to have found expression mainly in perishable organic materials, on containers and other objects made of wood, birch bark, leather and textiles, such as are still made in northern Russia and other parts of the world today. Convincing evidence for such traditions just may not have survived. It may only have been the contact with Roman pottery-making that brought these traditions to the surface in the archaeological record, so that the earliest ceramic face jars on the Rhine and the Upper Danube could in fact be the Roman Iron Age face urns of Denmark and free Germany, the Romano-Belgic eye urns of the Lowlands, and the early Roman face jars of the provinces of Germany, Britain and Raetia that we already know.

Before that however, we need to continue the discussion of the connection between face pots and the Roman army into which we have already been led by the examination of the origins of Roman face jars and face beakers, and this is the subject of the next chapter.

Conclusions On the basis of the present evidence then, it seems that originally there must almost certainly have been two or more separate traditions, one from Italy involving the use of face beakers, and at least one other from the Lowlands and north-west Germany (and just possibly from Bavaria as well) involving the use of containers with face masks on them, made of pottery or other materials, which also served as receptacles for cremated bones.. The Italian face beaker tradition can be seen to have had close links with legionaries recruited from northern Italy, while the first face jars in the Rhineland and Raetia may have been connected primarily with native, north European tribes, at least in the early stages, and very possibly ones that had been recruited into the auxilia. The existence of the two large face jars in northern Italy remains a puzzle. It is conceivable that they are somehow related to the earlier canopic urns or face jugs of the Etruscans, but a more likely explanation may be that they were the result of influences from north of the Alps, possibly introduced by veterans returning from service in Germany, though in that case the provisional dating of the jar with ear-rings (IT Type 35) to the Augustan period may need to be revised or the jar may prove not to be Roman at all. Though originating in different countries and almost certainly connected with different functions, the face beaker and the face jar traditions merged, first and most obviously in the Rhineland at sites like Vindonissa, Mainz and Hofheim, and in Britain at Gloucester and Usk, and then later in Pannonia, Moesia and Dacia as troops were transferred from the Rhineland and Britain at the end of the first century and the beginning of the second. There must always have been a difference in function between face jars and face beakers, given their different sizes, and this is discussed in greater detail in Chapter XIII, which attempts 324

THE MILITARY CONNECTION, PART I

CHAPTER XI THE MILITARY CONNECTION As has been seen in the last chapter, and in Chapters IV to IX describing the development of Roman face pots in the provinces, the earliest face beakers and face jars have all been found on military sites, and the evidence suggests that it was primarily the Roman army, or rather some units of it, who introduced both face beakers and face jars into the European provinces.

and the Roman army to see if it is possible to identify any particular legions or auxiliary units which were mainly responsible for the initial introduction of face pots into the different provinces; and secondly, in Part II, to look at the spread of face pots after the conquest campaigns, to see to what extent they appear to have been adopted by the civilian inhabitants of the provinces concerned. The movements of the individual legions involved are summarised in Appendix II, together with tables of the fortresses they occupied and the approximate duration of their occupation.

The purpose of this chapter therefore is twofold: firstly, in Part I, to explore in greater detail the connections between the early face pots, and in particular the early face beakers,

PART I Early links between face pots and the legions and auxiliary units of the Roman army A.

ITALY

1.

Links between face beakers and Italian legionary recruits

BC, and particularly in northern Italy, and at the subsequent development of legionary recruitment policies. A.2. Veteran settlement and legionary recruitment in Italy

In the last chapter we have seen how the development of face beaker traditions in the Danubian provinces and the introduction of Italian face masks on Roman face jars north of the Alps was closely connected with, indeed dependent upon, the presence of Roman legions in the provinces concerned and how, where they were not stationed, as in Raetia, face beaker traditions did not develop, nor did Italian-type face masks occur. Mention was also made in section A.1 of the last chapter of the fact that the early first century AD face beakers of northern Italy occur in just those regions of the country where the highest numbers of legionaries were recruited during the first century AD. So far the fact that the majority of Italian face beakers have been found in northern Italy and that the series of campaigns to conquer the new provinces of Dalmatia, Pannonia and Moesia all started from this region has been seen as reason enough to explain the occurrence of north Italian face beakers on military sites on the river routes down to the Danube, and the subsequent appearance of local copies in Pannonia and Moesia based upon them. There are reasons however to believe that there may have been a closer connection between these face beakers and the legions who fought in the Balkan campaigns and went on to garrison the new provinces.

Roman expansion into northern Italy or into what was to be known as the province of Italia Cisalpina only began at the end of the third century BC. Previous to that the Etruscans had set up a trading empire in the Po valley during the sixth century based on a federation of twelve cities, most of them former Villanovan foundations, the furthest north being Melzo situated in or close to modern Milan. Towards the end of the fifth century, as Rome began to take over Etruscan dominated territories in the south, the first Celtic invasions began in the north and by the early fourth century various groups of invading Celtic tribes had established themselves in the Po valley and to the west and south of it. At the end of the third century BC, the Romans, who had taken over all the former Etruscan cities in central Italy, advanced into the Po basin, destroyed the Celtic Insubrian stronghold Mediolanum (Milan), and set up their first colonies at Placentia and Cremona. Then followed the defeat of the Celtic Boii, who had taken over the former Etruscan city of Felsina, which was turned into a Latin colony Bononia (Bologna) in 189 BC, with further colonies founded at Mutina, Parma, Pisa and Luna. The colony of Aquileia at the head of the Adriatic was founded in 180 BC. Rome now controlled the whole of former Etruscan northern Italy, and the Po valley region between the Appenines and the Alps was made into the province of Cisalpina . The defeated Celts were progressively driven out and Italians from the south, including many Romans, encouraged to settle there.

What has not been discussed in any detail up to now is the situation that existed in northern Italy in the second half of the first century BC when face beaker traditions were just developing in this region. For this we need to take a closer look at the large-scale programmes of veteran settlement that took place in Italy in the later half of the first century 325

THE MILITARY CONNECTION, PART I

326

THE MILITARY CONNECTION, PART I About 121 BC the province of Narbonensis or Transalpina, in the area of southern France now roughly covered by the modern region of Provence, was acquired by Rome by skirting the Alps along the Ligurian coast and advancing up the Rhône valley. This ensured a safe land route from Cisalpina to Spain. In 100 BC, following the eventual defeat of the Germanic invaders from Jutland, the Cimbri and Teutones, a Roman colony, very probably of veterans, was set up at Eporedia (modern Ivrea), in the furthest north west corner of the Po valley plain, close to the Grand St Bernard pass1, and in 77 BC Scipio founded a colony at Como, well placed to command the approaches to the Ticino and Adda valleys leading into the Alps. This was reenforced with another 5,000 settlers by Julius Caesar in 582, but any further plans for Alpine conquest were then overtaken by his campaigns to conquer Gaul. Following the conquest, and again after the civil wars that then ensued, huge number of veterans were given land to settle in Italy between 47 and 14 BC, as well as in the provinces, entailing the foundation of many new colonies and the expansion of former ones, particularly in Cisalpina, but also in the rest of Italy.

sites with more than one inscription are concerned is the number of legions involved. In the south there seem to have been far fewer legions per site and only once, at Benevento, are as many as three mentioned6, suggesting just one or two settlement phases, while on those northern sites where sufficient inscriptions survive there is a far broader spread, with veterans from five legions at Cremona and from nine separate legions at Este7. It is of course impossible to draw any serious conclusions from such very limited evidence, but the impression gained is that on sites in the south veteran settlement was of more limited duration whereas in the north it was a continuing process lasting well into the first century AD. Evidence for the planned allocation of land to veterans can also be seen in the extensive traces of centuriation that are still visible in the landscape of northern Italy today or rather which were still visible 50 years or so ago8 (see Fig. L1). Such evidence is hard to date, and not all of it can belong to this period, but given the relatively limited amount of planned Roman settlement in the area before the mid first century BC other than in the established colonies, it is thought that a lot of it very probably does. This reveals not only that the original grids for some of the earlier colonies were considerably enlarged at this time, but it suggests that other cities and towns in the north, such as Milan, Verona, Vicenza, Mantua and Altino which had never been colonies or Roman foundations must very probably also have been obliged to accept veteran settlers along with the official teams of land surveyors and distributors who preceded them. In the case of Mantua we have supporting evidence from Vergil whose family lost their property there during the particularly ruthless programme of land confiscations that accompanied the settlement of veterans after the battle of Philippi in 41 BC. A survey of the centuriation in the area of Cremona, Mantua and Brescia9 revealed that the grid of the re-founded colony of Cremona had slightly larger squares than that of the earlier foundation, from which it was possible to see that the new territorium of Cremona extended right across the plain to the walls of Mantua, ensuring the confiscation of all large land holdings there. It also took in part of the territory of Brescia, which did not become a colony until the settlement programme following the battle of Actium in 30 BC, when it seems that it won back the territory lost to Cremona10. After 13 BC Augustus is thought to have abolished the system of land grants in Italy in favour of cash allocations11, though this would not

a) Veteran settlement Keppie3 makes a conservative estimate that between 47-14 BC between 130,000 and 150,000 veterans were given land grants to settle in Italy by Julius Caesar, the triumvirs and Augustus. Each land grant in effect went to a veteran and his family. Multiplying this figure by four to include wives and children provides a rough idea of the total number of people involved, giving a figure of between 520,000 and 620,000, well over half a million people. Not surprisingly the north of Italy, particularly the region north of the Po known as Transpadana into which Rome had most recently expanded, seems to have received the lion’s share. The other area of particular concentration seems to have been in the south in Campania and northern Apulia. As shown by Keppie there were two main re-settlement programmes, one after the battle of Philippi in 41 BC and the other after Actium in 30 BC in which many new colonies were created, or former colonies were re-founded. Those in north Italy are shown on the map on Fig. L1. But these provide only part of the picture, and it is clear from literary and archaeological evidence that planned settlement in Italy in the form of land-grants to discharged veterans went on both before and for some time after these two battles4. It extended to many towns that never received colonial status, or only much later, and to areas of countryside that appear to be far removed from any colony or town. Chance references in literature offer some clues, but often it is archaeological evidence that helps to fill in the picture. In particular funerary inscriptions of legionary veterans can be a valuable source of information, though their finds tend to be rather haphazard and are unevenly distributed. 90 veteran settlers can be identified this way in Italy5, but on only 74 of the inscriptions is the number of the legion legible. The most striking difference between the north and the south where

6

Ibid, 157, Fig. 8. In the south, according to Keppie, Beneventum has 22 legible tombstones, (nine of VI, eleven of XXX and two of V (those these latter may in fact belong to legio VI), Luceria has 4 (two of I and two of VI); Capua has 3 (two of X and one of VII); Teanum has 2 (both of XXXXI), and so has Hispellum (both of VIII). In the north, Ateste has 22 tombstones from nine legions, by far the highest number (five of V Urbana, five of XI, three of IIII Macedonica, three from Praetorian Cohorts, and one each of IX, XII, XIV, XV, and XIIX (sic), and Cremona has 5 (one each of II, IX Hispaniensis, 1X, IIX (sic) and XV Apollinaris). Single epitaphs are known from the following sites in the north: Bergamo, Brescia, Fano, Parma, Pisa, Pula and Porec (Parenzo). 8 Heyden and Scullard, 1959, Map 58. 9 Tozzi 1971, 9ff. 10 Details of the survey by P.Tozzi and the literary evidence are given in Keppie 1983, 90 and 190ff. 11 Ibid, 208. 7

1

Pliny , Historia Naturalis iii, 123. Keppie 1983, 206. 3 Ibid, 127 and 49 ff. 4 Ibid, 82-6. 5 Ibid, 48. 2

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THE MILITARY CONNECTION, PART I necessarily have deterred veterans from returning home, either to their family holdings or to ones that they purchased.

have kept one legion stationed there most or all of the time he was in Gaul. Aquileia was also to be the major military base for the campaigns leading to the conquest and consolidation of the Danubian provinces. Legio VIIII Hispana may have been based there for a while in the early first century AD, while vexillations of reservists (vexilla veteranorum) are recorded there from legiones XV Apollinaris and VIII Augusta, the two legions who together with the Ninth were to make up the first garrison of Pannonia18. Aquileia also happens to be the one town listed by Mann which has a higher proportion of inscriptions recording veteran settlers than recruits – 18 as compared to 6 recruits, most of them soldiers of the three legions mentioned above. None of the other towns listed by Mann have more than 3 returned veterans apart from Milan which has 10 plus 25 recruits19, and in most cases they too are from the legions based in Dalmatia and Pannonia. It is of interest that none of the known veterans who settled in Aquileia in the pre-Flavian period originally came from there, but they had all served in the Danubian provinces, mostly in Pannonia20.

b) Legionary recruitment The precedent for legionary recruitment in northern Italy was set by Julius Caesar when he recruited most of his extra nine legions from his province of Cisalpina during the conquest campaigns in Gaul12, and it became a major recruiting ground for the Roman legions in the later years of the first century BC and for much of the following century. John Mann in his invaluable study of legionary recruitment and settlement in the early Principate13 lists all the inscriptions known to him which record the recruitment or settlement of legionaries during this period. When the attested places of origin and settlement for the Italian legionaries are plotted on a map, it emerges that the overwhelming majority of them came from, or settled in, the north of Italy. Moreover, they also appear to come for the most part from just those areas where veteran settlement had taken place a generation or two earlier14. Far fewer inscriptions are recorded by Mann from the other regions of Italy where there are known concentrations of veteran settlement, namely Campania and northern Apulia, but it could be that by the first century AD this southern part of Italy was by now too far from the scene of action and that the enthusiasm to serve in remote provinces with ever fewer chances of rich spoils from conquest had already waned.

The fact that so many recruits can be seen to have come from just those areas where veterans had been settled a generation or so earlier suggests that a tradition may already have been developing, or had indeed already developed in Italy in the late first century BC and the early first century AD, for the recruitment of legionary soldiers from the families of legionary veterans, as was to be the case in Spain, and in the occupied provinces north and east of Italy some years’ later.

The map on Fig. L1 shows all the principal places of origin and retirement of Italian legionaries from the northern half of Italy during the first century AD as listed by Mann. The numbers in brackets are the numbers of recruits or returned veterans from each town15. As has already been seen each town and colony had a large territory attached, and in the case of Como and Milan from where many legionaries were recruited, their territories are believed to have extended well into the mountains as far as the northern tips of Lakes Como and Maggiore16. Aquileia with the third highest score, must have had many of the aspects of a legionary fortress. The three legions garrisoning Julius Caesar’s first two provinces, Illyricum and Cisalpina, are thought to have been stationed there before he moved into Transalpina17, and he seems to

c) Legionary settlement and recruitment and the Italian face beakers The distribution of north Italian face beakers has also been included in the map on Fig. L1 . On the whole it coincides remarkably closely with the known and presumed areas of veteran settlement and with the territories of the towns and colonies where the highest numbers of legionary recruits are recorded. It has to be said that with the exception of the Ticino lake region, these areas probably included a large part of the good arable land in the region, and no doubt most distribution maps for standard items of Roman pottery in this area at this time would have a similar distribution. However face beakers were not normally standard items, and yet they happen to occur here in this region which had a quite an unsual concentration of military families. The fact that so many military families were living in this one region, with veterans returning and recruits going off to serve in the army, must have meant that it became a fertile breeding ground for military traditions that subsequently found their way into the provinces. It seems very probable that the tradition with which face beakers were associated was one of them. So also may have been the tradition, be it theatrical, religious, military, or all three, with which the grotesque large-nosed terracotta masks such as the one from Aquileia21 were associated, if these two traditions were not

12

Caesar had twelve legions with him in Gaul by the end, numbering I and V-XIV, which meant that apart from the four he inherited he had to recruit another eight, or rather nine as his XIVth legion was lost and had to be totally replaced. They were all recruited from his provinces, mostly from Cisalpina, though it is known that one whole legion, V Alaudae, was drawn from Narbonensis (Keppie (1984, 97). It is thought that most of Caesar’s legions remained in commission under the same numbers after their return from Gaul, though some of them were amalgamated with other legions after Actium and acquired the title Gemina (ibid 132 ff.). 13 Mann 1983, Tables 1, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17 and 21. 14 It might have been expected that certain towns or colonies would tend to provide recruits for specific legions, but there is little evidence for this. The 25 legionaries recruited from Milan had served in 15 different legions. Similar percentages come from all the sites from where significant numbers of recruits are recorded: 20 legionaries from 12 different legions at Brescia; 24 from 10 legions at Verona; 16 from 13 at Bologna. 15 Epigraphic evidence for returned veterans is just a fraction of that for the recruits, which must partly reflect reality, but is also a result of the differing sources of the material. 16 Drack and Fellmann 1988, Fig. 34. 17 Keppie 1984, 81.

18

Mann 1983, 31. Milan is also thought to have served as a legionary base during Caesar’s Gallic wars. 20 Mann 1983, 31-2. 21 See Appendix V, C.6, Fig. 9: 1). 19

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THE MILITARY CONNECTION, PART I just different aspects of one general, popular, face mask tradition22.

B.

DALMATIA Legiones VII Claudia? and XI Claudia? Some face beakers must almost certainly have been introduced into Dalmatia25 by the Roman legions taking part in the conquest and occupation of Illyricum, and particularly during the occupation of the new province of Dalmatia at the end of the Pannonian War by legiones VII Claudia and XI Claudia until c.56 and 70 respectively26. However as the military occupation was short-lived and came to an end c.84, it is quite possible that no lasting face beaker traditions ever took root in this province. Both legions had taken part in the Balkan campaigns and the Pannonian War, and are therefore likely to have remained in close contact with northern Italy throughout that period. Veterans of the Eleventh are recorded at Este27. There is quite a strong possibility therefore that both legions will have included soldiers belonging to the groups who used face beakers. The Seventh legion is thought to have been based at Tilurium and the Eleventh at Burnum, so one might expect to find imported faced beakers and even local copies in and around both sites. The Seventh legion was transferred to Moesia in 56. The Eleventh stayed on at Burnum until the Civil War after which it was moved to Vindonissa. It was briefly replaced in Dalmatia by the newly raised legio IV Flavia, which was soon transferred to Singidunum c.84.

One would expect a similar situation to have existed in Campania where concentrated veteran settlement had also taken place, though a continuing connection with the army in this region is harder to demonstrate. It is the case however that the one other numerous group of Italian face beakers comes from Pompeii and Herculaeum, amounting to 12 complete pots, more than a fifth of all the face beakers found in Italy23, while the one Italian face beaker found north of the Alps at Mainz (if one excludes the one from Chur which is in the Alps), almost certainly comes from here. And though only this one export is known, it is the face mask of the Campanian one-handled face beakers with its widely arched, notched eyebrows and little nose, mouth and eyes, that seems to have provided the model for the “serene” mask north of the Alps which becomes the standard face pot mask of the Rhineland. A.3.

Links between Italian face beakers and specific legions

The connection between legionary recruits and face beakers out-lined above ought theoretically to extend to virtually all the Roman legions in the first century AD, as they all appear to have drawn at least some recruits from northern Italy. However this does not seem to have been the case, and geography, timing and other factors must have played a part. Clearly the closeness to northern Italy was an importantfactor, and it is likely that quite a high percentage of the legionaries who fought in the Pannonian campaigns had come from northern Italy, particularly where legions who had not come direct from Spain or from the east were concerned. Other legions based in the provinces further afield would already have started to recruit locally from veterans’ families or other Roman settlers, and from Romanised tribesmen, and they will have taken fewer recruits from Italy. They would also by now have developed their own well-established traditions and might therefore have been less receptive to new practices developing in Italy. Finally it needs to be stressed that face beakers or face jars were always rare items, they can never have been used by all the soldiers or citizens of any one legion or place. For instance in cemeteries in the Rhineland where face pots are present, they seem to occur on a ratio of approximately one or two in a hundred graves24. They can only have been used by small specific groups, and not all legions will have included such groups. This certainly seems to have been the case with the legions stationed in North Africa, Egypt and the Greek-speaking east where so far no face pots are known, but it also seems to have been the case with some of the legions stationed on the lower Danube, and possibly even in Britain.

As for face jars, given that no military re-inforcements were brought in from the Rhineland and Britain in the later first to second century as they were in Pannonia and Moesia, it is very unlikely that face jars were ever introduced. C.

PANNONIA Legiones VIII Augusta, IX Hispana, and XV Apollinaris (and XIII Gemina?)

Of the legions involved in the Pannonian campaigns28, three legions stand out as likely carriers of the face beaker tradition into Pannonia, legiones VIII Augusta, VIIII Hispana, and XV Apollinaris, all three of which remained behind at the end of the Pannonian War to garrison the new province. Two of them, the Eighth and the Fifteenth, are thought to been involved in the earlier Balkan campaigns to conquer the Illyrian and Pannonian tribes after the battle of Actium. The Ninth Hispana was in Spain from 30 BC29, but may have been brought over for the Balkan campaigns of 17-11 BC which ended in the creation of the new province of Illyricum. As mentioned above, all three legions appear to have had close connections with Aquileia, and soldiers 25 As explained earlier, it has not unfortunately been possible to identify with certainty any face pots in Croatia, in what was the province of Dalmatia, but two face beakers are said to be in the archaeological museum in Split. 26 Neither of these legions owe their formation or re-formation to Claudius, but gained their title Claudia Pia Fidelis after they remained faithful to Claudius during the revolt of Camillus Scribonianus in Dalmatia in AD 42 (Keppie 1984, 207 and 209). 27 Keppie 1984, 207 and 209. Unless otherwise indicated, Keppie’s (1984) excellent Appendix 2 on “The origin and early history of the imperial legions” provides much of the detail on early legionary movements given in sections B-F below. Where necessary this has been supplemented by the recent invaluable paper by Wilkes (2000). 28 See Chapter VIII, A.1. 29 Where it gained its title Hispaniensis, later shortened to Hispana (Keppie 1984, 208).

22

This question is further discussed in Chapter XII, A.2. Though of course these two sites are exceptional. Though this figure is more or less meaningless as it has been impossible to do systematic research in this area. 23 24

329

THE MILITARY CONNECTION, PART I from all three legions retired here, making up most of the 24 veterans who are listed by Mann from the town, though none of them in fact originally came from here. Two of the legions, the Eighth and the Fifteenth, are believed to have been based (or detachments from them to have been based) at all the sites where exported face beakers of the Aquileia Group30 have been found: at Emona, which was almost certainly an early base for the Fifteenth legion and where at least three veterans of the Fifteenth Legion and one from the Eighth are known from inscriptions; at Poetovio which was the base for the Eighth legion until c. AD 45; at Magdalensberg where a vexillation of the Eighth Legion may have been based in the last years of Augustus31, and could still have been there in the Tiberian period when most if not all of the face beakers found there appear to have been imported; and at Salzburg where troops from either the Eighth or the Fifteenth legion are thought to have been stationed32. No imported examples of these face beakers have so far been found on sites associated with the Ninth legion in Dalmatia or Pannonia, but in Britain a large locally produced face beaker with a grotesque face with huge nose and lips similar to the Aquileia Group beakers has been found at Lincoln in deposits associated with the Ninth Legion during the period while it was based there, and other fragmentary beak-nosed face pots may also be associated with this legion in Britain (see section J below). An earlier face beaker of probable late Augustan to early Tiberian date of IT Type 2 (DAN Type 1) comes from Siscia where the Ninth is thought to have been based for much of the late Augustan and Tiberian period until it was moved to Britain in AD 43, though there is no evidence to connect this beaker particularly with Aquileia.

D.

MOESIA: Legiones VII Claudia?, VIII Augusta? and XI Claudia?

No imported face beakers from Italy have so far been identified in Moesia. The two legions who first occupied the province of Moesia, IV Scythica and V Macedonica, are both thought to have been stationed in Macedonia from 30 BC until the Pannonian War33, and to have remained in Moesia from then onwards. Both legions would almost certainly have continued to maintain contacts with the eastern Mediterranean, drawing many if not most of their recruits from there, and hence far fewer from Italy. They may never have developed any lasting face beaker traditions. They were probably first based at Scupi (or Naissus) and Oescus respectively. Around 56, IV Scythica was sent to Syria, and replaced by VII Claudia from Dalmatia. It may well have been this Seventh legion, which was moved to Viminiacum in 70 where it was to remain until the Late Roman period, that was responsible for the spread into Upper Moesia of the tiny face beakers of DAN Type 6 (Fig. H3: 1-3). In what was to be Lower Moesia, V Macedonica remained at Oescus until it was made a colony c. 106, and was then moved to Troesmis, or part of it at least, though it seems to have maintained some kind of continuing or intermittent presence at Potaisa in Dacia. As mentioned above legio VIII Augusta was transferred in 45 from Poetovio to Novae on the lower Danube, before being moved to Strasbourg after the Civil War. As yet no evidence for locally produced face beakers of first century date have been identified along this lower stretch of the Danube. After the conquest of Dacia, legio XI Claudia which had been brought to the Danube in 101 from Vindonissa, was moved to the new fortress at Durosturum. Following its arrival, and possibly the arrival of auxiliary units which were also transferred from the west to this region at this time, face jars start appearing along the lower Danube. However those showing the clearest signs of Rhineland influence are two face jar fragments from Novae of DAN Types 32 and 33, one with a phallus and the other with what looks like a lizard on the cheek (Fig. H12: 6-7). Since the departure of the Eighth legion around 69-70, Novae had been garrisoned by legio I Italica, a legion newly raised in 70. There is little reason to connect this latter legion with face jar traditions, and these two face jars seem more likely to have been made for auxiliary soldiers transferred from the Rhine, or for veterans retired from the Eleventh legion, who may have preferred to retire at well-established Novae rather than beside their remote new fortress at Durosturum. As face jars with phalli are unknown at Vindonissa, the face jar with a phallus is more likely to have belonged to a member of the auxilia, but the face jar with a lizard could well have belonged to a veteran of legio XI. An unusually large number of mostly fragmentary snake vases, many of them decorated with frogs, lizards and scorpions and thought to be associated with the cult of Sabazius, have

VIII Augusta was moved from Poetovio to Novae in Moesia around AD 45 (see D. below) and was replaced by legio XIII Gemina from Vindonissa, which had probably already developed its own face beaker traditions (see F. below). In c. 86 the Thirteenth Legion was moved to Vienna, and together with Legio XV Apollinaris which was intermittently in Carnuntum until c. 114, may have been responsible for the first face beakers and face jars of DAN Types 9-10 and 21-22 (Figs. H4: 1-3 and H7: 1-4) that occur in these two fortresses, though these do not seem to occur much if at all before the end of the first century, and already show signs of Rhineland influence in their form and face. As seen in the previous chapter, face jars only seem to start appearing in Pannonia as military reinforcements – both legions and auxiliary units - are brought in from the Rhineland and Britain towards the end of the first century and the beginning of the second. As yet the evidence is too insubstantial and confused for the influences of any particular legion or unit to be clearly discerned.

30 Variously listed in Chapters III, VII and VIII as IT Type 19 (Fig. C7), UD Type 21 and DAN Type 2. 31 On the evidence of a funerary inscription (Alföldi 1974, 65). 32 See Chapter VII, A.2.

33

330

Keppie 1964, 206-7.

THE MILITARY CONNECTION, PART I namely the one of UD Type 1 (Fig. F2: 1)38. Legio II Augusta, which had previously been in Spain, is generally assumed to have been the first garrison of the fortress, from c. 10 until it left for Britain in 4339. It is thought likely that Strasbourg reverted to an auxiliary fort from c. 43-70, and the face pot of UD Type 1 could be of the right date to have been produced then. Legio VIII Augusta was then transferred here from Novae in 70, or possibly slightly later, to become the long-standing garrison. Given its past history (see section C above), this legion might also have been expected to bring a face beaker tradition with it, but so far no face beakers are known from Strasbourg. However face jars with the notched eyelids characteristic of many north Italian face beakers have been found here which may represent a mingling of face beaker and face jar traditions (RD Type 2, Fig. F2: 2-3).

been found at Vindonissa dating to the period when the Eleventh Legion was in occupation34. E.

DACIA

Both face beakers and face jars are found in Dacia, but too few examples have so far been identified in this province for the influences of any specific legion or auxiliary unit to be recognised. F.

THE RHINE-DANUBE CORNER: Legiones XIII Gemina, XI Claudia and VIII Augusta(?)

The only site in this region with clear evidence for first century face pots is Vindonissa, where several varied and interesting face pot fragments have been found in the legionary rubbish dump, though none of them unfortunately can be more closely dated than to the general date bracket for the dump of AD 25-101. Three legions were stationed here from the time of its foundation in c. AD 12-16 until it became a civilian settlement in 101: XIII Gemina until c.45, XXI Rapax until 70, and XI Claudia35. The Thirteenth was another of the legions involved in the Balkan campaigns from 30 BC onwards36. It took part in the Pannonian War from AD 6-9, and seems then to have been sent to the Rhineland as one of the replacements for Varus’ three lost legions, ending up in the new fortress of Vindonissa. Throughout this time it may well have drawn all or most of its recruits from northern Italy. It could be responsible for the two fragmentary small face beakers of RD Type 21 (Chapter VI, Fig. F4: 1) which may be the earliest face beakers found in the fortress rubbish dump.

It has not been possible as yet to link any specific military units with the late first to second century face jars found in the Stuttgart-Black Forest area (RD Types 11-13). G.

RAETIA

Raetia, which had no legionary garrison from c. AD 10 to c. 166, provides, as we have seen in the previous chapter, the clearest evidence that the Roman face jar tradition could develop separately from that associated with the Italian face beakers, suggesting that it may have been connected with some of the auxiliary units who were stationed there. As the earliest face jars so far identified have all been found in the forts of Günzburg, Faimingen, Heidenheim, Burghöfe and Straubing, it is quite likely that the units that occupied these five forts could have been responsible for, or connected with, the two rather different groups of early Raetian face jars of UD Types 1 and 2. It is known that Cohors II Raetorum occupied Straubing, where RD Type 2 face jar fragments have been found, after the fort’s foundation in the Flavian period40, and it is conceivable that this cohort might previously have occupied either Burghöfe, thought to have been vacated c. AD 80, or Günzburg, in both of which face jars of this type have been found. But as yet nothing seems to be known about the garrisons of either of these early forts, nor of Faimingen. The large fort at Heidenheim was not built until c. AD 90 and its first garrison was the Ala II Flavia pia fidelis milliaria. This was raised by Vespasian but it may have served first in the Rhineland and so probably arrived too late in Raetia to have had much influence on early face jar development41.

XXI Rapax which is thought to have been in north west Spain until it was moved to Xanten c. AD 9, from whence it came to Vindonissa, would seem unlikely to have been in contact with any face beaker traditions37. It may however have picked up the early vestiges of a face jar tradition while in Xanten which might then have developed into the rather unusual, bland, first century face jars found in the rubbish dump of RD Type 26 (Fig. F4: 4-5). XI Claudia which was transferred here from Burnum in Dalmatia in c. 70, has already been mentioned in B and D above. It might well have already developed a face beaker tradition, and could have been responsible for the large face beaker of RD Type 22 (Fig F4: 2) which is very like the north Italian barbotine face beaker of IT Type 20C (Fig. C8: 3), though its features are applied, not drawn in barbotine, and it has the large nose and notched eyelids and eyebrows of other IT Types such as 18 and 19 (Chapter III, Figs. C6-7). The large face jar of RD Type 25 (Fig. F4: 3) which has a similarly Italian-looking face may also have been made for a soldier of this legion.

The one face beaker from Raetia, the large green–glazed beaker of possible Claudian or Neronian date found at Chur on the Alpine Rhine in the far south west corner of the province, is thought to have come from the Ticino region just across the Alps in northern Italy (UD Type 9, Fig. G6: 5). Either an auxiliary cohort or a legionary vexillation

Just one face jar has been found in Strasbourg which could possibly, on stylistic grounds, be of first century date,

38

Now lost and known only from a drawing. See Chapter VI, Group I, A.. Baatz 1975, 280. 41 It has been beyond the scope of this survey to pursue further research into the origins and movement of auxiliary units, but this is an area that could prove fruitful where the early development of face jars is concerned, both in Raetia, the Rhineland and in Britain. 39

34

40

See Chapter VIII, under UD Type 33 and Appendix VI, B2. See Chapter VI, Group III, A.3. 36 Keppie 1984, 210. 37 Which do not seem to have started here until after the mid first century (see Chapter V, Group D, FS Type 31). 35

331

THE MILITARY CONNECTION, PART I characteristic fine light orange fabric associated with potters brought in by the Tenth legion. This legion had come from north west Spain, an area where as yet face pots do not seem to be known until after the mid first century42, but it had spent a brief period in Pannonia before coming to Nijmegen, possibly at Carnuntum where it may have replaced XV Apollinaris while it was campaigning in the east. It could perhaps have picked up some recruits or potters accustomed to using or producing face beakers while in Pannonia, though no similar face beakers, or indeed any face beakers of this early date have as yet been found in Carnuntum.

from Vindonissa must have been stationed here to control the passes into Italy. A lot of pottery was imported for the early occupants of the site, including a surprising number of glazed vessels, several of them from the Ticino region as well as the face beaker (see Chapter VI, under UD Type 9). H.

THE MIDDLE AND LOWER RHINELAND

As has been seen in Chapter X, it is more or less impossible to disentangle the intermingling of the face jar and face beaker traditions in this region, where for most of the first half of the first century six legions and a large number of auxiliary units were concentrated along the stretch of the Rhine between the coast and Mainz. Until the invasion of Britain, the six legions were based in three double fortresses, V Alaudae and XXI Rapax at Xanten, I Germanica and XX Valeria Victrix at Cologne and XIIII Gemina and XVI (Gallica) at Mainz, though the Twentieth was moved to Neuss in c. 34. Of these, four are thought to have come more or less straight from Spain and two, the Twentieth and the Fourteenth, both of which left for Britain in 43, had come from the Pannonian War having probably been involved in the Balkan campaigns for thirty years or more beforehand. No face beakers however (as opposed to face jars), can be shown to be linked specifically with either legion in the Rhineland. As far as the much more numerous face jars are concerned, the one jar that which could date to before 43 is the unusual grey spouted jar with a medallion face of RL Type 2B found with a sigillata bowl dated to c. 40 in a grave in the fortress cemetery at Neuss, where the Twentieth Legion was based until AD 43 (Figs. D3: 4 and K2: 1). This jar provides the one indication that some men in the Twentieth legion may already have been using face jars before the invasion of Britain. None of the other examples of early face jar Types can be clearly dated to before 43, and after that the troop movements caused by the invasion of Britain, together with all the general comings and goings up and down the Rhine erase virtually all the evidence for regional developments and we find very similar face jars occurring from Xanten to Mainz.

J.

BRITAIN Legiones IX Hispana, XIV Gemina and XX Valeria Victrix

J.1. Britain is the one province which offers a chance of observing the introduction of both face jar and face beaker traditions at a very early stage of their development. And due to the presumed wide dispersal of the four legions and their accompanying auxilia during the conquest campaigns which lasted over forty years, we have the chance of possibly linking specific types with particular legions brought over at one point in time from three different regions of the Empire, the middle Rhineland, the upper Rhineland, and from southern Pannonia, all with possibly varying face jar or face beaker traditions. Even here however, it is impossible to distinguish with any degree of certainty between the legions and the individual auxiliary units, as so often they seem to have been stationed together. Four legions invaded Britain in 43, along with what is thought to be an equivalent number of auxiliary troops: II Augusta, VIIII Hispana, XIIII Gemina, and XX Valeria Victrix. Their presumed conquest campaigns from 43 to 84 have been described in Chapter IX, Pt. I. A.1-2. Fig. L2 shows the face beakers and the face jars of known or probable first century date plotted on a distribution map of the forts and fortresses in Britain south of Hadrian’s Wall, and roughly indicates where the four legions are thought to have campaigned. As might be expected, all the early face pots occur on the sites of known or assumed forts or fortresses43.

The one area where it might be possible to identify the beginnings of an early auxiliary face jar tradition with little or no legionary influence is in the Rhine delta area in the early forts along the Wahl, where the grey spouted face jars of RL Type 2A may conceivably have developed, and further research into the early garrisons of these forts could be profitable.

42

See Chapter VI, under FS Type 31. It must be emphasised that the British distribution maps on Figs. L1, and L3 – L4, like all the others in this study, are inevitably based on what is bound to be very haphazard evidence - the chance survival of fragments of what must always have been relatively rare pots - with often just one fragment found on a site. One new find in an area previously blank can significantly alter the picture. Where larger numbers are concerned, as in the London-Verulamium area and at Colchester, Canterbury, Gloucester and York, it is hard to know to what extent these comparatively high numbers are a true reflection of the situation in antiquity in comparison to other sites or how much is due to the fact that these cities have been subject to continuous development ever since the nineteenth century, and particularly in recent years when development has increasingly gone hand in hand with archaeological supervision and rescue excavations. Conversely, in the case of the apparent absence of face jars in most of north-west Britain and Wales, there is no way to calculate how much this is just the result of lack of development and excavation. However as the numbers are so much greater in London and Colchester than in other cites such as Silchester and Chichester which have so far revealed none at all, this probably does not affect the broader picture as far as the large towns in Britain with Roman foundations are concerned. 43

It is also in the northern Rhineland, at Nijmegen, that two face beakers, one large and the other small, have been found that can be linked to one specific legion. Both come from the fortress cemetery from graves dated to the occupation of the fortress’ first garrison, legio X Gemina, which was there from c. 70-104. The large beaker, of RL Type 13 (Fig. D7: 5) has a face that reveals an extraordinary mixture of Italian and Rhineland features including a long nose that has been turned into a phallic spout, a grinning mouth and two phalli on the cheeks. The small one of RL Type 14 (Fig D6: 6) is much closer in form and face to the Danubian face beakers having a pushed-out, bearded chin. They are both in the 332

THE MILITARY CONNECTION, PART I J.2. Legio VIIII Hispana As we have seen above, this legion had probably been involved in the western Balkans since c. 20 BC, and was one of the three legions to garrison the new province of Pannonia. It is thought to have been stationed at Siscia before coming to Britain, and before that it may have been based for a while at Aquileia around the end of the first century BC. Its soldiers are unlikely to have had any knowledge of face jars before their arrival in Britain, but some of them at least must have been acquainted with face beaker traditions. After the capture of Camolodunum, this legion is thought to have campaigned northwards up the eastern side of Britain. It is not very surprising therefore to find face beakers in red oxidised fabrics with large grotesque features somewhat similar to those of the Aquileia group, though of rather larger size, at Lincoln where it was first based and also possibly at York where it moved in the early seventies (Chapter IX, Pt I, RB Types 6B and 8B, Fig. J4: 2 and 5). Another fragment from what could have been a large red face beaker has been found in the early Flavian fort at Hayton which is thought to have been founded by Cerialis at the head of his former legion, the Ninth, in 71. It is tempting to see the other two early face beakers from Colchester and London of RB Types 6 and 9, as also being connected with this legion, the most likely being the grotesque face beaker from Colchester of RB Type 6A, (Fig. J4:1a-c). It is not totally inconceivable that it was the Ninth and not the Twentieth Legion which was first stationed in the new fortress at Colchester44. More likely perhaps is it that part of the Ninth Legion could have been stationed at Colchester for a while after the Boudiccan revolt, to oversee the re-building, and the allocation of garrisons to the new forts in east Anglia. Alternatively the beaker could have belonged to a veteran of the Ninth who retired there. The London fragment, with very large, Italianlooking, pierced ears (RB Type 9, Fig.J4: 6), comes from the Billingsgate area, in the vicinity of the Roman port and close to where the road alignments suggest the Roman bridge must have stood. Perhaps a detachment from the Ninth could have been stationed in London for a while after AD 50 when the building of the town seems to have first started, guarding and building the port and starting on the bridge. Part of a samian platter of Flavian date with a graffito of legio VIIII on the foot-stand45 as well as stamped tiles of the legion have been found in London.

squashed up against the rim (see last chapter, Fig. K4: 2-5) all lie along this route and are quite possibly connected with this legion or with its accompanying auxilia. They are found at Gloucester in the fabric associated with the Kingsholm fortress as well as in a slightly later fabric in the cemetery of the colonia where veterans of the Twentieth Legion could well have been buried, and again at Usk in Neronian deposits46. They have also been found in early deposits in what was almost certainly a fort or its vicus at Staines close to the bridge over the river Thames, and one sherd is known from Billingsgate beside the Thames in London. Perhaps detachments from both the Ninth and the Twentieth legions, or an auxiliary unit attached to the Twentieth, were based in London for a while soon after the invasion, together or consecutively. As we have seen above, men of the Twentieth legion may already have been using spouted face jars while still at Neuss, so it would not be surprising to find this legion or its auxilia associated with spouted face pots (see last chapter, Fig. K3: 1). These early red jars do not look much like the Neuss jar or indeed much like each other, but with the face jar tradition still in its very early stages when the legion left Neuss for Britain, standardised types had almost certainly not yet developed. The faces vary from a very skimpy barely perceptible mask squashed up against the rim with no trace of Italian influence, to the much larger, more complete and better modelled faces of the Usk face jars. We can’t know if these jars were made for legionaries or auxiliaries, and they may well have been made for both. It would be very useful to know which, if any, auxiliary units were closely associated with the Twentieth legion (see J.6 below). The one other face pot that is very likely to be connected with the Twentieth Legion given its early fabric, but which is completely different from the spouted jars, is the fragmentary jar of RB Type 2 found in the cemetery outside the early Kingsholm fortress site at Gloucester. This shows clear signs of Italian and Rhineland influence with its notched eye-lashes and eyebrows, bobbly teeth in the mouth, stabbed beard, and a phallus on the cheek, as well as a uniquely placed phallus on the rim. Given that the Kingsholm fortress is thought to have been vacated by the Twentieth legion in AD 56 or 57, and that the face jar is in the fabric associated with the legionary occupation of the site, this is the one face pot so far found in Britain that has a good claim to be of pre-Boudiccan date.

J.3. Legio XX Valeria Victrix The Twentieth Legion is thought to have campaigned due westwards towards south Wales probably occupying fortresses at Kingsholm (Gloucester) and Usk before moving to Wroxeter to replace legio XIIII in 66 or 67. It reached its final base at Chester c. 87. The red face jars with spouts of RB Types 1 A-B, most of them with skimpy faces

J.4. Legio XIIII Gemina The Fourteenth Legion probably advanced north-westwards along what was to become Watlington Street towards its eventual fortress at Wroxeter. There are just two face pots that could be associated with the legion or its auxilia during its short tour of duty in Britain, both showing signs of Italian influence. One is the large red face beaker from a Neronian kiln site outside a presumed fort site at Trent Vale

44 The only epigraphic or literary evidence at present depends on a probably pre-Boudiccan tombstone of a centurion of the Twentieth legion, which cannot be proven to belong to the short period before the fortress was turned into a colonia in AD 48, and thus cannot prove that the Twentieth legion was based there (Manning 2000, 71-2). It could just have marked the grave of one of the first veterans to die there, Colchester being the only veteran colony in Britain at that time, where land may well have been made available to veterans from any legion. 45 Keppie 2000, 84.

46 A spout sherd with a frilled rim in white-slipped ware of probable late first to early second century date has also been found in the potteries of the Twentieth Legion at Holt, close to Chester, which may have belonged to face pot (Grimes 1930, 170, Fig. 73: 217).

333

THE MILITARY CONNECTION, PART I

334

THE MILITARY CONNECTION, PART I (see Chapter IX, Pt. I, RB Type 7, Fig. J4; 3), which is somewhat similar to the unusual face beaker from Milan (Chapter III, IT Type 24, Fig. C8: 2). So far it is the only face pot found in this area which is known to be of the appropriate date. The Fourteenth legion had originally come from the Balkans before its transfer to Mainz, and might therefore have had contact with face beaker traditions, though perhaps ones centred more on Milan than on Aquileia and the eastern end of the Po valley. The other face pot is the large grey face jar from Wroxeter with a frilled rim and large face on the girth (RB Type 3B, Fig. J3: 2). This one was found in deposits with pottery of Hadrianic date, but it is in the fabric associated with the early legionary occupation of the site, and with its large face on the girth and its handle-less form it is quite different from all the other British face jars of the Hadrianic period and much more likely to belong to the time of the conquest campaigns.

develop any, or none of any permanence. Its major role, once the conquest campaigns were over, seems to have been to control the tribesmen of Wales and the south west, and it may be no accident that face jars have never been found in Wales outside the immediate area of Usk, Caerleon and Caerwent49. The Usk face jars are thought to have belonged to the Twentieth Legion and the other three could easily have belonged to new arrivals from the Rhineland, or veteran settlers from other legions. J.6. Cohortes 1-VIII Batavorum? Of the auxiliary troops thought to have taken part in the invasion50, the eight Batavian cohorts seem the most likely to have been the bearers of face pot or face urn traditions51. According to Tacitus (Hist IV, 12) the warlike Batavi had recently crossed the Rhine and moved into “the uninhabited fringe of Gaul on the lower reaches of the river including the adjoining island which is washed by the North Sea on the west and on the other three sides by the Rhine”. This is presumed to mean the land between the Rhine, the Maas and the Voorne peninsular, right in the middle of the Rhine Delta region52. It is thought that eight Batavian cohorts under their leader Civilis came over to Britain with the invasion forces and played a prominent role in the subsequent campaigns53. Such a large group of native auxiliaries from one single tribe, almost the equivalent of a legion, could have made a real impact on early face pot traditions in Britain. It could have been them who were responsible for the early spouted face jars of RB Type 1A and B. However Tacitus, when mentioning the eight Batavian cohorts which were removed from Britain in 67 at the same time as legio XIIII, adds that they were “normally attached to the Fourteenth Legion”54, so that they are unlikely to have been serving alongside legio XX, though it is conceivable that the Batavian cohorts were not attached to the Fourteenth throughout their stay in Britain. Indeed if, as Hassall suggests (1970, 135), they campaigned in the north with Vespasian, commander of II Augusta, they could not have been permanently attached to the Fourteenth Legion. For the time being, it seems, these face jars can only be linked with legio XX or their auxilia.

J.5. Legio II Augusta Thanks to one short passage in Suetonius47, we know more about the early campaigns of the Second Legion led by Vespasian the future Emperor than those of any of the other conquest legions. As already described in Chapter IX, It has always been assumed that the twenty oppida he conquered were in the south and west of Britain, like the Isle of Wight that he also took. Many of these can be recognised, and possible bases for all or parts of his legion have been identified from Chichester (an obvious base for taking the Isle of Wight), across south west Britain to a fortress for the whole legion at Exeter, where it is now thought the legion was probably based for twenty years from c.55 to 75 before moving to its final base at Caerleon. The discovery of a fort possibly large enough to hold a whole legion together with a tomb stone of a veteran of legio II augusta well to the north of the Thames at Alchester throws this whole scenario, or the middle part of it at least, into confusion. Given that the tomb monument seems to have been erected specially by the veteran’s heir, the most obvious explanation must be that he had retired beside the base where he had served. But there may be other explanations. It has to be said that this fortress would have been very well placed for the Fourteenth Legion if we have correctly interpreted the course of that legion’s campaign.

K.

CONCLUSIONS

There seems little doubt that face beakers are an Italian tradition, and that when they occur in the provinces in the first century, they are closely associated with Roman legionaries. They could therefore legitimately be called legionary face beakers. It is also clear however that not all legions developed face beaker traditions, and to do so a legion needed to have had close contact with northern Italy

Be that as it may, what is of particular interest as far as face pots are concerned is that so far not one has been found in any of the forts or fortresses that the Second Augusta and its auxilia are thought to have occupied, apart from two sherds at Caerleon48. New discoveries might suddenly change the picture, but it is quite possible that the legion, coming as it did from Spain and being based almost certainly at Strasbourg where no face pots are known from this early period, never came into contact with face pot traditions before coming to Britain, and perhaps never went on to

49

One complete face pot of RB Type 13G has been found at Caerwent. Holder 1980, 110, and 1982, 107 ff. 51 As already discussed in Chapter X, A.3, several auxiliary units are attested in Britain from tribes living in the Rhine delta or the northern lowlands of Gallia Belgica, areas where native face urn or eye urn traditions are known to have existed in the Roman period, such as the Frisiavones, the Menapii, the Tungri and the Nervi. However, with the exception of these eight Batavian cohorts, they are all thought to have come over later, perhaps with Cerialis in AD 70. 52 Horn 1987, Fig 22. 53 Hassall 1970. 54 Tacitus, Hist. I, 59. 50

47

Suetonius, Vespasian, 4. One sherd comes from inside the fortress (see Miscellaneous Face Pot Fragment No 1 in the Catalogue to Chapter IX, Part III, C, Fig. J16: 12) and the other has just recently been discovered in the Canabae, It is in grey coarseware with a notched cordon above the eyebrows. It is in the Newport Museum (NPTMG: 83.103 [44]), and is shortly to be published by Edith Evans of the Glamorgan Gwent Archaeological Trust, Swansea. 48

335

THE MILITARY CONNECTION, PART I in the later years of the first century BC and in the early years of the first century AD. Few clues emerge as to the tradition with which the use of face beakers is associated, but it appears to have become popular in those areas of northern Italy where large numbers of veterans had been settled in the second half of the first century BC, and it was legionaries recruited from these areas who took that tradition with them to the provinces, and particularly to the Balkan provinces. The face beaker tradition had a chance to develop and mature in Italy before being exported to the provinces. The face jar tradition on the other hand seems to have been only just beginning in the second quarter of the first century AD, and as a result standardised forms and faces had not yet developed when the Roman troops invaded Britain. This lack of standardisation can clearly be seen in the early face jars in Britain with their widely varying faces and forms, and whereas on the Continent standardised Types soon developed, this process took much longer in Britain due to the dispersal of the occupying forces. The absence of face pots of any kind in the areas conquered by Legio II Augusta and their virtual absence from Wales further supports the argument that not all Roman legions in the Western Roman Empire in the first century used face pots, and that some may never have done so at all. The evidence of the early face jars from Raetia is of crucial importance for it clearly demonstrates that a face jar tradition (as opposed to a face beaker tradition) could develop in a province where no legions were stationed, and without the influence of Italian face beakers. There seems little doubt but that it must have been some of the auxiliary troops, or just possibly some of the native inhabitants, who introduced the face jar tradition into the Roman army in this province, and by analogy, quite possibly in the Rhineland as well, and even perhaps in parts of Britain. As more information becomes available on the early movements of auxiliary units in Raetia, the lower Rhineland and Britain, it may be possible identify more closely which units are likely to have been involved.

336

THE MILITARY CONNECTION, PART II

CHAPTER XI, PART II Second to fourth century face pots: Military or civilian? developed over time with the auxiliary soldiers. However this military community that developed behind the frontiers was not composed only of retired soldiers and their families, but included part of the local population who had always lived there or who had become involved in the huge support network for the army. With time, inter-marriage, continued veteran settlement and ever increasing local recruitment into the auxilia and the legions, the distinction between the original military families and the local population living in the frontier areas may have gradually cease to exist. A community would have developed which was in itself civilian, in so far as it was not composed only of serving soldiers, but which was very closely related to the army.

As has been seen above, and in also Chapter Ten, there seems little doubt that the early provincial face beakers and face jars were both closely associated with the Roman army, and there is no evidence that they were used by the civilian populations living outside the military zones or well away from forts, fortresses and veteran colonies. What is not clear however is the extent to which they continued to be associated only with the military, or whether, as would appear to be the case in Britain to judge by the distribution of face pots in the second, third and fourth centuries (see maps on Figs. L3-4), they were taken up in some areas by the civilian population where perhaps this tradition struck a particular cord with the local inhabitants. As was the case with the early face pots, the British vessels need to be seen from the Continental perspective to gain a better understanding of their continued development, and so it makes sense to deal with the Continental material first.

A.

Judging by the distribution map in Fig K2, it is predominantly in the areas where this military community developed that Continental face pots seemed to be found. So that when one speaks of a “military” connection for face jars and face beakers of second century or later date, it is no longer just the serving soldiers of the legions or the auxilia who are implied, but the wider population of these military frontier zones. In fact it is clear from the find spots of face jars and face beakers all along the Rhine and Danube frontiers, that they occur as much in the “civilian” settlements beside the forts and fortresses or in their immediate vicinity, as they do inside the occupied military bases. The same pots appear in both types of site, reflecting the increasingly close relationship between those living inside the forts and those outside or near by.

CONTINENTAL FACE JARS AND FACE BEAKERS

The distribution of the Continental face pots in the second, third and fourth centuries, as shown in the previous chapter in Fig. K2, is not radically different from what it had been in the first century except in the Danubian provinces where face jars have now appeared and where both face beakers and face jars have spread into Dacia and along the middle and lower Danube. There are now many more face pots, but, apart from a few exceptions which are discussed in A.2 below, they appear to be still limited to the military zones, occurring in and beside the forts, fortresses and veteran colonies along the frontiers, and in the small towns and settlements to their rear. Even in the late Roman period when face jars and beakers are much less common, they continue to be found more or less in those same areas, with the exception of those regions that were by then outside the Empire where they are now absent. Where new frontier defences had to be built, as along the Rhine in Switzerland, late Roman face jars occur in or beside some of the new forts or strongholds.

Indeed it appears that face pots may have been even more used by the families in the military community than by the serving soldiers. A recent study by Stefan Pfahl (2000 [3], 174) of the face pots and face fragments found at Nida Heddernheim which are stored or recorded in the Museum für Vor und Frühgeschichte in Frankfurt revealed that of the 33 examples that could be provenanced out of a total of 68, just one was found inside the fort, two came from graves and the rest were from the fort vicus or vici. Quite a considerable number of face jars were also found in the vicus of the later stone fort at Hofheim1, but unfortunately no comparison is available with the numbers found in the stone fort itself.

A.1. Continental face pots of second to third century date within the military frontier zones

A.2

Thanks to the hereditary character of Roman military service, a military community seems to have grown up behind all the defended frontiers of the Empire where troops were permanently stationed. By the end of the first century AD only a very few legionaries still returned to their homelands and the great majority settled in the provinces, generally beside the fortresses where they had served or in the veteran colonies established in fortresses that had been vacated. Their sons enlisted in their turn. A similar pattern

Continental face pots occurring outside the military frontier zones

However, not all face pots are found inside these military zones, and there are a number of cases where isolated groups of face jars or face beakers occur some distance away from the frontiers and from any occupied military 1

337

Schoppa, 1961.

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER XI Upper German-Raetian Limes and the loss of all the land held east of the Rhine. As suggested in Chapter IV7, the appearance of face pots in the countryside around Trier where they had not been known before could reflect the arrival of face pot-using refugees from the frontier zones in and after 261, and quite possibly of veteran settlers before that as the situation on the Rhine frontier began to deteriorate during the second quarter of the third century. Of the 45 face pots found8, just seven, of Types 21A and C, all of them from Trier itself, seem to be of second century date, while all the rest either belong to Types of the later half of Period II, several of which have been found in mid to late third century contexts9or to Late Roman Types of Period III. With the exception of the two tiny face beakers of RL Type 5210, these are all Types that are found along the Rhine between Xanten and Koblenz and in the Wetterau region as well as in the Trier-Luxembourg region.

bases. Those groups furthest away, in France, Belgium and Spain have been examined in Chapter V, where it can be seen that most if not all of them are in areas that still have, or have had in the past, a military presence, areas in fact where veterans and their families may well have settled, creating small “military communities” somewhat similar to those that developed on the frontiers. It is now time to take a closer look at those groups close to or within frontier provinces but still some way from the military frontier zones themselves. A.2.1. Face pots of the Trier-Luxembourg region The largest group is the one centred around Trier in the Mosel-Luxembourg region, where 45 face jars and face beakers have been identified during this survey within a 50 km radius of Trier (26 inside the city and 19 outside), none of which appear to date to before the second century, and most of which are of third century date or later. In terms of this survey, this is a remarkably high number from any major city and its surrounding region, and particularly one which was not in the frontier zone2.

The face pots of north Switzerland The second largest group of face pots is in north Switzerland, along and to the south of the high Rhine, in the lowland strip between the Jura and the Alps stretching from Lake Constance to Lake Neuchâtel, the area inhabited by the Helvetii. As we have seen in Chapter VI, Group C, A, most if not all of the auxiliary troops stationed along and behind frontier on the Swiss Rhine are thought to have been moved northwards in the fifties and sixties, probably to the new forts on the upper Danube, leaving only the one legion at Vindonissa. The revolt of the Helvetii in 69 at much the same time as the Civilis revolt further north came as a great shock. It was a major rebellion, comparable to that of Boudicca and the Iceni in Britain in AD 60, and was also triggered off by the arrogance and brutality of Roman officials. It was only put down after much bloodshed, ending with thousands being slaughtered or sold into slavery. Tacitus (Histories I, 67-9) graphically describes the revolt and its ending, but does not say what happened next. To judge by what is thought to have happened in Britain after the Boudiccan rebellion, non-local troops would have been stationed in forts within the civitas to maintain order for some period of time. Also, with thousands of Helvetian men killed or enslaved, there must have been plenty of good quality expropriated land available for Roman settlers. Among those who were likely to benefit from this would have been military veterans, from the resident legion at Vindonissa, from the forts within the civitas, and from the new forts on the developing Upper German Limes to the north where conditions would at first have been very unfavourable for would-be settlers. Once established, veteran settlement, as everywhere else, is likely to have become a recurring cycle, with sons following fathers into the army and returning to settle, which could have continued well into the second century and even into the early third.

Though Trier was outside the province of Upper Germany and was never a legionary base, it rapidly became one of the most prosperous cities in the general Rhineland region and an important supply base for the Rhine army. From the time of Domitian, the provinces of the two Germanies and Belgica were linked financially and the office of the Procurator was located in Trier3. His staff would have been drawn from personnel serving in the Rhineland legions4. Trier was also the headquarters for the military road police, the benefici consulares, who were again drawn from the army of the Rhine5. By the beginning of the third century, if not before, the residence of the governor of Gallia Belgica was moved from Reims to Trier6, which would have brought with it many more military personnel serving in the governor’s officium, as well as his personal body guard. In the later 260s the capital of the break-away Gallic Empire was moved from Cologne to Trier, which from then on probably continued to be the main command centre for the Rhine army, becoming the capital of the Caesar of the North West under the Tetrarchy, and later the imperial capital of the Western Empire under Valentinian I. There would therefore have been an increasing military presence in Trier during the second, third and fourth centuries, and with it more veteran settlement in the surrounding areas. It is possible however that the greatest increase may have taken place during and after the calamitous Germanic raids between 254 and 275 which resulted in the collapse of the 2 The most directly comparable city is Cologne, though of course face pots appeared here much earlier. A total of 85 face pots have been identified within a 50 km radius of the city, 62 in Cologne itself, and 23 in the surrounding region. However 48 of those are from Period I. In Periods II and III just 37 face pots have been identified in Cologne and the surrounding region (22 inside the city and 15 outside). In both cases these totals, representing face pots identified mainly from publications and museum collections, must reflect only a fraction of the actual number of face pot sherds found in both areas. 3 Wightman 1985, 62. 4 Cüppers 1990, 102. 5 ibid, 102. 6 ibid, 100.

The face jars found in the villas, farms and small settlements to the south of the Swiss Rhine are all of second 7

Chapter IV, Part III under Sites and Contexts. RL Types 4C, 11D, 24D, 26B, 30, 31, 42, 47 and 52. 9 In particular those of RL Types 4C and 30. 10 These have only been identified in the Trier region and are probably fourth century. 8

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THE MILITARY CONNECTION, PART II to third century date, of RD Type 2711. They cannot therefore be associated with the military activity of the first century, but they could be connected with veteran settlement and continuing military recruitment in this area. The same could be true of the face jars of this Type found in the by now civilian town of Vindonissa and in the colonia at Augst. A similar situation may have existed in the Stuttgart area after the troops building the road through the Black Forest12 had vacated the forts along the route and moved up to the Upper German-Raetian limes. The farmstead at Oberesslingen, close to the fort at Bad Cannstatt, where three face jars of probable second century date were found, of rather similar type to these Swiss face jars (RD Type 12, Fig. F3: 2-4), may well have belonged to a veteran and his family.

Also inscriptions show that Virunum and its region produced more military recruits, particularly legionaries, (including many officers), than anywhere else in Noricum, many of whom returned to settle14. Three small glazed face beakers of Late Roman date come from Solva of UD Type 23, a Type also known in the northern frontier zone at St Pölten in the north east corner of the province. Solva was founded as a municipium (Flavia Solvenses) by Vespasian and there seems to be no evidence of former military occupation, but it too produced a high number of military recruits (again including many officers) who returned to settle15. Pannonia Three scattered face pots of second to early third century date, all of Types known from the Danube frontier, have been found inside the province: one of DAN Type 22 from a villa at Gorsium, near the site of a first century fort; one of DAN Type 28 at Scarbantia, almost certainly the site of another first century fort, which was made a municipium by Vespasian and became a focus for auxiliary veteran settlement16; and one small face beaker of DAN Type 14 at Savaria, a veteran colony founded by Claudius17.

Raetia: the Lech and Isar valleys. Another much smaller group consists of the few face jars of second to early third century date of UD Types 3 and 5 A-B found in the river valleys of the Lech and Isar that run northwards into the upper Danube. There seems to be no evidence for military occupation in the lowland region where the face jars have been found, though early post conquest forts may have been placed at the head of the two valleys at Epfach and Gauting, well to the south of these face jars, before the decision was taken to build forts along the upper Danube. However it appears that a deliberate policy of land settlement including both veterans and civilians was introduced on either side of the Danube in the later first and second centuries, to ensure supplies for the army on the Raetian frontier. This was because the western end of the Upper Danube valley had become severely depopulated first by the Germanic invasions under Ariovistus in the second half of the first century BC, and then by Roman conquest in 15 BC and the conscription into the auxilia of all the active men of the two major Raetian tribes, the Vindelici and the Raeti. Most of the veterans will have settled on the northern side of the Danube around the forts along and behind the Raetian frontier, but to judge by these face jars, some of them settled in these two valleys on the southern side. Added confirmation comes from one of the face jars, of UD Type 5A, found in a late second century grave at Niedererlbach in the Isar valley, which actually contained a military belt buckle, the only one so far found with a face pot, and a rare find in any grave of this period13.

Moesia Superior Two face beakers have been found in the hills south of Belgrade, one of DAN Type 6 at Guberevac on Mount Kosmaj and one of DAN Type 12 at Azanja, both of Types that are the same as, or very similar to, ones known on the Danube frontier. This was an important mining centre for lead and silver, and the mines were guarded by auxiliary units18. A.4.

Continental face pots of the late third to fourth centuries

The catastrophic barbarian invasions across the Rhine and Danube frontiers between 259-275 were a watershed that profoundly affected all the frontier provinces19. The new system of defence in depth that came into being at the end of the third century replacing the closely defended linear frontiers came to be manned by a very different type of army from that of the Principate20. Already in the early third century the system of veteran settlement and voluntary military recruitment had broken down and as a result military service had been made compulsory for soldiers’ sons. But this still did not produce sufficient recruits, and so by the fourth century conscription had been introduced across the Empire with annual levies in all the provinces. Even this was not enough and barbarian troops of various kinds – laeti or the more independent foederati - were brought in to fill the gaps. As a result the military communities of the former frontier zones, battered and decimated by the succession of barbarian raids across the

Noricum:Virunum and Flavia Solva A small group of large face beakers of second to early third century date of UD Type 25, has been found at Virunum, near Klagenfurt, in southern Austria, which under Claudius replaced Magdalensberg as the capital of Noricum and the seat of the provincial governor. As in the case of Trier, military personnel would have served on the governor’s staff and in other parts of the provincial administration. 11

See Chapter 8, Fig. F5 and map on Fig. F1. See Chapter VI, Group B, A. 13 See under RB Type 5A. Retiring veterans were not allowed to keep any items of their military equipment at the end of their service, so this is a rare find for this period. However this practice was less observed in the Later Roman period, particularly among soldiers of Germanic origin (laeti and foederati), who were often buried with items of military equipment, particularly their belt buckles with zoomorphic decoration. 12

14

Alföldi 1974, 261. Ibid. See Chapter VIII,B.5, Note 38. 17 Mocsy 1974, 76; Mann 1983, 60. 18 Mocsy 1974, 133. 19 See Chapter IV, III, A.1. 20 Ibid A.2. 15 16

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FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER XI jugs with strange bearded faces which are in turn followed by the mass-produced bellarmines of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

frontiers, became ever more fragmented and diluted. In many areas they had vanished for ever. Far fewer face pots occur on the Continent at this period, and in more limited areas. None have been identified on the lower or the upper Danube, nor in the Bavay region of Gallia Belgica, while all the territory north of the Danube and east of the Rhine is now outside the Empire.

Conclusions Where the Continental face pots of second to third century date are concerned, there seems to be no certain evidence that they or the practices with which they were associated, were ever taken up to any appreciable extent by the purely civilian populations of the provinces living outside the frontier zones as were other types of Roman pottery and other aspects of Roman life introduced by the army. It appears that in all the areas where second to third century face pots have been found outside the defended frontier zones, there had been some kind of former or continuing military presence that in most if not all cases could or did result in continuing contacts with the army through veteran settlement and military recruitment. The one place where a military connection might have been difficult to prove is in the Isar and Lech valleys where no former military occupation can be demonstrated (though veteran settlement is strongly suspected), and yet here we have by great good chance the unique case of a military belt buckle actually buried inside a face jar with the cremated bones. With the exception of this one face urn, it cannot of course be proven that the face pots were used by members of these presumed small-scale military communities outside the frontier zones, rather than by ordinary members of the civilian population, but in the light of the findings outlined above, it does now seem very possible.

However there are still no signs of face pots spreading into the purely civilian areas outside the frontier zones apart from the Trier-Luxembourg area already mentioned in A.2. above, despite the fact that a great many people must have fled from the former military zones across the Rhine and the Danube. Face pots, now mainly face beakers, continue to be found in or beside some frontier forts and fortified towns on the Rhine between Xanten and Mainz, and on the middle Danube. At Krefeld Gellep evidence for progressive Frankish infiltration throughout the fourth century can clearly be seen in the Romano-Frankish cemetery that grew up beside the Late Roman fort and continued without interruption into the seventh century. This appears to be reflected in the unusual, schematic, moustachioed faces of some of the face beakers found there21. A couple of face jars have been found in new or reconstituted forts on the Swiss Rhine and one fragment in a fortified hill fort to the south of it22. There is also one face pot, an import from Britain, that was found in a grave beside the Late Roman fort at Oudenburg on the Channel coast23.

Some connection with the army still seems to have continued into the Late Roman period, to judge by the face pots found on, or beside military sites, though the stable military communities of the second and early third centuries no longer existed. The fact that the face pot tradition seems to have continued in parts of the Rhineland after the Roman Empire had collapsed, suggests that it did in the end put down roots among some of the local civilian inhabitants, but on closer examination these could well turn out to be no more than the descendants of the rag-tag army and their dependants who had been left to defend frontier and who ended up living there permanently under the Visigoths and the Franks.

In some areas such as the Mayen and Bingen regions and in the Trier-Luxembourg region face jars quite similar to those of the previous period still continue in use (though now made in different kilns), suggesting the survival or regrouping of some of the former communities. West of the Rhine, and along the Mosel and Saar valleys, quite a number of face jars and face beakers have been found in association with specially constructed fortified enclosures (burgi) or on newly fortified sites on the hillsides and above the rivers24. One or two others however have been found in villas or small settlements in the Trier region with no known defences.

Rather than evidence of the spread of the face pot tradition into the local native population, the limited numbers of face pots found outside the military zones now seem much more likely to be an indication that families with military connections were living in these areas, which in virtually all cases is likely to mean that veterans had settled there and that their sons and grandsons had joined the army, very probably for several generations.

By the mid fourth century the advent of Christianity seems to have spelt the end of face pot traditions in most parts of the Empire, and even at Krefeld Gellep the orientation of graves in the cemetery changes abruptly from north-south to east-west, and the number of grave goods buried with the dead drops off steeply. It seems to have been the case however that in some areas, and particularly in the lower Rhineland, face pots did continue under Christianity, long after any connection with Roman military communities had ceased, and became a part of local tradition among the increasingly Germanic population, emerging again more strongly in the Middle Ages with the many green-glazed 21

See Chapter IV, III, RL Types 47 B and C, Fig. D19: 5 and 7). See chapter VI, RD Types 32 and 33, Fig. F6: 3-4, and an unclassified sherd from a fortified redoubt on the Wittnauer Horn. 23 See Chapter V, FS Type 10. 24 See Chapter IV, III, D. 22

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THE MILITARY CONNECTION, PART II on the European continent where quite a number of diplomas have been found outside the frontier zone is Pannonia, and particularly in the north east corner, in the territory of the Azali and the Eravisci who provided the largest number of Pannonian recruits for the army from the later first century28. Dacia is also an exception, and it has a scattered distribution very like Britain, but like this province, it had no defended river frontier and the army was dispersed around the land frontiers with barbaricum and within the province. 1974, it was estimated that all together 38 diplomas had been found in Pannonia, seven of Claudian and Flavian date, and thirty one dating to between 96-167. Of the early ones, just one (or possibly two) were from military sites and the rest from elsewhere in the province, while of the later ones, nineteen were from military sites and twelve outside the frontier zones29. This suggests that in the Claudian-Flavian period only about 20-30% of the auxiliary veterans settled beside the forts on the frontier, the rest presumably returning either to their place of birth or to the vacated forts where they had served previously, while in the first two thirds of the second century about 60% settled beside their forts but still 40% chose not to do so.

B. SOURCES OF EVIDENCE FOR VETERAN SETTLEMENT AND MILITARY RECRUITMENT OTHER THAN STONE INSCRIPTIONS If, as now seems possible, face pots may be able to help pinpoint areas well outside the recognised military and frontier zones where relatively small-scale veteran settlement and military recruitment took place, it makes sense, before moving on to the more complex distribution of British face pots of the second to fourth centuries, to briefly consider the other possible sources of evidence for veteran settlement to see to what extent they confirm, complement or negate the evidence of the Continental face pots The problem with veteran settlement has always been that unless it can be demonstrated by epigraphic evidence, it is very difficult to detect archaeologically. All the soldiers’ weapons and main items of military equipment had to be handed in on discharge, and once retired, apart from his privileges as a Roman citizen, a veteran is like any other provincial inhabitant, and rarely it seems much distinguished by his wealth or Roman citizenship, unless he had been a centurion25. Fortunately where the settlement of legionary veterans is concerned, a lot of information has been provided by stone inscriptions, either grave stones or dedications of one kind or another, though some provinces such as Pannonia and Noricum are much richer in this respect than others. This for the most part tends to confirm what has always been thought to be the case, namely that most legionary veterans after the second century, and even before, settled in veteran colonies or beside their former fortresses rather than returning to their homeland in another province. There are far fewer inscriptions however, recording the settlement of retired soldiers from the auxilia, and in the their absence, opinion has tended to assume that they did as the legionaries did and settled permanently beside their forts, even when the conditions for settlement and farming could hardly be described as favourable.

b) Papyri Meanwhile evidence has emerged from Egypt which sheds completely new light on the processes of veteran settlement30. Researchers working on material from a series of rescue excavations in the Fayum in Egypt carried out by the University of Michigan between 1928-34 which had been aimed specifically at finding papyri in the ruins of houses, either in domestic rubbish mounds or carefully stored in sealed jars in the cellars, have discovered evidence for veteran settlement in a region of small towns and villages where no forts existed at the time and where no military activity was known to have taken place until a century later31. But for the papyri, the presence of veteran settlers would never have been suspected here. The papyri revealed that in some of the villages or towns an unexpectedly high number of the inhabitants were Roman citizens. It soon became clear that many of these citizens were veterans, or the children of veterans who would have received citizenship after their father’s discharge. The study concentrates on one such “village” (or what in Britain would probably be described as a small town), Karanis. Out of a population of two to three thousand, approximately 14% were Roman citizens. Not all the Roman men were veterans, but they seem to have been a significant element in the village’s population, of around 10 to 12%. Serving soldiers retired here, and their sons in turn joined the army, together with some members of the local population, and returned to the same area. This contact with the army lasted about 120 years from the late first to the beginning of the third century. There were both legionary and auxiliary veterans, as well as some serving soldiers who continued to

a) Diplomas Up to now the main source of information on auxiliary veteran settlement has been bronze military diplomas which were awarded to discharged auxiliary soldiers, at any rate during the period of time when they were issued, namely from the end of the reign of Claudius to the beginning of the third century, but with a sharp tailing off in 165-726. As might be expected almost all of those found on the Continent come from the frontier provinces. However the evidence is very patchy. By far the largest numbers of diplomas have been found in the Danubian provinces, including the Upper Danube provinces of Raetia and Noricum, and in Mauretania Tingitana, with just a relative few known from the Rhineland and Britain. None seem to have been found as yet in Switzerland and virtually none from the rest of north Africa, Egypt and the Near East27. In the majority of cases, diplomas, like face pots, have been found within the military frontier zones. The one province

28

Mocsy 1974, 155. Ibid 1974, 159, Note 160 30 It is dangerous of course to extrapolate too far from evidence drawn from Egypt as it was always a very different province from those in the West with its ancient civilisation and its anomalous position of being directly subject to the Emperor. However, where the army is concerned there must have been many similarities with other provinces. 31 Alston, 1995. 29

25

Some pieces of military equipment do nonetheless occasionally turn up on settlement sites and in graves, as in the case of the belt buckle at Niedererlbach mentioned above, though mostly in the later Roman period. 26 Roxan 1981, 266 and 278. 27 Ibid, 279, Fig. 4

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FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER XI items are often found on urban sites and, in particular, on military sites, but they are normally rare finds in rural areas37. It was clearly an anomaly therefore when such high numbers were found in this predominantly rural area of Holland. 82% of the find spots for seal boxes were in or beside rural settlements (the seal-boxes almost all being stray finds picked up by metal detectors in the plough soil), as opposed to 18% on military, urban and religious sites combined38. These finding are very different from the rest of north Gaul, where analysis of the seal-box finds reveals that only 11% of the sites where they have been reported are rural settlements, and 61% are military 39.

own and manage land in the area. All three legions attested in Egypt were represented, including the Fleet based at Alexandria, as well as a wide variety of auxiliary units32. They had been recruited from all over the Empire, from both the eastern and the western provinces, with the majority from Asia Minor in the first century, in particular from Galatia, and from Africa in the second, though with a significant percentage, surprising for this period, from Italy. Local recruitment from Egypt seems to have started mainly in the second century, with a noticeable rise towards the end of it33. The veterans, apart from documentary references to their status and privileges, did not stand out in any obvious way from the rest of the community. Interestingly there was no evidence that either the auxiliary or the legionary veterans received any kind of retirement grant in the form of land or money, but it seems that savings could be made from basic pay over the years which could be held on deposit, resulting in sufficient means to buy a small-holding on retirement34.

No villas are known in this area, and the rural settlements all seem to be small farmsteads composed of native long houses. In the few settlements that have been excavated, the seal-boxes have been found in and beside the ruins of the houses. A few fragments of (illegible) writing tablets have also been found in wells and other waterlogged deposits40. The most likely explanation is thought to be that these seal boxes had been attached to letters belonging to the families of Batavian soldiers, similar to the ones found at Vindolanda, except that these represent the families back home to whom the soldiers were writing. They date mainly to the later first and second centuries, but also continue in smaller numbers into the third.

Several other “villages” in the Fayum appear to have had similar numbers of veterans. Enough information exists from other areas and towns in Egypt however, to show that such a concentration of veterans was unusual. Yet no obvious reason could be found for veterans to have chosen to settle in the Fayum rather than near their forts or anywhere else, and the author concluded that there must originally have been some kind of tribal contact such as a soldier returning to his family, and that this then multiplied on a grapevine basis and became a trend35. The fact that the Fayum is one of the most fertile areas in Lower Egypt must also, one would think, have been a factor. There seems no reason why such veteran settlement patterns should not have existed elsewhere in the Empire, but without the papyri or epigraphic evidence, this would be very difficult to demonstrate archaeologically.

The Batavi, with nine cohorts and one ala, provided more recruits for the Roman army than any other tribe in north Gaul. It has been calculated that this could imply every family sending one or two recruits41. It was to be expected that a great many of the veterans would have returned home, particularly in the first century, but until recently there was virtually no archaeological evidence to prove this42. Now these seal-box finds suggest a network of veteran settlement and recruitment in the civitas continuing right through the second century and into the third. So far disappointingly few face pots have been found in this area except at Nijmegen and in or beside some of the delta forts, but as so few of these rural settlements have been excavated as yet, they may still be lying beneath the plough soil.

c) Seal-boxes Yet another possible source of evidence for veteran settlement in rural areas away from military sites has recently been identified in Holland, where the results of amateur metal-detecting in the region of the civitas Batavorum, a predominantly rural area lying south of the lower Rhine roughly between Nijmegen and Utrecht, has produced an unusually high number of seal-boxes36. Such

d) Tazze (incense burners) These are goblet-shaped vessels in which incense is thought to have been burned which have a pedestal base and almost always a pie-frilled cordon around or just below the rim and one or more around the body. They are made of coarse, well-tempered, generally oxidised fabrics which can

32

Ibid, 123-6; Lewis, 1983, 32. Alston 1995, Tables 3.1 and 3.2, and page 43. 34 Ibid 115-126. 35 Ibid, 50. 36 Derks and Roymans 2002, 87-103. Roman seal boxes are a type of boxshaped metal clasp that was used (and re-used) for protecting the seals on the strings securing wax writing tablets. They may have been used in particular for sealing letters entrusted to the post, or rather to the informal network that seems to have operated, using soldiers going on leave and other travellers to carry messages and parcels, particularly of clothes. As such they are an indication of literacy among some at least of the inhabitants of the areas where they are found. For legal documents and wills etc, trypticha (sets of three wax tablets) were usually used which were bound together and sealed in a different way which did not require a seal-box (ibid 90, Fig. 7: 3). These small copper alloy boxes are being found in increasing numbers in areas where previously no excavations had taken place, but particularly so in countries like Holland and now Britain where there is a policy to encourage metal detectorists to report their findings. 33

37 Though seal boxes are quite frequent finds on sanctuary sites, as they appear to have been used to seal up messages delivered to the local deity or deities. 38 In fact as the rural sites only produced an average of 3-4 seal-boxes per site, while the other types of site produced far higher numbers per site, the rural finds constitute only 33% of the total number of seal boxes found in the civitas, almost half of which came from the military sites and in particular from Nijmegen, and the rest from just a few religious sites. 39 Ibid, Fig. 7: 8. There is however a problem with comparing data from different countries, as there is no policy as yet in Germany or France to encourage detectorists to declare their finds. 40 Ibid 97-8. 41 Ibid, 88-9. 42 Recently the remains of several diplomas have come to light in the area as well as a growing number of items of military equipment or insignia which are soon to be published (ibid, 100, Notes 54 and 55).

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THE MILITARY CONNECTION, PART II evidence of the Swiss face pots and those from the Lech and Isar valleys. They also reveal that there was little if any identifiable archaeological difference between the military families and the other inhabitants of the rural communities in which they settled, which again is what the face pots suggest.

withstand high temperatures. On the Continent tazze tend to be found mainly on military sites or within areas of known veteran settlement from the first to the third century, as well as in some Mithraea found outside the military areas43. The situation is much the same in Britain though they do not last much beyond the end of the second century and so are rarely if ever found in Mithraea. They do however also occur in second century contexts on a number of civilian sites with no known military or veteran occupation at that time, as at Verulamium where they are found together with face jars, and their occurrence on sites outside military zones could be an indication of veteran settlement. Tazze have also been identified together with face jars at London in second century civilian contexts (see B.2 below) and at Trier in third century contexts44. Like seal boxes, tazze are a potential new lead to veteran settlement, but as yet little or no research has been done into this aspect of their distribution.

The importance of tribal ties and the fact that they could last so long is very interesting. Such evidence is hard to demonstrate with face pots, though the Norican face pots found at Solva and Virunum would seem to support the evidence of continuing family connections with the army which is provided by inscriptions. As yet there seems to be no evidence for face pots in the territory of the Eraviscan and Azalian tribes in Pannonia where so many auxiliary diplomas have been found, but then one would not really expect these auxiliaries to have picked up face pot traditions at that time, seeing that the early face pot tradition that was brought to Pannonia in the first century only involved face beakers and was closely linked with the legionary soldiers.

These three, and possibly four, different sources of evidence for second century veteran settlement reveal a much more varied pattern than the one usually presented of retired soldiers settling close to the forts and fortresses where they had served, or in veteran colonies. The picture provided by the Fayum papyri of veteran settlement and army recruitment in areas with no former military occupation and apparently independent of any identifiable tribal or regimental connections, is the most remarkable, and it is impossible to tell to what extent it is specific to Egypt. It is certainly a pattern that would be virtually impossible to detect in other provinces unless some epigraphic evidence survived. However both papyri and seal-boxes (and possibly tazze as well), suggest that veteran settlement on some non-military sites continued throughout the second century and into the third, which is something that diplomas which tail off in the Antonine period would never be able to demonstrate. The sites on which the papyri and seal boxes have been found also indicate that veterans are virtually indistinguishable archaeologically as regards material wealth and dwellings, from the other local inhabitants. The importance of tribal ties as shown by the Pannonian diplomas is further supported by the seal-boxes, but they now appear to have lasted far longer than had been expected, though no doubt close proximity to the frontier helped to maintain the contact.

The lack of diplomas in Switzerland which could help to identify areas of veteran settlement there is disappointing, but almost certainly says more about the policy of issuing diplomas in Upper Germany than about the absence of veteran settlement in Switzerland. For some reason extremely few must have been issued, for none have been found the whole length of the upper Rhine south of Mainz, and only two have been found on or near that site, while only three are known from the region of the Neckar valley45. There are not many more from Lower Germany. In short, though no exact concordance can be shown between these different types of evidence and face pots, they do provide support for the picture suggested by face pot distribution of a much more varied pattern of veteran settlement than has previously been envisaged, and for which, up to very recently, there was virtually no evidence at all apart from the Pannonian diplomas. It is time now to apply these findings to the distribution of British face pots.

Conclusions On the whole then these findings, to which it has been impossible to do proper justice, support the evidence from face pots, and there seem to be no instances where they contradict it, though they too only apply to certain groups within the military communities, or to certain regions, and it may be largely because of this that there seem to be relatively few instances where they actually overlap and clearly confirm each other. The Fayum papyri, and now it would seem the Batavian seal-boxes, demonstrate that veteran settlement and military recruitment could continue in areas well away from the frontier zones until as late as the early third century, which is what seems to be the 43 44

See Chapter IX, Pt. II, B, under “Tazze”. Merten, 2001, 34, and Note 82.

45

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Roxan 1981, Fig. 4.

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER XI C.

All these factors will have affected the pattern of veteran settlement, and the development of a military society. As on the Continent, many of the legionary veterans undoubtably settled around the permanent legionary fortresses or in the veteran colonies established on the sites of vacated fortresses, but the former were situated well to the rear of the extended frontier positions, and the latter were now in the civilian zone. Britain sadly is notoriously “short of epigraphic evidence of the right kind” for tracing the pattern of military settlement and recruitment in the province46. However, of the twenty legionary veterans presumed from inscriptions to have settled on sites in Britain, six were in Chester, six in Caerleon, two in York, two in Lincoln, one each in Gloucester, London, and Bath, and one rather surprisingly beside the fort at Castlecary on the Antonine Wall47. Now one more tombstone of a veteran of the Second Legion Augusta has been found in the large, newly discovered fort at Alchester48, which might possibly have been an early base for that legion. Most of them settled on or by the sites where they had served, though presumably not the man at Bath, while two of the legionaries chose a different fortress from their own, a legionary of legio II Adiutrix settling at Gloucester and one of legio XIIII at Lincoln. Such veteran communities may well have been sufficient to provide the bulk of the recruits for Britain’s three legions in the second century, but where were the settlements of auxiliary veterans who, by analogy with the Continental evidence, were to provide a major part of the roughly equal number of recruits for the auxiliary units?

ROMANO-BRITISH FACE POTS OF SECOND TO FOURTH CENTURY DATE

As seen on the map on Fig L3, the distribution of second to third century face pots in Britain looks much less military than their distribution on the Continent, with relatively small numbers occurring in what are known as the military zones in Wales and in the north of the province, and many more in the civilian south east. It is difficult to believe however, that face pots which on the Continent had hardly extended if at all beyond the military communities in those provinces that retained a permanent military garrison, should have developed so differently in Britain. A possible explanation for the absence of face pots from Wales has been offered in Part I, J.5 above. But the relatively low numbers found in the northern military zone compared with the relatively large numbers found in the civilian south east need to be explained. B.1.

The military zones and veteran settlement

The military situation that developed in Britain, and the role and disposition of the armed forces obviously differed quite considerably from what existed on the Continent. In Britain, the military garrison was much more widely dispersed across the province, and much of it was engaged in controlling the resident population and maintaining peace, rather than ranged up along a linear frontier keeping barbarians out. There was also far greater mobility during the second century than on the Continent, with the construction of two walled frontiers in the north, entailing considerable re-deployment of forces during the building, manning or re-manning of each wall. Unrest at the end of the century, leading to the Severan campaign at the beginning of the third would also have influenced the situation and limited the opportunity for a stable military zone with its inter-related community and component elements to develop behind the northern frontier until the third century.

When it comes to auxiliary veteran settlement in Britain, there has until recently tended to be a general assumption, based on the patterns of settlement noted in other provinces and on the eleven stone inscriptions recording such veterans found so far in Britain, all but one of which49 come from the northern military zone, that they too must have settled near to where they had last served. But at the same time it was clear that this could not have made much sense during the earlier years of the occupation of the north, when the areas outside the northern forts, even those on the Wall, would have been far from pacified, or suitable for settled farming. Except in the case of some of the older, more established forts on the Stanegate such as Old Carlisle, Vindolanda or Corbridge, or around Catterick further south, the idea of settling in the north in the later first and early second century cannot have been at all attractive, and it seems much more likely that many if not most of the retiring auxiliaries will have returned either to their homelands outside the province or to the lowland south, now unoccupied except for some of the forts in the northern Midlands. The most obvious sites for them to have chosen would be in the vicinity of the forts where their units had e already settled, and from where some of them may themselves have been recruited.

Britain was also a very different province geographically from all the other frontier provinces, surrounded on all sides by sea except along the shortest side in the north, and with no single linear frontier running along a great river route providing transport, supplies and communications. Apart from the two short stretches of walled frontier in the north which were not built until the second century, there was just a network of individual forts, linked by roads or tracks but very rarely by water transport except around the coasts. The cost of transportation by road must have meant that as much manufacturing and grain collecting as possible was done close to navigable rivers and sea ports within reasonable reach of the occupied forts and fortresses. In many respects the sea route along the east coast and across the North Sea to the Rhine will have assumed much of the importance of the Rhine and Danube rivers as a major channel of communications and supplies, and London on the Thames and other ports on the river estuaries of the east coast will have been of prime importance for military supplies and reinforcements.

46

Dobson and Mann 1973, 203-4. Mann 1983, Table 10. This inscription is in fact a dedication on an altar, not on a tombstone, and therefore does not necessarily imply that the legionary settled here, and may just have been on his way south after discharge (Sauer 2005, 113). 48 Sauer 2005, 101-134. 49 From Lincoln, see Note 57 below. 47

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THE MILITARY CONNECTION, PART II century, so to some extent they complement rather than contradict the diploma evidence. None are from north of the Wall (or from Wales), and most of them are well to the south of it54. Almost without exception they come from in or beside forts in “sheltered, low-lying river-valley sites, all comparatively pleasant places to live”55, which implies that even in the military zone settlement only took place in favourable locations and not beside all the forts.

Fortunately the gradually accumulating evidence from diplomas issued to auxiliary veterans retiring from service in Britain, cited by John Mann in a paper written just before his death, paints a rather different picture from the stone inscriptions and one that is much more in agreement with this latter scenario50. Twenty three such diplomas have been found so far, sixteen in Britain, and another seven in other provinces. Of the sixteen found in Britain, many of them just tiny fragments, seven are from the northern military zone and nine from the civilian zone (see map on Fig. L3). All together therefore, if one includes those from other provinces, over two thirds of the British auxiliary veterans who are recorded in diplomas chose not to settle in the military zones, one third returning to their homelands overseas51, and the other larger third moving to the civilian south.

Archaeological evidence from the actual vici themselves in the northern military zone, in which the veterans are presumed to have settled, is unfortunately very limited due to the relatively small number of vicus excavations in comparison with those of the forts (one reason perhaps why relatively few face pots have been found in the north), and as a result no accurate overall picture can be had of the amount of settlement, veteran or otherwise, that took place around the forts at any one period. There is evidence that at least a few successful vici large enough to attract veteran settlement did grow up in the course of the second century, all of them beside the forts of the Stanegate which had remained in operation behind the Wall, such as Corbridge, Vindolanda and Carlisle. The Carlisle vicus probably soon eclipsed the fort, and by the third century seems to have become a fully fledged town and the capital of the civitas Carvetiorum56. Much the same happened at Corbridge, though the fort continued to be an important supply base for the Wall, and for military campaigns beyond it. South of the Wall, on Dere Street, the vicus at Catterick also became a town in the third and fourth centuries, but the vicus itself does not appear to have become established much if at all before the 160s (ibid, 113). Face pot sherds have been found in all of these, more than have been found in the forts, but mainly from the third and fourth centuries.

These documents are far too few to constitute a reliable body of statistical evidence, but as Mann points out, the contrast, between them and the stone inscriptions is striking. However, much of the discrepancy can probably be explained by chronology. Of the veterans named in the diplomas dating to the Trajanic and Hadrianic periods, only three out of ten settled in the northern military zone: two of them near Chester - one at Malpas near the former fort of Whitchurch on the road between Wroxeter and Chester, and the other at Middlewich, a road station to the east of Chester - and one at York, all well back from the frontier in the north. The other seven all settled in the civilian zone, at Leicester, Wroxeter, London, Sydenham (now part of London, south of the Thames), Walcot near Bath and two in Norfolk, at Caistor St. Edmund near Norwich and at Great Dunham. By the reign of Antoninus Pius however, only one veteran out of the six diplomas found dating to the middle years of the second century is known to have settled in the south, at Colchester, and possibly one other at Cirencester52, while the other four settled in the north, three on or near the Wall, two at Chesters and one at Vindolanda, and one on the west coast at Ravenglass. As the issue of diplomas was radically reduced after this point, there is no more information on veteran settlement to be had from this source.

On the whole, judging by the excavations that have taken place and by aerial photography, the hey day for vicus development in the north was the period of stability in the early third century when some of the vici show signs of a planned layout with elements of a grid57. Before that it is hard to imagine that there was a sufficiently large settled community in the northern military zone that could have provided the auxiliary units in this region with all the recruits they required, and it seems they must have continued to depend, albeit to a decreasing extent, on the military communities that had grown up in the south.

The stone inscriptions on the other hand may be generally of a somewhat later date than most of the diplomas53, some of them at least being known to refer to settlers in the third

50 Mann, 2002, 183-7, Diploma Nos 1-14, and Fig. 2; Tomlin and Hassall, 2003, 375-6. 51 Mann give the details of five of the diplomas from other provinces. One is of Trajanic date and comes from Flemalle in Belgium in the territory of the Tungri; three are of Hadrianic date, one from near Nijmegan in the territory of the Batavi, one from Pannonia and one from Thrace; and one of Antonine date is from Spain. 52 The diploma fragment from Cirencester has been cut into the shape of a disk, and may have been used as the lid of a small box. Its history therefore is not very certain, and the veteran in question may not necessarily have settled in Cirencester (Collingwood and Wright 1990, 2401. 11). 53 Dobson and Mann 1973, 202, Note 52.

54

Mann 2002, 185, Inscription Nos 1-11. Ibid, 187. Wacher 1990, 54. 57 Breeze and Dobson 1978, 191 55 56

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FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER XI

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THE MILITARY CONNECTION, PART II identified on the basis of aerial photography, and of finds of military metalwork and military-type assemblages of pottery and coins61. It is thought that more are probably still to be detected. Some of these forts will have dated from the invasion, but those found in the area of the Iceni in Suffolk and Norfolk, originally a client kingdom until the death of their king, are more likely to have been founded after the Boudiccan revolt, or after the first Icenian rising in 47. In addition, two of the supposedly Late Roman forts of the Saxon shore along the East Anglian coast, at Brancaster and Caister-on-Sea, are now believed to have been first constructed in the later second and early third centuries respectively62.

B.2. The second to third century face pots in Britain The face pots of the second and third centuries are mainly of two types, buff or white-slipped face jars with handles of RB Type 13 which begin in the later first century and last into the third (Figs. J6-J8,) and grey handle-less face jars, some of them with smiths’ tools beside or below the face of RB Type 21 (Figs J10-J12), which in the south east begin some time in the second century and last into the third, while north of the Humber they may not start much if at all before the beginning of the third century and probably last into the early fourth58. There are also quite a number of face jar sherds, many of them from the west Midlands in orange fabrics that could be Severn Valley wares59, which are too small, or lack sufficient features, to be classified. The majority of these probably belong to this period, as well as the two large and unusual face beakers of RB Type 25 (Fig. J15: 1-2).

One particular reason why auxiliary veterans may have settled in the vicinity of the East Anglian forts could be because these forts, which were built or re-occupied after the Boudiccan revolt, would have been among the last of the forts in the south-east to be vacated. As a result many of the auxiliaries sent up north by Agricola, or in the years immediately following his northern campaigns, could have served here beforehand, and might well have returned here on the completion of their service. Once they had started a trend of returning to the stable, warmer and more prosperous south, others were likely to follow. Another reason could have been the greater availability of land in East Anglia than in other regions, thanks to the rebellion and its suppression. Many, if not most of the Icenian and Trinovantian men must have been either killed in the savage fighting and reprisals, or rounded up afterwards to serve in the auxilia, or sold as slaves as happened to the Helvetii. Their land would automatically have been expropriated. It is also possible that some of the veteran settlers may have been these same Iceni, conscripted after the rebellion, returning to their tribal homeland after service in the army, though as yet there are no records of any such units. Tacitus however makes it clear that at Mons Graupius there were Britons serving on the Roman side (Agricola 29) 63. The fragmentary diploma from Caistor St. Edmund thought to date to the end of the first century might just have belonged to an Icenian veteran, conscripted in 60-61 and retired in 85-90, or one who was recruited slightly later as part of a levy for Agricola’s campaigns, or it could of course have belonged to an auxiliary from another province who had served in the pre-Flavian fort which almost certainly underlies the Roman town at Caistor64 and retired there. The same could be true of the owner of the slightly larger fragment of a diploma dated to AD 98 from Great Dunham, (to the east of the early fort at Elmham/Worthing), who appears to have served in Britain, in an auxiliary unit hitherto unattested in Britain, the Ala I Hispanorum Campagonum though it is just possible that he may have retired from Pannonia65. Lastly, the proximity to the North

Though most of the face jars of both Type 13 and Type 21 seem to have been found on civilian sites, sufficient numbers of each Type occur on military sites or in the military zone north of the Humber for it to be clear that they both had a close association with the Roman army in the north (see maps on Figs. L3 and L4) The handled face jars found at Camelon of RB Type 13A and D (Figs. J6: 3 and J7: 5) are strikingly similar to those from Colchester and the London-Verulamium area (Figs J6: 1-2 and J7: 1), while the grey face jars of RB Type 21E and 21F found at Stanwix or at Chesters (Fig. J12: 6-7) are very like ones from Suffolk and Colchester (Figs. J10: 3-4 and J11: 1-4). Within the southern civilian zone, the distribution of the two Types is limited to the south east, and only to specific areas within it: the grey face jars occur only in East Anglia, apart from one or two in Canterbury, while the handled ones are limited to the Colchester area, the London-Verulamium area and to sites along the route from Dover to London. The overlap between the two Types occurs only at Canterbury and Colchester. North of the Humber many of the sites where the slightly later grey face pots of RB Types 21 E-F have been found are occupied forts, or towns and large vici such as Catterick and Malton that had grown up beside forts, while others are almost all either potteries such as Norton or Crambeck, which were closely connected with the army, or riverine sites such as Elmswell, Shiptonthorpe or Bielby, all of which were associated with iron extraction and smelting for the use of the army60. If the second to early third century face pots of the civilian south are plotted on a map showing the first century Roman forts (see Fig. L3), one thing that immediately emerges is the close correlation between the two, even though most of the face pots are of a later date than the forts. This is particularly true where the grey face jars of East Anglia are concerned. Until quite recently only a comparatively small number of first century forts had been recognised in this region of eastern England, but several more have now been

61 Swan 1981, 132; Moore et al 1988, 22-7; Davies and Gregory 1991, 65ff; Swan and Bidwell 1998, 25. 62 Hinchcliffe 1985, 1; and 58, Fig. 39: 134; Darling 1993, 6. 63 However it does not seem impossible that the Romans may have thought better of their earlier policy of tribal units, and distributed the new local recruits around the auxiliary units already present in Briton to avoid trouble with dissidence and revolt. 64 See Frere 2005, 319. 65 Tomlin and Hassall, 2003, 375-6.

58

See Chapter, III, under RB Type 21E. See Chapter IX, Part III, Face Groups 1-3, and 5.1, and Miscellaneous Fragments Nos 2, 3 and 6. 60 Halkon 1992, 227. 59

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FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER XI London would have been a major supply base for the army and a centre of manufacturing. A small glimpse of this is provided by the large potteries supplying the army as well as much of the south east of Britain situated along Watling Street between London and Verulamium and in London itself. Some if not many of them may have been run by civilian potters, but veterans are also known to have invested in potteries. It is also quite possible that there could have been forced levies for the auxilia in the region around Verulamium following Boudica’s rebellion, if, as seems possible, many of the Catuvellauni had joined the rebels, so that expropriated land would have been available for veteran settlement here too, in very much the area where so many of the London-Verulamium face jars of RB Types IC and 13D have been found. As in the areas of possible veteran settlement in East Anglia, veterans and their families would only have been a minority element in the population of the settlements concerned, perhaps similar to what they were in the Fayum, which in the town-ship of Karanis, seems to have been around 10-12%.

Sea and the important coastal route linking the military zone in the north with London and the Rhine would have meant opportunities for involvement in trade and the provision of supplies to the army, much helped by the many river estuaries along the Suffolk and Essex coasts. The handled face jars of RB Types 13 A-B and D-E which are concentrated around Colchester, in the LondonVerulamium area and in Kent, may also reflect veteran settlement and army recruitment. As these pots tend to be earlier than the grey ones, they could represent a somewhat earlier phase of settlement. Unlike the grey face jars, these handled face jars do not reflect such a close network of former auxiliary forts, but London, Dover, Canterbury and Verulamium all had former forts on their territory that had been occupied for some time or, as at London, that continued to be occupied, and all could have attracted veteran settlement, while Colchester became a veteran colony. London, like Trier, the seat of the provincial Governor and the administrative and cultural centre of the province, would presumably have had its veteran settlers from the Governor’s staff (perhaps the one veteran known to have settled here, from legio II Augusta, was such a one) and from the unit manning the Cripplegate fort. Unusually high numbers of fragments from handled and spouted face jars of RB Types 1C and 13D, dating from the later first century to c. 160, have been found in Gresham Street and on a few other sites to the south and east of the Cripplegate fort in the area which is now coming to be thought of as the vicus of the fort66, but many of the other sites in London where face jars are found could well reflect veteran settlers as well as the families of legionaries on the Governor’s staff. These other sites appear to be concentrated in two main areas in London: along and to either side of the Walbrook stream and its tributaries; and down by the north bank of the river Thames close to London Bridge where the Roman bridge is also thought to have been. The fact that tazze occur on almost all of these sites, and mainly only in these same areas, on a rough ratio of three tazze to one face pot, may also support a military connection67. There appear to be very few face pots found inside the fort itself, perhaps reflecting the same situation noted in the Wetterau region68, and virtually none from the eastern part of the city east of the Forum, though there is a group south of the river in Southwark. The sites down by the river in the general region of London Bridge on the north side of the Thames have produced the earliest face pot fragments found in London so far, and could indicate the area where the soldiers were first stationed who were brought in to start building the bridge and the port. The face pots and fragments from the Walbrook stream bed or from its banks seem to be mainly from votive contexts or shrines69, but those further back on either side appear to be mostly from areas of domestic housing and shops.

Finally, it seems likely that the face pot sherds, many of them unclassified, found in the vicinity of the former forts further north along Watling Street between Verulamium and Wroxeter, may also represent veteran settlement and similar continuing contacts with the army. These are the closest of the early forts in lowland Britain to the military areas in the north east and in Wales. Wall is one of the few Roman towns where traces of the vicus attached to the first century fort are thought to have been identified underlying the subsequent small Roman town70. Little Chester, which seems to have been occupied on and off for very much longer than the other forts in this area is also an obvious site where veterans may have settled. As on the Continent, there can of course be no absolute certainty as yet that the groups of people using face pots in these three general areas in the civilian zone were members of rather scattered military communities in second century Britain, rather than just ordinary members of the civilian population. Further excavations of fort vici in the north may provide more examples of face pots from the military zone which could strengthen the link between the northern and southern face pots. It is also possible that in the future the analysis of seal-box finds may help to provide further clues to veteran settlement in the civilian south. Quite promising results are beginning to emerge in Suffolk71, which as a predominantly rural and relatively un-romanised region would not be expected to have had a very literate population. The two diplomas found in Norfolk also provide added support for veteran settlement in East Anglia, neither of which had been discovered until very recently. All in all, the evidence such it is from diplomas, stone inscriptions and face pots seems to confirm what was only to be expected, namely that soldiers would act in their own best interests, and if it suited them to settle beside their forts, they would, but if the conditions were too unattractive, they would find somewhere else. And, like any

66

See Chapter IX, under RB Type 13D. See Chapter IX, Pt. II, under RB Type 13D. See above, Part II, A.1. 69 See Chapter XIII, B.2.a and C. 67 68

70 71

348

Wacher 1990, 8. Jude Plouviez, unpublished information, 2004.

THE MILITARY CONNECTION, PART II

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FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER XI group that has lived in comparative isolation and seeks to enter the community at large, they will go back to somewhere they already know, where they have family connections or where their friends and colleagues have gone before. Kinship, as Dr Margaret Roxan has shown (1997), exerted a very strong pull unless other factors intervened.

C.

The probability therefore is that the British face pots were no different from their Continental counterparts, and remained closely associated with the military community in the province, who continued to provide the bulk of the recruits needed for both the legions and the auxilia during the second and third centuries, even though that community was fragmented into many groups within the civilian and military zones. Without the benefit of the evidence from the Continent however, the distribution of face pots in Britain was, as this author discovered in 1984, very difficult to explain72. There was nothing to suggest that after the first century there was any specific military connection, and their distribution on the eastern side of Britain and close to the coast provided no obvious hint of a link with the army in the north. Rather it had seemed to be a tradition linked with the Rhineland, the one other region known to have a lot face pots, and possibly with Germanic tribes.

By the early to mid third century, face pots appear to be much rarer in the south east and in the west Midlands, with the exception of Colchester and possibly London, and this could well be a reflection of the fact that most of the veteran settlement and auxiliary recruitment was now taking place in the north. B.3.

CONCLUSIONS

British face pots of the fourth century

In the fourth century, apart from a few grey-ware face jars of RB Types 21E that continue for a short while in the military north east, there are just two main types of face pot, the Much Hadham ones of RB Type 31 (Fig. J14: 3-5) in the south east, and the bossed and/or painted face jars of RB Types 28-30 (Figs. J13 and J14: 1-2) in the north east (see map on Fig. L4). The latter are almost certainly closely associated with soldiers and their families, given that they all, apart from those found at the Crambeck potteries, have been found in or close to forts or the legionary base at York. The wide-spread Much Hadham face jars look much less military, with only four out of forty one examples coming from fort sites, namely the Saxon shore forts at Caister-onSea and Burgh Castle, the Cripplegate fort in London, and the fort of Oudenburg on the Belgian coast (now well inland). The core distribution of the Hadham face pots however, is very similar to that of the face jars of RB Type 13 which, it is suggested, may reflect an area of early veteran settlement, and with their frilled rims and three vestigial handles they resemble quite closely many of the earlier RB Type 13 face jars. In the south east, the contact with the army, whose composition, as on the Continent, had by now radically changed, may have finally been broken, but the face pot tradition could have continued among the former military families still living in the area, becoming over time a part of the local ceramic traditions. As in the lower Rhineland, the practice of using face pots (now mainly jug-shaped) seems to have survived in the London area and the south east of England into the Middles Ages and beyond, in the green-glazed jars and “grey beard jugs” with bearded faces of mediaeval pottery collections.

As on the Continent, it seems that the use of face pots may have become more closely associated with the military families during the second and third centuries than with the serving soldiers themselves, though as yet insufficient published information is available in Britain and in the Rhineland for a serious comparative study of the finds from active forts, from their attached vici and from the presumed sites of veteran settlement and recruitment outside the military areas. As far as can be seen therefore, the strong connection between face pots and the Roman military community which is abundantly clear in the first century, continued right through the second and third centuries in all the occupied provinces, and even into the fourth in those areas where, as in north east Britain, some continuity seems to have been maintained between the former units manning the frontiers and the re-modelled army of the Late Roman Empire. No convincing evidence can be detected for the spread of face pot traditions into the general civilian community of the provinces other than in those areas which seem likely to have had some continuing contact with the serving army or its veterans. There are good reasons therefore to believe that face pots of second to third century date found outside the military zones are a sign of veteran settlement in those areas. Together with stone inscriptions, diplomas, papyri and now seal-boxes, face pots can, it is suggested, play an important part in tracing the complex patterns of military settlement and recruitment in the provinces of the Western Roman Empire, especially in Britain

72

350

Braithwaite, 1984, 127.

WHOSE WERE THE FACES?

CHAPTER TWELVE Whose were the faces? An attempt to identify the face pot masks

Pl.L1. Face jar of RL Type 24B with handle at the back from Mainz-Weisenau the potters were using an established image or mask, possibly one unfamiliar to them, but not their own invention. Where then did these faces come from and whose are they? There are no dedications written on any of the pots2, nor are their any references to them in any of the literary sources, and their stylised features cannot be said to closely resemble any of the standardised Roman masks or images of deities and other known figures with which we are familiar. The only sure fact that can be deduced from the pots themselves is that their masks had to be suitable for

INTRODUCTION A search for parallels among other Roman masks This brings us at last to the complex question of the face masks portrayed on Roman face pots. As has been seen in the preceding chapters, face pot faces are not just “the whim of a potter”, fashioned as the fancy took him. Though they are always modelled by hand, without using moulds, and can vary from region to region, they are standardised images right from the start, with the exception of one or two uncertain-looking attempts in the very early stages in the Rhineland1. But even in these cases it seems clear that

2 There is one British head pot from Lincoln, which has a dedication to Mercury – DO MERCURIO - written round the base (Appendix IV, Fig. S.4: 5), and this is sometimes cited as evidence for the identification of face pot faces. This is not a face pot however and cannot be taken as representative of them, though as face pots and head vases (or head pots) do seem to be inter-related to some extent, this is not without relevance.

1 As for instance the early two face jars of RB Type 2A, see Chapter IV, Pt I, Fig. D3: 1-2.

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FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER XII vessels buried in graves, often as cremation urns, and hence they must have had some religious significance, quite possibly a connection with death and the afterworld. At the same time a great number of face pots, particularly face jars, have been found in the home and in a wide variety of other secular contexts, clearly suggesting a connection with the living as well.

equated with a Roman god. If links can be established between some of the face pot masks and named Roman images, this would at least provide a clue as to the kind of mask that was portrayed on Roman face pots, and could lead to the identification of other related masks, and to a better understanding of those mask types for which no recognisable parallel can be found.

Various suggestions have been offered over the years as to the meaning and identity of the face pot masks, but for the most part these were based on only a relatively small number of face pots which had been published or which were readily accessible in museum collections, and generally just from one country. In Britain face pots are often thought to have been connected with the Celtic cult of the head which is believed to have been particularly popular in this country3. In Germany and Belgium where many face jars were used as cremation urns, it has been suggested that the masks are death masks, particularly those with what appear to be closed eyes, or even that the mask together with the pot is symbolic of the human form that the soul will retain in the world to come4. Others refer to the probable protective and apotropaic purpose of the masks, which appears to be further emphasised by the phalli that occur on so many Rhineland face jars5. Few have tried to identify the individual masks or mask type; just occasionally a satyr-silenus or Pan has been suggested as the figure represented on some of the face pots6.

As described in the introduction to Appendix V, masks played as great if not a greater role in the Roman world than they did in classical Greece and in Etruscan Italy. And yet when examined, virtually all these masks represent the same familiar figures that belonged to the Greek Bacchic tradition: the Gorgon and her counter part, the fair Medusa, Dionysus/Bacchus, his consort Persephone or Ariadne, members of his thiasos (satyrs, sileni, maenads and Pan), his drinking companion Hercules, and the theatrical masks, both comic and tragic, of the theatre of Dionysus8. The styles of portraiture change, but the range of figures remains basically the same. One or two other masks were added in the Hellenistic and Roman periods such as those of Jupiter Ammon, Oceanus and of a bald, beak-nosed figure reminiscent of the Etruscan Charun. The mask of Attis also sometimes occurs and possibly that of Cybele9. The evidence for these masks however comes almost entirely from surviving material in metal, stone (including mosaics), terracotta and fineware pottery as well as from painted plaster found in buried buildings, all materials in which popular art rarely found expression, and therefore they can hardly be said to provide a reliable picture of the mask traditions of the ordinary people living in Italy and the provinces.

One thing that seems fairly clear is that these stylised, simplified masks belonged essentially to the realm of popular art and tradition and as such would only rarely if ever have been portrayed in expensive durable materials such as metal and stone, but rather in cheaper, organic materials such as wood, leather and textiles which very seldom survive. It is therefore not surprising that barely any closely similar masks are known. But for this one tradition that led to their portrayal on durable pottery vessels, most of these enigmatic masks would never have survived into the present day.

The durable material that was most accessible to the less wealthy members of society was baked clay, in other words pottery and terracotta. And so in Appendices III, IV and V, an attempt has been made to identify what seem to be the closest parallels for the face pot masks among the faces and busts portrayed in these materials. Appendix III looks at the Gallo-Belgic planetary or bust vases, Appendix IV at ceramic head vases, while Appendix V looks at a variety of different masks, such as the appliqué masks on fineware beakers, the terracotta masks that were hung on walls and in between columns, and antefix masks, in the hopes that some clues can be obtained from these more popular but still mostly recognisable images as to the identity of the face pot masks themselves. Mention is also made of metal parade masks, the one surviving type of mask that was actually worn and not just a copy, and of a series of finely carved marble reliefs representing groups of Bacchic masks which were certainly not within the reach of the common man, but which provide additional evidence for the range of Roman Bacchic masks as well as some otherwise little known images of Bacchus that seem to be relevant.

An obvious possibility, though one that seems rarely to have been seriously considered, is that some if not many of the face pot masks are merely stylised versions of the naturalistically portrayed Greek, Etruscan and Roman masks reduced to simple, standardised schematic images through years and probably centuries of free-hand copying images which would have been instantly recognisable to the contemporary public but are now quite unknown to us. A first step towards identifying the face pot masks therefore should be an examination of the known mask types current in the Roman period. Some of the face pot masks however, such the Gallo-Belgic tricephalic mask or the Raetian “Hathor-locks” mask7 almost certainly belong to native, provincial tradition, and therefore the chances of finding named counterparts or prototypes is much reduced unless there is evidence that they represent a local deity who was

8

See Appendix I, C and E. See Appendix V, Fig. S7: 5. Some of the oriental mystery gods such as Attis, Cybele, Isis and Sarapis seem to have been included in some aspects of the Bacchic tradition during the Roman period, perhaps because they too are salvation gods. This is particularly evident in the case of head vases, first in the eastern Empire and then in the West (see below and Appendix IV, A.1). 9

3

Ross 1967, 102-4. Gaitsch,1987, 37-40. 5 Schumacher 1914, 347. 6 Renard 1955. 221; Toynbee 1962, 192. 7 See B.3 and B.8 below, Figs. M8 and M13. 4

352

WHOSE WERE THE FACES? Bacchus: the god himself as a youth or a bearded older man, his consort Ariadne or Persephone, members of his thiasos: satyrs, sileni and maenads, and his drinking companion Hercules who, if he is not wearing his lion-skin with the jaws over his head, can easily be confused with the bearded Dionysus. The Etruscans seem only to have added one extra figure, the underworld demon Charun.

i) Bust vases The bust vases or so-called planetary vases10, are often compared with face jars, mainly because they are virtually the only other group of Roman pottery vessels that are somewhat similar in form and have faces on the girth, though in fact their “faces” are in reality busts made with moulds, often numbering as many as seven and with relatively classical, naturalistic features. They are also a very localised development, almost entirely limited to the valleys of the Meuse-Sambre and Escaut rivers in Gallia Belgica. However the bust vases are the only other pottery vessels apart from a few face jars from the Rhineland11 on which the Celtic tricephalic deity is portrayed, and they also help to confirm his identification with the Roman Mercury12. The other deities represented on the bust vases, apart from the easily recognised busts of Mercury with stubby wings on his forehead and with one or more of his customary Roman attributes (caduceus, purse, cock and goat) place alongside, and just two busts with goat horns that may represent Pan13, are unfortunately no more recognisable than face pot masks, as for all their more classical and naturalistic features, they have no identifying features or attributes14.

The head vase tradition continues in the Roman period, though more strongly in the Greek-speaking eastern half of the Empire and in north Africa than in the western provinces with the exception of Britain and Pannonia. Only a few head vases still seem to be polychrome, but it is possible that others were painted after firing. The same Bacchic figures are still portrayed, though now characters from the Greek theatre of Dionysus are also included, particularly ones from comedy such as the elderly houseslave or the drunken old hag (Fig. S1: 6), while oriental mystery deities also sometimes make an appearance, most recognisably in Greece and the eastern Mediterranean (Fig. S1: 2-3)17, but also in north Africa and probably in Britain (Fig. S4: 1-2)18. The only clear evidence for the portrayal of a native non-Roman deity or figure comes from Aquincum in the shape of a little bronze steelyard weight (which is in effect a miniature head vase or balsamarium filled-up with lead19). This portrays a two-faced figure with a neat, pointed beard on each face which is quite unlike any known Roman deity, but is quite similar to some of the face jar masks along the upper and middle Danube (see below, B.4, Fig. M. 9: 5).

ii) Head vases Ceramic head vases15, which are normally made with moulds except in Britain, do not have masks but portray the whole head, back and front (except in the case of two-faced head vases). They are important to this discussion because early Attic head vases appear to have influenced the development of the first Italian face beakers in Etruscan Italy in the later sixth century BC, while again in the Roman period there is evidence for interaction between the two traditions, both in Britain and Pannonia16, and possibly in other provinces. At times it seems as if the two traditions may have existed in parallel, side by side, particularly where face beakers are concerned:- a classical naturalistic tradition in fineware pottery and expensive metals, and a popular tradition in inexpensive pottery and possibly other organic materials. But at other times, with ceramic head vases limited mainly to the Greek-speaking regions of the Empire and north Africa while face pots seem to occur only in the Latin-speaking regions of continental Europe and Britain, there seems to be very little connection. But glass and metal head vases, of which so few have survived, could provide the missing link.

iii) Fineware mask beakers The colour-coated mask beakers with their mould-made appliqué masks, most of which were made in central and southern France during the late first to early third century20, provide excellent evidence for the classical mask types from which face pot masks could have been copied, exhibiting more or less the full range of Bacchic masks current in the Roman period, though as most of them were made by expert potters in sigillata workshops, they provide little evidence for how these masks could have changed through untutored copying or stylisation to the masks we find on face pots, nor do they appear to portray any obviously local or native deities or masks. The best known and most numerous are those made at or near Lezoux, many of which were exported to other provinces, particularly Britain. These vessels are far less common than head vases, but like them, may also have existed in bronze and more precious metals, and it is conceivable that they may also have been in some way or at some point connected with the development of face pots21.

As has been seen in Chapters I and II, both the Greek head vases, and the Etruscan ones that copied them, were closely linked to the Dionysiac or Bacchic tradition, portraying a limited range of figures all closely connected to Dionysus-

iv) Terracotta masks With the Roman terracotta masks we come closer to the type of popular, everyday mask traditions that might have found expression on Roman face pots. These colourful,

10

Described in Appendix III. 11 Of RL Types 4A, 31 and 44A. 12 See Appendix III, Group 1, 5, Note 17. 13 Ibid, Group 2. 14 There is also one sherd with part of a spoked wheel on it, but the bust to which it was attached is lost (ibid, Group 1, 4). Attempts to identify the bearded (male) and beardless (female or young male) busts on the more complete examples according to the order of the planetary gods of the week have all failed and no consistent pattern can as yet be observed. 15 Described in Appendix IV. 16 The evidence for this interconnection is discussed at the end of Appendix IV, under Section D.2.

17

Ibid, A.1.2-3. Ibid, A.8.2, Note 45. 19 Ibid, B. 3. 20 Described in Appendix V, A. 21 Ibid, B.1. 18

353

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER XII painted masks22 with their white faces, brown or black painted features, and red or yellow hair have hitherto been little studied, mainly because so few complete or reconstructable ones have survived. However those of the north west provinces have recently been the subject of a detailed study by Hannelore Rose, which also includes some of the masks found at Pompeii and in Roman Athens and Corinth23. Apart from a few buried as votive offerings, and a group of Late Roman “miniature” masks from graves, most of the masks have had to be identified from very small fragments. The majority of them come from waste deposits and the ruins of houses on both civilian and military sites, but quite a number from temple sites, as well as from kiln sites24 and public meeting places. Recent excavation indicates that they were often hung up in between the columns of peristyle courtyards or the posts of verandas on barrack blocks, swinging in the breeze, presumably providing a protective, beneficent aura for the home or building. They appear to have been particularly popular in the Rhineland where they have a distribution similar to face pots, though they do not occur much if at all in the later auxiliary forts of the Wetterau or in those on the Neckar or Upper German Limes, suggesting that this was a mask tradition associated more with the legions than with the native auxilia.

the only fairly complete one25. It is clear both at Pompeii and in the Rhineland that some masks were initially made as blank masks from plain moulds without any specific identifying features or hair. These were then added later, while the mask was still leather hard, using other moulds26. At Pompeii there is evidence that the same blank mask could thus be turned into a maenad or Attis (Fig. S7: 5-6). The addition of a crown of grapes or ivy leaves could presumably turn it into a young Bacchus or a satyr. In the Rhineland it seems to have been the female masks that were made in this two-part fashion, but given the weight of hair that was to be added, the masks were made in a different way to the others, with a supporting band at the back at right-angles to the mask to strengthen it, while the actual face mask was finer and thinner than on the usual masks. As a result no reconstructable female masks have survived, just fragments of copious, stiffly waved hair, apart from one somewhat different mask made in Raetia found at Straubing27. The Xanten mask however shows no sign of having been made in this way, and its face is the same thickness as the non-female masks. It must have been considered finished, as it had already been painted, with the eyes, mouth and nose outlined in dark brown, and it had been taken from the kilns at Köln where it is assumed to have been made was produced to the legionary fortress at Xanten. It could perhaps be a copy of some kind of actor’s mask to which a wig made of organic materials would normally have been added. Or it could be that the technique of making blank masks had led to the production of fullyfinished anonymous masks to which features could be added later if required, but which could otherwise serve as generic, all-purpose Bacchic masks. It opens up the possibility that similar, plain, Bacchic masks might have existed all along at a popular level, even before the Roman period, made of wood or leather on which additional identifying features could be painted as required.

These masks too are of Bacchic inspiration. This is clearest in the case of the masks from Greece and Pompeii, which represent classical-looking satyrs, maenads, comic and tragic masks, as well as one example of Attis from Pompeii (Fig. S7), whereas those from the Rhineland and Britain can be somewhat less easy to identify (Fig. S8). But the particular value of these masks as far as this study of face pots is concerned is that they provide a glimpse into how the original, classical, Greco-Roman masks could change through simplification, conflation of mask types, corrupt copying, the introduction of new mask types and local provincial influences, into often very different images. Most important of all, they reveal some of the different stages of the transformation. Already at Pompeii two mask types, the comic house slave and the satyr appear to have been conflated (Fig. S7: 4), a tragic mask is reduced through bad copying into something close to the comic old hag (Fig. S7: 7-8), while a new comic mask has emerged with a wide toothless grin who is thought to represent the comic buffoon Maccus of the Campanian Atellan farces (Fig. S7: 3). In the Rhineland most of the same mask types occur, though with further modifications, but now the most popular type appears to be the beak-nosed mask, unseen in Greece or at Pompeii, which now has gaping jaws (Fig. S8: 2-3), while many of the satyrs have developed grins bristling with teeth (Fig. S8: 1a-b).

There is virtually no evidence for the representation of provincial native mask types on the these mould-made terracotta masks, but in provinces such as Britain, Raetia and Dacia where mould-technology was less developed and where wooden masks may have replaced the terracotta ones, occasional hand-modelled clay masks have been found that reveal local mask types that are not unlike some face pot faces (Fig S9: 3-8)28. A mask from Britain, one of two from a kiln site at Godmanchester, has a long thin nose and a projecting, cross-hatched bearded chin very similar to the face on a fragment of a huge face jar with smith’s tools found at Vindolanda29. Another mask, from Catterick, has wide-set almond-shaped eyes, a long straight nose, and a thin slit mouth, very reminiscent of some of the early British face pots30, but it could also be a copy of a metal parade mask31. Further east along the Danube, there are two primitive-looking masks cut from the side of an amphora or large jar, one from Regensburg and the other from

Of particular interest is a large, featureless mask from Xanten (Fig. S8: 5). Fragments from other, similar, blanklooking masks have been found in the Rhineland, but this is

25

Rose 2000, Cat. No 145. Appendix V, C.2.2, C.3.a.1, and G.10. Ibid, Fig. S8: 9. 28 See Appendix V, C7. 29 See Chapter IX, PT III, RB Type 22, Fig. J12: 8 30 In particular those of RB Types 3A and 13G. 31 See Appendix V, C.7.2, Fig. S9: 3. 26

22

27

Described in Appendix V, C.3.a.4. Rose, unpublished thesis, Köln, 2000, with two short summaries published in 1999 and 2001. 24 But not necessarily on the kiln sites where they were made, see Appendix V, C.4.3. 23

354

WHOSE WERE THE FACES? carved or painted images, the original Roman terracotta mask types would soon have become stylised and schematic, while local masks and other protective images would no doubt soon have been included. Evidence for this is of course virtually unobtainable, but there is a rare terracotta roof finial or ridge-tile ornament from the Raetian fortress of Lauriacum on which a stylised native mask is portrayed with a neatly notched beard in a style reminiscent of wood carving, which is strikingly similar to some of the early Raetian face pot masks and could well be a local mask which would normally have been carved in wood (Fig. S12: 6).

Micasasa in Dacia, which look just like our modern-day pumpkin masks with jagged teeth, but are also similar to some of the schematic faces found on face pots from west Britain32. faces There is also a group of calf-like masks found at Mautern in Noricum (Fig S9: 6) which could relate to ancient fertility mask-plays of a kind that are still practised in that region today, and which may be reflected in some of the horned masks that occasionally occur on Roman face pots in this same region and along the lower Danube33. v) Antefixes Antefixes seem to be somewhat less closely related to face pots than terracotta masks, and of course not all Roman antefixes have masks, many just having palmettes, fir trees, weapon trophies or a variety of other symbols and regimental emblems. But the masks they do have are important to this study firstly, because they provide a slightly different selection of types to the head vases, mask beakers and terracotta masks mentioned above, despite the fact that they too virtually all belong to the same Bacchic tradition; and secondly because they offer even better examples of the corruption of classical imagery through inexpert copying and provincial stylisation and abstraction, as well as occasional evidence of local influences and native mask types.

vi) Parade helmet masks The fine masks of the bronze cavalry parade helmets may seem to have little in common with the simple masks of coarse-ware face pots, but they are the one type of mask which is clearly military and would have been well known to most Roman soldiers, and the only surviving masks from the Roman period which were actually worn37. It also turns out that there are several instances where it appears that these apparently very specialised military masks do have features in common with some of the other more popular and commonplace masks discussed here, suggesting that they may not have been totally unrelated to the standard mask traditions of the Roman period.

The main purpose of antefixes was apotropaic – to protect the building from evil forces seeking to enter it. Consequently it is the Gorgon, the archetypal apotropaic image, or her counterpart the fair Medusa, which seem to be the commonest types, at any rate on the antefixes of Roman Italy. A number of other Bacchic types do also occur, but less frequently it seems (Fig. S10)34. The popularity of the Gorgon-Medusa continues in the north western provinces though some of the masks, particularly in Britain, have become virtually unrecognisable (Fig. S11)35, while in the Danubian provinces theatrical masks, in particular the tragic mask with a tall, piled-up wig, become increasingly common (Fig. S12: 5). An unusual mask apparently representing a young man with trimmed hair and beard occurs on several legionary sites (Fig. S12: 1-4 and Pls. S25-26).

There appears to be a link with the large Rhineland terracotta masks, in so far as the only complete terracotta mask of a youth or maiden that has survived is strikingly similar to a parade mask from Dacia38, and could well be a copy of it or of another similar mask, while many terracotta hair fragments from other female masks look very like the hair on some of the other more obviously female parade masks. There is also, as mentioned above, an incomplete hand-made terracotta mask from Catterick which may have been a rather cruder copy of one of these masks39. In addition, it is clear that parade masks were thought to have protective powers over the dead, as they have often been found in graves, and if it was an inhumation burial, the mask seems always to have been placed over the face as a death mask, whether the deceased was male or female, just as can be the case with terracotta masks, though not, it seems, with those from the Rhineland.

Antefixes fade out in Italy by the end of the first century AD, and the same is true in the north western provinces, though in the East they seem to last longer. Given the evident need to provide apotropaic protection for Roman buildings, they must almost certainly have been replaced with other protective devices, of which the most likely may well have been terracotta or wooden masks hung around the house, and no doubt other apotropaic images placed on roof tops and gables or beneath the eves, carved out of wood or simply painted on walls and doors, as may well have been the original custom of many of the native peoples conquered by Rome and which can be occasionally glimpsed on Iron Age house urns36. In the case of such hand

Where face pots are concerned, there are three possible links with parade masks. The first concerns the simpler type of face mask which was attached to the helmet with a hinge and just covered the face from chin to forehead without any hair on top or at the sides, or the smaller visor masks from tripartite helmets, as in Appendix V Fig. S13: 1-2. These can both look very like face pot masks. The metal masks were intended to protect the rider’s face from the wooden spears and lances used during cavalry jousting exercises, particularly the eyes, and for this reason the eye holes are mostly narrow slits, not unlike the slit, coffee-bean eyes of many face pots with the “serene” mask. Sometimes however the eye-holes can be wider and blocked by a pupil-

32

See Chapter IX, Pt II, Fig. J5: 5 and Pt. III, Figs. J14: 9 and J16: 10. See B.2 below. 34 Described in Appendix V, D.1. 35 Ibid, D.2. 36 See Chapter II, Pt I, B.1.2, Note 6. 33

37

See Appendix V, E. Ibid, Pl. S30 a-b. 39 Ibid, C.7.2, Fig. S9: 3. 38

355

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER XII shaped piece of metal. The slit eyes with small pellets in the centre typical of the Rhineland “serene” face pot mask in the first century could perhaps have been copied from these. The other link concerns the larger parade masks that have hair, and on some of these snakes can be seen climbing up the side of the face and poking out of the hair as in the example from Weissenburg (see below, Fig. M12: 3) and in Pls. S28-9. These might perhaps have provided the model for the very fragmentary face pot from Old Penrith with a snake’s head above the eyebrow(Fig M12: 1). One final feature that may have been copied on a few face pots is the peak above the mask on some parade helmets, which could explain the strange projecting strip above the eyes on a small number of face pots (see B.14.b below).

Roman face pot masks can quite easily be divided into two main groups: those which first occur on face beakers in Italy in the first centuries BC and AD, and then appear on face beakers and face pots in the provinces; and those which only occur in the provinces and are unknown on face pots in Italy. They are examined below in the following order:

vii) Marble reliefs of groups of Bacchic masks. Any connection between face pots and these fine marble reliefs carved on both sides with Bacchic masks may again seem very remote, but like the mask vases, they too provide useful evidence of the range of Bacchic masks that were current in Roman Italy from the first century BC until the second century AD, providing added confirmation that the mystery god Attis was now regularly included. They also illustrate useful profile views of the bearded masks of Bacchus with a crown-like head dress and a sharply projecting curly beard (Pls. S32-33) that is quite similar to the jutting beards on some of the large face beakers or face jars of the Danubian provinces of DAN Types 25 and 27 (see B.5 below, Fig. M10).

B.1. The mask with vertical horns; B.2. The mask with horizontal horns; B.3. The “Hathor-locks “mask with long outwardcurling eyebrows or horns; B.4. The mask with a goatee beard or sharply pointed chin; B.5. The mask with a projecting, ruff-like beard; B.6. The masks with smith’s tools; B.7. The mask with a snake; B.8. The tricephalic mask or the mask with three conjoined faces; B.9. The three masks on one face pot; B.10. The m-shaped mask; B.11. The abbreviated, skimpy masks; B.12. The masks with figurative decoration below or on either side; B.13. The mask with a “peak” or “hood” above the face. B.14. The masks with phalli; B.15. Rare or ill-defined masks: a) a tragic mask?; b) the mask with a hood or cap; c) the mask with T-shaped eyebrows and nose; d) the mask with “Celtic” down-drooping eyes.

A. The Italian face pot masks: A. The “serene” mask ; A.2. The beak-nosed mask; A.3 The comic grinning mask. B. The provincial face pot masks:

viii) Conclusions Such then are the closest, identifiable parallels for face pot masks that it has been possible to find from the Roman period. They come mainly from Italy and the more Romanised provinces, and inevitably virtually all of them are classical and fairly naturalistic masks, except for the rare native provincial masks which have miraculously survived as hand-made clay masks or just occasionally in fine pottery or mould-made terracotta. There are a few other Roman non-classical masks and heads sculpted in stone or in wood which can be reminiscent of face pot masks, but sadly these are no more identifiable than the latter, and therefore of very little help. It now remains to examine all the different mask types identified on Roman face pots in the light of the information gained from these other masks.

356

WHOSE WERE THE FACES? A.

THE THREE MOST COMMON MASKS ON THE ITALIAN FACE BEAKERS AND SIMILAR MASKS IN THE PROVINCES

As we have seen, Roman face pots first appear, in the form of face beakers, in Late Republican Italy, in much the same area of Etruria and Rome as the Etruscan face beakers, and from there they seem to have spread into northern Italy and Campania. There are basically three different mask types on Italian face pots: a plain, “serene” mask, a grotesque, “beaknosed” mask, and a less common, comic mask with a wide and sometimes toothy grin. All three of these Italian masks also appear to have been used on face pots in the Roman provinces. There is one other mask, namely the “Hathor locks” mask, which occurs on just one unprovenanced face beaker thought to have come from northern Italy40. But this mask seems to be of Celtic rather than Romano-Italian origin, and is therefore examined along with the other provincial masks under B.3, along with the far more numerous examples from the province of Raetia. A.1.

The “serene” mask

a)

In Italy (Fig. M1)

Fig. M1. The “serene” mask on an Attic head vase (No 1), on an Etruscan face beaker (No 2) and on Italian face beakers 1, Unprovenanced; (Chap. I, C.6, Fig. B2:5); 2, Rome (Chap. II, I, B.3.c, Fig. B9:3); 3, Viterbo (IT 4); 4, Pompeii (IT 7); 5, Mainz-Weizenau (RL 15); 6, Nave (IT 16); 7, Stanghelle di Franzine (IT 15); 8, Siscia (IT 27; DAN 1). (Scale c.1:3)

This is the most widespread face pot mask in Italy, being found with minor variations from Campania to the north of Italy41. It is a simple, unremarkable face, with no outstanding features, with arched, generally notched eyebrows, and small nose, ears and mouth. The eyes are also small, and mostly round, but on the Po valley face beakers of IT Type 16 they may sometimes be coffee-bean shaped. On a few rare examples, as on the unusual face beaker exported to Siscia (No 8), the eyes are almond-shaped with raised eyelids applied in barbotine. The ears are crescent-shaped, and are occasionally pierced, apparently for metal ear-rings which rarely if ever survive. All the features are applied. This simple, expressionless, 40

See Chapter III, IT Type 3. This mask very probably reflects Celtic influences introduced by the Celts who had settled in northern Italy in the fourth century BC. 41 See Chapter III, IT Types 1, 3-5, 7-8, 15-16, 26-27 and 35, Figs. C3:1, 3-4; C4: 2-5; C5:1-5; C10: 1-2; C11: 1.

357

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER XII Romano-Italian mask provides no obvious distinguishing features that can aid identification. However, apart from the notching on the eyebrows, it is very similar to the equally blank masks on the Etruscan face beakers (No 2), some of which are thought to be copies of the earliest Greek head vases or face kantharoi representing either the young Bacchus (No 1) or a satyr. Like them this face could also have represented the same god, who in Etruria was known as Fufluns and who in Roman Italy came to be equated with the ancient Italian god of wine and fertility Liber or Liber Pater42. Alternatively it might, as suggested under iv) above, have come to represent a popular, featureless, all-purpose, protective Bacchic mask, made of cheap organic materials, which was hung in the trees or outside the house, or used in many different ways, to which identifying features could be added if required. Its very meaning may no longer have been generally known. b) In the provinces (Fig. M2) This mask, with minor variations, also appears to be the most popular and wide-spread face pot mask in the provinces, and particularly in the Rhineland, where it becomes the standard Rhineland face pot mask, despite the scarcity of imported Italian face beakers north of the Alps and the fact that most of the face pots in the north western provinces are face jars rather than face beakers. As can be seen in Chapter IV the same bland, serene features occur on most of the Rhineland face pots, with arched, notched eyebrows that become ever more widely arched, and a small nose, eyes, mouth and ears (Nos 1-3). The main difference between these Rhineland masks and those on Italian face beakers is that the faces are sometimes bearded, and on first century face jars the eyes and mouths are generally slit with a pellet lodged in the centre, apparently representing pupils and tongues, and there is often an applied phallus on either cheek (No 1). This does, admittedly, give the early Rhineland face masks a rather less simple and serene appearance, but by the middle of the second century, when the pellets in the eyes and mouths as well as the phalli have mostly disappeared, the simplicity and serenity returns (Nos 2-3). In Britain the “serene” mask can be seen most clearly on the few early face jars of RB Type 3, such as the one from Brampton43 (No 5). Thereafter it is generally more compact with less widely arched eyebrows and with more frequent beards (No 4), while the features tend to become more schematic and abbreviated, reflecting what seems to have been a parallel non-Roman north European tradition of small abstract face masks on the necks of jars (see B.11, Fig. M15 below). In the Rhine-Danube corner the “serene” mask is the most common, with no pellets in the eyes or mouth, and only a few rare phalli which seem to be limited to the Strasbourg-Stuttgart area. In the second to third centuries the mask acquires a somewhat aquiline nose. In the provinces of the middle and lower Danube the “serene” mask first occurs on early face beakers, both imported and locally- produced, and lasts through to the later Roman period. It is also used on face jars once they appear in this region in the second century. The main difference here is the frequent addition of an applied or pushed-out chin (but not as marked as on the face pots with a goatee beard or prominent pointed chin described below in C.5, Fig. M9), and sometimes quite a prominent nose (Nos 7-8). There are no “serene” masks clearly distinguishable in Raetia, even after more Romanised face jar forms are introduced in the late second century. A version of the “serene” mask with barbotine almondshaped eyelids also occurs on the Spanish face jars of FS Type 31 (No 6). The fact that on one of these face jars a theatrical mask appears to have been used in place of the standard “serene” mask further supports a Bacchic interpretation for this mask44. As with the “serene” masks on the Italian face beakers, there are still no specific features or attributes that provide clear evidence for identification. The addition of a beard could indicate the older Bacchus while the beardless version could be either the young god or his consort. On a two-faced Rhineland jar of RL Type 30 one of the masks has a slight beard and moustache, and the other has none, perhaps indicating the two masks of Bacchus, or Bacchus and his consort45. Phalli frequently occur on this mask, whether they are bearded or beardless, normally two, one on each cheek, but sometime just one. However they tend to fade out by the end of the second century, and do not occur on any other face pot mask type apart from the tricephalic mask which is in fact composed of three, elided, “serene” masks, nor in any region except the Rhineland, with the exception of two examples, one from Britain and one from Moesia, both almost certainly closely connected with troops recently transferred from the Rhine46 (see B13 below). Phalli therefore cannot be seen as an identifying feature of the “serene” mask type, though it is conceivable that they were added, like beards, or horns, or teeth, to provide a more specific identity for this featureless mask or to enhance its eficacity. The phallus as a symbol of fertility (and hence of protection) was always closely associated with Dionysus-Bacchus, and was a principle icon of his cult together with the wooden mask47. Further evidence for the “serene” mask’s connection with phalli and fertility is provided by the face jugs with a phallic pouring spout of RL Type 33 which only have this mask and no others.

42

see Appendix 1, D5. This face pot is undated, but presumed to be early on account of its large mask and unusual pellets in the eyes and mouth suggesting first century Rhineland influence. 44 See Chapter V, under FS Type 31, Fig. E6: 6. 45 See Chapter IV, II, Fig. D14: 1. 46 One of RB Type 2 from Gloucester (Kingsholme) in Britain and the other of DAN Type 32 from Novae on the Lower Danube. 47 See Appendix I, B.1 43

358

WHOSE WERE THE FACES?

Fig. M2 The “serene” mask on provincial face pots 1, Köln (RL 1); 2, Nida-Heddernheim (RL 20A); 3, Andernach (RL 21A); 4, Colchester (RB 13A);5, Brampton (RB 3C); 6, Rosinos de Vidriales (FS 31); 7, Vienna (DAN 16); 8, Virunum (UD 25). (Scale c. 1:6 except No 7 at 1:3)

The pellet tongues in the mouths of first century Rhineland face jars could reflect some local confusion between the masks of Bacchus, of a satyr, and of the Gorgon-Medusa, or a conflation of all three. This happened on occasions in Etruria, to judge by a painted Etruscan vase of the fifth century which has a huge bearded mask of Bacchus with tall ears or wings in his hair and a protruding tongue48. The same mixing of Bacchic elements, whether deliberate or due to confusion, also continued into Roman times, as can be seen on some of the wall paintings at Pompeii and on the frescoed walls of the colonnade leading into the garden of the Villa Farnesina at Rome49. Even today the terracotta industry of Rome produces masks called “il Bacco” which show a bald, wrinkled face with leaves and grapes on the temples, a large grinning mouth and a protruding tongue. It is hardly Bacchus, but it clearly belongs to a degenerate Bacchic tradition. Given that this stylised, simple mask is known to us now only on face beakers and jars, it is impossible to know for sure how it spread to the provinces. While it could have spread into the Danubian provinces with the exported Italian face beakers, it is hard to see why it should suddenly occur on large face jars of probable native origin north of the Alps where so far just one exported Italian face beaker has been identified, unless it had been first introduced through other means. The most obvious solution is that it existed as a mask in its own right, and as such was first brought northwards by the army into the provinces, very possibly as a painted wooden mask but also as a protective device or symbol which could be carved, sculpted or painted on doors and gables and on a variety of different objects including face pots. On the evidence of the face pots, this mask remained linked to the army, and was not taken up by the civilian population, though if, as seems probable, it occurred mostly in organic materials, this cannot be certain. What does seem to be the case however is that the “serene” mask depended for its initial introduction into the provinces on the legions, and where, as in Raetia, no legions were based during the first century and most of the second, this mask does not occur (on durable objects such as face jars at least). And nor does the face beaker tradition, as has already been shown.

48 49

Spivey and Stoddart 1990, Fig. 71. The splendid frescoes from this villa are now on display in the Museo Nazionale Romano in the Palazzo Massimo in Rome.

359

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER XII A.2.

The grotesque beak-nosed mask

a) In Italy (Fig. M3: 1-4) In Italy this face pot mask is more restricted in its distribution, and has so far been found only in the north, in the Ticino region and in and around Aquileia on IT Types 17-19, and 36 (Nos 2-3). It also occurs on the face beakers exported from northern Italy of IT Types 19 (No 3), 28 and 3050. No examples have been identified on face pots further south. Though the masks on the Ticino and Aquileia beakers are identifiably different from each other, both groups have heavy, beetling brows, large eyes with notched eyelids, big lips, large, often pierced ears and a huge hooked or twisted nose. The difference seems to be of style rather than substance, with the masks of the Ticino region where Celtic tribes still lived being more abstract and fluid with decoratively patterned eyes, while the Aquileia masks which may have been particularly associated with the Roman legions based there or with the veteran settlers, showing a generally coarser, more comic and grotesque style. b) In the provinces (Fig. M3: 5-8) In the provinces this mask is also far less common than the “serene” mask. In the first century it occurs at Vindonissa on face beakers and face jars of RD Types 21-2 and 2551 (No 5), and at Hofheim on a face jar of RL Type 652. In Britain it occurs on two large but very incomplete early face beakers at Colchester and Lincoln53 and probably on three fragments of what appear to have been similar early vessels at London, Hayton and York54. In Noricum and Pannonia, apart from the imported examples of IT Type 19 found at Magdalensberg, Salzburg and Emona, only one example of this mask can clearly be identified, also at Emona, on a locally produced face beaker of DAN Type 5 with a pierced nose55 (No 5). In the second to third centuries no large-nosed face pots are known from Britain, or from the Lower Rhineland. The largest and most recognisable group in this period is undoubtably in the Mainz-Wetterau region, with a number of finely made face jars of RL Types 24 A-B with large hooked noses that are sometimes pierced, mostly in colour-coated wares and with a handle at the back (Nos 6-7)56. A few very fragmentary face jars similar to these with sharp, prominent noses but otherwise less exaggerated features have also been found east of Trier at Virton in Lorraine, and further south at Worms57 and Brumath58, though not enough survives to tell whether they had handles at the back or not. Teeth can sometimes be glimpsed between the lips of these face jars. No face pots with obviously grotesque large noses have been identified at this time or later in Pannonia, but quite sharp or aquiline noses appear on some of the second to third century face jars in northern Switzerland and Raetia59, and one or two quite grotesque noses on the large face beakers with projecting ruff-like beards of DAN Types 24-6 of the same date in Dacia and Moesia (see B.5 and Fig. M10 below). Here at last we have strongly characterised masks, and ones for which there do seem to be recognisable parallels in other areas of Roman art, though unfortunately the figure or figures represented cannot as yet be securely identified. Probably some time around the turn of the first century AD a face with a bald head and large, beaked nose starts appearing on some of the Roman head vases and head flagons in the eastern Mediterranean along with the familiar Bacchic deities and figures who are usually portrayed on these vases. Somewhat later it occurs in north Africa60 and in the Rhineland on glass head vases made at Köln. Normally it has calm, unwrinkled features as in Figs. S1: 7 and S2: 4, but just occasionally it has a grotesque, wrinkled grimace with bared teeth as in Fig. S1: 5. A similar but rather more grotesque mask, occasionally with a pieced nose, also occurs at this time on some of the colour-coated mask beakers made at Lezoux and in the Rhône valley, which otherwise only display Bacchic masks. A yet more grotesque mask with similar beaked nose but now with gaping jaws and jagged teeth and with a hole often pierced through its nose, starts appearing as a terracotta mask in the Rhineland in the later first century AD (see below, Fig. M3: 8). Somewhat similar faces though without the teeth also occur on two much larger masks or antefixes found at Aquileia and Aquincum (Fig. S9: 1-2). Like all the other Bacchic masks, these beak-nosed masks must also have been copied from masks that were actually worn, in the theatre or amphitheatre, or in religious and carnival-type processions. So who was the mysterious figure or who were the figures whose beak-nosed masks were thought to have the same protective, beneficent qualities as those of Bacchus and his companions?

50

See Chapter III, Figs C6, C7, C10: 3 and 5 and C: 11: 2. See Chapter VI, Fig. F4: 1-3. 52 See chapter IV, Pt. I, (Fig. D5: 3). 53 See Chapter IX, RB Types 6 and 7, Fig. J4: 1-2. 54 Ibid, RB Types 8-9, Fig. J4: 4-6. 55 See Chapter VIII, Fig. H2: 5. 56 See also Chapter IV, Fig. D13: 1-4. 57 Ibid, RL Type 24 C-D, Fig, D13: 5-6. 58 See Chapter VI, RD Type 7, Fig. F2: 9. 59 Chapter VI, RD Types 13 and 30, Figs F3: 3-5 and F5: 1-2; and Chapter VII, UD Type 6, Fig. G5: 4-6. 60 See Appendix IV, A.2.1, A.3.3, A.6.5 and B.1, Figs. S1: 5 and 7, S2: 4, and S5: 7. 51

360

WHOSE WERE THE FACES?

Fig. M3. The Etruscan head vase of Charun and the beak-nosed mask on face pots and on a terracotta mask 1, Unprovenanced (Chap. II, Pt I,, B.3.c, Fig. B10:1); 2, Abbiategrasso (IT 18); 4, Magdalensberg (UD 21); 4, Emona (DAN 5); 5, Vindonissa (RD 22); 6-7, Mainz-Weisenau; 8, Trier (App. V, C.3.a.3, Fig. S8:3). (Scale: Nos 1-4 at 1:3; Nos 5-7 at 1:6; No 8 at 1: 4)

There are occasional references in classical literature to a burlesque masked figure known as Manducus61. He seems to have been represented as some kind of huge grotesque wooden effigy or mask with clacking jaws which was carried along with other comic-horrific figures and floats in processions on festival occasions as at the opening of the Games. Such a figure appears to have survived in France, at Lyon, into the sixteenth century according to Rabelais62 who describes a “monstrous, ridiculous, hideous” wooden figure with huge head and animated jaws carried through the streets on a pole at Carnival time which he calls Manduce, but which he says the Lyonnais knew as Mashecroute. Such a figure could have been represented by some of the more comic-grotesque versions of the beak-nosed mask, and in particular perhaps by the Rhineland terracotta masks with gaping jaws and jagged teeth. No sure evidence has been found to explain where the Roman Manducus figure comes from, but it has been suggested that his name could derive from the Latin manium dux, conductor of souls, which would imply that Manducus was, or had been a leader of souls into the underworld63. As such he could well be descended from the more comic and burlesque aspects of Charun, the Etruscan psychopomp. But the name could just be derived from the Latin verb mandere meaning to chew, or it might be a witty combination of both words. It is also possible that some of the grotesque beak-nosed masks without teeth or nose ring, but with especially long and pendulous noses, may represent a character, or characters, from Hellenistic Greek comedy. Such a figure, with protruding lower lip and a pronounced bump on the forehead is portrayed on the detached head of a terracotta figure from Smyrna64, and is one of the grotesque types often found in the Hellenistic world thought to represent characters from Greek mime65. This off-shoot of Greek comedy, known for its particularly ribald and farcical humour, developed in the Late Hellenistic period. Some of the beak-nosed masks on the north Italian face beakers and also the terracotta “mask” from Aquincum66 are very similar to this type and could be related to it. As a characters from Greek comedy, a statuette or face mask with their features would have been considered to have the same properties as other Bacchic masks, but it is not clear why beakers with such a mask would have been particularly chosen to be placed in the grave.

61

See in particular: Pompeius Festus, De Verborum Significatu (a second century lexicon), entry under Manduci; and Plautus, Rudens, Act II, Scene VI, 51. Gargantua and Pantagruel, 1546, Book 3, Chap. 31 63 De Ruyt, 1934, 244. 64 Uhlenbrock 1990, Cat No 36. 65 Richter 1913, 149-156; Bieber 1961, 98-110. 66 Appendix V, Fig. S9: 2. 62

361

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER XII The closest parallels however seem to be with the Etruscan death demon Charun, so vividly portrayed on the Etruscan head vase (Fig. M3: 1) and on the terracotta masks from Orvieto67, who has the same fierce face with a beaked nose (which is sometimes pierced) and with large pierced ears (of animal, human or leaf shape), though he has short-cropped hair standing up straight on end and a pointed beard, whereas the Roman mask is bald and is generally beardless. It is not difficult to imagine however that this dramatic Etruscan underworld figure, with its potential to excite both horror and black comedy, could well have continued into the Roman period in popular tradition, perhaps gradually evolving to represent an older baldheaded man, and have become equated with a similar Roman or Italian underworld deity, possibly one who had not hitherto been portrayed in human form. The one Roman god who appears to have inherited some if not many of the features of Charun is the ancient Roman deity Dis Pater, brother of Jupiter and lord of the underworld. He is the Roman equivalent of the Greek Pluto or Hades. All of these underworld gods were too ill-omened to be called by their own name, and were therefore only addressed by some kind of euphemistic title. Pluto means “the rich one”, perhaps referring to the mineral wealth under the ground, while Hades is “the unseen”. He is rarely if ever addressed as such, but he can be called Zeus together with some other epithet such as Chthonios denoting his connection with the underworld. The title Dis Pater is thought to be derived from Dives Pater, meaning “rich father”. Very little is known about this shadowy Roman god who, like Hades has no temples or cult images, and is very seldom mentioned in the literary sources or in inscriptions except in Rome and in northern Italy where he receives quite a number of mentions in inscriptions, either alone or with his consort Aerecura or Hera68. A shrine thought to be dedicated to him and Aerecura has also been found at the fort of Mautern on the Danube in Noricum69. The only hint of a description comes from the second to third century author Tertullian70, who tells us that Dis Pater was represented in the amphitheatres by a slave wearing a mask and carrying a mallet, together with another masked slave representing Mercury carrying a heated “wand” (possibly a red hot metal caduceus), and together they had to decide between the living and the dead at the end of gladiatorial combats, apparently prodding them with the caduceus to see who was dead, and ensuring the latter were truly dead with a mallet blow. He does not describe Dis Pater’s mask, but his role as dispatcher of the dead with a mallet strongly suggests an association with the Etruscan Charun who often stands ready to perform this task on Etruscan vases.71 The gladiatorial combats were known as munera meaning duties or offerings72, and originally they were only celebrated at private funerals. They are thought to have been a continuation of an Etruscan funeral practice whereby slaves or captives were sacrificed in honour of a deceased warrior, or after a war to propitiate the gods, and this was later changed to armed combat in pairs. It is not surprising therefore to find a Charun-like figure playing an important role on such occasions. Dis Pater then may have had two images or masks: that of a comic-horrific grotesque mask which would have been used for his role in the amphitheatres and which could be represented by the most exaggerated of the beak-nosed masks, such as those on the Aquileia face pots and the Rhineland terracotta masks; and a more sober image as lord of the underworld which could be the one portrayed on some of the head vases, mask vases and face pots with less grotesque masks73. It might have been from his grotesque image that the Manducus mask evolved. The greatest number of inscriptions to Dis Pater in northern Italy have been found in Aquileia74. Here and at Verona a number of shrines have been found which are thought to be private chapels to the god, while at Brescia there is evidence for a collegium of his worshippers (ibid). Given the punishing wars they had been involved in, it is possible that Dis Pater was particularly revered (or at any rate carefully treated) by the army of the late Republic and early Empire, and by the military veterans and their families settled in the north of Italy. Aquileia, Verona and Brescia all produced a high number of legionary recruits, with more mentions in the epigraphic record than any of the other north Italian towns or cities with the exception of Milan and Cremona75, and these recruits could have taken the worship of Dis Pater with its organised collegia into the provinces. Beak-nosed face beakers and jars might have been connected with the cult, and concentrations of them as in the Ticino region, at Magdalensberg and later in the middle Rhineland might possibly indicate the existence of a collegium, though in the case of the more grotesque examples such as those of IT Type 19 found at Magdalensberg, it is difficult to associate them with any serious acts of worship though they could have had a votive or apotropaic function76.

67

See Chapter II, Part I, B.4, Fig. B10: 2. Sometimes they are just addressed as Dominus and Domina, titles that are also found in inscriptions in Moesia and Dacia, though here they are thought to refer to Bacchus-Liber (Pascal 1964, 103; Toutain I, 1907, 358). 69 Alföldy 1974, 150. 70 Apologeticus 15, 18 and Ad Nationes 1.10,47. 71 See Chapter II, Fig. B10: 3. 72 Carcopino 1956, 229. 73 There is evidence that sometimes the teeth on the Rhineland beak-nosed mask were painted over with the same colour as the lips, perhaps to lessen the grotesque appearance of the mask (Rose 2000, 13). 74 Pascal 1964, 104. 75 See Chapter XI, map on Fig. L1. 76 Many of these latter are found in pairs (Schindler Kaudelka 2000, pers.comm.) as is the case with two of the Ticino face beakers of IT Type 18 which were found standing beside each other outside a stone cremation chest in a grave at Mercallo ai Sassi (Frova 1958-9, 9). This recalls the pairs of Charun figures painted on Etruscan tomb doors or despatching the dead on Etruscan vases. See Chapter XIII, B.6.b). 68

362

WHOSE WERE THE FACES? The connection that existed between the Etruscan Charun and the Bacchic cult would also seem to have been inherited by the Roman beak-nosed mask. Apart from the evidence of the Roman terracotta masks, the head vases and the mask vases quoted above where the beak-nosed masks seem to have been inter-changeable with Bacchic masks, this also appears to be demonstrated by the small Bacchic masks, all satyrs, maenads and theatrical masks, which are placed on the reverse side of all the beak-nosed face beakers from the Ticino region77, as is also the case with the Charun head vase with its satyr’s mask at the base of the handle at the back In Gaul and the Rhineland Dis Pater seems to have been identified with the Celtic god Sucellus, whose chief attribute is also the mallet, and whose name is thought to mean “good striker”, another euphemistic title that is used instead of a proper name. Like all hammer and mallet gods, he too is almost sure to be an underworld god, though like Zeus-Cthonios he may also combine aspects of a sky god. On reliefs he is generally portrayed in a similar fashion to the Roman Silvanus, apart from his mallet, and appears as a rustic, bearded old man with bill hook and dog, and sometimes with a large jar or barrel by his feet. Often he is standing or seated beside a female figure, who is carrying what looks like a dovecote or lantern on a long pole, and accompanied by a raven. Their close similarity to Dis Pater/Pluto and his consort Aerecura/Persephone is made very obvious on a relief from Karlsruhe-Grünwinkel where the two of them are clearly portrayed as sovereigns of the underworld, seated side by side, dressed like a medieval king and queen and both wearing crowns, with Sucellus holding his upright mallet like a sceptre78. None of these reliefs however show him with a grotesque nose. As with many of the other face pot masks, we may never know the exact identity of the beak-nosed masks or whether they represented just one or several different figures, nor to what extent their identity changed over the centuries. As a Roman mask type it could well be an amalgam of native Italian influences and ones brought back from the east by the returning veterans. As it does not occur on any of the known face beakers from central or southern Italy, nor on the terracotta masks from Pompeii, it may have developed only in northern Italy, some time before the Tiberian period which seems to be when the first beak-nosed face beakers appear. Like the “serene” mask, it too is very likely to have existed as a mask in its own right at a popular level, made primarily of wood or other organic materials and widely used about the home and in the fields, which was then introduced into the provinces by the legions, along with, but independently of, the face beakers which bear the same mask. In this case however it was presumably introduced only by legionaries from northern Italy, recruited in the first century, which could explain why it is much less wide-spread than the “serene” mask, and does not seem to last much if at all beyond the later third century79. No phalli seem to occur on beak-nosed face pots, and unlike the “serene” mask, it does not appear to be interchangeable with other mask types, be they Italian or provincial, occurring only on specific face pot Types which just have this one mask. 1, Pompeii (IT 6); 2, Pigozzo (IT 20A); 3, Sirmium (IT 29, DAN 3); 4, Pompeii (App. V, C.2.2, Fig. S7:3). (Scale 1:3 except No 4 at c.1: 4)

A.3.

The comic, grinning mask (Fig. M4)

a) In Italy Apart from one example from Pompeii (No 1) and another that was exported to Sirmium (No3), the grinning mask in Italy appears to be limited to the barbotine face beakers found in northern Italy which only have this particular mask (Nos 2)80. It could well represent a comedy mask, and is very similar to two incomplete terracotta masks from Pompeii which are thought to represent Maccus, the buffoon of the Atellan farces (No 4)81. Greek theatre masks, both tragic and comic, become a part of the standard range of Bacchic masks from around the fourth and third centuries BC, if not earlier in Greece, and become increasingly common on antefixes, marble reliefs, wall paintings and head vases in the first centuries BC and AD, or as terracotta masks82. In the early Atellan farces of Campania the house slave of Greek comedy tends to be replaced by the buffoon Maccus. This seems to be reflected in the terracotta masks at Pompeii where the house-slave mask type (perhaps no longer needed) seems to have merged with the satyr mask to form one hybrid type83. Alternatively this mask could represent a grinning satyr. Some of the grinning masks on the Italian face beakers have dotted or notched teeth, and as seen below, a toothy grin seems to become an increasingly common feature of Roman satyrs.

77

See Chapter II, IT Types 17-18, Fig. C6 and Fig. M1: 2. Filtzinger et al. 1986, Fig. 184. 79 It has already been seen in Chapter XI, Pt. I, C, and J.2. that all the first century beak-nosed face beakers found in Pannonia and Britain, whether they were exported from northern Italy or locally produced, appear to have been particularly associated with legions known to have had close links with northern Italy in the early first century. 80 Ibid, IT Types 20-22 and 29, Figs. C8: 1, 3-5 and C 10: 4. 81 See Appendix V, C.2.2, Fig. S7: 3. 82 See Appendix I, B and C.2; Appendix IV, A.2, Fig. S1: 6; and Appendix V, Figs. S7: 1 and 3 and S11: 6 83 See Appendix V, C.2.1, Fig. S7: 4. 78

363

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER XII

Fig. M4.

The grinning mask on Italian face beakers and on an incomplete terracotta mask from Pompeii

b). The comic, grinning mask in the provinces – with notched teeth (Fig. M5) The grinning mask with no teeth is very rare on provincial face pots, and the large face beaker from Nijmegen with a phallic spout in place of a nose may be the only example84. There are however a number of provincial face pots with a row of notched teeth in the mouth which can best be described as a toothy grimace rather than a grin. Two are known from Strasbourg (No 4) and several from Pannonia (Nos 2-3). These could represent grinning or grimacing satyrs such as the one portrayed on the north African head vase rather than a comedy mask (No 6). In the Rhineland the terracotta satyr mask, which had merged with the house slave type at Pompeii, now seems to have developed a wide grin (or grimace) with bared, closed teeth (No 5)85. This grimacing mask might well have been the model for the face pot masks. The heavy notching of the eyelids in Nos 3 and 4 and the large s-shaped ears on No 4 may also be intended to convey some of the comic-grotesque character of many Roman satyrs in more popular art.

Fig. M5. The grinning mask with notched teeth on face pots, on a Rhineland terracotta mask, and on a north African head vase 1, Bergheim-Torr (RL 4A); 2, Savaria (DAN 14); 3, Taliata (DAN 13); 4, Strasbourg (RD 2); 5, Nijmegen (App. V, C.3.a.1, Fig. S8:1). 6, North Africa (App. IV, A.6.1, Fig. S2:5). (Scale: Nos 1, 4 and 5 at 1:6; Nos 2-3 at 1:3; No 6 at 1:4)

More unusual is the unique face jar from Bergheim Torr of RL Type 4A (No 1), with stubby bull’s horns, notched teeth, a flowing beard and two phalli tucked under the huge ears. This too has elements of a satyr’s mask, though in this example the bull’s horns suggest conflation with Bacchus or Achelous rather than with a comedy mask.. A rather similar mask with horns, teeth and bushy beard occurs on a stone tomb “antefix” from Brumath, near Strasbourg (Fig. S11: 5). Here however the Gorgon is more evident, while there are also curling fronds of “beard” emerging from the mouth, in the style of the Green Man masks. It is also possible that some of these face pot masks with notched teeth represent a schematic Gorgon mask as on the antefix from Caerleon (Fig. S11: 4, or alternatively the latter may represent a grimacing satyr.

84

A phallic nose also occurs on a fragment of a Rhineland terracotta mask from TRier, but the rest of the mask is missing; see Chapter IV, Pt. I, RL Type 13, Fig. D7: 5. 85 Unfortunately none of the examples found so far are complete or fully reconstructable. See Appendix V, Fig S8: 1a-b.

364

WHOSE WERE THE FACES? B.

PROVINCIAL FACE POT MASKS WITH PARTICULAR FEATURES NOT KNOWN ON ITALIAN FACE POT MASKS

B.1.

The mask with goat’s horns (Fig. M6).

A small number of provincial face pots have upright horns in the middle of the forehead immediately above the eyebrows. Most of the examples come from Britain, as on a three-handled face jar of RB Type 13A from Colchester (No 1), and on several of the grey face jars of RB Type 21 from eastern Britain (No 3 and 5-7). One example with goat-like horns, and down-curving eyebrows comes from the Upper Danube (No 2). The most obvious Roman mask to which these could be related is the goat-horned mask of Pan and it seems surprising that no examples of this mask are known on Italian face pots. Pan is a regular companion of Bacchus86. His mask frequently occurs in Roman Bacchic imagery and in virtually all contexts where Bacchic masks are portrayed. It is a popular mask on Roman fine-ware mask beakers as on the example from Lezoux (No 4), and such beakers with his mask seem to have been particularly popular in Britain to judge by the numbers found in this country which far outnumber the other mask types found on imported colour-coated mask beakers87. There is also a somewhat stylised Late Roman “miniature” terracotta mask from Köln with cat-like “ears” and a beard which is thought to represent Pan (No 8).

Fig. M6. The mask with goat’s horns on face pots, on an appliqué mask from a beaker (No 4) and on a terracotta mask (No 8) 1, Colchester (RB 13A); 2, Günzberg (UD 4); 3, Lincoln (RB 21D); 4, Lezoux (App. IV, C, Fig. S6:2); 5, Catterick (RB 21E); 6, Snettisham (RB 21C); 7, Canterbury (RB 21A); 8, Köln (App.V, C.5.1, Fig. S8:6). (Scale 1:3 except Nos 1 and 5 at 1:6, No 2 at 1:4, and Nos 4 and 8 at 1:2)

In Italy Pan appears to have been frequently equated with the ancient Italian god Faunus, the god of the forests and the herds, another god it was unwise to name, and whose title is thought to mean “the kindly one” or the one it was wise to propitiate, from the Latin favere or faverus. As a result Faunus became included in the Bacchic company, either in place of Pan, or sometimes it seems as a type of satyr. It is quite possible therefore that in Italy and the West European provinces, the goathorned figure of Pan, found so frequently on Late Roman silverware, may have come to represent Faunus or the fauni more than it did the Greek Pan88. The comparatively recent find of a late fourth century treasure hoard at Thetford in Norfolk (Johns, 1986) has revealed evidence for a previously unsuspected cult of Faunus in Britain, which had very probably been based somewhere in the locality, though as yet no evidence for this has been found89. The Bacchic imagery on some of the items and the Celtic epithets attached to the name Faunus written on the silver spoons suggest that this was some kind of mystery cult, within a wider framework of Bacchic worship. The cult seems to have become thoroughly Celticised and integrated into local religious traditions and not just at the popular level (ibid, 96-8) as can be seen from the silver spoons and jewellery found in the hoard whose workmanship is extremely skilled and sophisticated. Given the fact that the Panhorned mask seems to have been particularly popular in Britain, both on face jars and on mask beakers, and possibly on head vases90, it is possible that there may have been some native British goat-horned deity who came to be worshipped as Faunus, Pan or even Silvanus.

86

See Appendix I, D.2 See Appendix V, A, Fig. S6: 2. 88 See Appendix 1, D.8. 89 Ibid, H.2 90 There is also a very fragmentary bossed head pot from Colchester which appears to have goat-like horns (Braithwaite 1984, Fig. 13: 6). 87

365

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER XII B.2.

The mask with horizontal or down-curving horns above the eyebrows Fig. M7

Only three examples are known with a mask of this type: one from the upper Danube - a face jar with down-curving horns and a beard from Pfünz (No 1) - and two from the lower Danube - a face beaker with horizontal horns and a goatee beard from Ratiaria (No 2) and a fragment of a large face jar from Novae, also with horizontal horns and with a lizard on the cheek and probably no beard (No 3). Clearly these are not the goat horns of Pan, nor do they look much like the horns of the ramhorned Jupiter Ammon, as there is no sign of them spiralling inwards towards the face. The most likely interpretation is that they are bull’s horns, and could represent the bull-horned mask of either Dionysus91, or Sabazius, both of whom were well known in the Lower Danube regions and in Thrace and northern Greece92. The fact that an applied lizard appears on the cheek of the horned face jar fragment from Novae makes the identification with Sabazius seem more likely in this instance, though in fact there may have been some kind of syncretised cult of the two deities during the Roman period in the Danubian provinces and also in Rome93. This sherd is further discussed under B.7.b below. Where bulls’ horns are accompanied with luxuriant beards, as on Central Gaulish mask beakers94, it could be that a river god such as Achelous is implied. But when they occur on beardless faces no water god can be intended, and it is much more likely to be Dionysus or Sabazius who is portrayed. A somewhat similar face mask though with rather shorter “horns” sprouting from the middle of the eyebrows is depicted on four Geto-Thracian gold or silver-gilt helmets of the fourth century BC found north of the lower Danube95 (No 4), and this could be a mask that had been known in this area since the fourth century or longer. It has been suggested that the “horns” on the helmets are a device to accentuate the frightening, apotropaic effect of the mask and are not meant to be horns at all96. This could be true of the helmets, but seems to be unlikely in the case of these horned face pot masks. There is one other face jar from the upper Danube with horns above the eyebrows already mentioned in B.1 above (Fig. M6: 2), but in this latter case the horns rise up from the centre of the forehead and look more like the goat horns of Pan.

Fig. M7. The mask with horizontal or down-curving horns above the eyebrows and a Thracian helmet 1, Pfünz (UD 4); 2, Novae (DAN 33); 3, Ratiaria (DAN 6); 4, Poiana Cotofenesti. (see Note 98 below). (Scale 1: 6 except No 3 at 1:3)

A unique group of five or six fragmentary terracotta masks with half human, half animal faces comes from Mautern on the Upper Danube in Noricum of probable second century date. Two are almost complete, the rest just fragments. One appears to represent a calf, and the other is described as a “devil’s mask” as it has animal ears and short horns and a long tongue hanging from the mouth, though it too looks much like a calf (Fig. S9: 6)97. As mentioned in t he introduction to this chapter under iv) above, they could be masks, or copies of masks, that were worn in fertility plays and masked rituals at annual festivals in mid-winter and in spring. Such masking could have been associated with Dionysus, who was worshiped in the form of a bull or a goat, and whose annual death and re-birth was celebrated at the key turning points of the year around January 1 and March 1, the dates of the two major Dionysiac festivals in Athens which gave rise to the Greek theatre. But the masked rituals on the upper Danube could have been much older and more local. In almost all countries of Europe there are fragments of folk lore that relate to the ritual hunting and killing of an animal king in mid-winter, be he bull, stag, goat or even a bear, and his re-birth as a calf, a fawn, a kid or a cub98. It is clear from the many edicts promulgated by mediaeval bishops banning such pagan activities, fulminating in particular against the custom of “vetulum et cervolum facere” (dressing as the calf and the fawn)99, that in the early middle ages similar masked rituals and dances dating from preChristian times were commonplace in many parts of Europe during the pagan annual festivals at mid-winter and the 91

See Appendix I, B.2. Ibid, G.1. 93 See Chapter VIII, DAN Type 33, and Bird 1996, 124. 94 See Appendix V, A, Fig. S6: 3. 95 Piggott 1965, 224, Fig. Xla. 96 Deppert-Lippitz 1994, 149. 97 See Appendix V, C.7.5. 98 Alford, 1975, 26-8; Bord 1982, 167, 210; Kurath 1950, 856.. 99 Zwicker 1934, 134, 174 and 196. 92

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WHOSE WERE THE FACES? beginning of spring. Some of the horned face pot masks may well reflect such ancient traditions practised in Roman times. Indeed they are still practised today, in this same area of Austria and in other Alpine regions of Europe, as well as in Greece100. B.3.

The mask with long, out-curling eyebrows: the Hathor-locks mask (Fig. M8)

Fig. M8. The mask with long, outward-curling eyebrows on face pots and on La Tène metalwork 1, Faimingen (UD 2); 2, Wehringen (UD 3); 3, Heidenheim (UD 2); 4, North Italy (IT 3); 5, Hallstatt; 6, Niederweiss (Chapter II, Pt. III, A.1, Fig. B13: 4 and 7). (Scale Nos 1-2 at 1:6; Nos 3-4 at 1:3)

This face pot mask is only known on the Raetian face jars of first to second century date of UD Types 2 and 3 (Nos 1-3) 101, and one early Italian two-faced beaker of IT Type 3 (No 4)102. Such a mask could quite possibly be a continuation of what is known as the “Hathor locks” mask, which the Celts may have inherited from the Etruscans and which occurs in both these areas and in the upper Rhineland on La Tène metalwork of the fourth and third centuries BC103. Typical examples can be seen on the bronze plaque from Hallstatt and the linchpin from Niederweiss (Nos 5-6). The dot technique used to draw the face in Nos 1 and 2 could be in imitation of the repoussé decoration on Early Iron Age metalwork, while the notching on the eyebrows and eyelids on No 4 is also typical of Celtic La Tène masks104. Long, notched, out-curling eyebrows occur on the face fragment with goat horns from Günzberg mentioned above, while on the face fragment from Pfünz it is the horns that are long and out-curling. It is possible that in this upper Danube region the “Hathor-locks” mask may have regained its original significance as a horned mask. One would expect such a mask to represent a female goddess, but at least two examples have what seems to be a straggly beard105 (No 3).

100

See Appendix I, I.2. See Chapter VII, Figs. G3: 1,2,4 and G4: 4. 102 This beaker is unprovenanced but thought to be from northern Italy. See Chapter III, Fig. C3: 2. 103 See Chapter II, Part III, A.1 (Fig. B13). 104 See Chapter II, III, Fig. B13: 4 and 6, and Fig. B14: 3. 105 See Chapter VII, under UD Type 2. 101

367

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER XII B.4.

The mask with a pointed protruding chin or goatee beard (Fig. M 9)

With just a few exceptions this mask only occurs in the Danubian provinces, and its occurrence in other provinces may well be the result of influences from the Danube region106. Already in the first century, despite the fact that quite a number of chin-less and beard-less face beakers were imported from Italy down the Sava and Drava rivers, once local copies started to be produced the face beaker masks, whether they were copies of the “serene”, comic or beaked nose mask, straight away acquired a protruding chin, generally with a beard, while the rest of the features were little affected (No 2)107. None of the Italian face beakers or jars have such a feature108, and it must presumably have belonged to a well established local mask. When face jars are first introduced into Pannonia from the Rhineland at the end of the first century, the same protruding chin occurs, now sometimes with a neatly striated goatee beard (No1). A very similar face with a pointed beard is also found on face jars on the Upper Danube in the later second to third century (No 3). In one case a mask with a large aquiline nose and pointed chin occurs on one of the local, colour-coated “Medusa pots”. These normally have three or four mould-made Medusa masks separated by triangular-shaped arrangements of bosses around the upper half of the vessel109. In this case the Medusa masks are absent and there is just the one face pot mask and three groups of bosses. Both the Medusa masks and the grape-like arrangements of bosses suggest some kind of Bacchic association for these vessels. A similar mask, but without any bosses, occurs on a large face beaker from Buciumi in Dacia110 and on a face beaker from Ratiaria in Moesia Superior, though this one also has horns (No 4).

Fig. M9. The mask with the goatee beard, and a steelyard weight from Aquincum. 1, Aquincum (DAN 28); 2, Baranya (DAN 3); 3, Eining (UD 6); 4, Ratiaria DAN 6); 5, Aquincum (App. IV, B.3.4, Fig. S5:9). (Scale: Nos 1 and 3 at 1:6; Nos 2 and 4 at 1:3; No 5 at 1:2)

There seems to be little evidence for a similar-looking deity among the published stone reliefs, statues or bronze statuettes from Pannonia, which all show very Romanised figures of deities. There is however one small bronze steelyard weight from Aquincum in the form of a two-faced figure which has strikingly similar features, and just the same neatly striated pointed beard (No 5). As discussed in Appendix IV, B.2-B.3, Roman steelyard weights, which are basically bronze balsamaria filled with lead, were sometimes made in the form of a human bust or figure, and those found in Britain all seem to represent either Bacchus and members of his thiasos, or other oriental mystery deities111. The appearance of this bearded figure on a steelyard weight suggests that it too probably represented a mystery, salvation or underworld god, similar to all the other deities portrayed on such objects. The fact that the weight was found in Pannonia, in the military region along the Danube where Jupiter Dolichenus was so popular112 might suggest that this neatly bearded face represents a native mask of this oriental deity. However Dolichenus does not seem to have become popular before the Antonine period, long after this bearded face had started appearing on face beakers, and it seems more likely that it belonged to a deity who was already worshipped in this area before the second century.

106

See Chapter IV, RL Type 14, Fig. D7: 6-7; Chapter V, FS Types 15-16, Fig. E4: 1-2; and Chapter IX, RB Types 37 A-B, Fig. J15: 1-2. . See Chapter VIII, Fig. H2: 5-7. 108 Though a small chin blob occasionally occurs and a slightly pushed-out chin is found on two face beakers that are presumed to be exports from northern Italy (It Types 26-27, Fig. C10: 1-2). 109 See Chapter VII, UD Type 7, Fig.G6: 1-3. Also quite common in cemeteries this region are similarly bossed jars with no Medusa masks (see Fig. G6: 4). Both types of jar seem to have been used mainly if not solely as cremation urns. 107

109 110

See Chapter VIII, Fig. H9: 2. See Hutchinson 1986, Cat. Nos. Me 44-Me 53. A steelyard was often associated with salvation deiteis as it embodied the concept of the soul being weighed in the balance on judgement day. Some of the female figures may be identified as deified Antonine or Severan empresses but it is likely that they represent the mystery goddesses with whom the empresses were identified. 112 Mocsy 1974, 258. 111

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WHOSE WERE THE FACES? The most widely worshipped god in Pannonia (or the deity whose worship is most widely documented) was addressed as Silvanus. It is thought that he, or at any rate his Roman name and image, may have been introduced by the army from northern Italy. But his worship seems to have been combined with that of an already existing god in this region of the Danube, believed to have been very similar to, if not the same as, the Greek god Pan113. Most of the representations of Silvanus are on small altars from domestic contexts where he is often associated with the Lares, most of which have been found in the military areas along the Danube (ibid, 252). His epithets are Silvestris and Domesticus, but on occasion he could be equated with Jupiter O.M. or even addressed as Silvanus Augustus, suggesting that he too, like Sucellus, was a great god. He is generally represented as a bearded old man, looking rather like a gardener, holding a bill hook and a small tree or branch, and accompanied by a large dog or sometimes a stag. Just occasionally however he is represented in the form of Pan as on an inscribed alter from Aquincum114. All the outward forms of this cult seem to have been thoroughly Romanised, and the image of the native deity that lies beneath is never glimpsed. Perhaps this figure with his uplifted face and tidy beard could be his. Both Pan and Silvanus are fertility deities and close associates of Dionysus-Bacchus, and both would therefore be suitable subjects for steelyard weights. One small steel yard weight however is very little evidence to go on. B.5.

The mask with a projecting beard stretching from ear to ear (Fig. M10)

Fig. M10. The mask with a projecting beard stretching from ear to ear on face pots and on a “spout” head 1, Durosturum (DAN 25); 2, Micasasa (DAN 25); 3, Oescus (DAN 25); 4, Carlisle (RB 43). (Scale: Nos 1 and 4 at 1:3; Nos 2-3 at 1:4)

This mask seems to occur on all the large face beakers so far identified in Dacia and Moesia of DAN Type 25 (Nos 1-2), and on some of the Pannonian face jars of DAN Type 27 (No 3)115. Some of these have quite prominent noses, while the one from Durosturum which has a particularly large nose (No 1) also has the same raised, notched eyelids and pierced ears characteristic of the North Italian beak-nosed masks. But the stiff and projecting ruff-like beard which only occurs on these face pots is unusual, and not known on other beak-nosed face pots. It could represent Dis Pater, or Bacchus-Liber. A rather similar beard occurs on the unique protome head or spout from what must have been some very special cult vase found at Carlisle116 (No4) and also on most of the masks of Bacchus that figure in the series of Roman marble mask reliefs117. Dionysus-Bacchus was particularly worshipped in Thrace and Macedonia, two of the main centres of his early cult, and his worship spread north of the Danube in the fourth century BC118. During the Roman period, his cult under the name of Liber was widespread in Dacia119. Here both he and his consort were often addressed as Dominus and Domina, just as Dis Pater and Aerecura were addressed in northern Italy.

113

Thomas 1980, 178-80, Fitz 1980, 163. Lengyel and Radan eds., 1980, Pl. CIII. See Chapter VIII, Figs. H8: 1-3, H9: 1 and H10:3. 116 See chapter IX, RB Type 43, J 19: 2a-b. The reconstruction of the jar with three heads (No 2b) is entirely hypothetical. 117 See Appendix V, F, (Pls. S32-33). 118 Hoddinot 1981, 122-3. 119 See Appendix I, D.7, and Appendix VI.3 114 115

369

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER XII B.6.

The masks with smith’s tools (Fig. M11).

Only in Britain have face jars been found with applied smith’s tools placed close to the face mask on the shoulder or girth of the pot, called in this study smith-face jars. These do not seem to occur much before the end of the second century, and they are mostly grey jars of RB Types 21 (No 1) and 28,120 with one each of Types 22 (No 2) and 30121. There is also a small three-headed bronze pot with smith’s tools from Huntingdon (No 3). In addition to these smith-face jars there are also quite a number of smith pots which are plain pottery jars in the same forms and fabrics as face jars, but with no face, just smith’s tools on the shoulder. These latter also seem to be limited to Britain, and virtually all to the east side of Britain122. The usual tools to be represented on both types of vessel are a hammer, a pair of tongs, and an anvil, but in some cases an axe is shown in place of a hammer, or other items are added such as an object that looks like a twist of flux on the smith-face jar from Canterbury123, or spoked wheels and crosses, as on several sherds from Malton124. It is assumed that these jars are all connected with the Celtic Smith God, who in Britain and on the Continent seems to have been equated mainly with the Roman Vulcan, though occasionally with Sucellus or Silvanus125. Iron working and smithing was extremely important to the Roman army, whose consumption of iron for weapon manufacture and replacement, and for fort construction, particularly in the early years of conquest, was enormous. All the auxilia and legions had their own smiths, and soldiers will also have been engaged in iron extraction, as is evidenced by the finds of tiles of the Classis Britannica in the Weald in Kent and east Sussex during the first and second century. Quite a number of face jars in Britain are known to have come from iron extraction sites, mostly in east Yorkshire but also in the south, as well as on sites where smithing workshops have been identified126. The Smith God therefore is an obvious god to be worshipped by members of the Roman army and their families.

Fig. M11. The mask with smith’s tools and a grey sherd with an appliqué figure of Vulcan 1, Chester-le-Street (RB 21E); 2, Vindolanda (RB 22); 3, Huntingdon (under RB 44); 4, Corbridge (See Note 132 below). (Scale: Nos 1-2 at 1:6; Nos 3-4 at 1:3)

The Roman Vulcan invariably has a beard, and is generally shown wearing a conical hat and a short tunic, often with one shoulder bare, as on the pottery sherd from Corbridge (No 4). On the Continent representations of Vulcan appear to be limited to the Celtic provinces127 and are found mainly in the three Gauls, Raetia and the Rhineland, generally as free standing statues or statuettes, or on the so-called four-god stones which served as part of the base of Jupiter columns. In Britain he is represented on two or possibly three stone monuments, two in the north east and one near Oxford128. Other representations are known on fragments of pottery vessels, almost all of them from eastern England129, and on three silver votive plaques, two from Barkway, Herts and one from Stony Stratford, Bucks. Several of the pottery sherds are from Corbridge, and are from dark grey jars with incised lattice decoration of third century date, very similar in form and fabric to many of the smith pots and smith-face jars of RB Type 21 from east Britain. The 120

See Chapter IX, Pt. III, Figs. J10: 1, J12: 2, J13: 2,6 and 8. Ibid, Fig. J12: 8 and J14: 2. 122 Those identified in the course of this survey are listed under RB Type 21E. 123 See Chapter IX, Pt. III, Fig. J10: 1 124 Ibid, Figs. J12: 11 and J12: 9. 125 Green 1976, 24, 26 and 219. 126 See Chapter IX, Pt II, under RB Type 13E, and Pt III, under RB Type 21E. 127 Toutain 1907, 388. 128 On an altar or shrine from York on which he is shown with hammer, tongs and part of an anvil (RCHM 1962, Pl. 53: 96; Webster 1989, 15), and very probably on a broken stone block now in the church at Chester-le-Street, which may be part of another altar. On this just the legs of a figure survive, standing on an anvil on which a spoked wheel has been carved, with two more spoked wheels beside it, one on either side. A third, “very native looking” relief has been identified from Duns Tew north of Oxford (Green 1976, 25). 129 Webster 1989, Fig 5: 49, and Fig. 6: 50-55 and 58. 121

370

WHOSE WERE THE FACES? figures are in relief, made with a negative mould, and show a bearded man in tunic and conical hat, working at his anvil with hammer and tongs, though only one sherd is complete enough to show the whole figure with all three tools (No 4)130. The figures appear to have been applied to the shoulder of the pot, close to the rim, where a face mask or smiths’tools might have been placed, and may have been put there instead them. They could all have been made by one potter whose name “ALLETIO” is inscribed on one of the fragments. One sherd, which just shows the upper half of the figure, holding a hammer that looks equally like an axe, was interpreted by Richmond, who had found traces of a Dolichenum at Corbridge, as the helmeted figure of Jupiter Dolichenus131. There is also a pottery mould from Corbridge in very similar style which shows a similar bearded man in a short tunic and conical cap, but the right shoulder is no longer bare and he is holding a rectangular shield and a crooked, rifle-shaped object that has been interpreted as a club or a thunderbolt. By his left knee there is a spoked wheel. Toynbee suggests this figure may represent the Celtic sky god Tanaris132. If as seems possible, all these images portray the same god, they may perhaps represent different aspects of that deity. The other pottery sherds show very similar figures, though depicted in paint rather than in relief In the ancient world and in Europe of the first millenium BC, a smith, through his work with fire, was thought to have magic, underworld powers. As we have seen, the hammer, like the mallet, is often an attribute of underworld gods. The Italian Vulcan must originally have been some kind of underworld god responsible for life and death to judge by two festivals held in Rome involving substitute human sacrifice to him, one in June at the games of the Tiber fishermen, when fish were given to him “in place of human souls”, and again in August at the Volcanalia, at the height of the danger from summer fires, when animals were thrown onto the fire in lieu of people133. The hammer is also an attribute of a sky god, as in the case of the Germanic god Thor with his thunder hammer, and so are spoked wheels and crosses which, as we have seen, occur on the Canterbury smith-face jar, on some of the smith pot sherds at Malton, and beside one of the appliqué figures from Corbridge, as well as on the stone relief from Chester-le-Street (see Note 127)134. The Romano-British Smith God therefore may have been, like Zeus-Hades and Jupiter-Dispater, or like Sucellus and the Pannonian Silvanus, a sky god as well. One explanation for the occurrence of smith pots with no faces could be that that there was no well-established local image that identified the Romano-British Smith God before the Roman conquest, or for some time afterwards, in a country that was largely aniconic. Evidence that such a god already existed in Celtic religion and mythology well before the Roman period is provided by the second century BC Roman writer Florus (Epitome, XX) who relates that Viridomarus, leader of the Celtic Insubres living in northern Italy, who raided Rome in 232 BC, was a devotee of Vulcan. This Celtic Vulcan may have been represented before the Roman period just by smith’s tools. There is what appears to be a hammer on the Celtic ceramic bowl with a stylised face mask from Avila in Spain of the La Tène II period135. There is also a series of stone altars in the RhôneSaône valley in southern France dedicated to Silvanus on which a hammer or mallet is carved in relief but no deity is portrayed136. Here perhaps the still faceless Smith God may have been known by the Roman name of Silvanus. The British smith-face jars which can be dated seem all to be of third to fourth century date, and may therefore have replaced the smith pots. The votive plaques representing Vulcan found in Britain are also of later date, and so too seem to be most if not all of the pottery sherds. From what survives of the face masks on the smith-face jars identified so far, it can be seen that all the faces are bearded, but that’s about as far as it goes, and otherwise there is little resemblance between them, suggesting that there was still no well established standardised mask-type for the Smith God, and therefore the smithing tools were still thought necessary in some cases to ensure the jar’s correct identification with that deity. B.7. Face masks with reptiles (Fig. M12) B.7.a. The face mask with a snake Only one example of a face pot with a snake is known, the very fragmentary face jar from Old Penrith of RB Type 13K with what looks like the head of a snake just visible above the left eyebrow (No 1). Snakes, closely associated with the underworld and with fertility, had always played an important role in religious beliefs in Greece and the eastern Mediterranean where vessels with snakes around them date from the Neolithic. Roman snake pots, so-named because of the two or three snakes crawling around the body or neck of the vessel (and sometimes up the handles or spouts) are found in most parts of the Empire, though particularly in the military zones along the Rhine and Danube frontier. They are always rare vessels, and most of them appear to have been associated with oriental mystery cults137. The appearance of a face mask on a snake pot however is most unusual and it is very unfortunate that so little of this pot survives. The only examples of pots with large face masks and with snakes above them known to this author are those belonging to a small group of 130

Toynbee 1962, 191, Cat. No 161, Pl. 256 Richmond 1943, 193, Pl. X: G1; Webster 1989, 18, Fig. 6: 50. Toynbee ibid, 191, Cat. No 161, Pls. 164-5 133 Scullard 1981, 148 and 179. 134 There is also an interesting bronze strip thought to have been a sceptre-binding from a Romano-British shrine at Farley Heath in Surrey with schematic figures and symbols on it which include Smith’s tools, a wheel, ravens, various animals, and what has been interpreted as a man in a conical hat (Green 1976, 24-5 and 219). 135 See Chapter II, Part III. B.2, Fig. B.14: 1. 136 Lambrechts, 1942, 111. 137 These are described in Appendix VI. 131 132

371

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER XII fragmentary bust vases in the Meuse-Sambre region of Gallia Belgica associated with Mercury (No 2)138. Like the face mask on the Old Penrith face jar, these busts also have notched eyebrows, almond-shaped eyes and spiral curls around the face. They also have two small stubby wings in the curls above each temple, and the relief figures of a goat and a cock to the left of the bust as well as a caduceus. Alas, there is no knowing if these featured on the Old Penrith face jar.

Fig. M12. The mask with a snake above the face, a Gallo-Belgic bust vase, and part of a bronze parade mask 1, Old Penrith (RB 13 K); 2, Blicquy (App. III, Group 3, Fig. R3:4); 3, Weissenburg (App. V, E.1, Fig. S9:9). ( Scale 1:6)

Another possibility is that the snake may not have been coiled around the pot but belonged to the mask itself, though no such example has so far been identified on any face pot. There are a number of parade helmet-masks that have snakes climbing up through the hair around the face as in the example from Weissenburg-Gunzenhausen on the Raetian frontier (No 3). They can also have wings in the hair as can just be made out on this incomplete mask. Such masks would normally be thought to represent the fair Medusa, though in most cases the face itself is considered to be that of a young man139. The only male mythological figure who seems known to have had snakes in his hair is Bacchus who is described by Euripedes as “the god with serpents in his hair”140, but there is little evidence that he had wings as well. Snakes were regularly used in Bacchic worship, and sometimes snake pots as well141. The expert modelling of the face with the somewhat bulbous eye and the herring-bone notching of the eyebrow, as well as the applied, pellet bosses across the forehead probably representing hair, recall the protome or spout head of the large cult vase from Carlisle which, as suggested above, might represent the same deity (Fig. M10: 4). B.7.b. The mask with horns and a lizard (Fig. M7: 2). Only one example of such a face pot mask has been identified, namely the one from Novae on the lower Danube (Fig. M7: 2), and sadly all that survives of it is just a fragment showing the top half of what appears to be a lizard climbing up towards a mask with horizontal horns (Dan Type 33, Fig. H11: 7). No other examples of such a mask could be found among the Roman masks studied, but if, as seems likely, it is a lizard, it seems very probable that this mask and this face pot were associated with the worship of Sabazius, though it could have been that of Dionysus-Liber. As mentioned above under B.2, Sabazius, like Dionysus, could be represented with bull’s horns, and the cults of the two deities seem seems sometimes to have been conflated142. In all likelihood, this pot would have had handles with snakes climbing up them. The cult of Sabazius was well established in Thrace and in the lower Danube region since before the Roman conquest, from whence it seems to have been introduced into Switzerland by an auxiliary unit in the Augustan period. One complete snake pot and fragments of several more with lizards, frogs and other symbols associated with Sabazius have been found at Vindonissa, and it is not impossible that this face pot from Novae belonged to a veteran of the Eleventh Legion. This legion was transferred to the Lower Danube from Vindonissa and based at a new fortress at Durosturum from 106, but some of the early veterans may well have settled beside the well-established fortress at Novae.

138

See Appendix III, Group 3, Fig. R3: 3-4. See Appendix V, E.3. 140 Bacchae 100-1. 141 see Appendix VI, B.3. 142 See Appendix I, G.1 and Appendix VI, B2. 139

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WHOSE WERE THE FACES? B.8.

The tricephalic mask (Fig. M13: 1-3 and 5-6)

Fig. M13. The tricephalic mask on face jars and bust vases, and large face beaker with three masks. 1, Köln (RL 4A); 2, Urmitz (RL 31); 3, Bingen (RL 44); 4, Virunum (UD 25); 5, Jupille (App. III, Group 1, Fig. R2:3); 6, Bavay (ibid, Fig. R4:1). (Scale 1: 6 except No 6 at 1: 3)

There are three Rhineland face jars with a tricephalic mask, one of first century date from Köln of RL Type 4A (No 1), an incomplete one of third century date from the huge kiln site at Urmitz of RL Type 31 (No 2), where other fragments possibly belonging to similar face jars have also been found143, and one of fourth century date from Bingen of RL Type 44A (No 3) On the first two the faces are all frontal but have been elided together, while on the one from Bingen there are two large masks, one on each side of the jar, and two lateral masks over the handles which when viewed from the back or front appear to be two attached profile masks. All the masks are beardless and of the “serene” type. On the Urmitz jar there is what looks like a wavy snake beneath the right eye of the central mask separating it from the mask on the cheek, though this could just be the potter’s mistake. On the first two jars, the masks are strewn with phalli, but on the Bingen jar there are just two phalli on the foreheads of the central masks, pointing towards a raised ring which probably represents a female organ, and just a ring on the foreheads of the lateral masks. Phalli are very rare on face jars in the third and fourth centuries and these two later face jars from Urmitz and Bingen appear to be the only ones to have them. There seems little doubt that all three face jars with the tricephalic mask, all of them large vessels, must have been special cult vases, either connected in some way with fertility rituals, or else containers for some highly prized object or substance which required extra protection. Images of the Tricephalic God with three joined or elided faces are limited mainly to Gallia Belgica144, and in particular to the territory of the Remi, where it appears on pre-Roman coins and on a number of stone reliefs in area around Reims and Soissons. Other images of this god are also known in the Rhineland as well as a few from Britain145. In the territory of the Remi it seems to have been a male god, as the faces are generally bearded, or sometimes there is a beardless face flanked by two bearded ones. On a relief from Soissons, a stylised, bearded tricephalic mask has been carved together with a cock and a ram146; while on another relief from Paris belonging to a four-sided pillar showing the Disarmament of Mars by Cupids147, a three-headed deity is portrayed with a ram, goat, tortoise and a purse leaving little doubt that this figure is here equated with the Roman Mercury. The three-headed God was also linked with the Matres, an indication of a connection with fertility, as

143

See Chapter IV, II, RL Type 31, Fig. D15: 4 a-b. This jar, which has the small figure of a man on the reverse side, is also discussed below under B.12, Fig. M17: 3. 144 Lambrechts 1942, 37- 44. 145 Ross 1969, 74; Green 1976, 163 and 204. 146 Espérandieu V, No 7700; Wightman 1985, Pl. 33. 147 Espérandieu IV, No 3137.

373

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER XII there are two reliefs from Trier and Metz on which three female figures are carved, with the central figure standing on a tricephalic head148. The Gallo-Belgic three-headed or three-faced deity is probably best known for its occurrence on the planetary or bust vases from the Meuse-Sambre region of Gallia Belgica (Nos 5-6) 149. As on the face jars described above, the tricephalic mask can appear in two forms: either as three joined but complete faces, one viewed frontally and two in profile as on No 5, or as three faces elided together as in No 6, though here the masks are joined laterally and share one eye, while on the face jars there is one large central mask with a smaller mask on either side, either in place of the eyes, or just below them. On these bust vases too there is strong evidence for an identification of this mask with Mercury150. Of particular interest is the fact that the tricephalic mask on face jars does not just consist of three conjoined “serene” masks, but it also only occurs on the type of face jars that normally have the standard “serene” mask. In other words, this GalloBelgic mask representing a local deity equated with Mercury appears to be interchangeable with the Italian “serene” mask with its Bacchic connections. Presumably it was thought to have similar properties as far as its use on face pots was concerned. No instances have been identified of a tricephalic beak-nosed mask. The three-faced mask continues after the Roman period in Romanesque carvings and sculpture, and sometimes also occurs with four masks when serving as a column capital, though it appears as three-faced when viewed from any one direction. B.9.

Face pots with three separate faces (Fig. M13: 4)

Only one complete example of a three-faced face pot was identified in this survey, namely the large folded face beaker from Virunum in south Noricum of UD Type 25 with a face on each of its folds151 (Fig. M13: 4). This is obviously different from the face jars with tricephalic masks, as the faces are quite separate, and one of them has a beard and the other two are beardless. The carefully modelled “serene” masks with their almond-shaped eyes and pushed-out chins are very reminiscent of head-vase faces, though there are no known examples of ceramic head vases with three faces, only with one or two. However there is a small bronze head vase from Köln, described variously as an ink pot or a censer, which does have three faces, of a satyr, a maenad and one other which is not described, but presumably also of Bacchic type, possibly another maenad152. The masks on this face pot might also represent a satyr and two maenads. Alternatively they could be the older, bearded Bacchus, the young Bacchus, and his consort/mother. Such a combination of deities is found on one panel of the Gundestrup cauldron153, though the mother goddess is in the centre and much the largest figure, with a bearded god and a young beardless god on either side of her. One other very different vessel with three faces comes from Britain, a large two-handled flagon from Burgh-by-Sands on Hadrian’s Wall, which has, or had, three hooded, presumably female, protome heads on one side of the neck (one is now missing), flanked by two heads on top of the handles, one of which is bearded and the other missing, though probably bearded too154. The three hooded heads probably represent the Celtic Mother Goddesses mentioned above, who are well known in Britain, but the two male heads are less obvious, possibly some pair of divine twins. Also from Britain is the small bronze pot with a carrying handle and three identical, projecting, bearded faces with smith’s tools in between them from Three Nuns Bridge near Huntingdon (Fig. M11: 3)155. As mentioned under B.6 above, these faces almost certainly represent the Romano-British Smith God. The fact that there are three of them may just be for emphasis, or in some way connected with the Smith God’s role as fertility and underworld god156.

148

Espérandieu V1, No 4937 and IX, No 7234. These are described in Appendix III. 150 Ibid, A, Group 1.1. 151 See Chapter VII, Fig. G9 152 See Apppendix IV, B.1, Pl. S16. 153 Kaul 1991, Pl. 22. 154 See Chapter IX, Pt. IV, RB Type 42, Fig. J19: 1 155 See Chapter IX, Pt. IV, under RB Type 44. 156 Metal pots with a carrying handle sometimes occur on the marble mask reliefs placed between two juxtaposed masks of Bacchus and Ariadne. Steam is shown rising from the pot which is obviously being used as an incense burner. This might have been the purpose of the three-headed pot. If as seems to be the case the Smith God’s mask was equated with the Bacchic masks, then incense may well have been used in his worship. 149

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WHOSE WERE THE FACES? B.10.

The m-shaped mask with semi-circular eyebrows, a straight nose and no ears (Fig. M14)

Examples of this mask occur sporadically but never in significant numbers in almost all the provinces where face pots are found, including several in Dacia. There appear to be two mask types involved here, a smaller, compact one, and a larger one, but both with eyebrows curving down to the level of the end of the nose and some times further, but not curving outwards. The larger type (Nos 4-7), which occurs in Britain, the Rhineland, the upper Danube, and Dacia makes only very sporadic appearances, so far never more than once in any one place or on any one face pot Type except perhaps in Dacia. The semi-circular eyebrows and long straight nose seem always to be very carefully moulded and the eyebrows are almost never notched. Only rarely is there a beard, and then just a small, neat one. It is often described as “Celtic”. A similar face occurs on the little bronze Late La Tène mask from Borgholm in Denmark157, though there is a line running up from the nose to the top of the forehead which is not present on any of these Roman masks. The smoothly rounded, unnotched, semicircular eyebrows might be meant to convey the curved top of the characteristic egg-shaped heads used on Celtic hanging bowls and other Celtic metalwork from the third century BC onwards158.

Fig. M14. The m-shaped mask on face pots and on a terracotta roof finial 1, Kematen (UD 11); 2, Burghöfe (UD 1); 3, Lauriacum (App. V, C.1, Fig. S12:6)). 4, Regensburg (UD 5); 5, Guberevac (DAN 30); 6, Colchester (RB 21B); 7, Welwyn (RB 13D); (Scale 1:6 except Nos 5-6 at 1:3)

The other smaller version of the m-shaped mask, which generally but not always has notched eyebrows (Nos 1-2), is found only on the upper Danube on face jars of strictly local type of UD Types 1 and 11 (Nos 1-2)159. A mask that is strikingly similar to this also occurs on what is thought to be a Roman ceramic roof finial which was found at Lauriacum, in this same area (No 3). Most antefixes or finials of this kind with local masks would most likely have been made of wood and have disappeared without trace, and it is pure chance that this fine ceramic example has survived, almost certainly a copy of a wooden one to judge by the neat notching of the beard, typical of woodworking techniques. This small, compact m-shaped mask could possibly be of Germanic origin. A mask very like it occurs on a second to third century AD face pot fragment from Maden in Hessen in free Germany, and a somewhat similar version, though with wider, flatter eyebrows, occurs on some of the North European Iron Age face urns160 (see below, Fig. M16: 1 and 6-7). The figurative decoration on the jar from Kematen (No 1) is discussed under B.12 below. 157

See Chapter II, III, B.1, Fig. B14: 7. Ibid, Part III, A.2, Fig. B13: 2-5 159 There is another small mask type quite like this one, which often occurs on the many compact masks in Britain, but it has less curved eyebrows and is generally described in this study as the “sliced mushroom” type. The two types could be related however, and may well both descend from north European Iron Age prototypes. 160 Ibid, Fig. B12: 1 and 6. 158

375

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER XII It seems impossible to associate any one deity with this mask, and it may have been associated with many provincial deities. What can be noted however is that it too, like the tricephalic mask, is readily interchangeable with the standardised “serene” masks in all the provinces where it occurs, with the exception of Raetia where the latter never appears to have gained a foothold. B.11.

Masks with abbreviated or very schematic faces (Fig. M 15)

This includes a whole range of varying masks which are all lacking at least one of the five main facial features: eyes, mouth, nose, eyebrows or ears, and are generally rather small and compact. Fig. M15 contains just a small selection of them. Generally the eyes always figure, but there are one or two totally abstract yet still recognisable masks where even the eyes are missing, as on the Late Roman face jar from the fort at Kaiseraugst in Switzerland (No 9) or the small face beaker from Trier (No 10). For the most part these abbreviated face masks occur only in Britain, Raetia and in the Lowlands behind the Channel coast, but as faces become more schematic in the Later Roman period they start occurring elsewhere.

Fig. M15. Abbreviated and abstract masks (Scale 1: 6 except No 8 at 1:8) 1, Thuin (FS 27); 2, Boulogne (FS 12, RB 13E); 3, Bavay (FS 22); 4, Verulamium (RB 13D); 5, Little Chester (RB 1E); 6, Lakenheath (RB 21C); 7, Faimingen (UD 2); 8, Günzberg (UD 3); 9, Kaiseraugst (RD 32); 10, Trier (Rl 47A).

The eye urns of the Lowlands with just two eye dents below the rim (No 1) have the most abstract masks of all161. As discussed in Chapter X, A.2, they almost certainly belong to a native, non-Roman tradition, which could be descended from the north European Iron Age face urn cultures of northern Europe162. They are particularly reminiscent of some of the German and Scandinavian examples (see below, Fig. M16: 3-4). The eye urns of the Roman period occur on both sides of the Rhine delta and along the flat marshy coast lands of Belgium. Those found inside the Roman Empire are in standard local Roman face jar forms such as No 1 from Thuin, and their “faces” are only slightly more abstract than some of the masks on recognised face jars such Nos 2 and 7 from Boulogne and Faimingen. Many of the faces are very compact and rounded (Nos 5, 6 and 8) possibly reflecting the medallion-shaped Celtic masks found on the shoulders or rims of bronze cauldrons and hanging bowls, or at the base of jug handles. In Britain medallionshaped masks become much more common in the later Roman period, but as can be seen from the jar from Little Chester (No 5), they were already occurring around the end of the first century AD. The schematic mask on No 9 probably represents such a mask reduced to abstraction. Other masks, particularly in Britain, are squashed up beneath the rim (No 4), and given 161 162

See Chapter V, Group C2, FS Type 27. See Chapter II, Part II.B.

376

WHOSE WERE THE FACES? that such faces occur on some of the earliest British face jars and continue into the Late Roman period they must represent some well established local British tradition. The strange-looking face on the jar from Bavay (No 3) is a kind of reductio ad absurdam on which the odd stumpy “horns” or “blind spouts” of the local face jars, normally placed above the eyes, have now replaced the eyes, while the usual stamped bosses or incised curls around the face have been eliminated.

Fig. M16. Abbreviated and abstract masks on North European Iron Age face urns 1-2, Jutland; 3, Stavanger; 4, Wulfen: 5, Grabowa; 6, Poblocie; 7, Maden

There are really no clues to the identity of these masks except for the fact that like the large m-shaped masks many of them are found on the same face jar types that have the “serene mask”, and therefore seem likely to have represented (originally at least) similar deities or figures, even if their origins were lost in the past, and to have been credited with the same protective and beneficent properties in life and in death. B.12.

Face jars with masks and figurative decoration (Fig. M17)

Just a few face jars have additional figurative decoration on the body of the vessel, or in one case on the neck, which is either applied or incised. The masks are all of different types, except for the two on the Much Hadham face jars, and they are mostly of local provincial types except for one rather twisted version of a “serene” mask (No 2). As with the smith’s tools, the figures and symbols may have been intended to help identify the face jars and their mask with a particular deity or cult. Three come from the Rhineland, two from the Upper Danube and two from Britain. Many others may have existed but so often just the face of a face jar survives, and the rest of the pot is lost. a). The two Trier face jars (Nos 1-2) These are both of RL Type 21C and most likely of second century date, possibly from the later half163. One of them (No 1) has an applied long-haired rabbit or hare followed by what could be a boar, interspersed with incised fir trees - possibly a crude imitation of a hunt cup scene, while the other (No 2) just has incised fir trees. Though much of the face is missing on the first jar, there is nothing in the face mask of the other one to distinguish it from the standard second century Rhineland “serene” mask that occurs on all the other face jars of RL Type 21, though its eyes are askew and its eyebrows somewhat down-drooping, perhaps to make space for the fir trees. Animal and hunt scenes occur on many Dionysiac or Orphic mosaics. Fir trees are associated with Bacchus, though mostly it is just his pine-cone headed thyrsus that indicates the association. Pine cones or fir trees are connected with a number of other mystery gods such as Attis, Mithras and Sabazius, but these gods do not seem to be found in regular association with hunt scenes. What is surprising is how crudely the animals have been modelled. One wonders if they were not dashed off by the potter at the last minute to designate the jars for a particular cult or act of worship.

163

See Chapter IV, Pt II, Fig. D14: 4-5

377

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER XII b). The face jar from Urmitz (No 3) This jar has a tricephalic face on the opposite side, discussed under B.8 above (see Fig. M13: 2). It appears to have had just a single mask on this side, of which only an eye survives together with a small, applied figure of a man with upheld arm. The only parallel that comes to mind is from a panel on the Gundestrup cauldron that shows a male bearded god holding aloft two small men, both of whom have one up-raised arm and above it a boar164. It was found in the ruins of the potteries destroyed during the Frankish invasions of 260-75. It could just be the case that this provincial Roman cult vessel with its tricephalic face and additional figures, very probably produced at the low ebb of Rome’s fortunes during the third quarter of the third century, reflects a resurgence of Celtic mythological traditions going back to pre-Roman iconography.

(Scale 1:6). Fig. M17. Face jars with figurative decoration 1-2, Trier (RL 21C); 3, Urmitz (RL 31); 4, Kematen (UD 11); 5, Neuburg (UD 3); 6, Littlecote (RB 31A); 7, Harlow (RB 31A).

c). The Kematen face jar (No 4) This unique face jar with its compact, bearded m-shaped face mask, which occurs on several early Raetian face jars and on the roof finial from Lauriacum (Fig. M14: 3), and with its three little cups or blind “spouts” balanced precariously on the rim, was found in a shallow sandstone burial chamber under a tumulus grave in an isolated cemetery beside the Url river south east of Lauriacum, belonging to the Norico-Pannonian tumulus grave culture165. The cremated bones of an older man and a small child had been placed in separate, undecorated jars within the burial chamber, not in the face jar. The animals and symbols are very schematic, and seem to belong to another age, closer to Hallstatt times than to Roman ones; they recall the incised drawings on the early Iron Age Pomeranian and north German face urns166. The archaism may have been deliberate, suggesting some ancient tradition, in keeping with the tumulus grave. The two animals, one with a hairy back and two upright ears or horns, and the other with a smooth back and hairy tail, are virtually unrecognisable, but could be an ox/cow and a horse, or possibly a rabbit and a fox/dog. One fir tree can be clearly distinguished, and probably part of another one, to the right of what looks like a caduceus. The sunflower-like objects could be some kind of solar symbols, perhaps of the kind that could be carried in processions on a pole. No one deity can be easily identified, in our eyes at least, from these 164

Kaul 1991, Pl. 27. See Chapter VII, RD Type 11, Fig G7:1 a-b. 166 See Chapter II, Fig. B12: 5-6. 165

378

WHOSE WERE THE FACES? various figures and objects. However the spout-cups on the rim above the handles could provide a clue. They are quite different to the spouts, whether blind or pierced, on any other face jars, but similar spout-cups occur on snake pots used in the worship of Sabazius and Bacchus-Liber, and it is possible that it is one of these two deities, or a local god equated with one or other of them, who is involved here. d). The Neuburg face jar (No5) This jar on the other hand comes from a standard provincial Roman cremation grave, though obviously belonging to quite a wealthy woman, to judge by the grave goods, and has the same schematic, abbreviated face as several of the other local face jars of this region and period167. As in the case of the Kematen face jar, it was not used as the cremation urn, possibly implying that it had a particular cult value and may have contained wine or other substances of ritual significance. The incised cock, purse and what may have been a chick are very summarily drawn, but at least the first two are recognisable. As has been seen on the bust vases mentioned above under B.7 (Fig. M12, 2-3), the cock and purse are attributes of Mercury, so this jar must very probably have had some connection with his cult, or more likely the cult of a local deity equated with Mercury. Among the numerous grave goods was a bronze arm purse and a sigillata bowl by the potter Reginus decorated with what appears to have been a frieze of leaping felines. e). The Littlecote face jar (No 6) This incomplete British face jar and the one below from Harlow are both of RB Type 31A and must have been made in the Late Roman potteries in and around Much Hadham168. Both have the standard Much Hadham face with abbreviated features tucked under the frilled rim of the jar. This one comes from the villa at Littlecote where it was found in a triple-apsed room with an Orphic mosaic on the floor which was built close to the main villa buildings in the later fourth century169. In the centre of the circular mosaic is Orpheus, and surrounding him are four fast-moving animals, a bull, a goat, a stag and a panther, each ridden or accompanied by a female figure, and all animals closely associated with Dionysus-Bacchus except perhaps the stag. Another panel has a kantharos in between two panthers. It is thought the building may have been used as an “Orphic chapel”170. The face jar has what was probably a frieze of four relief-moulded panthers or similar animals leaping around the upper half of the jar, interspersed with triangular clusters of dimples (finger-size indentations) reminiscent of bunches of grapes and similar to the triangular arrangements of bosses on the face jar of UD Type 7 from Pförring and on Medusa-mask pots from the Upper Danube mentioned in B.4 above171). Such a decorative scheme suggests a Bacchic or Orphic connection, which coincides well with the mosaic. f). The Harlow face jar (No 7) This jar has quite different decoration, of which only the part on the neck of the jar, to the left of the face survives. This consists of four long-handled implements, either applied or incised, of which one is damaged and indecipherable. What may be part of the handle of another implement can just be made out on the other side of the face. It has not been possible to ascertain where the jar was found, but it is possible that it has come from the Romano-Celtic temple on the outskirts of the Roman town which has provided much of the focus for Roman excavation at Harlow. The three surviving implements appear to represent a bill hook or shepherd’s crook, a caduceus and a mallet. The bill hook, as we have seen under A.2.b and B.4 above is an attribute of Silvanus, but it may also be carried by Sucellus, and also on occasion, by Pan or Faunus. The caduceus is an attribute of Mercury (though it also belongs to Aesculapius), and the mallet, the attribute of underworld gods, is associated with both Sucellus and Silvanus, and possibly even with the Smith God. This appears to be something of a multi-purpose vase, particularly if the implements or symbols on the other side of the face are different again. It is as though one mask does for all, and just the individual attributes are needed to indicate the different deities invoked. This vase could reflect the gradual syncretism of religious beliefs that took place in the Late Roman period with the rise of mystery cults and the search for the one true god, above all the national and local gods, who could bring salvation.

167

See Chapter VII, UD Type 3, Fig. G4: 1. See Chapter IX, RB Type 31A, Fig. J14: 3-5. 169 For the Orphic religion see Appendix I, A.3. 170 Walters and Phillips 1983-4, 7. 171 See Chapter VII, UD Type 7, Fig. G6: 1-4 168

379

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER XII B. 13. The mask with a “peak” or “hood” above the face (Fig. M18) There are just a few scattered face pots which have a kind of peak or projecting crescent-shaped strip above the face which seems too high to represent eyebrows (or occurs above the eyebrows), and does not have the appearance of hair. It seems likely that it represents some particular feature of a well-known mask type that would have been easily recognised by the contemporary public. The four examples of this face pot mask type that have been identified are all very different one from another but all have an unusual strip above the face: two are small, complete face beakers of later Roman date from the Danubian region: one in glazed ware from Flavia Solva (Graz) in Austria (No 3)172, and the other in grey ware with teeth from Intercisa (No 2)173; another is just a small face fragment from London of late first to second century date on which the strip is barely recognisable174; and the fourth is a huge, incomplete, newly excavated two-faced pot from Frankfurt-Zeilsheim of mid second century date, with two very similar faces, one on each side (No 1)175. On this last pot however, the strip is rounded with shallow notching along it, while on the others the strip is thin, flat and strap-like with no notching, and projects rather like the peak of a cap above the face, so there may be two different mask types involved. The flat strips could perhaps represent a female hood or cap, or the peak on a parade helmet176, or even perhaps a schematic version of the pilos or Phrygian pointed cap of Attis, the oriental mystery god whose mask was sometimes included among the Roman Bacchic masks, as on a terracotta mask at Pompeii (No 4)177, and who seems to have been included from time to time among the cast of Bacchic figures portrayed on Roman head vases178 and on marble mask reliefs179 from the first century AD onwards. However it is difficult to imagine that the mask with ugly teeth on the face beaker from Intercisa could represent either Attis or the subject of a parade mask. The rounded, crescent-shaped strips with faint notching above the two faces on the Zeilsheim face pot, which have been described as hair, have not been identified on any other face pots, though somewhat similar notched cordons occur on the cup-necked flagons of RB Type 41F180. The closest examples of such a notched band among the groups of masks examined in the Appendices come from parade masks such as one from Thorsberg on which a roll of hair, or perhaps some kind of diadem or head-dress, surrounds the face in lieu of curls or wavy hair, though the resemblance may be quite coincidental181.

Fig. M 18. The mask with a “peak” or “hood” above the face 1, Frankfurt-Zeilsheim (RL 29); 2, Intercisa (DAN 13); 3, Solva (UD 30); 4, Pompeii (App. V, C.2.2, Fig. S7: 5) (Scale No 1 at 1:8, Nos 2-3 at c.1:3, No 4 at c. 1:4)

B.14.

Face masks with phalli

The role of the phalli on face pots must presumably have been either to increase the protective, apotropaic value of the face mask, or to increase its potency as a symbol of fertility. However, although face pots are often described as regularly being decorated with phalli, such decoration is in fact limited almost entirely to the Rhineland, with just two examples found so far in other provinces, from Gloucester-Kingsholm in Britain and from Novae in Moesia, both of which very probably reflect 172

Chapter VII, UD Type 30, Fig. G9: 3, Pl. G16b.. Chapter VIII, DAN Type 13, Fig. H5: 1 and Pl. H3. Chapter IX, Pt III, Misc. Face Pot Sherd No 14, Fig. J16: 14. 175 Chapter IV, Pt II, RL Type 29, Fig. D15A, Pl. D30. 176 See Appendix V, Pl. S28. 177 Ibid, C.2.2, Fig. S7: 5. 178 See Appendix IV, A.1.2. 179 See Appendix I. E.2-3. 180 See Chapter IX, Pt IV, Pls. J40-41, Fig. J18: 5. 181 Garbsch 1978, Cat No O.57. 173 174

380

WHOSE WERE THE FACES? Rhenish influence and the recent arrival of troops from the Rhineland182. All the pots with phalli are face jars except for one face beaker from Köln of RL Type 11A (Fig. D7: 1). Even within the Rhineland the distribution of face pots with phalli is restricted to the more central area, with none apparently occurring at Nijmegen or in and a round the delta forts to the north west of it, nor at Strasbourg or further south. Phalli are most common on face pots in the first century, and tend to fade out in the second except in the Mainz-Wetterau area or on face jars with tricephalic face masks. They are only found on face jars with “serene” masks (or on tri-cephalic masks composed of three “serene” faces), not on those with beak-nosed, m-shaped or abbreviated masks, and they are limited almost entirely to the “serene” masks without a beard, with just two or three on bearded faces, probably all quite early examples, as in the case of the Kingsholm (Gloucester) face jar mentioned above, and a rather similar one from Mainz of RL Type 1 (Fig. D2: 4). They are always placed on the face itself, generally in pairs, one on each cheek, pointing to the mouth or eyes. Just occasionally there is only one. Only on the face jars with tricephalic faces are there more than two phalli, when they can occur in quite considerable numbers, as many as thirteen surviving on the incomplete jar from Urmitz, which must have had at least another half dozen on the part that is missing (see above Figs. M13: 2 and M16: 3). The only exception seems to be the small three-dimensional phallus on the very early and no doubt somewhat experimental face jar from Kingsholm, Gloucester, which is placed on the rim of the jar, though another conventional one is also applied to one cheek. Given the absence of phalli on face pots in Italy and their virtual absence on face pots from other provinces, it seems quite possible therefore that, although the “serene” mask is of Italian origin, the placing of phalli on the face may be a local feature, belonging to some kind of fertility cult or other religious tradition of the central Rhineland. The only other example of a face with a phallus identified by this author is a large stone head recently found in what is believed to have been a Late Roman Germanic sanctuary at Arras, built on the ruins of an earlier sanctuary of Cybele and Attis. The head is crudely modelled, with no beard, but with a vertical phallus clearly shown on the neck and chin, pointing towards the mouth. It has been suggested that it represents the Germanic fertility goddess Freya or her consort Frey183. B.14. Other ill-defined or very rare masks There are just a few other masks which are either very rare or less easy to recognise but which may constitute individual mask types. These are included here without supplementary illustrations. a). A tragic mask? Some face jar sherds from two or more face jars found at Balmuidy on the Antonine Wall and dating from that period, have criss-cross hatching above the face which looks as though it might have been intended to represent a tragedian’s mask with its tall, piled up wig184. Tragic masks frequently feature on terracotta masks and antefixes in the provinces, particularly in Dacia and in forts along the Middle and Lower Danube, often in stylised and barely recognisable versions185. An early degenerate version already occurs on a terracotta mask at Pompeii, on which the wig, as on the Balmuidy face sherds, is rendered with criss-cross hatching. If a tragic mask was in fact represented on the Balmuidy face jars, in this remote outpost of the Empire, it could be that they were made by or for troops transferred from the Danube region. No other similar masks have been identified on Roman face pots, but a tragic mask with piled up wig occurs on a mask vase from Brigetio186. b). The frowning mask with T-shaped eyebrows and nose This occurs on face jars of RL Types 8B, 17 and 39B187, found mainly in the upper Rhineland, which recalls the two-faced Iron Age stone cult statue from Holzgerlingen in Baden Württemberg which is from this same area188, as well as the little bronze Celtic mask from Skogsby in Denmark189. There is little that can be said about this mask except that it could represent the image of a local deity, though it may just reflect the local technique used for carving faces out of stone or wood. Very similar stone faces with straight noses and eyebrows are found in Provence, a region linked to the Upper Rhine by the Rhône-Saône valley, as on the “severed” heads carved on a stone pillar from the La Téne sanctuary of Entremont190. c). The Celtic-looking mask with large, almond-shaped, down-drooping eyes and eyebrows This occurs on a small group of face pots in the region of Xanten and Nijmegen, of RL Types 8A and 17 (Figs. D6: 1 and D8: 5-6). Similar features are portrayed on a number of Celtic heads and cult images, such as Late Iron Age bronze “mask” from Tarbes191. Again there is no knowing whether this Celtic-looking face represents a particular local deity or mask, or is just a reflection of the local art style. 182

See Chapter IX, Pt. I, RB Type 2 (Fig. J3: 1) and Chapter VIII, DAN Type 32, Fig. H11: 6. Alain Jacques and Marie Tuffreau Libre 1998, pers. comm. See Chapter IX, Pt III, Face Group 4, Fig. J16: 6-7. 185 See Appendix V, Fig. S12: 5. 186 Ibid, Fig. S6: 14. 187 See Chapter IV, Pt. I, Figs. D6: 2 and D7: 4; Pt II, Fig. D17: 11 188 Torbrügge 1968, 240. 189 See Chapter II, III, B.1, Fig. B14: 8. 190 Green 1986, Fig. 10. 191 See Chapter II, III, B.1, Fig. B13: 6 183 184

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FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER XII C.

Discussion

This then is the sum of the evidence for the identification of face pot masks that can be extracted from the face pots themselves and from the limited amount of comparative material that could be found. Some of the suggested identifications are inevitably conjectural and subjective, given the absence of inscriptions or references in the contemporary literature of the period, as well as the lack of previous research into this area. It is clear however, from the strongly individualised but also standardised features of many of the mask types - the grotesque noses, the notched teeth, the goatee beards, the tricephalic faces, the vertical or horizontal horns, or even the bland but strictly standardised features of the “serene” mask - that these are not just nameless apotropaic masks or death masks, nor are they the fanciful creations of potters, but masks with an established identity, some of which lasted with relatively little change throughout the Roman period. They must all have been easily recognised by the users of the pots, and there seems little reason to doubt that they represented deities or spirits well know to them, though it is possible that the original identities of some of the masks may have got lost in the past. The likelihood that some of these masks were connected with Bacchus and his associates is very strong given that virtually all the recognisable masks in Roman art, architecture and religion belong to the Bacchic tradition. But it must be admitted that such a connection is not one that is immediately apparent, at least not as far as the majority of Roman face pots are concerned. It is only when examining the rarer face pot masks that resemblances between them and Bacchic masks begin to emerge. If, as has been suggested, face pot masks belong to popular art and are stylised, schematic versions of naturalistic masks, reduced to their barest essentials over centuries of copying and simplification, then it is hardly surprising that we cannot recognise the originals from which they are descended. The intermediate stages of the process of abstraction are missing. It is like the modern image of a clock face which is just a round disk with hands but no numbers. We all know what it is, but in 2,000 years will they know, or could they possibly have known 2000 years ago? But on some clock faces the numbers at the quarters are included, or just a dot or a figure “I”, and this could possibly be the situation with those rarer face pot masks which for some reason or other do have features that can aid their identification. If one ignores for the time being the beak-nosed mask, which is the most recognisable of all the face pot masks but unfortunately not the most identifiable, the two mask types that seem easiest to identify, and which also, as it happens, provide the best evidence for a Bacchic connection, are the masks with vertical horns, and those with wide toothy grins. The most obvious interpretation for the former is that they represent the mask of the goat-horned god Pan, or of Faunus, who seems to have been his Roman counterpart. The identification of the masks with bared, notched teeth with satyr masks is less obvious, and here the evidence from the terracotta masks of Roman Greece, Pompeii and the Rhineland is of great importance, as they allow us to follow the evolution of the satyr mask from the more benign, toothless, classical versions found in Greece, which are typical of the naturalistic satyrs that occur on sculpture, silverware and fineware pottery throughout the Roman period, through the merging of comic and satyr mask types in Pompeii, to the more grotesque versions of the satyr mask in the Rhineland with the teeth bared in a grin or grimace, a grin also found in less exaggerated form on the later satyr head vases in north Africa. There is also one other face pot, namely the one of RL Type 4A from Bergheim-Torr (Fig. M5: 1), which in addition to notched teeth also has several other identifying features as well such as horns, phalli, large ears and a long bushy beard, all the features of a satyr or rather, in this instance, of a Silenus. Here we have the equivalent of the clock face with virtually all the numbers, and the Bacchic connection is impossible to doubt. The puzzle of course is why were such features not added more often on other face pots. It is conceivable that they were, only in paint, after firing, but so far the only instance identified where the remains of such paint has been found on a face pot, is in the case of the giant two-faced pot from Frankfurt-Zeilsheim (RL Type 29, Fig. D15A). On this red and white paint seems to have been used to paint bands around the neck or body of the pot, but not to draw individual features or details. The only face pots with painted features seem to come from Britain, a small Late Roman group from north east England on which some or all of the facial features were painted before firing, with the occasional addition of smiths’ tools192. It may never be possible to prove beyond doubt that these two mask types represent the masks of Pan and a satyr, but this does seem to be the most logical interpretation. Once this is accepted, then the likelihood that other masks belong to this same tradition is hugely increased, for both these masks are interchangeable with other face pot masks, and particularly with the “serene” mask. The comic, grinning masks with a lop-sided grin found on the barbotine face beakers of the Po valley and on one or two other face beakers, could also be satyr masks, but alternatively they could represent the mask thought to be that of Maccus, the comic hero of the popular Atellan farces, known from two terracotta examples found at Pompeii which have a very similar grin. This mask too, as a comedy mask would have belonged to the Bacchic tradition. With these two or three Bacchic mask types relatively securely identified, the suggested identification of the “serene mask” with Bacchus or with the Bacchic mask tradition in general, an identification hitherto based mainly on the apparent relationship between the earliest Attic head vases and the Etruscan face beakers and the continuing, if episodic, connection between Roman head vases and face pots in the provinces, becomes more plausible. Whether in fact the “serene” mask was 192

See Chapter IX, Pt III, RB Type 30, Fig. J14: 1-2.

382

WHOSE WERE THE FACES? meant to represent just Bacchus, or him and his consort, or a generic Bacchic mask, we shall probably never know, and may be immaterial. The concept of an all-purpose blank Bacchic mask to which identifying features could be added as the circumstances required has much to be said for it, and does seem to explain what in fact happens, particularly in the Rhineland, but also in the other provinces. For a whole variety of minor additions are made at different times and in different places, such as pellets in the eyes and mouth, phalli on the cheeks, teeth in the mouth, pointed chins, tidy beards on the chin or bushy beards over most of the lower part of the face, small vertical horns or longer horizontal ones, stamped bosses around the face, even a tripling of the mask, but the same basic mask continues all the way through. It might seem that Bacchus is the least likely god to have been particularly honoured by soldiers and their families. However a study of Bacchic material found in Britain193 has revealed that by far the largest number of portable, inexpensive items of Bacchic sculpture, ornaments and jewellery, and in particular intaglios and rings bearing the image of Bacchus or his companions, have been found on military sites, or in the south east and in East Anglia where early veteran settlement and recruitment are suspected. Of the 165 intaglios and rings listed by Hutchinson, 82 come from the military area or from early military sites, 46 from the south east and East Anglia, and only 36 from the rest of the country. There seems no reason why he should not have been equally popular at a similar grass-roots level in the military communities in other provinces. In the light of this, and given the ubiquity of Bacchic masks in the Greco-Roman world, the identification of the “serene” mask, the most popular face pot mask of all, with Bacchus and his female counterpart and perhaps with a simplified generic Bacchic mask, begins to seem much more obvious. It is frustrating that apart from the phalli on the Rhineland face jars, there are no additional features such as grapes on the temples, or a pine cone or kantharos beside the mask, that would help with the identification. But such details would probably have been quite out of place on these basic, popular, schematic masks. When we come to the interpretation of the beak-nosed mask, it is no problem to find recognisable parallels for it among the other Roman masks and faces connected with the Bacchic tradition, though actually finding a name for the strongly characterised figure that all these masks and faces clearly represent is much more difficult. Again it is the Etruscan material that seems to provide the clue, in the shape of the unique head vase representing the underworld mallet god Charun. The many similarities between this easily identified vase and the Roman beak-nosed face beakers in northern Italy, as well as the beak-nosed face jars and terracotta masks in the Rhineland, provide the link with the shadowy Roman underworld god Dis Pater who with his mallet dispatches the dead in the amphitheatre. We cannot know whether the Celtic mallet god Sucellus, with whom he seems to have been equated in the Rhineland, was also identified with the beak-nosed mask, but as this was essentially a mask associated with the military community, to judge by the find spots of the terraccotta masks and face pots on which it is portrayed, it may have continued to represent the same Roman Dis Pater who the soldiers and their families would undoubtably have known, feared and honoured. The large-nosed masks on the tall face beakers with the jutting rufflike beard from Dacia and Moesia of the later second to third century may also have represented him, though here there could have been some confusion with the local deity Bacchus-Liber who was also addressed as Dominus. The presence of smith’s tools on some of the British face jars is a valuable piece of evidence in a province where well characterised masks are in short supply, and further supports the identification of some face pot masks with underworld and smith gods, though the British Smith God may have had no human image or mask until he was equated with the bearded Roman Vulcan. Here again the terracotta masks, this time those of the Rhineland, played a vital part in helping to explain the introduction of this Italian mask, to begin with known only on north Italian face beakers and one face jar, into the provinces north of the Alps. Its movement eastwards towards the Danube could be explained through the export of Italian beak-nosed face beakers, but the absence as yet of such face beakers in the Rhineland made this seem very unlikely as far as the northern provinces were concerned. It was the popularity of the grotesque beak-nosed terracotta masks in the middle and lower Rhineland where so many legions were based, as revealed in Hannelore Rose’s important monograph, that provided the missing link with northern Italy. The likelihood is that similar masks, made of wood or other organic materials, were introduced earlier, but it needed more settled conditions for this mask and other Italian masks of Bacchic origin to be produced in terracotta. The “serene” mask does not seem to have readily translated into the solid and more explicit mould of a terracotta mask (except perhaps for some of the few blank masks) and may have remained a mask that was mainly carved and painted, to be used in the home and in the forts, or hung up in the forests and fields. But it was also used on face pots, and through them we know of it today. The increasingly grotesque character of both the beak-nosed masks with their gaping jaws and the satyr masks with their bristling teeth may have had something to do with influences brought back from Spain where so many of the early Rhineland legions had been based. This is an area it has not been possible to explore during this study. But it could also have been due to the generally coarsening influence of the amphitheatre, where the Dis Pater mask may have achieved its greatest notoriety. It may well have been in the amphitheatres that the Manducus mask with its clacking jaws developed. The provincial masks are much less easy to identify, but most of them are interchangeable with the “serene” mask, and therefore most probably represented similar deities and spirits whose masks would have been thought to have similar properties. The belief in fertility and nature deities seems to lie at the base of all European religions. In Greece and Rome 193

Hutchinson, 1986.

383

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER XII Bacchus and his associated deities and woodland spirits had come to embody and absorb a great many of the myriad tribal or local deities, year gods and numina which had been hallowed by farming communities since the Bronze Age and no doubt long before that. In the western provinces, where the process of syncretisation was not so advanced, and where such local and tribal gods seem to a large extent to have been still worshipped, Bacchus, Pan and Silvanus must have seemed much more accessible gods to the ordinary people than the complex mythological hierarchy of strongly differentiated deities that made up the classical Greek and Roman pantheons. The same seems to be true of Mercury. A connection with Mercury comes up several times in relation to face jars with native faces: the tricephalos mask in the Rhineland, the cock and purse on the Neuburg face jar, the possible caduceus on the Kematen and Harlow face jars. His may have been the preferred name or image rather than that of the equivocal and never fully established Bacchus, when it came to finding a Roman equivalent for local fertility deities. For the Roman Mercury was not just the messenger of the gods and god of commerce, but, in the provinces at least, he seems also to have had a role as fertility and underworld god, and in many ways is very similar to Bacchus, as was the Greek Hermes who was at times so closely associated with Dionysus that he seems to be almost indistinguishable from him194. The provincial deities equated with Mercury, some of whom seem likely to have been represented by the more schematic and anonymous masks that occur on face pots, many of which seem to be interchangeable with the Italian “serene” mask, must also have had similar roles. It seems possible that some of the more abstract and abbreviated masks may no longer have had any clearly individualised identity, at any rate not one that would be recognisable to an untutored observer. In these cases much may have depended on the use to which the vessels were put which would have defined the purpose of the mask and perhaps subtly altered its identity. As we have seen, phalli, smith’s tools, clusters of grape-like bosses, panthers, and other figurative decoration could be added occasionally for greater clarity or emphasis, but cannot have been thought necessary most of the time. Only in Raetia in the first and second centuries are there no “serene” masks with which the native masks can be interchanged, but there seems no reason why the local masks here should be so different. It is along this stretch of the Upper Danube, during the first one and a half centuries of Roman occupation before the two Roman legions were brought in by Marcus Aurelius, that we find the greatest variety of provincial masks, and seem to come closest to the Celtic mask traditions that lay beneath the Roman military surface. The horned face pot masks, the compact m-shaped masks, the Hathor-locks mask of Celtic La Tène metalwork, traced in dotted lines reminiscent of Iron Age repoussé designs on sheet bronze artefacts, the archaic figures and symbols drawn on the Kematen face pot from a tumulus grave, as well as the terracotta calf masks, all these examples of popular folk art and tradition, normally expressed only in wood and other organic materials, are here preserved, like insects in amber, thanks to the ready availability of good, inexpensive Roman pottery, and a minority religious tradition among the military community. This is the real importance of these face pot masks, and the secret of their fascination, for they are a record of popular Roman and provincial images for which there is virtually no other contemporary evidence, a whole series of faces from the past which have been forgotten, but which must almost certainly have been widely known and used as masks by many of the people of the Western Roman Empire and not just by those members of the military communities who used face pots, even though it was the latter who ensured the masks’ survival by using them on their face pots. These ancient masks were not quite forgotten of course, for many of them live on in the gargoyles and roof bosses of romanesque churches and hidden beneath the misericords in the choir stalls of Gothic cathedrals, potent pagan images to protect a Christian shrine. The Church had demonised Bacchus and Pan and all the long-revered deities and woodland spirits associated with them, but they could not destroy their images and masks, and in the end co-opted them, using their features to portray the devil and his minions, while at the same time allowing them to provide the screen of protection and the aura of good fortune that the people needed and which had been their role since time immemorial. In the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire at Tournai there is a mediaeval bronze statue of the Madonna which once stood as a finial at the apex of a church roof, and beneath her feet, closing the end of the roof gable on which she stood, is a perfectly sculptedversion of a “serene” mask as found on second century Rhineland face jars. All the figures mentioned in this chapter, whose names have come up in relation to the face pot masks, are deities with powers in the underworld, to whom the dead could be entrusted for their onward passage into the afterworld or land of the blessed, and whose masks therefore would have been appropriate to place on cremation urns or on small beakers containing an offering to the god and to the spirits of the dead. They are also all deities with protective powers in the land of the living. The underworld gods such as Charun/Dispater and the Celtic Smith God with their mallets and hammers and close association with smithing and furnaces, may have been seen as particularly effective against the danger of fire. The fertility gods such as Pan, Silvanus, Mercury and a host of local gods who were equated with them, and above all Bacchus with his company of satyrs and maenads, as well as all the comic and tragic masks of his theatre, would have been looked to for the protection, health and fertility of the family, the home, the livestock and the crops. And, as with the Greek and Etruscan masks, these Italian and provincial images must also have been credited with particular apotropaic powers to ward off the evil eye and scare away malign and dangerous forces seeking to attack the home or the grave, or emanating from the grave. This should all be of help when it comes to trying to understand how face pots were used, which is the purpose of the next chapter. 194

See Appendix 1, D.5.

384

HOW WERE FACE POTS USED?

CHAPTER XIII HOW WERE FACE POTS USED? An attempt to identify their function

We come then to the last question: how were face pots used? This is no easier to answer than the question posed in the last chapter, and there is still all too little evidence available for a satisfactory answer. But it is of course the question most often asked.

a) Face jars with frilled rims Frilled-rimmed face jars (with a pie-crust frill) are only found in Britain and the northern half of the Rhineland, and appear to be absent from the Danubian provinces. In Britain frilled rims can occur on face jars with spouts of RB Type 1 A, B and D (these are the least common), on face jars with handles of RB Types 13 A-L and 31, and on plain grey jars with neither spouts nor handles of RB Type 21 A-C. In some cases in Britain the rim may be rouletted rather than frilled, as on some of the RB Type 13 jars or there may be a notched cordon just below it as on some of the RB Type 21 jars. Smith’s tools occur in place of a face mask on some of the handled or plain jars with frilled rims, but not on those with spouts. However only in the case of the Much Hadham face jars of RB Type 31 is a frilled rim a defining characteristic of the Type; with the other Types some examples may have completely plain rims, or just occasionally rouletted rims2. In Britain frilled rims continue well into the fourth century. In the Rhineland, where they do not occur on face jars south of Mainz, they do not seem to continue much beyond the end of the first century. In this region they are limited to the grey spouted face jars of RL Type 2B with the exception of just two examples of RL Type 3 in similar grey wares which have a frilled rim but no spouts.

As in the case of the face masks, there are no literary references that mention the use of face pots, and no inscriptions on either face jars or face beakers which provide any clues1. We are thrown back on the pots themselves, and on what can be learnt from their shape, size, fabric and decoration and from the contexts in which they have been found. It makes sense to start first with an analysis of the form and decoration of face pots, and then move on to the contexts. A.

FACE POT FORM AND DECORATION

A.1. Form Face beakers are virtually all in the form of drinking cups or beakers, though some of the later large face beakers seem rather large for drinking purposes. Otherwise, apart from their faces and the fact that they are frequently found in graves, there is very little about either their form or decoration that indicates that they were used for any particular religious purpose other than for drinking or holding wine and liquids to accompany the dead in their graves or that distinguishes them from any other type of contemporary beaker. They almost all have wide necks with little or no constriction below the rim, making them easy to drink out of. Some of the later Danubian face beakers of Dan Types 14 and 15 with their narrower funnel necks, seem less suitable for drinking purposes and might be better for pouring. The same goes for those with handles at the back. The large face beakers of the later second to third centuries in the Rhineland and in Austria are very similar to some of the local contemporary beakers which also occur in larger sizes at this time. Such vessels would seem to be too large for the drinking of wine, unless they were communal cups. It is conceivable that they were used for beer or mead.

As a general rule frilled rims appear to be a characteristic feature of cult vases or of vessels intended for some kind of cult use. They are a standard feature, together with frilled or notched cordons, on all ceramic incense burners (or tazze as they tend to be called in Britain), almost certainly the most common type of ceramic cult vessel found in the provinces, at any rate in Britain, the Rhineland and along the upper Danube. Tazze appear to have been widely used in the worship of a variety of different deities. On the Continent they are found predominantly within the military zones along the frontiers3, and in Britain too they seem to have had a particular association with the Roman military community4. Frilled rims also occur on some of the Roman snake pots associated with the cults of Mithras, Bacchus and Sabazius5, though only on those found in the Rhineland, and not, as far as can be seen, on those from Switzerland or the Danubian provinces apart from one example from Raetia which has frilled spouts6. They also occur on some rare pots with spouts and snakes associated

Face jars are of cooking pot or storage jar form, though very often, particularly in the Rhineland and in Britain, the form is subtly different from the standard contemporary local jars, either in profile or decoration, or they have additional features that are characteristic of some cult vessels, namely frilled rims, spouts and even handles. These features may occur together, or separately. 1

2 As in the case of some of the face jars of RB Type 13D from the Verulamium area. 3 Heukemes 1964, 84; Schörgendorfer 1942, 137. 4 Vivien Swan 2004, pers. comm. 5 See Appendix VI. 6 See Chapter VII, Fig. G7: 2.

But see Chapter XII, Note 2. 385

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER XIII with the Gallo-Belgic bust vases7. On these cult vases frilled rims seem to continue into the second century and possibly into the third. Complete jars with frilled rims but without a face, smith’s tools or snakes are extremely rare (if they exist at all) in both Britain and the Rhineland, though at Colchester a number of frilled or notched rimsherds in grey ware have been found that could perhaps have come grey ware have been found that could have come from plain, face-less jars or possibly bowls8. There are also some flasks of late second to fourth century date which have frilled rims and sometimes a pedestal base with a frilled edge9, but.

Roman snake pots12, though they do not appear to extend very much eastwards beyond Vienna and Carnuntum. As with face jars, they are normally three in number, but on snake pots with frilled rims there may just be two, as with the ones from Gallia Belgica13. Again, as with face jars, they may be pierced or blind (unpierced). In the Rhineland and in Raetia and just occasionally in Britain spouts can also occur on plain pots of similar form to face jars but which have neither face masks nor snakes14. Spouts or rather spout-cups are an essential part of ring vases and triple vases, two closely related types of cult vessel whose function is as yet little understood and which are much less common than tazze. On these the spouts are cup-shaped in form. On ring vases they seem always to have holes in the base connecting through to the hollow ring on which they stand15. There are usually three spouts or cups, but there can sometimes be more. On triple vases the “spout cups” tend to be larger and are joined at the sides with interconnecting holes, but with no base ring. There is however also a hybrid type where the cups are joined at the sides and also connect with a base ring. All three types, particularly in the case of sherds, can often be described just as “triple vases”.

The origins of frilled rims are unclear. They might be a copy of the ovolo motif around the rims of samian ware, or of the decorated rims of Greek and Roman metal vessels, many of which can have a beaded edge or cordon, as in the case of most of the Mildenhall silver vessels, though these are all bowls and plates. The notched cordons that occur on so many of the British grey face jars of RB Type 21 might also be derived from the beaded cordons on silver vessels. One reason why so many more vessels with frilled rims occur in Britain than in other provinces could be that metal and sigillata vases were in shorter supply here, and may have had to be replaced with cheaper coarse pottery vessels.

The origin of spouts on either face jars or snake pots is far from clear. It is presumed that they are related to the kernoi of Greece and the eastern Mediterranean, which seem to have been associated with the worship of fertility and mystery deities such as Demeter, Dionysus and Cybele16. Just a very few are known from pre-Roman western Europe, but these are all of early Iron Age date, such as the multi-spouted kernos from Monzernheim near Worms and the three vases with four spouts from Novo Mesto in Slovenia17. These could all be local copies of Greek or Etruscan vessels. As on ring vases, the spouts on preRoman kernoi are generally cup-shaped with holes at the bottom connecting through to the interior of the pot, though sometimes they too can be blind. A number of fragments of vessels of unknown height and form that may have been kernos-shaped have been found at Colchester in late Roman contexts, possibly with up to eight pierced spouts round the rim18.

b) Face jars with spouts Spouts occur on face jars with and without frilled rims. Face jars with both spouts and frilled rims are mainly of first century date and limited to the lower Rhineland and to a small number of examples from Britain. Face jars with spouts but without frilled rims occur further south, mainly in the upper Rhineland from the Mainz-Wetterau region to Rheinzabern, and along the Upper Danube as far east as Lauriacum, and also in Britain. They last through the second century and probably into the early third. The number of spouts is generally three, but those with frilled rims may only have two. On both types the spouts can be tubular or cup-shaped, or something in between. Sometimes they are well-formed, good pouring spouts, at others they have just been pierced with a stick or have several small, sieve-like holes, or they may not be pierced at all10. On some pots just one or two spouts may be pierced, and the others not. There appears to be no obvious pattern to it11, except in the case of the Raetian face jars of UD Type 1 which are always true pouring or drinking spouts, and which have a narrow enough neck and wide enough shoulders to make this possible, though not particularly easy (Fig. G2).

The Roman snake pots with two or three spouts appear to have been associated mainly with oriental mystery gods, mostly Liber-Bacchus and Sabazius19. There is also the small group of cult vases associated with the Gallo-Belgic 12

See Appendix VI and Chapter VII, Fig. G7: 2-3. See Appendix III, Fig. E9: 5. 14 See Chapters IV Pt. II, RL Type 20; Chapter VII, UD Type 1; and Chapter IX, Pt II, under RB Types I C-E. 15 It is sometimes suggested that these could have served as flower vases. A function they might have fulfilled equally well, or better, is as containers for the germination of seeds or bulbs, the seed or bulb being placed in damp moss in the spout-cup, and its root reaching down into the ring base which would be filled with water. Such vessels could have had a role in fertility cults and Spring festivals. It is possible that some of the kernoi may have had a similar function. 16 See Chapter II, III, C. Fig. B12: 10; and Henig 1982, 217. 17 Ibid. 18 Symonds and Wade 1999, 40, Fig. 6.27, Types 213-14. 19 see Appendix 6. 13

Like frilled rims, spouts and spout-cups are also a feature often found on cult vases, and they occur on many of the 7

See Appendix III, Group 4, Fig. E9: 5. Symonds and Wade 1999, Fig. 6.78, Nos 683-696, though one or two of these may be bowl sherds. A frilled bowl is known from Usk (Manning 1993, Fig. 115: 59.1). 9 Hull 1958, Nos 207 and 297; Symonds and Wade 1999, Fig. 6.78, Nos 697-701. 10 See Chapter IV, Fig. D 11: 5-8. 11 See Footnote 14 under RL Type 20A in Chapter IV, II. 8

386

HOW WERE FACE POTS USED? bust vases which have frilled rims, snakes, two spouts and figurative decoration that links them with the cults of both Mercury and Bacchus20. Surprisingly, none of the Mithraic snake pots are known to have spouts, suggesting perhaps that spouts are in some way connected with fertility cults and Hellenic fertility deities, as are the Greek kernoi, while the Persian Mithras with no female consort comes from a different tradition. This does not mean that all vessels with two or three spouts were necessarily associated with mystery cults, but it could imply that they were used in cult practices or rituals connected with fertility, even in the case of the plain spouted jars without faces or snakes.

honey, honey pots must presumably have had everted rims and a constricted neck, around which a leather covering could be tightly tied. The handles on such pots, which presumably served to suspend the pot out of the reach of ants, ought not touch the rim or else the covering could not have been securely fastened. The various Roman cult vases with handles attached to the shoulder and the rim that are decorated with snakes or other symbols implying cult use most probably evolved from the Greek krater forms, both metal and ceramic, which were closely associated with cult rituals, particularly those of Dionysus-Bacchus and Mithras. Face jars with handles attached to the rim are only known in Britain, but such handles occur on many snake pots and other cult vases on the Continent, and just occasionally in Britain, either two or three.

The purpose of the spouts is uncertain. It has been suggested that those that are blind might have been used for burning incense, given that the spouts on the snake vase from Pocking in Bavaria has frilled spouts which look like miniature tazze21. But they would hold very little hot coals on which to burn the incense, and a better use of the jar would have been to put the hot coals inside it and let the incense smoke come out through the spouts, provided of course that these were pierced, which is not the case with the Pocking vessel22. Blind spouts might have served as oil lamps, as has been suggested for some of the Greek kernoi23, and there is a handle fragment of a snake pot from Cosa thought to be associated with the cult of Liber which has a small, neatly formed lamp on top of the handle in place of a spout which lends support to this24. Pierced spouts could have held tapers or candles. The main part of the jar could then be used to contain some special object or substance, such as an important organ from a sacrificed animal25, or an offering of first fruits in a harvest festival. Alternatively the spouts may have held spices, herbs or other ingredients for mixing with wine or other liquids inside the pot itself. Those with well formed holes might have been used for pouring, or for drinking out of as from a communal cup, though few have wide enough shoulders and a narrow enough neck for this to be at all easy, unless the main opening could be very securely stopped. The spouts with sieve holes26 might have been used as strainers for wine with herbs, but these are very rare.

d) Plain face jars A great many face jars of course do not have spouts, handles or frilled rims, and in these cases there is generally nothing, apart from the face, to indicate that they served any kind of cult purpose, or to distinguish them from normal storage jars or cooking pots. The one plain face jar form however which does seem to be particularly distinctive, and might possibly be restricted to face jars and other vessels designed for some specific cult purpose, is the wide-bodied jar of third to fourth century date of RL Types 26 and 42, with no neck and a sharply carinated rim with a sickle-shaped profile, which occurs mainly in buff, granular fabrics, most if not all of them from the Urmitz and Speicher potteries. This is by far the most popular face jar form of the third and fourth centuries in the Rhineland. The few middle Rhineland jars of similar form and fabrics but without a face all seem to be decorated around the shoulders or girth with large barbotine or painted rings which might possibly have had some special significance (see A.2.b) below). There seem to be no clues however as to why such an awkward form with no handles or everted rim to make handing easier should have acquired this specific cult association. A. 2. Fabrics and decoration

c) Face jars with handles Even handles can be a feature that designate a cult vase, if, that is, they are on a wide-necked jar and are joined to the rim. This form needs to be distinguished from two-handled flagons, and from honey pots, particularly the latter, as these can be of very similar form and fabric to face jars. However to have been an effective, portable container of

a) Fabrics and colour-coats Most face beakers, large or small, are in colour-coated fine wares, or occasionally in glazed wares, while most face jars are in coarse wares. This does not necessarily imply a distinction between fine tableware and cheap utilitarian pottery, as colour-coating was also a means of reducing the porosity of clay vessels27, and making them more suitable for containing liquids as well as for drinking out of, particularly before high-temperature firing techniques were invented. Coarse, well-tempered wares on the other hand are better for withstanding high and uneven temperatures from cooking on a stove or an open fire, or from hot coals within on which incense is burned, as has been suggested for some of the spout-less snake pots used in Mithraic rituals (see A.1.b above and Note 22). Tazze, as Bird remarks, are also made in relatively coarse fabrics.

20

see App III, Groups 3 and 4. See chapter VII, Fig. G7: 2. 22 This has recently been suggested for some of the Mithraic snake pots which do not, as already mentioned have spouts, but which have an inner flange often pierced with holes through which the smoke could emerge while the central opening would be closed by a flat lid (of the kind often found on Mithraic sites) resting on the inside lip of the flange (Bird 2003, 192). 23 See Chapter II, Pt. III, C. 24 Collins Clinton 1977, Pl. 26, Figs. 65-6. 25 In the cult of Cybele kernoi were said to have been used to hold the genitals of the sacrificed bull (See Chapter II, Pt. III, C). 26 See Chapter IV, Fig. D10: 8. 21

27

387

Gose 1976, 15-16.

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER XIII It seems likely that the face beakers will have retained some if not most of the functions of the Italian face beakers from which they are descended, which may well have been connected with wine or other liquids used in cult rituals of various kinds. Face jars being so much larger must have been used mainly for other purposes, not least as cremation urns, though this is unlikely to have been their primary purpose. There are however a number of face jars that are in fine, generally colour-coated wares, in particular the beak-nosed face jars with handles at the back of RL Types 24A and B (Fig. D13) and RD Type 6 (Fig. F2: 8) from the Middle and Upper Rhineland. These do not seem to have been used as cremation urns, and they may have kept some of the functions of the Italian beak-nosed face beakers which they so closely resemble. There are also the colourcoated face jars of RL Type 4, which occur in a variety of sizes including face beakers of 10-12 cm. Only the largest of these seem to have served as cremation urns. These all have the Italian “serene” mask and the smaller versions may also have been used for the same purposes as the Italian face beakers. Lastly there are the Late Roman face jars made at the Much Hadham potteries in Britain of RB Type 31 which are in fine, hard, burnished red-slipped ware, which come in smaller and larger sizes, and given their narrower necks, could have served as containers for liquids of some kind. There is no evidence that they were used as cremation urns though they do occur in inhumation graves.

which are typical of many Rhineland jars, and are derived from local ceramic traditions. This is also the case with the later British grey face jars of RB Type 21, and the Raetian face jars of UD Types 1-3.

b) Decoration On the whole, face pots are not often decorated, and when they are it is mainly only in the first century, the most common instances being the barbotine and rouletted decoration on Italian face beakers of the Claudian period (IT Types 20-22), and the barbotine decoration on first century Rhineland face jars. The latter is limited to face jars of RL Types 4 A-B which are all in colour-coated wares, and of RL Type 1 in Rhineland Granular Grey ware (which seems to have had the character of fine-ware), and is very similar in style to the barbotine decoration on the Italian thin-walled face beakers. The crudely executed combed lattice decoration found on several face jars of RL Type 4 (see Fig. D5: 3) is also characteristic of Italian thin-walled wares, though it has not so far been found on any of the face beakers. All these forms of decoration however are shared with other early Roman thin-walled beakers and bowls without faces, and do not appear to indicate any special function or significance other than that of normal fine-wares, which seem generally to have been intended as table wares and for use on more special occasions, including cult use.

Conclusions

The one form of decoration however that may perhaps indicate a special function, is the bands of red or brown circles, painted or in barbotine, mentioned above which occur on the upper half of a number of Rhineland face jars of second to third century date of RL Types 26A and B. (Fig, D14: 4) along the stretch of the Rhine between the Main and Mosel rivers, as well as at Trier. Similar circles also occur on plain jars in this region with the same unusual sickle-shaped rim profile, and it seems possible that both this vessel form and the decorative circles may have designated vessels made for some particular purpose or cult use. Similar circles however also occur on a large face jar from Bad Cannstatt28, and also on plain jars without faces in the Baden Württemberg region, all of different forms to these, so the rings may just be a decorative tradition of the upper Rhineland at this period.. Otherwise there are just two face jars which are decorated with triangular groups of bosses or dents suggestive of grapes, one of UD Type 7 from Pförring in Raetia, and the other of RB Type 31A from Litttlecote in Britain, which also has leaping panthers or leopards. Such decoration could well have Bacchic connotations.

The occurrence of spouts and frilled rims on many face jars, and particularly when they occur together, a feature found only it seems on vessels clearly designed for cult use, is a fairly clear indication that some face jars at least were used for religious purposes. Frilled rims seem to be a general indication of a cult vessel, but spouts, to judge by the Greek kernoi, may have had a particular connection with mystery and fertility such as Baccchus and Demeter. This fits well with the types of deities tentatively identified with face pot masks in the previous chapter. It is possible that those face jars without spouts or frilled rims did not have the same religious function, but as they share the same masks, and appear to have been used interchangeably in graves, it seems probable that they all belong to one general religious tradition. The same is probably true of face beakers, which also have no special features other than their masks to indicate a religious connection. The fact that most face jars are made in coarse wares, and most face beakers in fine, colour-coated wares almost certainly had some relation to the function of both types of vessel, and this will be relevant when it comes to discussing the type of rituals in which face pots may have been used later on in this chapter.

Bands of rouletting occur on some of the second to fourth century face beakers or jars, of RL Types 52 and 71D (Figs. D20: 7 and D24: 4), or RD Type 27 (Fig. F5). However these decorative bands are in no way distinctive, or indicative of a special or unusual function, and are typical of the many contemporary beakers or jars of the same forms which do not have faces. The same is true of the bands of grooves and wavy lines found on many of the dark grey coarse-ware face jars of RL Types 2 and 3,

28

.

388

See Chapter 6, RD Type 11, Fig. F3: 1

HOW WERE FACE POTS USED? B.

beakers of RL Type 47B were found in the inhumation graves of two children, and of at least one woman. Another face beaker, of DAN Type 15 (Fig. H7: 1), was found in a child’s sarcophagus at Vienna. Only one grave with a face pot identified during this survey has produced evidence for the profession of the deceased, a cremation grave from Günzburg where a face jar of UD Type 3 (Fig. G4: 3) held the cremated bones and beside it were buried some long bronze implements or spatulas and a small bronze box which may have contained medicinal powders, suggesting that the deceased could have been a doctor or a mid-wife30. There is however the face jar from Niedererlbach of UD Type 5A which contained an unusual bronze belt buckle of military type which is taken as evidence that the deceased had belonged to the army.

CONTEXTS

The evidence from contexts is gradually accumulating, but all too often there is disappointingly little detailed information to be had from museum collections or from published excavation reports, even in Britain where information from recent excavations has been more easily obtained. This is an area where more detailed research at a local level could yield valuable results, as could the analysis of any organic residues that may have survived. The contexts where face pots are known to have been found29 can be divided up into nine main types: 1) graves; 2) votive deposits; 3) temple precincts and independent shrines; 4) houses and shops in civilian settlements; 5) secular buildings inside forts, in particular barrack blocks; 6) baths and other public buildings; 7) metal-working workshops; 8) iron extraction and smelting sites in the countryside; 9) kilns.

b) Face beakers Most provenanced face beakers have come from graves except in Britain where only a few are known in any case. Most face beakers are of first century or fourth century date, except in the provinces of the middle and lower Danube. Where the evidence exists, the first century ones have all come from cremation burials apart from one, a Ticino face beaker of IT Type 18 from Cadra Minusio at the northern tip of Lake Como, which is from an inhumation grave. In one case two beak-nosed Ticino face beakers were found together in a grave at Mercallo dei Sassi at the other end of Lake Como, standing guard outside a stone cremation chest, just like the two figures of Charun painted on the doors of Etruscan tombs. The fourth century face beakers on the other hand, most of them from the Rhineland, all appear to be from inhumation burials, and it is possible that some if not many of them may have been made specifically for burials.

B.1. Graves Graves are the most commonly identified context for face jars and face beakers, though in fact there are many more face jar fragments from settlement sites, many of them tiny sherds, and generally from unidentified contexts or rubbish deposits, which only rarely get into excavation reports or museum collections. a) Face jars The face jars found in graves of first to third century date have generally been used as cremation urns, though just occasionally another jar has been used as the container for the ashes, and the face jar must have served some other religious purpose, as in the case of the two unusual face jars from the Upper Danube with incised figurative decoration found at Kematen and Neuburg of UD Types 3 and 11, described in the previous chapter. While the use of face jars was clearly not limited only to burials, there is no clear evidence that all the ones used as cremation urns had already been used for something else, and some of them look as though they may have been new at the time of burial, and therefore could have been made specially for it.

B.2. Votive deposits a) Face jars Quite a number of face jars that have survived as complete or nearly complete vessels appear to have been used as votive offerings, a salutory reminder that it is unsafe to assume that unprovenanced complete face jars in museum collections have probably come from graves. They were either buried as votive deposits - in the fields, on the banks of rivers, or under the floors of buildings - or thrown into wells and rivers. Of those identified, a relatively high proportion come from Britain, but this may just reflect the author’s easier access to excavation information and publications in this country.

Though face pots were closely associated with the military community, face pots, both face jars and face beakers have come from male, female and child graves. The Neuburg face jar mentioned above with the incised cock and purse, came from a rich, female grave. The face jar from Kematen (UD Type 11) came from a tumulus grave which contained three cremation urns though only two sets of bones could be identified, belonging to a man and a small child. In the late Roman and Frankish cemetery at Krefeld Gellep, face

A complete face jar of RB Type 21C was found buried in open land near Lakenheath in Suffolk and another similar but incomplete face jar was found close by31. In the same general area two other face jars of the same Type were buried, apparently in the fields, one by itself at Freckenham, and the other in what may have been some kind of a ritual pit at Pakenham along with some other

29 The references for the contexts can be obtained from the relevant Catalogue under the face pot Type which is quoted in the text. If this is not entirely clear, references are given in the footnotes.

30 Zeitschrift des Historisches Vereins fur Schwaben Bd. 74, 1911, 53, Fig. 20. 31 Briscoe 1958, 176.

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FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER XIII mask and the other two unidentifiable mask sherds41. In addition fragments from two cult vases, one with an appliqué frog probably connected with the worship of Sabazius42 and the other with a frilled rim and handle up which a crested snake (or newt?) is climbing43, both quite likely to have been associated with members of the military community. Later the Mithraeum was built on the east bank. One reason for such plentiful finds here rather than in other rivers could be that the Walbrook stream has long since been diverted and building work has taken place here for centuries, providing scope for archaeology.

pottery vessels and three bronze phallic mounts, possibly from a belt32. Another complete face jar, this one with two faces of RB Type 21E was found in open grassland between the fort of Stanwix and the Vallum. A smith-face jar of RB Type 21E was buried with the bones of a small dog or cat in the floor of the west gate tower of the Late Roman fort at Chester-le-Street, presumably as a foundation deposit. A complete face jar of RB Type 13D found buried in a pit next to the macellum or market hall in Verulamium, which had probably just been built after the disastrous fire of the c.155-16033, may also have been some kind of votive offering or foundation deposit. It is conceivable there was a shrine beside the building, as in the case of the macellum at Pompei which has a niche in one exterior wall with two snakes painted beneath it34.

One other face jar, a complete pot of RL Type 21A, comes from a river bed at Riedstadt Goddelau, on the east side of the Rhine between Mainz and Worms. This too comes from a river course that had long since been diverted.

On the Continent, a face jar of RL Type 27 was found buried in the clay floor of a stone-walled double-cellar with niches, which had belonged to a small building adjoining a town house with mosaic floors in the city of Trier. Cavities in the cellar floor may have been stands for amphorae, suggesting that the building above could have been the kitchen. Inside the face jar were a small bowl, a horse’s tooth, a snail, and an as of Commodus dated to 183. Near by was another foundation offering consisting of a cooking pot or storage jar filled with animal bones, which were unfortunately lost in the wash before they could be identified35. In Switzerland a face jar of RD Type 27 was found buried in the floor of a villa farm building at Seeb36.

At least four face jars, or large parts of them, have been recorded from wells: one of RB Type 13E is from Britain, from Springhead in Kent; two are from the Rhineland - one of RL Type 2A from Wiesbaden and the other, reported to be of RL Type 44, is from Hambach near Jülich; and one of UD Type 2 is from Heidenheim in Bavaria. Several face jars of RB Type 13D have been found in what is believed to be a ritually filled shaft with a lot of pottery and animal bones at the Folly Lane site at Verulamium of second to third century date44. No other face pots are known from such contexts, but a smith pot was found in a defunct well at Southwark thought to have been re-used as a ritual shaft or pit. This was beside two other specially dug shafts with the same filling, and all three contained a substantial number of complete pots, either whole or deliberately smashed, and an unusual quantity of dog bones, mostly whole carcases45. Dogs are associated both with death and healing. The triple headed Cerberus is well known, and dogs, with one or three heads, accompany underground gods such as Pluto, Serapis and Hekate46. Dogs, generally hunting dogs, also accompany Silvanus, Sucellos and Attis. They may have been associated with the Smith God too, to judge by the smith-face jar buried with a small dog’s (or possibly a cat’s) bones mentioned above from Chester-le-Street. The bones or body of a dog seem quite often to have been used in Roman Britain to seal a votive deposit of one kind or another in pits or shafts47.

Of the face jars found in a river or stream, almost all are from London and, apart from a few sherds from the Thames, most of them are from the bed or the banks of the Walbrook stream. This small river, which is now piped underground, was big enough to drive water mills for flour milling in the Roman period, and a lot of industrial activity, especially iron-smithing went on along its banks37. A variety of typical votive objects have been found in its bed, such as lead curse plaques or phallic pendants38, but the stream also seems to have become particularly popular as a place of worship and sacrifice for London’s military community, with quite a number of shrines placed along its banks (see B.3. below). Several complete face jars of RB Type 13D have been found here and quite a number of face jar and tazze sherds. Many items of military equipment have been found in the river bed, which are assumed to have found their way there as votive offerings: swords, daggers, spear heads, even ballista bolts, as well belt buckles and parts of body armour and helmets39; also three fragments from three separate terracotta masks imported from the Rhineland, two of them made at Köln40, the only such pieces so far found in London, one from a beak-nosed

b) Face beakers In Britain, one complete face beaker of RB Type 16 was found in or beside the Walbrook stream. In the Rhineland, part of a face beaker of RL Type 47B was found in a well at Köln, and at Rinschheim on the upper German frontier, a complete large face beaker of RL Type 39 was found buried in the floor of an unspecified building in the fort vicus, “together with a terracotta made by Servandus”.

32

Jude Plouviez, 2004, pers.comm. Richardson 1944, 117. Peterson 1919, 254. 35 Pfahl, 2000, 245-261. 36 C. Meyer Freuler 1987, pers. comm. 37 Marsden 1980, 72 and 74. 38 Ibid, 75. 39 Ibid, 88 40 Rose, 2000, Cat. Nos 48, 249 and 400. 33 34

41

Marsh 1979, 263-4. Bird 1996, 119-127. 43 Wilmott 1991, Fig. 56, No 113. 44 V. Rigby 1987, pers.com. 45 Dennis 1978, 306. 46 Toynbee 1973, 122. 47 R.Reece 2006, pers. comm.. 42

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HOW WERE FACE POTS USED? in the Luxembourg region. At Saalburg in the Wetterau region, three face jar sherds with phalli on them, probably of RL Type 21A or B, were found on the north side of a temple of Jupiter Dolichenus, and a complete two-faced jar of RL Type 21B (Fig. D12: 2) was found in a cellar near by thought to be connected with this same temple53.

B.3. Temples, shrines, and their precincts a) Face jars As yet comparatively few face jars are known to have come from such sites or areas, and when they do, they tend to be found in association with small modest buildings or shrines dedicated to unidentifiable gods, or just occasionally, mystery gods. In Britain most of the examples seem to be of later Roman date apart from a unique, complete twofaced jar with a spout above each face of RB Type 1D (Fig. J5: 4), which was found in association with a structure identified as a small shrine on the banks of the Walbrook. A fragment of RB Type 21A comes from Brenley Corner, in Kent, which was found in a small chalk-built building that may have been “an unpretentious shrine”, in association with two triple vases and a Dea Nutrix figurine, and quite a large number of coins of late second to late fourth century date48. Three face fragments of RB Type 34 (Fig. J14: 9) were found at Springhead in Kent, beneath the rubble of a late third century temple wall49.

Just recently a face jar of RL Type 23, together with part of another face jar, probably of RL Type 21, has been identified among the large quantity of pottery found in the Mithraeum on the Ballplatz in Mainz54. The complete jar is reported to have been found in the area of the cult-niche of the temple, and may have been buried as a foundation offering. These are the only two face jars known so far which can be reliably associated with Mithraic temples55. Face pot sherds, some of them with beaked noses were said to have been found in the vicinity of a Mithraeum at the fort of Heftrich56, but as at Colchester this structure is no longer thought to have been used as a Mithraeum57. b) Face beakers In Pannonia, a small, thin-walled face beaker of DAN Type 9 (Fig. H5: 1), was found in the vicinity of a sanctuary or temple complex attached to the fortress at Carnuntum dedicated to the worship of oriental deities, in particular Liber-Bacchus and possibly Mithras as well58. For such a fragile pot with its egg-shell thin walls to have survived almost complete although broken, it is likely to have been carefully buried in some kind of votive deposit.

One other example from what is believed to be a religious site is the large fragment from an unusually big Much Hadham jar of RB Type 31A (Fig. J14: 4), with panthers and grape-like bosses below the face, from the possible Orphic chapel of Littlecote villa in Berkshire described under section B.12.e in the previous chapter. The other fragment from an equally large Much Hadham face jar with figurative decoration found at Harlow, discussed in the same section, may also have come from a Romano-Celtic temple site.

B.4. Domestic houses and shops in civilian settlements a) Face jars A considerable number of face jars have come from “domestic contexts” in towns, fort vici, rural settlements and villas. However it is only rarely that individual buildings are identified or specific rooms.

The top half of a grey face pot with a frilled rim from Colchester of RB Type 21B (Fig. J10: 6) was found “low down” in the rubbish fill of the “Mithraeum”, just inside the doorway. This cellar-like structure has since been reinterpreted as some kind Nymphaeum, with a spring running through it 50. Fragments of a smith pot sherd were also found in the same context51, though both of these pieces may have been thrown in as rubbish after the building went out of use, and never have actually been used in it (ibid, 132).

Cellars are the rooms that are most easily identified, and quite a number of face jars are now known to have come from these. Three come from the Upper Danube: a nearly complete grey jar with spouts of UD Type 1 found with a large two-handled flagon from the vicus of the early fort at Burghöfe (Fig. G2: 1), a large face fragment of UD Type 4 from the vicus at Pfünz (Fig. G5: 2), and a complete jar of UD Type 5 in the vicus of the early fort at Regensburg (Fig. G5: 3). In the Wetterau region there is the broken but virtually complete two-faced jar of RL Type 21B from Saalburg mentioned above found in a cellar thought to be connected with the Dolichenum along with 30 other vessels; at Zugmantel, two more or less complete phallic jugs of RL Type 33 (Fig. D19: 1-2) were found in cellars in the fort vicus59; and at Nida Heddernheim another

In the Rhineland, a number of face jar sherds have been found in the Altbachtal temple complex at Trier, on the east side among the small Romano-Celtic temples, several of RL Types 21A or 26B, and one fragment with spouts, probably of RL Type 20B52. Two two-handled face jars of RL Type 30, one complete and the other nearly so (Fig. D15: 5), have been found in the precincts of small buildings interpreted as temples at Bastendorf and Izel Pin 48

Wilson 1973, 322. These however barely fit into the category of face pots, as they come from wide-rimmed vessels that may conceivably have been bowls, and were included in the Catalogue mainly because their small m-shaped faces provide parallels with other similar but larger faces found on more standard British face jars. 50 Toynbee 1964, 192. 51 Hull, 1958, 144, No 2, Fig. 57: 2. 52 Gose 1972, Fig. 141: C.4. 49

53

Schumacher 1911, 346. This was discovered by chance during building work in 1975, and only later interpreted as a Mithraeum (I. Huld Zetsche 2004, pers.comm.). 55 ibid. 56 Schumacher 1911, 346. 57 I. Huld Zetsche 2004, pers.comm. 58 Vera Gassner 1990, 651-6. 59 Jacobi 1912, 58-9, cellars number 284 and 306. 54

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FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER XIII incomplete example of the same Type was found in an unwalled cellar beside the kilns outside the gate of the fort. Cellars are of course the first things to fill up with rubbish, but the finding of complete or even semi-complete face pots in cellars is of interest, and recalls the significant number of Gallo-Belgic bust vases found in the cellars of villas or town-houses, some of which had niches in the walls60.

used in house shrines, together with the tazze, triple vases and terracotta statuettes found on the same sites. b) Face beakers The only two sites where significant numbers of face beakers have been found in settlement contexts are Pompeii and Magdalensberg. The Pompeian face beakers are all of the form known as the boccalino that occurs on all the Vesuvian sites and seems to have been used as the universal drinking cup, both in the wine shops and the houses, and also as the all-purpose small container for a whole variety of materials, from seeds, spices and all kinds of food stuffs to paints and even toothpicks67. Sadly however no information could be obtained about the contents of the Pompeian face beakers, nor their contexts, nor even in which part of the city they were found. In view of the apparent link between the north Italian face beakers and legionary veterans settled in that region by Caesar and Augustus, it would be very interesting to know if the ones from Pompeii also came from the area where veteran colonists had been settled in previous years, in this case by Sulla in the early first century BC as punishment for the city’s disloyalty during the Social War?

In London, recent excavations on two sites on Gresham Street61 just to the south of the Cripplegate fort in the area coming to be known as the vicus of the fort62, have revealed sherds from a total of fifteen handled face jars of RB Type 13D, and 12 spout sherds which very probably belonged to face jars of RB Type 1C, together with fragments from more than 90 tazze and the remains of two triple vases. They date from the later first century until c.160 when the area seems to have been cleared. The buildings are thought to have been mainly domestic timberframed houses and possibly shops, though the deposits were inevitably much disturbed. No evidence was discovered for any specific religious activity63. Further evidence for the occurrence of face jars together with tazze and triple vases on sites in London is provided by the new database of the Museum of London’s Specialist Services (MOLAS) which in February 2005 only included relatively recent excavations from 1994 onwards together with a few from the late eighties and early nineties. It listed 28 sites in addition to the two on Gresham on which face jar fragments have been found, and on all but three of them a significant number of tazze also occurred, on a ratio of around 3-4 tazze to a face jar. Twelve of the sites also had triple vases64, while of the 21 triple vases listed for the whole of London, 17 come from sites with face jars. The face jars in question, judging by the data-base descriptions, seem to be mostly jars with handles or spouts of RB Types 1C and 13D in Ver region or related fabrics, of late first to third century date, similar to those found on Gresham Street.

At Magdalensberg on the other hand, where unique numbers of face beakers have been found, more evidence is available, though from a narrow range of contexts. They all come from the Roman settlement situated just below the hill-top oppidum which is generally thought to have been Noreia, the pre-Roman capital of Celtic Noricum, and again appear to have been closely associated with the army. They were imported from northern Italy in record numbers. Just over half of them, all light-weight orange beakers with long sharp noses of UD Type 22, were found in the burnt-out ruins of a general store. It seems they had only just arrived when fire gutted the shop, and not one has been found anywhere else in the settlement68. The others, 32 or more, all of UD Type 21 with much more grotesque, grimacing faces, have almost all been found in the iron and steel forging workshops which seem to have been under military control (see B.6 below). Just one or two fragments of this same Type have been found in other contexts in the settlement.

In the Rhineland, quite large numbers of face sherds of second to early third century date are known to have been found within or just outside houses in the vici of the forts of Nida Heddernheim, Hofheim and Altenstadt65. At Trier, in an area of Roman domestic settlement outside the Cathedral, fragments of at least six face pots of RL Types 11D, 26B and 42, all apparently of third century date, have been found, of which one was almost complete, together with the sherds of nine tazze and a few fragments of terracottas66.

B.5. Barrack blocks in forts. Face jars and face beakers Quite a number of face pots are known to have come from inside forts and fortresses, particularly in the first century, but only very rarely has it been possible to obtain information on individual contexts or buildings. The main information on fort buildings comes from Dacia, where almost all the provenanced face pots found in forts come from barrack blocks except for two large sherds from Buciumi, one of which, of Dan Type 31 was found in or near the Praetorium and the other, of DAN Type 26, in the south tower of the Porta Principalis. Of those found in or beside barrack blocks, one is from Cumidava69, another is

It seems very possible, as Dr Merten suggests, that many if not most of these face pots found in domestic contexts were 60

see Appendix III, B.1. Site codes GHT00 and GSM97. 62 Harvey Sheldon, pers comm, 2004. 63 Rupert Featherby, pers comm. 2004. 64 Ring vases are not listed separately on the data base, but included in with the triple vases. 65 Pfahl 2003, Schoppa 1961, 51; Schönburger et al. 1983, 127. 66 Merten 2001, 33-34. 61

67

Carandini 1977, 29. Schindler Kaudelka et al, 2000, 271 and 274. 69 The complete face beaker of DAN Type 12 (Fig. H4: 4). 68

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HOW WERE FACE POTS USED? from Bologa70, and a further four are from Buciumi71. In the Rhineland the remains of terracotta masks with beaknosed or Bacchic masks are often found in forts, and recently a row of them was found beside a barrack building in the fort of the Rhine fleet on the Alteburg at KölnMarienbad, lying where they had fallen when the veranda along the front wall on which they had been hanging, supposedly providing protection for the building, collapsed during a fire in the early second century72. Barracks must also have had small shrines for individual or group worship and cult rituals; the face jars with their rather similar apotropaic masks may have played an equally protective role.

B.7. Urban iron-working sites and metal workshops a) Face jars (and smith pots) Almost the only urban site where it has been possible to clearly identify the buildings and the rooms where face pots have been found, at any rate from the published report, is Verulamium, one of the few large Roman towns in Britain where face pots occur that has not been continuously inhabited and built over for the last thousand years or more. Fragments of five different face jars of RB Types 1C and 13D of Antonine date, as well as a possible fragment of a rare cup-necked face flagon of RB Type 41D, were found in a row of timber-framed shops and workshops in Insula XIV thought to have been occupied mainly by metal workers73. Fragments of nine tazze and two triple vases of the same date or earlier were also found in the same buildings, several of them in the same rooms as the face jars. The shops had first been erected before the Boudican rebellion in a long, barrack-like block with a single roof and a porticoed front facing onto Watling Street, almost certainly built under the direction of military architects using materials supplied by the army74. Rebuilt in the Flavian period along much the same lines, they seem to have continued to be used predominantly for iron and bronze working, while a goldsmith’s storeroom with crucibles still containing specks of gold has also been identified75. One very unusual item for a civilian site is the top part of a sword which was found in one of the rooms containing an “oven”, in levels dating to 130-15076. Two masonry aediculae, interpreted as house shrines, were found in a corner of a room at the back of one of the buildings. A votive pot containing an as of Vespasian was found buried in the floor beside the earlier of the two. What appears to have been a built-in cupboard in a room of an adjacent building might possibly have served as another shrine77. The risk of fire from so many hearths and ovens must always have been very high, and indeed the buildings were all burnt down in a major fire c. 155-60 which destroyed at least 52 acres of the town78. It seems quite possible that the face jars may have been used together with tazze and triple vases in rituals connected with the shrines designed to ward off such danger, though alas not always with good effect.

B.6. Baths and other public buildings It is not unusual for face pots to be found in association with bath buildings. Sherds of at least three face jars of RB Type 13D come from the bath buildings in Branch Road at Verulamium (S. Greep, 1982, pers comm.), and sherds of another three face jars, of RB Type 28B, were found in a fourth century bath house at Catterick; at Caerleon a nearly complete face jar of RB Type 13G was found in a passage way between two bath buildings (it is conceivable that it had been buried as a votive offering); a fragment of RL Type 4A comes from the large baths establishment at Heerlen in the lower Rhineland; six face jar fragments of RL Type 42 and one complete large face beaker of RL Type 49 (Fig. D20: 13) have been found in the Late Roman Imperial Baths complex at Trier; and at Virunum in Noricum a large fragment of an indented face jar or large face beaker of UD Type 25 was also found in a baths complex. Again we know that there was always the danger of fire from such buildings which is why they were generally placed outside the walls of forts. Very few examples are known from other public buildings. However two face jar sherds, one of RB Type 13D and the other of RB Type 31 have been found in a rubbish pit in the theatre at Verulamium. As the latter is from a Much Hadham face jar that is likely to be of late third to fourth century date, while the former probably belongs to the second century, they are unlikely to have been used together, but as the theatre continued in use into the fourth century, it is conceivable that they may both have been associated at different times with some shrine within the theatre, or with some ritual, perhaps connected with Bacchus-Liber or fertility, that took place there. Alternatively however they could have been part of the rubbish which was dumped here from the macellum across the street after the theatre went out of use in the later fourth century (Wacher 1947, 220).

The semi-complete face jar from Lincoln of RB Type 21D (Fig. J11: 7, Pls. J22 and 26), found underneath the church of St Mark’s, may also have come from a shop or workshop. It was found in disturbed deposits under the church tower, but elsewhere on the church site the rooms and yards of various shops or workshops have been identified, many of them associated with hearths and iron working, some of which had jars set into the floors of the front rooms, which have been interpreted as money boxes 73

Frere 1972, Fig 125, Nos 910-11 and Fig. 132, No 1079. Ibid, 10-11. 75 Ibid, 81. 76 Ibid, 55, Fig. 73: 63. An almost complete sword was also found with a lot of iron tools in a cellar of the later brick-built buildings in layers dated to c 288-315 (ibid, 105, and Fig. 73: 62). 77 Ibid 57-59 and 76. 78 Wacher 1975, 210. 74

70

A large fragment of a face beaker of DAN Type 6. The almost complete large face beaker of DAN Type 26 (Fig. H9: 2), a fragment of DAN Type 25 (Fig. H8: 3) and three face jar sherds of DAN Type 31 (Fig. H11: 4). 72 See Appendix V, C.4.2. 71

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FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER XIII or for other storage, though they could have been foundation or votive offerings. Four smith pots were also found on the St Mark’s site, as was a sherd from a similar pot with part of a caduceus on it, and also a pottery phallus standing upright on a flat base79. Darling suggests that there might have been a shrine here to Vulcan or the Smith God. The closely bearded deity portrayed on the St Marks face jar looks more like Pan, as he has two small, goat-like horns on the forehead (see Fig. M6: 3), but we cannot be sure that the Romano-British Smith God may not sometimes have been portrayed with horns. As we have seen in the previous chapter, he could be known as Silvanus, who in Pannonia, if not elsewhere, was sometimes represented as the goat-horned Pan. This site is part of an extra-mural settlement in the Wigford area of Lincoln, of mainly third to fourth century date, where small fragments of another twenty or so unidentified face jars have been found, mostly in grey wares, and just two sherds from tazze80.

B.8. Iron-working sites in the countryside. Face jars and smith pots have also been found in areas where Roman iron extraction and smelting took place. Quite a number of fragments of both types have been found in East Yorkshire in the area of Holme-on-Spalding Moor, along the river Foulness which runs into the Humber, where increasing evidence has been emerging for an important iron-working industry that flourished here in the Iron Age and continued into the Roman period84. Elmswell, on the adjacent river Hull, was also an iron working site, and a face jar sherd of RB Type 21E has been found here, as well as a smith pot sherd, and part of an unusual grey jar with two applied arms on the belly85. One other face jar fragment, of RB Type 13E from Bodiam in East Sussex (Fig. J7: 6), may also have been connected in some way with iron working, as Bodiam is thought to have been a river port used by the classis from Dover to transport the iron extracted from the Weald86. The occurrence of smith pots and smith-face jars on such sites seems hardly surprising, as the Smith God must presumably have been the patron god of smiths, though face pots without smith’s tools also occur.

b) Face beakers The metal-working sites where the highest number of face pots have been found are undoubtably the early iron smelting workshops in the Roman settlement on the Magdalensberg, undcr the control of the military garrison. Norican iron was famous throughout the Empire, and the Noricans are thought to have invented a process for making steel before the Roman conquest in exceptionally hot and efficient furnaces, examples of which have been found on the Magdalensberg81. As mentioned in B.4.b above, twenty eight or more of the grotesque, beak-nosed face beakers of UD Type 21, imported from northern Italy, have been found in this area of the settlement, most of them in pairs. It has been suggested that these were humorous pots, used for drinking wine82, but the fact that quite a number of them were found complete, or nearly complete suggests that some at least may have been purposely buried in the ground. Their uniquely high numbers, including the new consignment just arrived in the store, may reflect an unusually risky situation, on this hill-top site with no obvious good source of water close to hand. The occurrence of the face beakers in pairs recalls the double images of Charun in Etruscan tombs, or the two beak-nosed face beakers guarding the cremation chest in the grave beside Lake Como at Mercallo dei Sassi, and seems unlikely to be an accident83. They may have been placed or buried in an appropriate spot close to the furnaces, perhaps filled with wine, milk or honey as an offering to the underworld god associated with fire and smithing, invoking his protection.

B.9. Kilns Inevitably quite a large number of the face pots and sherds listed in this study are known to have come from kiln sites, either from the in-fill of kilns, or in rubbish pits or scattered around the site. Most of these are broken or wasters. Just occasionally however complete face pots are found, which do not seem to be faulty in any way. This is the case with a little fourth century face beaker of RL Type 47A that was found in perfect condition on a pottery production site beside the Landesmauer in Speicher near Trier87. At Tienen in Belgium a broken but almost complete face jar of FS Type 21, together with a complete plain jar with three blind spouts and the sherds of a “decorated” jar and a platter, were found in a pit five metres from the kiln in which the pottery was made. There is no evidence that this was rubbish or wasters. At Nida Hedderhheim, as mentioned in B.4. above, an incomplete face jug with a phallic spout of RB Type 33 was found in an unwalled cellar beside the kilns outside the north gate of the fort. It seems likely that both the face jar from Tienen and the phallic jug had been used in some kind of protective ritual, either against fire or to ensure the successful firing of the kilns. The terracotta masks that occur on many kiln sites in the Rhineland other than in the potteries where they were made, or from the same kilns but buried complete in pits88 must presumably have served a similar purpose.

79

Darling 1989-90, 21-2, Figs. 1-5. M. Darling 2005, pers. comm. (info from data base). The scarcity of tazze is no surprise as they only rarely occur in Britain after the second century. 81 Alföldy 1974, 113-4. Temperatures as high as 1420 degrees C. were reached in a reconstructed furnace on the site. 82 Schindler Kaudelka et al 2000, 271-4. 83 See B.1.b above, and Chapter II, Pt I, B4. 80

84

Halkon 1992, 222-28. Leach 1962, 40, Fig. 5. 86 Philp 1981, 113; Brodribb and Cleere 1988, 240. 87 Bernard Bienart, Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier, pers. comm. 88 See Appendix V, C.4.3. 85

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HOW WERE FACE POTS USED? C.

protected by rituals in which face pots were used. In Etruria antefixes with Bacchic masks protected the gaily decorated temples “regardless of what deities were revered within”89, and this seems to have been the same in Greece and Rome. The two face jars with “serene” masks found in a recently identified Mithraeum at Mainz may well have served such a purpose90.

DISCUSSION

C.1. General observations While no very clear pattern emerges from this still very insubstantial list of contexts, when it is combined with the information obtained from the face pots themselves and with what has been discovered about the masks, some clues begin to emerge as to where and how face pots may have been used in addition to their use in graves.

As mentioned above, the occurrence of face pots on metalworking sites and in pottery workshops and bath buildings where fire was always a risk, suggests that some of these rituals may have been to avert the danger of fire by propitiating the relevant god or deities associated with it and invoking their protection. Such deities seem generally to have been underworld gods, who very often were also associated with smithing, and could well have been the Italian Charun-Dispater or the Romano-Celtic Smith God known variously as Vulcan, Sucellus or Silvanus, though in fact it is not only the beak-nosed face pots or smith pots that are found on such sites, but those with other types of face mask as well, including those with the “serene” mask. However the fact that they have been found on so many ordinary domestic sites may imply that their purpose was not only against fire but also for use in protective practices and rituals of a more general nature.

Firstly it becomes increasingly clear, both from the contexts, and from the form of the pots themselves, that face pots, whether they are face jars or face beakers, were connected with some kind of religious tradition. That this tradition was a military one or one that was associated with the military community, has already been proposed in Chapter XI, and is discussed further below. Their occurrence in graves, in shrines, small temples and sanctuaries, and in votive deposits of various kinds, together with the fact that many face jars have the frilled rims and spouts of other, well identified cult vessels, all point towards this. The finding of many face jars in association with tazze, triple vases and terracottas also suggests their use in cult rituals of some kind or another.

House shrines, which sometimes took the form of an aedicula with a small pitched roof, but which seem to have consisted more often of just a wooden cupboard, sometimes placed beneath a niche, or an altar placed against a wall on which one or two snakes were painted, are only rarely identified on normal archaeological sites, and it is only on the Vesuvian sites that we can see how ubiquitous they were in Roman households. They were often situated in the centre of the house, which in the large Pompeian houses normally meant in the atrium, but they are also found elsewhere, as in the kitchen91, or in the cellar, which was often beneath the kitchen, but which may also have been seen as closer to the underworld gods. This could explain why quite a number of face jars, as well as snake pots and bust vases, have been found in cellars, though as mentioned in B.4. above, abandoned cellars are always the first things to fill up with rubbish. Shrines were also placed in the street, as in the case of the shrine on the outside wall of the macellum at Pompeii, and in public buildings such as baths and theatres.

At the same time it is also evident that apart from graves and ritual deposits, the most commonly identified contexts in which face pots have been found are the ruins of ordinary houses, shops, workshops and baths, or the barrack blocks of soldiers in forts, implying that they were presumably associated with everyday domestic rituals of a family or personal nature, probably performed at house shrines (lararia). As far as can be seen, they do not, as a rule, come from the houses or the graves of the very wealthy, nor are they found in association with major public buildings or in the temples of the chief gods of the Roman pantheon. When they do occur in sanctuaries or temple complexes, it is generally in association with small, mostly unidentifiable temples and shrines, or cellar-like structures one or two of which have been identified as Mithraea or Dolichena. Thirdly, given that so many of the face pot masks appear to be stylised versions of Bacchic masks, or of native masks that are interchangeable with them, it seems very likely that many if not most of the practices involving the use of face pots were protective rituals of one kind and another reflecting the character of the masks. As has been seen in the previous chapter and in Appendix V, the role of the Bacchic masks was essentially protective, whether they were hung up as terracotta masks inside and outside the house, or attached to the roofs as antefixes, or painted on walls and doors. At Pompeii, these masks, together with the ubiquitous Bacchic scenes and imagery painted, carved or sculpted on walls, furniture, tableware, statuary and architectural ornament, seem to have formed an intrinsic part of a protective framework that was woven about the house – a kind of home security system – whose main purpose was to ward off the evil forces and to attract good fortune. Even the temples of other gods may have been

The gods traditionally worshipped at house shrines were the ancient Roman gods of the home and countryside, the Lares and Penates plus one or two others particularly associated with the family or the building concerned. There are a great many household shrines at Pompeii with paintings of the Lares and/or the Penates, shown as young men in tunics standing or dancing on either side of the 89

Brendel 233 See B.3 above. 91 The placing of shrines in the kitchen, close to the hearth and the storecupboard (penus), was a relatively late tradition at Pompeii but one that became increasingly popular (Peterson 1919, 258), possibly introduced by the new settlers from Rome and the veteran colonists of the colonia founded in 80 BC. 90

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FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER XIII Genius, the essential spirit of the head of the house, who is normally depicted dressed as a priest with his head veiled, holding a cornucopia as a symbol of prosperity92. Flanking them however will very often be the figures of other guardian deities of the house, of whom Mercury and Dionysus were the most popular. Others could be Isis (represented as Fortuna), Apollo, Diana, Aesculapius or Hercules93. They could be painted on the wall of the shrine, or represented as statuettes which were kept in the shrine cupboard. The prayers and sacrifices offered at these shrines took place on a daily basis, under the direction of the head of the household, and would have been in honour of the tutelary deities, ensuring their continuing favour and protection. Other rituals, associated with particular festivals, or with important family events such as birth and death, or a boy’s coming of age would also have been performed here. In all such ancient household cults there would have been an emphasis on fruitfulness and fertility, the essential guarantees of prosperity and protection against bad fortune, which would almost certainly have involved mention of Bacchus-Liber either by direct invocation or indirectly through Bacchic imagery and symbolism.

region apparently reflecting local mask traditions, suggest that they represented figures whose identities and powers were well known and recognised. In which case face pots, or some of them at least, may have been used by members of a particular cult group or sect devoted to the worship of one or more deities. C.2. Deities in whose worship face pots may have been used The three deities whose masks seem most likely to have been portrayed on face pots and in whose worship therefore face pots may have been used are Bacchus, Charun/Dispater and the Romano-British Smith God. As has been seen in the previous chapter, the masks of other deities have also been tentatively identified, but these three seem more certain. a) The worship of Dionysus-Bacchus-Liber? Associations of worshipers of Dionysus-Bacchus are well documented in the Greek world, though far fewer are known in the West. In the aftermath of the great persecution in Rome of the second century BC, those that did exist probably kept quite a low profile which might explain the dearth of inscriptions95.

From paintings we know that these rituals involved the offering of sacrifices and the pouring of libations, together with the playing of music and burning of incense. It is not difficult to imagine face jars and face beakers being used in such circumstances, along with tazze and triple vases though as yet we have no sure idea of the rituals with which they were associated. The same is true of the snake pots with “spouts”, lizards, tortoises and other objects associated with Sabazius found beside a garden shrine at Pompeii, or the similar vessels found at a shrine at Cosa thought to be associated with Bacchus-Liber, which would also seem to have been used in acts of private worship94.

In the Danubian provinces, particularly those on the middle and lower Danube, there is somewhat more overt evidence for the Bacchic cult, as can be seen from the snake pots associated with the temples or shrines of Liber96. The masks on the large Danubian face beakers of DAN Type 25 (Figs. H9 and H10: 1), with their jutting beards stretching from ear to ear, are very reminiscent of the masks of Dionysus portrayed on the Roman marble reliefs97. The mask with bull’s horns may also be his, as suggested in Chapter XIII, B.2. The lizard on the fragment of a very large face jar with a horned mask from Novae of DAN Type 33 (Fig H12: 7) suggests that some of the face pots may have been associated with the cult of Sabazius, but the latter’s cult seems from an early age to have been very closely associated with that of Dionysus in this part of the world.

What is still far from clear is whether face pots were used in relatively non-specific protective rituals, as seem to have been the case with the terracotta masks, or whether they were connected with the worship of particular deities. As has been mentioned in the previous chapter it is not impossible that the original identity of some of the stylised and abbreviated masks had long been forgotten, so that the mask itself may have become little more than a powerful protective symbol in its own right. However the fact that face pots were used in graves, implying a specific connection with religion and the world to come, and the fact that in the provinces the masks vary from region to

In Britain it is easier to find evidence for Bacchic worship in the later Roman period, in the Orphic mosaics in villas in the south west, and in cults such as the one of Faunus identified on the basis of a hoard of spoons and jewellery found at Thetford in Suffolk98, but there is a growing body of evidence for the veneration of Bacchus in the earlier period as well99. However the only evidence for a face jar that may have been specifically used for Bacchic worship is the face jar with panthers and a schematic bunches of grapes found in the Late Roman villa at Littlecote100. Other Much Hadham vessels or fragments with panthers are known, and there are many more with triangular

92 Later by imperial decree it was the Genius of the Emperor who had to be worshipped in first place. The di Penates, the guardian spirits of Roman homes (literally of the penus: store-cupboard), whose images Aeneas was said to have brought with him to Rome, were worshipped together with the Lar familiaris in all early Roman homes. The Lares seem originally to have been spirits of the farmland, who presided over crossroads and were worshipped as the Lares compitales at shrines set up at crossroads and at the annual festival of the Compitalia. The Lar familiaris may originally have been introduced into the home as the guardian of the servants and house slaves who had been brought in from the countryside (Rose 1949, 480). Later he seems to have been replaced by two Lares who are difficult to distinguish from the Penates. 93 Peterson 1919, 237-9 94 See Appendix VI, B.2.1 and B.3.5.

95

See Appendix I,F.1. See Appendix VI, B.3. See Appendix V, F, Pls 32-33. 98 See Appendix I, H.2; Johns 1986. 99 As shown by Hutchinson (1986). See Chapter XII, D. 100 See Chapter XII, B. 12.e. 96 97

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HOW WERE FACE POTS USED? arrangements of grape-like dimples but these do not seem to have had faces or panthers101. There is also a finely made mould for the Bacchus Risus mask which was found at the Bromleyhall Farm kilns at Much Hadham102. All these motifs however may just have served to designate a jar used for wine, rather than for Bacchic worship. The face mask combined with these motifs may be more significant, but it is impossible to tell whether the schematic mask on the neck still represented Bacchus or any other specific deity at this late stage or had just become an ancient protective symbol.

Cylindrical metal pots with carrying handles and with smoke rising from them, presumably incense, feature on some of the marble reliefs carved with Bacchic masks and other cult objects106, and it is possible that many if not al1 such small metal pots with reasonably wide necks and carrying handles were used as incense burners107. Such a vessel might imply a more mystical development of the cult, as do the silver votive plaques on which the Smith God is portrayed108.

b) The Worship of Dis Pater? Dis Pater, the shadowy Italian underworld god does seem to have had more documented worshippers in northern Italy than elsewhere, and his worship may have been taken into the provinces by legionaries from here. It is quite possible therefore that in some cases the face beakers with the beaknosed mask thought to represent him might have been used by groups of his worshippers, particularly perhaps at Magdalensberg where an unusually large number of beaknosed face beakers have been found. It is conceivable that a collegium of devotees, similar to the one known from Brescia103 might have existed for a while among the soldiers stationed in the Roman settlement, though these comically grotesque face beakers seem more appropriate as fire protection devices that as cult vessels. The various large, beak-nosed face beakers found in east Britain of RB Types 6-10, possibly left behind by legio IX, might also have belonged to the same general cult or religious tradition, though not necessarily to a tight-knit cult group or collegium, and already their function must have changed somewhat as they are so much larger than those made in Italy apart from the one face jar from Aquileia104. The significant number of second to third century face jars of RL Type 24A-B (Fig. D13: 1-4) with the same exaggerated beak-nosed mask which have been found at MainzWeizenau, many of them in the kilns there, as well as in several of the forts in the Wetterau region and also at Virton and Worms, may represent some kind of religious tradition associated with Dis Pater in the army. The quality of the face jars concerned, and the careful modelling of the mask, might suggest some specific cult group in this area.

Whatever the religious tradition was with which face pots were associated, there seems little doubt that it was one that was closely connected with particular groups within the military community of the western provinces. Though these groups can only have constituted a relatively a small minority of that community, given that both face jars and face beakers are always comparatively rare finds, the continuity of both face jars and face beakers during most of the Roman period and their relative standardisation shows that this was a well established and deeply rooted tradition and was in no way just a passing fashion.

C.3. The military tradition

Given the apparent connection with iron-working sites, military smiths and their families might be an obvious group. But smiths must have been present on all military sites, while face pots only occur on some of them. Their use might originally have been limited to smiths and their sons, but then have become an inherited tradition which with time lost its direct connection with smithing, and just belonged to certain social or cultural groups, rather in the way that Masonic societies were no longer limited to builders and masons. In some military areas these groups seem to have been well represented, in others less so and in some not at all. But even in the cemeteries of Köln, Nijmegen and Colchester, where the highest numbers of face pots have been recorded, their numbers are still very low in relation to all the other vessels found in graves. Exact, comparable statistics are almost impossible to find, even when it comes to face jars used as cremation urns, as virtually no cemeteries containing face pots have been systematically excavated over a wide enough area to allow clear comparisons between the number of graves with face urns and those without. On a rough average the ratio of face urns in a cremation cemetery seems to be about one in every 50-100 graves, but this is only the case in military zones or in areas of known or suspected veteran settlement, and even then only in certain cemeteries109. Comparisons between face

c) The worship of the Romano-British Smith God? There is a definite concentration of smith pots, smith-face jars and grey face jars with bearded face masks which might represent the Smith god in East Anglia, and again between the Humber and the Wall, including the dark grey sherds from Corbridge with applied figures of a smith, which suggests that the Romano-British Smith God may have been best known in these areas. The small bronze pot with a carrying handle, smith’s tools and three identical, bearded faces with smith’s tools from Huntingdon105, must also, presumably, have been connected with his worship. This could have been used as an incense burner.

106

Cain 1988, Pls. 23-6, see Appendix V, F. See Appendix IV, B.1. 108 See Chapter XII, B.6. In Greece the Kabeiroi, the black smith gods, were at the centre of a Bacchic-type mystery cult practised at Thebes, see Chapter II, Pt I, B.4, Note 32. 109 In the cemetery excavated in the twenties and thirties near the Severinskirche in Köln, two face urns, both of RL Type 42 of probable third century date were found in a total of 126 cremation graves (BJB 131, 1926, 299, Fig. 11, and BJB 138, 1933, 31, Fig. 4 ) while at Rheinzabern, where face pots are in general less common, only one face urn of RL Type 20B was found in a first to second century cemetery of 317 excavated 107

101

Roberts 1982, Pls. 21-25. B. Barr, 1999, pers. comm. 103 Pascal 1964, 104. 104 See Chapter III, It Type 36. 105 See Chapter IX under RB Type 21E (Fig. J19: 3 102

397

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER XIII jars and other similar-shaped jars found on settlement sites are virtually meaningless. However an interesting statistic has emerged from London, from the sites with Roman pottery listed on the new finds database of the Museum of London’s Archaeological Service in February 2005, which constitute a useful random sample. 367 sites were listed, most of them excavated between 1994 and 2000, and 30 of them had one or more face pots. This gives a ratio of about one site in twelve, though it tells us nothing about the ratio of face pots to other similar-shaped jars. Inevitably the number of face sherds from each site varies considerably: half of the total of 89 face jar sherds listed (including spout sherds) come from just three sites, while most of the other sites have from one to three. Also, as related above, the sites where face pots have been found appear to be concentrated in certain specific areas of the city.

used in some funeral ritual or meal before or after the cremation, as could the face jars which were used as cremation urns. Face beakers may have also been used in some funeral meal, and then consigned to the grave, filled with milk, wine or honey, the most common libations. Again the mask would have had much the same function as on the face jars. A part of the ritual meal for the funeral which might have been prepared or placed in a face jar is a type of porridge of un-milled grains, the oldest cereal dish of all, predating the milling of flour and bread baking, which still survives in funeral customs to his day110. Such a porridge, made with all kinds of grains mixed with honey, was prepared on the third day of the Dionysiac festival of the Anthestheria in Attica, known as the Day of the Pots, the day devoted to Hermes Chthonios. Each celebrant had his own pot, and after giving a portion to Hermes and the spirits of the dead, he ate the rest uttering the words “Out you Kares, the Anthestheria is over” to banish the spirits of dead back to whence they came. The pots were then broken.

As yet there are no clues as to who these military groups were. They may well have been ones with which we are acquainted through other circumstances, but we have no way of knowing that they used face pots.

b) The ritual preparation of a sacred drink. A common suggestion in German publications is that the face jars, particularly those with pierced spouts may have been used as a “Mischgefäss” or mixing bowl, for mixing wines, herbs and spices which may have been heated over a fire, perhaps as Celtic hanging bowls may have been used, or for some kind of mead or beer. The Celtic Sucellus is often portrayed on reliefs with a small barrel at his feet, presumably containing some alcoholic drink. In Irish mythology the god of artifice, Goibniu, whose name is thought to come from the Celtic word for smith and who might well be closely related to the Romano-British Smith God, brews the immortal beer for the other-world feast111. Both the British Smith God and Sucellus may have had a similar role in Celtic mythology, and perhaps the very large face jars such as the enormous one recently excavated at Frankfurt Zeilsheim112 could have been used for brewing some special drink to be used on certain occasions such as a burial, or when honouring the dead, or for a celebratory meal after some cult ceremony or other.

C.4. Rituals in which face pots were, or may have been, used It seems likely that the rituals involving the use of face pots will have remained much the same across the Empire, at any rate for the first two centuries AD, or the tradition would never have spread so far nor survived so long. No doubt they evolved over time and came to vary somewhat in the different regions and provinces, but some enduring set of beliefs and religious or superstitious practices must have continued through the centuries to keep the tradition alive. As to what these rituals actually were, for which face pots were designed, it is hard to do more than speculate, but on the basis of what we know of the contexts and of the pots themselves, and drawing on information on specific rituals from the Roman period that have been recorded, and on analogies with other cultures and with surviving traditions in Europe, it is possible to make a few suggestions. a) Burial rites Many face jars, it is clear, were used as cremation urns, and the stylised mask of a Bacchic or underworld god would have been appropriate for the protection of the deceased as well as for the prevention of evil spirits emanating from the grave, and may also have brought the promise life after death, just as the Bacchic masks and scenes on Roman sarcophagi must also have done. Face jars that were placed in graves but did not hold the ashes presumably held some kind of foodstuff or drink, for the dead or as an offering to the underworld gods and spirits. They may also have been

The far greater popularity of large face jars in the northern provinces as opposed to the smaller face beakers of Italy and the Danubian provinces could well have reflected the difficulties in obtaining and growing wine in the first years of the Roman occupation, and the much wider availability of beer or mead, particularly at the level of the ordinary soldiers. This could have given rise to the use of the latter alcoholic liquids in place of wine in the rituals and ceremonial meals in which face beakers had been used, leading to a demand for larger face pots, and to a permanent alteration of the tradition north of the Alps except in some much rarer instances.

graves (Ludovici 1912, III, 146 and 260). These are the only cemeteries with face pots identified by this author where such high numbers of graves were systematically excavated, recorded and published, though more detailed local research would doubtless reveal others. Of course some face jars may not have been recognised as such, due to the fact that their top halves had been broken off and lost through ploughing or building work so that while the number of graves may be correct, not all the face pots originally present will necessarily have been recorded.

110

Burkert 1985, 240. Leach 1962, 44. 112 See Chapter IV, Pt II, RL Type 29, Fig. D15A, Pl. D30. 111

398

HOW WERE FACE POTS USED? such festivals114. The Bacchic masks hung up as oscilla in the trees were also intended to avert evil influences, and to promote fertility in the fields115. The Rhineland face jars with the tri-cephalic mask and a great number of phalli which seem to have been particularly connected with fertility may well have been used in ceremonies of this nature, possibly involving some ritual meal and celebration. Face jars found in isolated deposits out in the fields are very likely to have had some similar function, and the fact that such finds are not more numerous could be that such isolated finds are impossible to locate, and are only found by chance. Some of these seem to have been buried with bones and other items of pottery suggesting some ritual sacrifice and meal. A ceremony for the protection of the livestock and the crops is described in Scotland in the eighteenth century that is very similar to the ritual of the porridge pots at the Anthesteria in Athens described in a) above, only in this case the special porridge included eggs and was made in a huge “caudle”, and the ceremony took place in the fields on the first of May116. Until recently an ancient fertility ritual was still practised in Bavaria, using face pots filled with three different types of grain, which were buried in the fields to ensure a good harvest117. Beehives in recent times in Germany still had large faces painted on them to protect the bees and their precious honey118.

c) Rituals performed at house shrines It is more difficult to envisage the kind of practices in which face jars would have been used on a regular basis at house shrines. Propitiating and honouring the tutelary deities would have been the main purpose of regular domestic worship, and may be in households where face jars were used Bacchus was one of them. But there seem to be few clues as to how this would have been done using face jars. Perhaps the family’s wine, mead or beer was kept in the jar and offered at the shrine before being consumed, or some other foodstuff. It is also possible that face jars may have been seen as safe containers in which to keep precious objects or materials, the face mask providing extra protection. Instruments used for sacrifices and other cult ceremonies might have been kept in them. In the Belgian Congo face jars not unlike the Roman ones were used to keep a woman’s hair when it was cut off at some specific rite of passage. It has been suggested above under A.1.b that the blind spouts on face jars might have been used as lamps, or the pierced spouts to hold tapers, while the jar itself could have held some item or substance to be used or consumed during the ceremony or afterwards. This could be a vital part of a sacrificed animal, or first fruits or grains at harvest time. Face jars without spouts could also have been used for the same purposes. Where tazze were available, they would presumably have been used for the burning of incense rather than the face jars, but elsewhere face jars may sometimes have been used for this too. This could explain why these apparent cult vessels were mostly made in coarse fabrics rather than fine-wares, though in fact it is quite rare that evidence for burning has been noted on face jars. One group of face jars however that do often appear to have been burnt black or dark brown are the two-handled jars of RL Types 30, 31 and 44 A and B of the later Roman period113, several of which have been found in association with small temples, and it is conceivable that they were used for this purpose, or for some other purpose requiring heating over fire, perhaps for the preparation of some ritual meal.

e) Votive offerings to river and water gods in rivers, wells and springs As has been seen in B.2. above, a number of face pots have been found in these contexts. Rivers and springs which emerge from underground are regularly believed to be conduits to the world beneath, and their guardian nymphs and spirits to be closely related to underworld and fertility gods. Clearly a lot of other types of vessel without masks were used for offerings to water deities, to judge from the numbers found in rivers and wells, but face pots with their masks of underworld or salvation gods may have been thought to have special potency. D.

CONCLUSIONS

As well as propitiating the tutelary deities, it seems likely that face pots would have been involved in protective rituals for the home, particularly against fire, but also for the family in general. Again it hard to know what these would have been apart from sacrifice and libations.

There is little more that can be suggested at present on the use of face pots based on the evidence currently available, but it is to be hoped that some day further information will be forthcoming from the analysis of organic residues detected inside these vessels.

d) Votive offerings and rituals for the protection of the crops and livestock and the promotion of fertility The main festivals of virtually all pagan annual calendars, and indeed of the Christian calendar, though under different names, are the ones connected with the protection of the harvest and the livestock at vital stages of the agricultural cycle. The fertility festivals associated with Bacchus, Demeter and Artemis in Greece were all connected with this, and indeed the masks of Dionysus and of his theatre are thought to have developed directly from

However all the evidence, such as it is, both from the face masks examined in the previous chapter, and from the pots themselves and the contexts in which they have been found, suggests that Roman face pots, both face beakers and face jars, were associated with some kind of religious tradition or traditions, which were linked with the ancient, mysterious and yet ever popular Mask God DionysusBacchus-Liber and his woodland companions, and with 114

See Appendix I, B Ibid, A.2. 116 J and C Bord 1982, 144. 117 Schumacher 1911, 347. 118 La Baume 1956, 124, Pl. 40: 3. 115

113

See Chapter IV, Figs D15 and D19: 5-6.

399

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER XIII other similar fertility, salvation and underworld gods, and that most if not all were used in a variety of rituals or practices connected with burial, fertility and the protection of the family, the home, the farmstead and the work shop. E.

of their mouths. However the official church may have viewed them, these images could not be suppressed (and therefore had to be harnessed), and in popular mythology they continued to represent the forces of nature, fertility, death and regeneration, as expressed in the popular figures that went on appearing at all the key agricultural festivals, and still do to this day, such as Jack in the Green, Old Tup with rams’ horns, or the Dorset Ooser with the mask of a bull121 in Britain, and countless others in the remoter corners of western Europe.

FACE POTS AND BACCHIC MASKS AFTER THE ROMAN PERIOD

What is clear from contemporary and invariably Christian accounts is that Bacchus remained a very powerful pagan deity (and rival to Christianity) during the final years of the Roman Empire and the beginning of the Dark Ages, despite all the attempts of the Emperors in Byzantium and of the Church in Rome to suppress his worship and the many aspects of the deep-seated Bacchic tradition that persisted at every level of society. This in itself is strong evidence that his influence in the provinces did not only date from the later fourth century as has sometimes been suggested119. Unlike the oriental mystery cults with their religious tolerance and lack of exclusivity, Christianity could brook no rivals and no confraternity of deities. Bacchus the reborn god, so similar to Christ in many ways, was declared the anti-Christ. This must have come as a severe shock to the peoples in the Empire in the fourth century, and for long afterwards. The old images of course could be adapted to the new. The young Christ and the bearded Father God in Heaven fitted easily into the Bacchic mould, as did the Mother Mary once she had been declared a virgin mother. Un-inscribed pagan reliefs of gods slaying enemies or dragons were taken over and used as images of St George120. Local mother goddesses were absorbed into the cult of the Virgin, or to be more accurate, she was absorbed into theirs, or they were worshipped separately as saints like St Brigit in Ireland. But there was no room in early Christian iconography for the image of the horned Bacchus, the goat-legged Pan or the fierce, beak-nosed deity who may have been Dis Pater. As part of the demonisation of Bacchus and of the pagan gods, these images came eventually to be combined in the mediaeval figure of the Devil, yet further evidence of how deep-seated these images were in popular imagination, and how fiercely the church had to combat them.

Pl. M1. Mediaeval brown-glazed face jug with three faces from Winchester in the Winchester City Museum, 14th century. (Photo: museum post card)

Face pots also continued long after the end of the Roman period, probably in all parts of Europe, and certainly in Britain, Germany and Holland. Cremation urns with schematic faces occur in Anglo-Saxon cemeteries in south and east Britain and also on the other side of the North Sea whence the invaders came122, though these are more likely to be a continuation of the original Iron Age Face Urn Culture that continued at a low level in these coastal areas of northern Europe, rather than a reflection of Roman influences. However green-glazed face pots and face jugs with bearded faces occur in the Middle Ages that appear to have much more in common with Roman face pots, and continue into the seventeenth century with the German bellarmine jars, and indeed into recent times with the British Toby Jug. The faces seem always to be bearded, and certainly so on the bellarmines, and in the latter case there is at least one example with grapes and vine leaves

Yet despite all their efforts, at the popular level the stylised, and thus perhaps more easily disguised, masks never seem to have lost their appeal, and there continued to be a pressing need for protective images to guard the homes and farms, and of course the churches, and all other buildings and everyday objects. Mediaeval churches are plastered inside and out with gargoyles and masks, all round the roofs, on gables, on roof bosses, around the doors, and on the pillar capitals, far more so than Roman buildings. These are hardly the images of the devil, but benign and much loved masks, to ward off evil influences. Here are many of the stylised images of pagan gods, both Roman, Celtic and German, with bull’s horns, goats horns or rams horns, with cats ears, with large beaked noses and with protruding tongues, with three heads, or with vegetation sprouting out 119 120

121

See Appendix I, F. Hoddinott 1981, 175.

122

400

J. and C. Bord, 1982, 188 and 204 ff. Myers 1969, Pl. 68.

HOW WERE FACE POTS USED? around the face, an evident allusion to Bacchus123. It seems almost impossible that the connection between this bearded mask and the classical Bacchus could have been kept alive all those years, and perhaps it had been artificially revived in the seventeenth century. As these were wine jars, this may not be so surprising. However, to judge by the frequent use of bellarmines as witch bottles, it seems unlikely that at the popular level it was just the Wine God who was thought to be represented by the mask, and much more likely that it was some ancient underworld spirit. Ralph Merrifield gives a fascinating account of the use of witch bottles in the later seventeenth and eighteenth century124. Witch bottles, which were often but not always bellarmines, and could also include the earlier, widernecked jars known as “greybeard jugs”, also of German or Dutch manufacture, have been found in river deposits in south and east Britain, many of them in the Thames mud, or buried under the floors of houses, under thresholds, in gardens and in the open fields. The usual contents were urine, iron nails, a felt heart pierced through and through with pins, and sometimes human hair and nail parings. However contemporary accounts show that these were not intended to cast an evil spell on a particular person, but rather the reverse, to ward off or counteract a spell put on the victim by someone else. The victim it seemed could on occasion be an animal such as a horse or cow just as well as a human. The important element in this was the urine of the victim which was stopped up tight in the jar with the other ingredients. The desired result of the magic was the curing of the victim’s illness or affliction, but this may have been achievable only by the death of the spell-caster or witch in various different ways. The burial of the jar produced a slow death, and a slow cure. Quicker results could be obtained by heating the jar in the fire, and if the jar exploded the witch would quickly die, but if just the stopper popped out, he or she escaped. Archaeology cannot reveal how many bellarmine jars were used in this alternative way. There is always the possibility that some of the face jars found in London, in the bed of the Walbrook stream, or in other river beds and in wells, also contained some similar spell or magic charm, though the pre-occupation with witches seems to have been more of a post-Roman and west European Christian phenomenon than a Roman one. What these bellarmine witch bottles do show is that even in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries people still believed that a river, and no doubt springs and wells too, as well as burial in the ground, provided links with the supernatural and the world beyond, and that the bearded mask would better ensure that the offering or the message was received.

123 124

Bardenheuer 1960, 39. Merrifield 1987, 163-175.

401

HOW WERE FACE POTS USED?

CONCLUSION This brings us to the end of this survey of Roman face pots. It has been seen that the provincial Roman face pot tradition first began in Italy in the Republican period with small face beakers, almost certainly descended from very similar if little known Etruscan face beakers. This spread to some extent into the provinces in the early first century AD, though mostly eastwards, to sites on the Drava and Sava rivers, as the Roman army advanced towards the Danube. North of the Alps this Italo-Roman face beaker tradition seems to have met and merged with a local face urn tradition involving much larger face pots with very schematic, abbreviated face masks, almost certainly a late off-shoot of the earlier North European Iron Age Face Urn Culture, which by the beginning of the first century AD appears to have extended along the shores of the North Sea from Denmark through north Germany to the Lowlands. As a result far fewer face beakers are found north of the Alps and many more face jars, though most of these have faces very similar to those of the Italian face beakers.

The puzzle of the face pot faces, which it had been impossible to solve earlier may now be at least partly resolved. There seem to be enough similarities between some of the face pot masks and the ubiquitous GrecoRoman Bacchic masks, to make a connection between the two traditions seem very likely, with face pot masks, and particularly the Italian face beaker masks, belonging to a parallel, and otherwise virtually forgotten, popular tradition of stylised, simplified Bacchic masks which must have been used in many different ways as well as on face pots. An important clue to this interpretation is provided by the Roman terracotta masks from Pompeii and the Rhineland, some of which bear a distinct resemblance to face pot masks, and which seem virtually all to be of Bacchic inspiration. The Rhineland terracotta masks also include a grotesque beak-nosed mask very similar to some of the masks on north Italian face pots, which seems to have originated in Italy, possibly as a descendent of the Etruscan Charun mask, and which during the Roman period came to be an accepted part of the Roman Bacchic mask tradition.

Both types of face pot seem to have been introduced into the provinces by soldiers in the Roman army, the face beakers by legionaries recruited from Italy, especially from the north, and the face jars, to judge by those found in Raetia from the Claudian to the early Antonine period when no legions were stationed in that province, probably by auxiliary units, possibly ones recruited from the area of the Rhine delta and northern Belgium, though this is less easy to demonstrate. The distribution of face pots on the Continent in the second and third centuries implies that they remained limited essentially to the army and to the military communities living behind the defended frontiers or in areas of known or presumed veteran settlement, and there is little or no evidence to suggest that face pots were ever taken up to any significant extent by local provincial inhabitants living outside the frontier zones The few instances of face pot groups occurring away from the frontiers can mostly be explained by earlier military occupation of the site or the region which could have led to veterans returning to settle and their sons joining the army, as in north Switzerland or in the Bavay region, or by a contemporary military presence as in north-west Spain or in naval bases on the Channel coast. The fact that face pots continued to be associated mainly if not exclusively with the military community had not been apparent in my earlier study of Roman face pots in Britain (1984), where large numbers of face pots are found in the civilian south east. But as a result of the Continental findings, it is now suggested that most of these British “civilian” face pots come from areas where a connection with the army in the north was maintained due to recurring veteran settlement and military recruitment in the vicinity of formerly occupied forts, particularly in East Anglia where the forts would have been among the last to be vacated before the Agrippan campaigns in Scotland, and where land would presumably have been more available due to expropriations after the savage repression of the Boudiccan rebellion.

The fact that the naturalistic Greco-Roman head vase tradition with its close associations with Dionysus and his companions seems to merge on some occasions with the face pot tradition, adds further support for a Bacchic connection, though as a general rule it is probably not the case that face pots were just stylised versions of head vases, but rather that they bore stylised versions of Bacchic masks which may have lead to confusion in some instances125. The phalli that so frequently occur on the Rhineland face jars could also be indicative of a Bacchic association, for though phalli had come to be regarded as potent protective and apotropaic symbols, in the first analysis they were symbols of fertility and in particular the symbols of the fertility god Bacchus. When it comes to the schematic and enigmatic local masks that occur on many of the face jars north of the Alps, they too appear to have had much the same significance as the Italian masks given that they were often used in their stead on provincial face pots, and it seems likely that they too must have represented fertility and underworld deities similar to Bacchus or CharunDispater. With the exception of the tri-cephalic mask on some Rhineland face jars that seems to have represented a Gallo-Belgic deity equated with Mercury, and the bearded masks on British face pots that are decorated with smiths’ tools and very probably represented the Celtic Smith God known variously as Vulcan, Silvanus, or Sucellos, we do not know to which local deities these stylised masks belonged, and can only guess. The most frequently identified find spots for both face jars and face beakers are graves, but they were clearly used in many other religious and secular contexts, and particularly perhaps in association with house shrines and for votive offerings. As they share many characteristics such as spouts 125

403

See Appendix IV, D.2.3.

FACES FROM THE PAST, CHAPTER XIII and frilled rims with other cult vessels, it seems fairly certain that they too must have been “cult vases” with a religious function. It is impossible to say with any certainly what the actual rituals were in which they were used, or which deities were invoked. But given the protective nature of the Bacchic masks, such practices must almost certainly have been for the protection of the home, farm and workshop, and for the health and well being of the family and live stock. Some of the contexts suggest that they may have been particularly used for rituals and offerings to avert fire. Bacchus himself may have been invoked, or deities associated with him, or equated with him in the provinces, or it may well have been the case that face pots, like snake pots, could be used in a variety of different cults, as is suggested by the finding of face pots in Mithraea and other temple complexes.

already been happening in northern Italy and Spain towards the end of the first century BC, could have meant that the face pot tradition that developed in the first half of the first century AD never had the chance to spread much beyond these military areas. The collapse of Rome and of her defended frontiers does not seem to have brought the face pot tradition totally to a close, for face pots of different kinds, becoming mostly jug-shaped with a handle at the back, continued in the Lower Rhineland and in parts of Britain right through to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries with the “greybeard jugs”, the bellarmines and the Toby Jugs, perpetuating a tradition left behind by Roman military communities assembled from all the corners of the Empire whose existence had long since been forgotten.

The role of Dionysus Bacchus is extraordinarily hard to assess, for he is omnipresent in the Ancient World, from the smallest or humblest objects such as intaglio rings and phallic pendants to the finest sculpture, vases and ornamental silver. And yet he has almost no surviving temples, and the ones that are known, as at Pompeii, are very modest and situated outside the city walls. He seems essentially to have been “the People’s God”, never satisfactorily absorbed into any official Pantheon, but continually worshipped and invoked in the fields and in the home, and just as much in the homes of the rich as in those of the poor. To judge by Roman decorative art, Bacchic imagery seems to have become the accepted medium for general, all-purpose, artistic religious expression, whether on vases, silver ware, sculpture, sarcophagi, wall paintings or mosaics, perhaps implying that Bacchus was not each time directly invoked but that his protective aura was in some way made present. This seems to have been the case with the terracotta Bacchic masks hung on the walls and between the columns of Roman buildings and temples, and may have been the case with face pots, or some of them. There are still many questions that remain unanswered. One thing that it has been impossible to discover is what was the particular military tradition that ensured the continued use of face pots by members of the army and the military community in the provinces long after the ceramic face beakers in Italy seem to have faded out. It is also unclear who were the minority group of people within this community who used face pots, and who took them to their graves. It may have been a group we know well, such as the smiths or the armourers. More detailed research into the records of cemetery excavations may provide some answers. Another mystery is why soldiers in particular should have adopted this apparently Bacchic tradition. However it may in fact be pointless to search for a specific military origin to this tradition, as it could just represent the coming together within the Rhineland of the two main preRoman face pot and face mask traditions of Europe, at the moment when the conquest of Spain and Gaul had already been completed, and the army came to be stationed permanently along the Rhine. The growth of static and insular military communities behind the defended frontiers, and the development of a military caste, which may have 404

DIONYSUS-BACCHUS-LIBER AND ASSOCIATED DEITIES

Appendices I-VI

DIONYSUS-BACCHUS-LIBER AND ASSOCIATED DEITIES

APPENDIX ONE NOTES ON DIONYSUS-BACCHUS-LIBER AND OTHER DEITIES ASSOCIATED WITH HIM

Pl. P1.

An Attic black figure cup by the vase painter Exekias, showing Dionysus sailing the seas (Johns 1982, Pl. 62).

Contents A. B. C. D. E. F. G.

H. I.

Dionysus the God The image of Dionysus-Bacchus The Greek Bacchic masks The deities associated with Bacchus, his thiasos and the sacro-idyllic tradition The Roman Bacchic masks The private worship of Dionysus-Bacchus-Liber in the Roman period The spread of the oriental mystery cults; three associated with the Roman army: G1. Sabazius G2. Mithras G3. Jupiter Dolichenus G4. Common elements, conflation and confusion. Some evidence for the fusion of mystery cults and Romano-Celtic worship Bacchus and Christianity

407

408 409 410 411 414 415 416 417 418 419 419 420 420

APPENDIX I A.

like wild-fire through Greece in the eighth and seventh centuries, and obtained particular popularity among the women who at certain times of the year are said to have been possessed by the god and to have taken off into the mountains as Bacchante in an ecstatic frenzy searching for him. The terrifying powers of this emotional cult are brilliantly portrayed by Euripides in his tragedy Bacchae. As part of what seems to have been an attempt by the Dorian Greeks to tame and absorb his influence, Dionysus was accepted at Delphi, and according to Plutarch he took the place of Apollo during the winter months when the oracle was silent6. He was worshipped there as a new-born child in a basket made of a winnowing fan, the liknon7. It was even said that he was buried there beside the omphalos stone8. At Eleusis he was included into the mysteries as the son of Persephone, where he seems to have absorbed the local god Iacchus. Hesiod however in his Theogeny eschews all the Delphic and Eleusinian connections and insists that Dionysus was the son of Zeus and of Semele, the daughter of Cadmus, a mere mortal (though in fact she may in origin have been the Thraco-Phrygian earth goddess Zemelo). On her death, consumed by Zeus’ thunderbolt, the embryo of Dionysus was saved and gestated in Zeus’ thigh, and then after birth, carried off by Hermes to be cared for by the maenads.

Dionysus the God

. 1. Dionysus was one of the most influential and widely worshipped gods of antiquity, but also one of the most enigmatic and elusive12. Though his cult spread throughout the Greek and Roman world, his worship was never part of the state religion of either Athens or Rome (though he was given a place as Wine God in the Athenian Pantheon), and his temples were always situated outside the city centre, even in Athens where his festivals and his theatre were so important in the life of the city. His origins are complex and there are a great many varying myths concerning his birth, death, marriage and other events in his life. Cicero3 reckoned he could identify at least six different Dionysus gods in Greek mythology. Like most of the Greek gods, he represents a conflation of many lesser, local gods. He is the archetypal male fertility god who is born and dies each year, with the turning of the seasons. As such he represents the survival of the countless ancient local vegetation gods or nature deities who had been worshipped over the millenia in the lands and islands in and around the Aegean, whose life-giving powers the country people had learnt to understand and invoke, and whose irrational caprices they dared not offend. In other parts of the eastern Mediterranean and the Near East similar year gods evolved through the same process, such as Attis of Anatolia, Adonis of Cyprus, Tammuz of Syria or Osiris of Egypt. Each one is the consort of one of the great mother goddesses, Attis of Cybele, Adonis of Aphrodite, Tammuz of Astarte, Osiris of Isis. Of these Osiris comes closest to Dionysus, and for Herodotus (2, 144), they were the same god only under different names. They are both lords of the underworld, and their annual resurrection holds out a promise of eternal life to those who worship them or who are initiated into their mysteries.

3. In the sixth century the cult of Dionysus was taken up and reinterpreted by the Orphics, followers of the mythical poet and singer Orpheus who was said to have been the author of a series of poems (believed to have been lost) setting forth the tenets of Orphism. This was a much more ascetic doctrine promising salvation through a moral life and initiation into the mysteries9. Pythagoras in his home in Croton in southern Italy was prominent among the believers. Central to the cult was the highly symbolic myth of the child Zagreus (also known as Dionysus), who was born of the union of Persephone and Zeus disguised as a snake. On his birth the Titons, incited by jealous Hera, tore the infant to pieces and devoured him. But Athena saved his heart, which Zeus swallowed and then gave birth to the new Dionysus. Heremes tthen carried the baby off to the maenads to be nursed. Incredible as it now sounds, this Orphic cult became immensely popular in Greece and southern Italy in the later sixth century10, but by the end of the fifth century the Ionian rationalist philosophers had won the day, the Orphics were discredited and only a sober version of the Dionysian cult was allowed into Athens. This seems to have been mainly restricted to four different festivals in the months of December, January, February and March, two of which gave rise to Greek theatre11, while Dionysus himself was allotted a seemingly subordinate role in the official pantheon as

2. It was originally thought that the cult of Dionysus was an intrusive religion imported into north Greece from Thrace, Phrygia and Lydia around 800 BC. The name Bacchus, the other name of the Greek Dionysus, is of Lydian origin. However, it is now clear that he was already known in Greece since Minoan and Mycenaean times. His name occurs in Linear B tablets from Pylos, and the earliest dedications at the sanctuary of Ayia Irine on Chios, which dates from the fifteenth century BC, are to Dionysus4. This helps to explain the many elements of a Dionysiac-type cult found in Minoan Crete, centred around a mother goddess thought to have been called Ariadne, and the myths of the Cretan Zeus who was worshipped as a new born child each year5. This Minoan/Achaean cult may have been driven underground in Crete by the Dorian invasions and was very probably taken eastwards to Ionia by the refugees known to have fled there, quite possibly to join other similar cults which already existed in the Near Est. Then in the eighth century, the cult, or rather various versions of the cult, were brought back into Greece via Phrygia and Thrace. In Thrace Dionysus was believed to be the son of Zeus and Persephone. In other cults however, where he was equated with Hades as lord of the underworld, Persephone or Kore (the Maiden) is his consort. His orgiastic mystery cult spread

6

De E. ap. Delph. 389 c. Farnell 1909, 110. 8 Burkert 1985, 224, Note 92. 9 Fragments of the Orphic poems are now thought to have survived on a series of gold leaves or plaques, some of which are cut in the form of ivy leaves, which were buried in tombs in southern Italy, Thessaly and Crete, the oldest of which is dated to c. 400 BC. They are inscribed with hexameter texts providing instructions for the dead on how to find their way to the other world, not unlike the Egyptian Book of the Dead. But there are also references to mysteries in which Persephone plays a key role, and to mystai (initiates) and bakchoi (bacchante), while one plaque from Pelinna says “tell Persephone that Bakchios has set you free” (Burkert 1985, 293-5 and 2004, 76-77). Bone plaques with cryptic graffiti of a similar nature of early to mid fifth century date have been found in graves at Olbia, the city where Herodotus (Hist. 4. 78-9) describes the initiation of the fifth century Scythian king Scyles into the “rites of the Bacchic Dionysus”. More extensive poem fragments have also been identified on a carbonised papyrus scroll known as the Derveni papyrus found in a rich fourth century Macedonian tomb, though the papyrus itself is thought to date to the fifth century (Burkert 2004, 76-87). 10 Bury and Meiggs 1975, 198. 11 See paragraph 6 below. 7

1 As Burket says, “Dionysus eludes definition” (1985, 222) and any attempt to define him is doomed to failure. The purpose of this appendix is to try and collect together some of the more concrete information that has come down to us concerning his origins, his image and the various cults associated with him, concentrating in particular on those aspects of his worship that appear to have some bearing on the Bacchic masks, without, if possible, getting too ensnared in the layers of baffling inconsistency, mystery and mysticism that always surrounds him. 3

Nat. Deorum III, 58. Burkert 1985, 162 5 Nilsson 1950, 530ff. 4

408

DIONYSUS-BACCHUS-LIBER AND ASSOCIATED DEITIES the God of Wine. His only recorded temple was outside the city walls. However, the role of Wine God had a significance far beyond what we seen in it today. It is very easy, from our modern view point, to belittle the importance of wine, which was only then, in the Archaic period, thanks to more settled conditions, becoming widely cultivated and available. Wine, its cultivation, its storage, and the rituals associated with it, and in which it was used, were a vital element of Greek civilisation and culture which we now take for granted. Wine was seen as the life blood of the vine and hence of the land, and also, of course, of the god himself, and therefore had great symbolic significance, no less so than corn or bread, as can still be seen today in the ritual of the Christian Eucharist.

6. The two other festivals, the Rural Dionysia in December and the Great Dionysia in March, two key nature festivals, one in mid winter and the other at the beginning of spring, were again occasions for masked processions, choruses and dances, and these were the two main occasions when dramatic performances came to be held. Tragedy, according to Aristotle originated from the dithyramb, the choral song to Dionysus, sung by a satyr chorus, possibly a lament for the dead god, whereas comedy “arose from the leaders of the phallic songs and processions”18. The religious link with Dionysus was still strictly maintained, and at the Great Dionysia the image of the god was put on a cart and wheeled in procession to the theatre near to his temple to preside over the performances. The key centre for the development of both tragedy and comedy seems to have been Athens, but from there they, and the masks of their stock characters, rapidly spread throughout Greece and across the Mediterranean to Italy where the Dionysiac cult was already well established.

4. Evidence for the popularity of his cult at Athens, reflecting in part also the popularity of wine, can be seen on the Attic blackfigure vases, where scenes connected with him and his worship appear more frequently than those of any other god apart from Athena12. One of the most frequently portrayed scenes is that of a Dionysiac procession returning the drunk and bound Hephaestus, the Greek Smith God, to Olympus so that he can free his mother Hera from the magic throne in which he has entrapped her. Another popular image is the bearded Dionysus sailing alone across the seas in his ship on his mythical voyage to or from the land of the dead in winter and in spring. A particularly evocative version of this scene is painted on the cup by the vase painter Exekias (P1. P1), in which allusion is also made to another myth, that of his capture by pirates at sea, and his transformation of them into dolphins and the mast of their ship into a vine13. Bacchic religious influence, and in particular the worship of Dionysus as a saviour god, seems to have continued strongly in southern Italy and Sicily during the fifth and fourth centuries to judge by the large numbers of Bacchic terracotta masks found in rock-cut tombs or the many Apulian tomb vases on which Bacchus and his associates appear or on which Bacchic funeral rites are depicted with all the traditional equipment and symbols: grapes, tympani, thyrsoi, ivy leaves14, kantharoi and kiste (hatbox shaped containers for snakes and other cult items). Orpheus and his descent into the underworld is also a popular subject, suggesting that Orphism still had its followers in that region.

B

The image of Dionysus

1. One of his earliest images may have been a lump of wood, possibly giving rise to the epithet often given to him of Dionysus dendrites. As a vegetation deity he seems to have been particularly connected with trees and the vine, but he soon came to be represented by a wooden mask. He alone, of all the Greek gods, was known and worshipped just as a mask19. This and a large wooden phallus were his main icons, and the two appear frequently in Greek vase paintings, together or separately, often partly concealed in the liknon, or, in the case of the mask, placed on top of a pillar which is wrapped in a white cloak around which women or maenads are dancing20. Other Attic vases show a pillar with two masks, facing in opposite directions21. In the countryside masks of Dionysus, of Persephone/Ariadne and of his thiasos used to be hung on trees to promote fertility or provide protection from evil spirits22. This practice continued into Roman times when the masks were known as oscilla. Vergil (Georg. 2, 387) describes such masks hanging from a pine tree with wide open mouths which “sang” in the wind23. 2. Sometimes his mask has horns, for he was also worshipped in Greece as a bull24. As a result his mask can often be confused with that of the bull-horned river god Achelous, god of the longest river in Greece, with whom, as a fertility god, he seems to have been very closely associated25. The goat was also a symbol of Dionysus, and his worshippers at winter and spring festivals were said to have worn goat skins and large leather phalluses. From these it seems satyrs developed, though by the sixth century satyr masks seem to have been somewhat less goat- like and the dancers wore horse’s tails as well26.

5. Of the four Athenian Dionysiac festivals, only one was specifically connected with wine, perhaps an indication of the greater antiquity of the other three festivals. This was the Anthesteria, celebrated in February, when the wine jars were first opened, and the god was welcomed back from the land of the dead across the sea and escorted to the Boucolion in his wheeled ship15 to be ceremonially married to the wife of the city Archon, the Basileus, a symbolic memory of the marriage between Dionysus and Ariadne, daughter of the king of Crete and briefly wife of Theseus first king of Athens16. This is followed by a day of mourning and feasting in honour of the dead, when offerings were made to Hermes Chthonios17. The Lenaea in January, based on the word lenai meaing maenad, may originally have been connected with the legendary orgiastic dances of Bacchante. Both these festivals seem to have included satyr processions, the parading of a gigantic phallus, and much raucous badinage and obscene abuse, all believed to be potent magic to avert the evil eye and promote fertility.

18

Aristotle Poet. 4. Wrede 1928, 89. 20 Ibid, Figs 1-2. 21 Burkert 2004, 74. 22 Ibid, 119. 23 Neumann (1955, Fig. 60) illustrates a Roman intaglio on which is engraved a branching tree hung with Bacchic masks and at its foot Pan pipes and a shepherd’s crook. 24 Farnell 1909, 126 and 250; Athenaeus 476 A. 25 Wrede 1928, 89. 26 Burkert 1985, 104. 19

12

Boardman 1974, 218. Johns 1982, 79. 14 Ivy is the essential plant associated with Dionysus (Burkert 2004, 84). 15 There arre suggestions that the Latin name for this cart carrus navalis may have been the origin of the word carnival, and have given its name to the Christian Lenten festival 16 Burkert 1987, 239 17 Farnell 1909, 220. 13

409

APPENDIX I C.

The Greek Bacchic masks

1. As already mentioned, from very early times a wooden mask was symbolic of Dionysus himself, and was worshipped as one of his cult images. It is not clear to what extent any other gods used to be so worshipped, but in Greece, by the Archaic period, he is the only one who is regularly represented by a mask. This mask was not only a cult image, it also became a protective symbol, radiating the god’s fertilising and protective powers. The members of his thiasos also came to be represented by masks, and their masks too seem to have been credited with the same magical powers as those of the god himself. From the seventh to the fifth century Dionysiac masks become more and more common, either as votive terracotta masks (Fig. B5: 4-5), or as antefixes, or painted on pottery vessels (Fig. B5: 1 and 3). Whereas the mask of the god himself seems to be of ancient origin, those of his companions may only date from the Archaic period, when they first make their appearance. It is generally assumed that they developed from the rituals, dances and mime plays that took place at the Dionysiac festivals, and at the similar festivals in honour of other fertility deities (in particular those of Artemis and Demeter), which, according to classical sources, also involved masked dances, the wearing of animal masks, ribaldry, men dressed up as old women, and choral singing30.

Pl. P2. The mask of Dionysus on an Attic black figure vase fromTarquinia (detail of vase illustrated in Chapter II, Pl. A1)

2. A large number of terracotta masks, most of them very fragmentary, have been found at the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia in Sparta31. It is thought they are votive masks, terracotta copies of light-weight ones that were actually worn in dances and mime plays at the festivals connected with the goddess. There are some which are recognisable as satyrs, and others that could possibly be Dionysus or a similar god, either as a youth or as a mature, bearded god. There are also Gorgons (Fig. B5: 5), helmeted warriors, and a large number of grotesque gargoyle-type masks, in particular a very wrinkled mask. It is suggested that the wrinkled masks could represent the traditional old hags, played by men, which survive into Greek theatre and are an essential part of Greek and Oscan comedy (though in fact they are very similar to the equally wrinkled demon masks of the Phoenicians and Carthaginians mentioned below), while grotesques and warriors may have been used to frighten off or defeat evil spirits. They date from the seventh to the sixth century. Similar masks have been found in graves and sanctuaries right across the Greek world from the seventh to the fifth century (Fig. B5: 4)32. Many of the masks, like the Spartan ones, are straight forward copies of wearable masks (though mostly smaller than life size), which are hollow at the back, with cut-out eyes and mouths and holes for attachment strings, but others are flat plaque masks without any cut-out holes. The latter mostly represent maidens, who for some reason are absent from the Artemis Orthia sanctuary. Very similar masks have been found in sanctuaries and graves in the Levant and on Punic sites in north Africa, Sicily and Sardinia (Fig. B11: 4). Where these are concerned, satyrs and Gorgons are fairly rare, while grotesques and wrinkled masks are more frequent, but young men, bearded men, helmeted warriors and maidens seem to be equally common in both groups33.

3. From the fifth century onwards, images of the young Dionysus start to re-place the image of the older bearded god. This may be due to the increasing development of the concept of Bacchus as a saviour god27. The old bearded Dionysus, so often represented just as a mask, seems to be equated more with Zeus or Hades/Pluto, while the young god, either as a small boy (the reborn god) or as a naked youth with a wreath of vine or ivy leaves around his head and holding a kantharos and a pine-cone-headed staff known as the thyrsus, is the image most frequently represented and invoked. His cult spread throughout the Hellenistic and Roman world and soon became equally popular on the western side of the Mediterranean. He and his retinue appear frequently on Campanian painted vases, and on Etruscan vases, mirrors and antefixes, though in Etruria he seems to have been known under the name of an Etruscan god equated with him called Fufluns28. At Pompeii and Herculaneum, Bacchic scenes are also the most popular subject of interior wall paintings, while the only other god to rival Dionysus on exterior wall sketches and graffiti is Hermes/Mercury29. His popularity seems to have continued throughout the Roman period, though his worship, apart from the theatre, was mainly private, which may account for the fact that his name occurs in relatively few public inscriptions and dedications. He seems to have retained his role as lord of the underworld and saviour of souls right through to the fourth century AD, even after the adoption of Christianity, when his bearded mask continued to be carved on stone sarcophagi decorated with Bacchic scenes which are found from one end of the Empire to the other. Dionysiac scenes and imagery also appear in Late Roman mosaics along with Christian symbols, and on the famous Mildenhall silver dishes, which belonged to a hoard which included Christian silver spoons. They had become an intrinsic part of the language and imagery in which the concept of salvation and eternal life in the land of the blessed had come to be expressed.

30

Dickens 1929, 173; Picard-Cambridge 1949, 216a; Burkeret 1985, 103-

5. 31

Dickens 1929, 165. Examples in Greece, apart from the ones found at the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia in Sparta, have been found in sanctuaries, graves or tombs on Samos (Culican 1975, 72), Rhodes (ibid, 64), Crete (ibid 55), Athens (ibid 83) and Boeotia (Wrede 1928, 90, and Farnell 1909, Pls XXXVIII and XXXIV: a). In southern Italy, many have been found in Campania tombs (Wrede 1928, 91; British Museum, Campanian collections). 33 Examples, including one deposit with the remains of over 40 masks are known from Lebanon and Palestine (Culican 1975, 55-8); from Cyprus, 32

27

Ibid, 167. See Chap. II, B.3.e 29 Peterson 1919, 21. 28

410

DIONYSUS-BACCHUS-LIBER AND ASSOCIATED DEITIES 3. The Gorgon mask, like the maenads and satyrs, is generally thought to be a creation of the Greek Archaic period34, but almost certainly combines elements of other monster masks from further east. Possibly the earliest examples of the Gorgon as a mask are the terracotta helmet or pot masks found at the sanctuary of Hera at Tiryns of seventh century date35. Like the monster mask of Kali, the Indian moon goddess, the Gorgon seems to represent the chthonic, horrific aspect of Greek female fertility goddesses. Artemis, who was often equated with triple-faced Hecate, was sometimes portrayed with a Gorgon’s head or heads36, and there was a huge Gorgon on the pediment of her temple on Corfu37. The sacred mask of Kidarian Demeter, which Pausanias tells us was put on by her priest during the Great Mystery festival at Pheneas in Arcadia, when he “beats the underworld gods with rods”38, must also have been thought to have similar qualities and may well have been a Gorgon mask. It must also have been an aspect of Persephone, for in the Odyssey (XI, 640), Odysseus fears to linger too long in Hades for fear Persephone will send up a monstrous Gorgon head, presumably with petrifying powers. The panic-striking aegis of the virginal warrior goddess Athena is probably also a relic of her original status as a mother goddess. According to myth it is the skin of a monster goat she has slain39, and was worn over her shoulders as a cloak, but it gets transformed into a kind of leather shield bordered by snakes with a Gorgon’s head in the centre. The Gorgon mask regularly appears on antefixes and in graves in association with the Greek Bacchic masks, and continues to do so in Italy into the Roman period, though in Magna Grecia and in Greece itself it had mostly been superseded by the fair Medusa with short wings in her hair and snakes knotted under her chin.

D. The deities associated with Bacchus, his thiasos and the sacro-idyllic tradition. 1. The Thiasos It seems to have been in the sixth and fifth centuries BC that the iconography of the Bacchic thiasos or company became well established, to judge by Greek vase painting. This included maenads, satyrs and centaurs. Unique among the centaurs is Chiron, son of Kronos, and a wise advisor and medicine man. A somewhat similar though less revered figure is Silenos, who was originally apart from the other satyrs, a shaggy bearded man with horses ears, a legendary man of the woods, who could be got drunk and made to reveal deep secrets. But he gets absorbed into the satyr throng and sileni seem to become just another type of satyr with a long bushy beard. From now on Dionysus rarely appears without some members of his thiasos accompanying him, but he also has a number of regular companions who are deities in their own right.

2. The female consorts He is frequently depicted seated or riding in a procession with a consort at his side, who may be Persephone/Kore, Ariadne, Semele his mother, or occasionally other mother goddesses. They are mostly impossible to tell one from another.

3. Pan The goat god Pan was an ancient fertility god from Arcadia but during the Archaic period his cult spread to Attica where he was accepted as the son of Hermes. He was worshipped in caves in the countryside where banquets took place in his honour43. He first appears on Attic vases around 500 BC, as an upright goat with Pan pipes, but no human features44. From then on he regularly occurs in Bacchic scenes, soon losing much of his independent character and becoming just another, if very important, member of the thiasos. By the Hellenistic period he is represented as half man half goat, and in Roman times he is often depicted as just a man with goat’s horns. In Italy Pan tended to be equated with the ancient Italian god Faunus (see below). He is believed to have been the patron deity of the Pannonian tribes.

4. Bacchic and Gorgon masks also appear on Archaic Greek pottery vases, and on south Italian vessels40. By analogy with these, it is possible that earlier, more abstract masks on Greek pottery jars and jugs may also have had a Bacchic connection. Dionysus (as a youth or as a bearded older man), his female consort, satyrs and maenads are the main subjects portrayed on Attic head vases and on their copies made in southern Italy and Etruria41. Bacchic masks and heads also appear on Roman mask vases and head vases42.

4. Hercules

5. In the later fifth and fourth century theatrical masks, both comic and tragic, start to make their appearance alongside the other Bacchic masks, and to some extent in place of them. The grotesque and wrinkled masks so prominent at the temple of Artemis Orthia in Sparta are much less evident, and it is likely that their place has been taken by the masks of the now standardised Greek comic characters, whose bawdy routines and raucous abuse are a formalised continuation of the earlier ribald dances of the Archaic fertility festivals. The same protective beneficient powers of the other Bacchic masks clearly extend to these theatrical masks, and their use is by no means limited only to theatrical contexts. From now on they and the other Dionysiac masks become an essential element in Bacchic iconography.

Perhaps the most regular companion of Dionysus is the hero Hercules, who was worshipped as a god in many parts of the Ancient World He is often portrayed wearing his lion-skin with the gaping jaws over his head, and is shown mostly either drinking with Dionysus or accompanying the procession leading the drunk and bound Hephaestus back to Olympus. His bearded face is frequently portrayed on head vases where it can be difficult to distinguish from the head of the older Dionysus unless he has the lion’s jaws over his head.

5. Hermes, It is in the classical period that Hermes seems to become increasingly associated with and identified with Dionysus. One of the most famous masterpieces of classical sculpture is the statue by Praxiteles of Hermes carrying the infant Dionysus, which was found where Pausanias said he had seen it45, in the temple of Hera at Olympia46. Hermes saves the baby after it is born from Zeus’ thigh, and takes it off to be nursed by the maenads and, according to some myths, by Ino herself, the chief maenad, who was none

(ibid, 64-5; Karagheorghis 1982, 105, Fig. 98); and from Punic sites in north Africa, Sardinia and Ibiza (Cintas 1946, 4 ff, and Culican 1975, 38 and 47 ff. Many are in the Bardo Museum, Carthage). 34 Boardman 1968, 37 ff. 35 Riccione 1960, Fig. 26. 36 Burkert 1985, 171 and 149. 37 Johnston 1993, Pl. 33. 38 Pausanias VIII, 15, 3. 39 Burkert 1985, 140. 40 See Chapter I, C.3 and Chapter II, C.2. 41 See Chapter. I, C.6 and Chapter II part I, B.3.e and C.3. 42 See Appendix IV, A and Appendix V, A..

43

Burkert 1985, 172. Boardman 1974, 233. Book V, 17, 4 46 In fact it is now recognised that the statue that has survived, and which Pausanias must have seen, was a very good, Hellenistic copy (Boardman 1993, 136). 44 45

411

APPENDIX I other than the baby’s aunt, and sister of his mother Semele (Pl. P3).

contact, between men and the Gods, and this new young image may also convey some concept of Hermes as a saviour god.

6. Hephaestus Though hardly a true companion of Dionysus, Hephaestus regularly if involuntarily occurs with him in the very popular scene of the procession to Olympus. As would-be consort of Athena and somewhat accidental father of her son Erichthonios, first king of Athens, Hephaestus was an important, if often comic, Athenian deity. Originally a volcanic fire god from Asia Minor and Lemnos and master of one of the three basic elements, he became the Greek Smith God with magical creative powers, creating even mankind, according to Lucian49. Like the gods of the other two elements, water and earth, the Smith God or Fire God has a continuing if never very clearly defined link with Dionysus, the god of fertility and regeneration. 7. Eros, Priapus, and the pastoral idyll It seems to be in the Hellenistic period that Eros and Priapus start to be regularly included in Bacchic scenes. Eros or Cupid, the God of Love and son and companion of Aphrodite, was a former vegetation deity from Thespiae who was worshipped in Athens just as a phallus50, and in Thespiai as a stone51. At Pompeii herms also occur with the masks of Eros on the top, in place of the masks of Hermes or Bacchus52. Priapus, another former vegetation deity, was originally worshipped as an ithyphallic fertility god in the Hellespont, who became known as the son of Dionysus. He is often represented in Dionysiac rural temples or scenes as a small ithyphallic statuette, supporting a basket of fruit on his erect phallus. As such he is often painted on the walls of Pompeian houses, standing just inside the door. It is in the Hellenistic period that herms appear for the first time in Bacchic scenes on pottery vases53. Pl. P3. Sculpture of Hermes with the infant Dionysus in the Olympia Museum, after Praxiteles, (Boardman 1993, Pl. 129)

It is about this time that the literary concept of the pastoral idyll develops, with its evocation of a Golden Age which was to become ever more popular in Italy in the Late Republican and Early Imperial period, as can be seen in Vergil’s Georgics and Eclogues and other similar literature of the time. This takes much of its inspiration from the Dionysiac “sacro-idyllic tradition” and the symbolic expression of immortal life for the blessed in the world to come. It is to become an essential part of villa landscape gardening and town house gardens with their colonnades and peristyles decorated with statues, many of them of Dionysiac inspiration, and hung with Bacchic masks. Bacchic scenes on vases, as in the case of the remarkable sardonyx vase known as “La Coupe des Ptolémées” (see Fig. P1) now often take the form of “rural temples” of Dionysus, in a countryside setting with tall, branching vines and other shrubs and trees hung with large masks, both theatrical and Dionysiac, and garlands. There are no structures or decor other than an ornate table decorated with sphinxes and other Bacchic symbols, and set with typical Dionysiac vases, canisters, and statuettes. Goats and panthers, or kids and cubs, roam around, while pan pipes, tambourines, hatbox-shaped baskets (kiste or cistae mysticae) with a snake crawling in or out, thyrsoi, and other items of Bacchic worship are scattered about the ground and in the branches.

Hermes, father of Pan, is the other major male god from Arcadia, and is himself an ancient chthonic and fertility god, closely associated with shepherds and the guardian of boundaries and travellers, as well as psychopomp and messenger of the gods. Though his role in the Bacchic company seems to be mainly as a kind of godfather to the infant Dionysus or as his companion and psychopomp in the underworld scenes, in many ways he is his counterpart. He too is a son of Zeus, and was worshipped as the consort of Aphrodite on Samos and Crete and in one or two other regions in Greece47. His first image seems to have been a pile of stones by the road side, to which a phallic wooden post may later have been added. Stone herms (rectangular columns with the bearded mask of Hermes at the top and a phallus half way down) were boundary markers and were placed at street corners in Classical Athens, again a close parallel with Dionysus whose mask was placed on a cloaked column. Indeed so close were the affinities between the two gods that the mask of Dionysus could also be placed on stone herms in place of that of Hermes. “Even in antiquity interpretation often seems unsure whether it is Hermes or Dionysus that is represented, and in many cases the problem remains the same for modern interpreters; the lines separating the two figures become fluid”48. In the sixth and fifth century Hermes, like Dionysus is increasingly represented as a young man, but in this case with winged cap and heels as the messenger of the Gods, flying between Olympus and earth, and also between earth and the realm of the dead. He is the mediator, or medium of

47 48

49

Hermot. 20 Hanfmann 1949, 339a. Bur the worshipers, and all were liberally be-spattered with blood51. There are unfortunately no images of the god Faunus that bear his name, though he was said by contemporary sources to be horned and to have goats legs51, therefore indistinguishable from Pan unless named. kert 1985, 185. 52 ibid, Pl. 9 and Fig. 37. 53 Johns 1982, Fig. 38. 50 51

Burkert 1985, 221 Ibid

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DIONYSUS-BACCHUS-LIBER AND ASSOCIATED DEITIES

Fig. P.1. Two relief-decorated panels from a sculpted sardonyx vase, possibly from Alexandria, known as La Coupe des Ptolémées, in the Cabinet des Médailles, Bibliotèque National de Paris, showing “rural temples” of Dionysus (after Cain 1988, Fig. 56.)

413

APPENDIX I 8.

not have had his same chthonic powers and role as a god of salvation. He and his consort Libera were closely associated with Ceres, an ancient Italian corn goddess, and they were worshipped together in the temple of Ceres on the Aventine. This cult became equated with the Greek cult of Demeter, Kore/Persephone and Iacchus/Bacchus62. The annual festival of the Liberalia became the main Bacchic festival in the Roman calendar. In the Roman provinces too Dionysus-Bacchus was often known as Liber. There is an appliqué medallion on a broken vase from Lyon showing Mercury handing the new-born Dionysus to a maenad, and above the child is written the name Liber63. Liber seems to have been particularly popular in the provinces of the Lower Danube, in Moesia and Dacia, regions where the Bacchic cult had already spread north-westwards from Greece before the Roman conquests.

Faunus

In Italy other native Italian vegetation gods were brought into the group, such as Faunus, Silvanus and Liber Pater. Faunus, an ancient god or numen of the forests and responsible for the protection and fertility of the herds, is very similar to the Greek Pan. He may never have received a proper name, as his title is thought to have come from the word favere and to mean the “the kindly one”, the one it was wise to flatter and propitiate54. It seems to be a characteristic of Italian fertility gods that they have female counterparts, so there is a Silvana and a Fauna, who often appear in the plural, and under their influence perhaps, there are also female representations of Pan 55. There are also male fauni which appear to be very similar to, if not interchangeable with, satyrs. In Italy Pan appears to have been frequently equated with Faunus, and it is possible that in Italy and the West European provinces, the goat-horned mask of Pan may have come to represent Faunus more than it did the Greek Pan. Information on the cult of Faunus in Italy as a god in his own right is extremely limited, but according to Ovid he was the god honoured at the ancient festival of the Lupercalia in Rome. This took place on February 13, during the Parentalia, a week of ceremonies to appease the dead. On the morning of the festival two goats and a dog were sacrificed at the Lupercal cave56 at the foot of the Palatine hill, the goats were skinned and the skins cut into strips, and two young noblemen, smeared with the blood, wearing some of the strips of skin, and carrying the rest, ran through the city striking people with the strips of skin and thus, apparently, promoting fertility57. This strange festival is reminiscent of the annual sacrifices of a bull or goat to Dionysus recorded in Classical Greek literature when the body of the animal was rent by the worshipers, and all were liberally be-spattered with blood58. There are unfortunately no images of the Roman Faunus that bear his name, though he was said by contemporary sources to be horned and to have goats legs59, therefore indistinguishable from Pan unless named.

11. Oceanus It seems to be some time in the Hellenistic period that Oceanus, son of Heaven (Uranus) and Earth (Ge), and father of the river gods, becomes a part of the sacro-idyllic tradition together with his own thiasos of mermaids, mermen, hippocamps, dolphins and other sea creatures. During the Roman imperial period he and his company frequently occur on Roman mosaics, sculpture (particularly sarcophagi) and decorated pottery and metalwork. His inclusion seems to be due to an increasingly popular belief that the land of the blessed lay across the seas. His Medusa-like mask with sea-weed hair often occurs on antefixes, and it appears on the pediment of the temple of Sulis Minerva at Bath E.

The Roman Bacchic masks

The Greek theatre became extremely popular in southern Italy during the Hellenistic period, and soon spread to Rome, though Livy (VII, 2) insists that it was the Etruscans who first introduced theatrical performances to Rome in 360 BC. Campania developed its own version of Greek comedy, in the Oscan language, known as the Atellan Fables or Farces, which then spread throughout Italy and into the provinces. Bacchic masks, both theatrical and Dionysiac, become extremely popular in Rome and at Pompeii and Herculaneum in the first centuries BC and AD, frequently occurring in wall paintings, on marble reliefs, and as separately sculptured stone and terracotta masks. From wall paintings of villas and landscapes it is clear that light-weight masks, no doubt many of them made of wood, and similar to the stone and terracotta masks found in so many Campanian houses, were hung from the cross-beams in peristyle gardens, as well as from trees as oscilla64.

Evidence for a Late Roman, celticised cult of Faunus has quite recently been found at Thetford in Norfolk (see section H.2 below). 9. Silvanus Silvanus, the god of the uncultivated woodlands, a wild unpredictable god, who was particularly popular in northern Italy, is another god who never received a proper name. Like Faunus he seems to have had many similarities with Pan, and he, or native gods equated with him, were very popular in the provinces. In Pannonia a god very similar to Pan, or indeed Pan himself, seems to have been the most popular pre-Roman deity, and this god, worshipped either as Pan or more often under the name of the Italian god Silvanus in what seems to have been a conflation of the two deities, appears to have been the most venerated Pannonian deity in Roman times60. In south east Gaul Silvanus was often equated with the Celtic mallet god Sucellos61.

2. Hans-Ulrich Cain has made a very useful study of a particular group of 88 Roman marble mask reliefs, most of them found inside Italy, at Rome and Pompeii, with just a few found in Provence or in North Africa65. These marble slabs are carved on both sides with reliefs of Bacchic masks, generally several of them grouped together along with other Bacchic symbols and attributes. (see Appendix V, F, Pls. S33-4). These reliefs appear to have been abbreviated representations of the “rural Bacchic temples”, and to have had much the same function as the hanging masks, namely to provide good fortune and protect the inhabitants from the evil eye. Many of the reliefs include copies of theatrical masks, and from this study it becomes abundantly clear that such masks were not seen just as theatrical props, but, as had been the case in classical Greece, they were also thought to have been endowed with the

10. Liber Pater Liber Pater, the Roman god of fertility and wine, is in many ways the Italian counter-part of Dionysus-Bacchus, and tends to be identified with him, though originally he may

54

Scullard 1981, 201. Johns 1982, Fig. 31. Where, according to legend, Romulus and Remus were suckeld by the wolf. 57 Scullard 1981, 76. 58 Farnell 1909, 170 ff. 59 Johns 1986, 95. 60 Mocsy 1974, 252; Thomas 1980, 178. 61 See Chapter XII, B.6 55 56

62

Rose 1949, 182a. Dechelette, 1904, II, 348, No 156. 64 See B.1 above, and Note 23. 65 Cain, 1988, 107-222 63

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DIONYSUS-BACCHUS-LIBER AND ASSOCIATED DEITIES same magical, protective and beneficient powers as the other Dionysiac masks66.

extremely popular, but when it was discovered by the authorities in 186 BC, there was a puritanical uproar. The cult was declared to be a dangerous conspiracy involving more than 7,000 “debauched men and women” and promptly suppressed. Large numbers of people were executed, imprisoned or exiled, and all the shrines were destroyed. Rather surprisingly, Livy goes on to relate that if anyone felt they could not do without these ceremonies, they could appeal to the city praetor who would convene a meeting of at least 100 members of the Senate who could grant permission for the rites to be performed, though only with five people present, and no priest. Gradually, over the years larger and larger associations seem to have been permitted. In Tusculum a list dated to the early second century AD names nearly five hundred members of a college of initiates69. Bacchic mysteries were still being performed in the fourth century70, and no doubt even later. 2. Clearly the worship of Dionysus took place at many levels. By far the greatest amount of evidence for private worship comes from Pompeii and Herculaneum, which may never have experienced the full weight of Roman Republican disapproval. Here Dionysus was the tutelary god of many Pompeiian homes, in company with other gods such as Mercury, Isis (frequently represented as Fortuna), Hercules or Aesculapius, and his figure appears in Lararium paintings or as a statuette alongside those of the genius of the house and the lares and penates71. All over the city scrawled graffiti representing him, or his close associates Eros and Priapus, were found on the walls, and particularly in taverns72. As at Athens, however, the only temple identified with his worship is a small building outside the city walls, at San Abondio.

Pl. P4. Roman marble relief in the British Museum with the masks of Bacchus, a satyr and two maenads (Cain 1988, Pl. 47)

3. These sculpted mask-reliefs also provide useful information as to the other characters now included in the Bacchic company, in addition to those already noted in the Classical and Hellenistic periods. Sometimes the reverse sides of the reliefs have whole figures rather than just masks, which makes identification easier. Hercules still regularly features, but so too does Perseus, either with the Gorgon Medusa mask, or with Andromeda67. The Cyclops Polythemus also appears (whose mythical wooing of the sea-nymph Galatea and her turning of him into a river was a favourite story of the pastoral writers), alongside other river gods and the mask of the bull-horned Achelous (when it can be differentiated from the mask of the bull-horned Dionysus). The ram-horned mask of Jupiter Ammon from Thebes occurs occasionally, and so on at least one occasion does Attis, accompanied by a panther.

3. It is at Pompeii, in the Hall of the Mysteries, that the best evidence for the Bacchic mystery cult has survived, in the series of frescoes that line the walls. They are full of Dionysiac imagery, and for the first time we see the interaction between human worshippers and the supernatural world of Dionysus, Ariadne, Eros, maenads and satyrs. The frescoes have been variously interpreted, but probably represent the initiation of a young bride before marriage73. Less extensive but also very important for the understanding of the mystery ceremonies are the stucco reliefs in the Villa Farnesina in Rome. Central to both appears to be the revelation of the giant phallus in the liknon. 4. A Bacchic college or circle was also known as a thiasos, and inscriptions confirming their existence have been found throughout the Roman Empire, though rarely do they provide much information74. After the banning of Bacchic priests in Rome, these thiasoi seem to have been run predominantly by women known officially as Maenads, who had to be mature women, not virgins. They often seem to have been attached to a rich private house. Thebes was a key centre for the rearing and training of qualified Maenads, who were all said to be the descendant of Ino, the nurse of Dionysus. An inscription from Magnesia records a Delphic oracle instructing the Magnesians to import three “genuine” Maenads from Thebes to organise their orgia or college of initiates. Another inscription of the mid second century AD from Rome, concerning a large thiasos run by Agripinilla, speaks of the boukoloi, the cowherds, as the largest group of worshippers (ibid 35), while a smaller, more select group are known as hieroi (sacred) boukoloi. It is in the Boucolion in Athens that the ritual marriage of Dionysus and the city Archon’s wife takes place on

F. The private worship of Dionysus in the Roman period. 1. Given the ubiquity of these Bacchic masks in late Republican and early Imperial Italy, the great number of Bacchic paintings and sculpture at Pompeii, and the widespread popularity of the theatre, it comes as something of a shock to read Livy’s account68 of what happened not so very much earlier when the Bacchic mystery cult was first secretly introduced into Rome from Etruria in the early years of the second century BC. It rapidly became 66

Ibid, 178-181 Perseus may always have been a part of this company or perhaps more accurately a member of the company of heroes such as Hercules whose mythical defeats of supernatural monsters gave them special apotropaic powers. Their battles with monsters are so regularly depicted on the Attic black figure vases that Hildburgh (1947, 214) suggests that these scenes may have given the vases themselves special apotropaic powers. The scenes of Perseus slaying one Gorgon and then fleeing pursued by her two sisters was a great favourite on the archaic black-figure vases, with the Gorgons with round, frontal, pumpkin-like faces leaping across the vase looking very much as though they were played by mummers wearing masks (Boardman 1974, 226, Fig. 5.2 and Fig. 11.2). One of these vases come from Eleusis (Riccione 1969-60, Figs. 36-8), and one can imagine that this story may well have been one of the apotropaic mime plays performed at fertility festivals, along with the labours of Hercules and other monster-slaying deeds. 68 XXXIX, 8 ff. 67

69

Nock 1933, 73. Burkert 1987, 35. Descoedres 1994, 91. 72 Ward Perkins and Claridge 1978, 95. 73 Ibid, 179, 183-4; Patane 2003, 32-49. 74 Burkert 1987, 34-5. 70 71

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APPENDIX I the first day of the Anthesteria. The association of Dionysus with bulls is never far from sight.

worshipped in the home at domestic shrines, and in the countryside at apparently ad hoc rural “temples”. Not much of the equipment shown in the two rural cult scenes depicted on the Coupe des Ptolemées in Paris (Fig. P1) would survive in the archaeological record, as most of the masks, to be light enough to be hung up in the trees, must have been made of organic materials, and so would virtually everything else have been except for the vases and the statuette of Priapus standing on the table. Some of the hoards of small items of religious equipment and jewellery found in Britain and elsewhere could possibly have been connected with the worship of Bacchus, or of similar deities, as is the case with the Thetford treasure which, to judge by the inscriptions on the spoons, was connected with the god Faunus, a close associate of Bacchus (see Section H below). The late Roman Orphic mosaics of the Durnovarian school known from villas in south west ritain, with Orpheus at the centre and animals all around him, may represent a revival of Orphism (see Section I below). But perhaps the most important sources of evidence for the continuing role played by Bacchus in everyday religious life, and one that is easily missed, lies in the large number of intaglios found with his likeness or that of Priapus engraved upon them, or with the images of members of his thiasos. These far out-number those of any other deity81. Hutchinson lists 154 such gemstones found in Britain 82. G. The spread of the oriental mystery cults; three associated with the Roman army.

Pl. P5. Wall painting of Bacchus with a maenad from Herculaneum in the National Archaeological Museum, Naples.

The many different eastern cults that spread across the Empire during the later Roman period, and indeed from the first century onwards, seem at first incomprehensible and bewildering. But on closer analysis what they can be seen to be introducing is not more, endless pluralism, but the opposite - the gradual realisation that all the gods are in fact the same: they are all aspects of a supreme deity, one which seems to be expressed more and more frequently as a trinity composed of a father, a son who is born and dies in this world but is then re-born, or who rises from the dead and goes up to Heaven, and a Mother Goddess who is both virgin and mother. What seems to matter is not so much what the gods are called, but the personal participation and involvement of the individual in their worship, the feeling of belonging, the search for moral guidance, and the hope of obtaining salvation in the world to come. In Apuleius’ “The Golden Ass”, written in Carthage in the second century AD, Lucius calls on the “supreme (Moon) Goddess” in desperation to help rid him of his ass’s form, addressing her as: “Blessed Queen of Heaven, whether you are pleased to be known as Ceres…, or Venus…, or Artemis…, or dread Proserpine…, have mercy upon me in my extreme distress and grant me peace”. When she appears in his dream she tells him “I am Nature, the universal Mother, mistress of all the elements, primordial child of time, sovereign of all things spiritual, queen of the dead, queen also of the immortals, the single manifestation of all gods and goddesses that are… The primeval Phrygians call me Pessununtica, the Athenians… Cecropian Artemis; for the islanders of Cyprus I am Paphian Aphrodite; for the archers of Crete I am Dictynna; for the tri-lingual Sicilians, Stygian Proserpine; and for the Eleusinians their ancient Mother of the Corn. Some know me as Juno, some as Bellona of the Battles, others as Hecate….(or) Rhamnubia, but both … the Ethiopians …and the Egyptians call me by my true name, namely Queen Isis83.” Unmentioned, but essential to the myth of each named mother goddess, is a Father God and a re-born Son God – three in

5. Tantalising glimpses of other aspects of what may have been the private worship of Bacchus come from terra-sigallata vessels of Central Gaul, on which tiny human figures, sometime with goat legs, are shown staggering around carrying huge masks, bearded or unbearded, above their heads, which can only be those of Bacchus-Liber75. These may have been carried in processions, perhaps to some point where they were placed on a pillar, as in the Attic vases, and women danced around. 6. However, in contrast to the worship of most other deities, the Bacchic cult is never very much in evidence in the archaeological record of the first three centuries AD, apart that is from a continuum of decorative Bacchic imagery - satyrs, maenads, Pan, and cupids, as well as phallic amulets and Priapic statuettes whose real religious content at any one time is always difficult to assess. Valerie Hutchinson (1986) has produced a valuable compilation of evidence for Bacchic worship or imagery in Britain which certainly helps to redress the balance and show that despite the lack of votive inscriptions and cult sites, Dionysus-BacchusLiber was very much alive in popular religious tradition in this province, and by analogy, in all the other Celtic provinces. No buildings in Britain have been securely identified as possible cult centres, though he may have been worshipped inter alia at Bath, at the relief-decorated altar standing outside the main temple on which he is represented along with other gods76. Shrines or altars dedicated to Liber have been identified on the Continent, at Cosa in Italy77, at Carnuntum in the temple complex outside the fortress78, at Corinth79, and in quite a number of places in Dacia80. 7. But it is clear that designated temples were not an essential or common feature of the Bacchic cult, and he was much more 75

Dechelette 1904, II, 71, No 425 and 111, No 673. Hutchinson 1986, 19. Collins Clinton 1977. 78 Gassner 1990, 651-6. 79 Marty, 1991, 349-59. 80 Bolindet 1993, 124-139; Alicu, 1980, 717-25. 76 77

81

Henig 1984, 180. Hutchinson, 1986, 436-508. 83 Apuleius, Metamorphosen, XVII; translation by Robert Graves, reprinted New York, 1983. 82

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DIONYSUS-BACCHUS-LIBER AND ASSOCIATED DEITIES one and one in three84. This passage, written by a man from North Africa, who had lived in Greece, Rome and Egypt, gives a unique insight into the revolution that had taken place (and was of course still taking place) in religious thinking by the mid second century AD in the Greco-Roman world.

The unprecedented movement of people and ideas during the first centuries BC and AD undoubtably had a great deal to do with this. But underlying it all must have been an increasing dissatisfaction with the old, specialist gods of the Roman pantheon, and with the dry, impersonal, and essentially legalistic and contractual nature of their worship. The attempt to impose the framework of the Roman pantheon through interpretatio romana on the profusion of local tribal and nature deities of the conquered western provinces may have given the appearance of reinforcing the old religious structures, but in reality it probably only contributed to their decay, given the inevitably very approximate and often erratic couplings of native and Roman gods that took place. The recognition of the individual in society seems essentially to have been a Greek idea, and Burkert (1987, 11) sees the development of mystery cults, and the break with state or ancestral religions, as dependent on this. Though the worship of Persian Mithras, Egyptian Isis and the Great Mother of Asia Minor go back for thousands of years, the widespread success of these cults in the Greco-Roman world was largely dependant on their development as private mystery religions. This could only happen, he maintains, through their contact with the Greek world, and in most if not all cases through the hellenisation of their cults. The oldest known mystery religions, involving initiation ceremonies, secret rituals (called in Greek orgia), and specific revelations which are not just for priests alone, are those of Greece - of Demeter and Kore at Eleusis, of the pan-Hellenic Dionysus, and the lesser known but possibly no less important Kabeiroi. The very word mystery comes from the great annual festival of Eleusis, the Mysteria, which has at its root the Greek and Minoan word for initiation (ibid, 8). The later mystery cults all seem to be a reflection of either the Eleusinian or the Dionysiac cults, or both.

Pl. P6. Marble sculpture of a Bacchic group found in the London Mithraeum, with Bacchus holding a large snake that is crawling along a (broken) vine branch, with Silenus on an ass on the left and to the right a satyr, and a maenad holding a cista mystica (both heads missing) and at their feet a panther or leopard; later 3rd century (Toynbee 1962, Pl. 34).

There is no room to discuss here all the important mystery cults of the East, of the Kabeiroi (or Cabiri) of Samothrace and Thebes, of Cybele and Attis of Anatolia, or of Isis, Osiris and Sarapis of Egypt86. Just three are briefly described, those of Sabazius, Mithras and Dolichenus, all of them cults that had close associations with the Roman army.

With the marked exception of Judaism and Christianity, there seems, surprisingly, to have been little sense of competition among the different cults, but much more one of compatibility and confraternity. Images and statues of other deities are frequently found in the temples and shrines of mystery gods, particularly in those of Mithras and Dolichenus, as was seen in the London Mithraeum, while individual membership of several, if not many, different cult groups, either as priest or as initiate, seems to have been positively encouraged85.

G.1.

Sabazius87.

Sabazius, like Dionysus, was a Thrako-Phrygian god who could also be represented as a bull-horned god88. His cult was introduced into Athens in the fifth century, and was closely associated with that of Dionysus. However his cult does not appear to have been particularly popular outside northern Greece and Thrace until the Augustan period, when it was brought westwards by the Roman army as the worship of Jupiter Sabazius, and in particular to Italy and Switzerland. Slightly more is known about the rituals of this cult thanks to a late second century account by Clement of Alexandria89, which mentions processions and dancing, and the symbolic death and resurrection of the initiates, in which a metal snake, possibly symbolising the snake of Zeus that had impregnated Persephone90, played an important part. Few shrines are known, but quite a number of very characteristic bronze votive hands have been found across the Empire, with the thumb and first

84 And in fact in Book XIX, Lucius, having regained his human form and been initiated into the mysteries of Isis, then has to be initiated into “those of the supreme Father of the Gods, the invincible Osiris”. The description of the procession and mystical celebration that Lucius takes part in (in Book XVIII), during which he is returned to his normal shape, is one of, if not the, most detailed account of such public mystery ceremonies to have survived, but sadly he refrains from providing any real information about the initiation mysteries themselves apart from mentioning an ordeal in which he “approached the very gates of death and set one foot on Proserpina’s threshold, yet was permitted to return, rapt through all the elements ” and saw the sun shining at midnight as if it were noon. He “entered the presence of the gods of the underworld and the gods of the upper-world”. 85 Apuleius (Apologia 55) speaks of the many different initiations in which he took part. Among the various instances mentioned by Burkert, there is a funerary inscription from Rome, dating to the third or fourth century, of a boy who died at the age of seven who had been made a priest of “all the gods; first of Bona Dea, then of the Mother of the Gods and then of Dionysus of Kathegemon. For them I performed the mysteries, always in an august fashion” (1987, 28).

86

It is the re-working of the Egyptian Isis-Osiris myth under the Ptolemies into that of Isis, Sarapis and Harpocrates (their infant son) that led to Isis, becoming such an immensely popular mystery deity in both the eastern and western provinces of the Roman Empire. In the western provinces she is generally represented as Victory. 87 The evidence for this cult, and the most recent publications concerning it have been summarised in a very useful article by Joanna Bird (1996). 88 Farnell 1909, 251. 89 Protrepticus 2, 162; Bird 1996, 125. 90 Burkert 1987, 106.

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APPENDIX I two fingers raised in a gesture of benediction, and a pine cone balancing on the tip of the thumb. They are encrusted with a range of attributes and other objects specific to this cult, which generally include: frogs, lizards, tortoises, snakes (often with a crested head), a bearded bust or figure of Sabazios in a Phrygian cap and tunic, a mother with new-born child in a grotto, and a crater. Other symbols which may also occur are a ram’s head or occasionally an ox’s head, a winged bust of Mercury, a caduceus, a female bust, a cave scene with a mother and new-born child, a balance, musical instruments, a beetle, a branch, a whip, thunderbolts and a scorpion91. Three of these are known from Pompeii and Herculaneum92, and three have been found in Switzerland, at Avenches, in the Augustan fortress at Dangstetten, and in the temple of Jupiter Poeninus at the top of the Grand St Bernard pass93. There are also some relief-decorated bronze plaques which repeat most of the symbols on the hands. In addition there are quite a number of pottery vessels which it is assumed also belong to this cult, with crested snakes climbing up the sides and the handles (and sometimes into spouts at the top of the handles), and with some of the above symbols applied to the outside walls. These can sometimes be confused with similar snake vessels belonging to the cult of Bacchus-Liber, which occasionally have frogs or lizards on them, possibly implying a conflation of the two cults, and also with snake pots of the Mithraic cult, which sometimes have scorpions on them94. The Sabazius cult seems to have remained particularly popular in Thrace and northern Greece into the later Roman period, and also in the regions of the Lower Danube, where Sabazius was often equated with the Thracian Rider God95. G.2.

conflicting forces of good and evil at the centre of creation. The idea of the dualism and conflict between the earthly body and the spiritual soul had long been acknowledged in Greek religious thought through the writings of Plato and others, and was an essential tenet of Orphism. But the idea of the eternal conflict between good and evil, and of a god who personifies the negative, sinful forces present on this earth is new. Such a concept was absent from Judaism, but was to deeply influence the history of Christianity, and its conflict with the Manichaean heresies. The other feature which separates Mithraism from the rest of GrecoRoman religion is its restriction to the male sex. Only men could join in the worship, become initiates and work their way up through the seven grades; there is no participation by women, no female consort, and no feminine principle97. Nor is there any obvious concept of Trinity. Christianity to begin with also had no feminine principle, and as the endless Synods of the Church showed, the concept of the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit was extremely hard to grasp. If Christianity was to succeed in the western, Greco-Roman world, the Virgin Mother had to be included, in practice if not in the doctrine. The absence of such a figure in Mithraism, and its restriction to the male sex must have contributed to its decline particularly once the army became more integrated into society. However recent excavations from the precincts of a Mithraeum at Tienen in Belgium have revealed the carefully buried remains of a surprisingly large ritual banquet for at least one hundred people on the occasion of the summer solstice and a presumed renovation of the Mithraeum, a far larger number than normally expected for a small provincial Mithraeum98, and it could be that wives and families had also taken part in addition to the initiates.

Mithras Mithraism spread into Anatolia during the Hellenistic period, and was embraced by some of the successors of Alexander, notably by Antiochus I of Commagene in the mid first century BC. There does not seem to have been much contact with Rome until a century or so later, when legionaries serving in the East began to adopt the cult, and it may have been brought back to Carnuntum by legio XV Apollinaris when it returned from Syria in AD 85. From the beginning of the second century sunken Mithraea, symbolising the cave in which Mithras slew the primeval bull and brought life to the world, begin to be found all along the German and Danubian frontiers, as well as in Italy and North Africa, and by the middle of the century evidence for the cult is found in Britain as well, mostly in the northern military area99. Mithras was closely associated with the Sun God Sol, in whose chariot he rides back up to heaven, and he came to be equated with the Unconquered Sun, Sol Invicto. This may have been as a result of the introduction of the latter’s cult as the official state religion by Aurelian in the late third century. The regular presence in Mithraea of the statues or altars of other gods, almost all of them deities associated with salvation100, only adds to the general impression that all these gods had come to mean much the same,

The Persian Mithras is one of the best known of the eastern mystery gods, particularly in any province where the Roman army was present. But despite the comparatively large quantity of archaeological evidence, very few references concerning the Greek or Roman version of the cult, other than votive inscriptions, survive. The main tenets of the faith have had to be culled from what is known of Persian version of the cult after the reforms introduced by Zoroaster (or Zarathustra), which lasted from the sixth century BC until the seventh century AD, and from the monumental marble reliefs of the taurectomy, the bull slaying, which were the centre piece of all Roman Mithraea. The essential feature of Zoroastrianism was the dualistic interpretation of the universe, which was thought to be divided between darkness and light, between evil on earth, personified by the god Ahriman and goodness in heaven, personified by the god Ormazd. Mithras who had previously been a tribal warrior god more or less equal with Ormazd, was at first removed, and then later reinstated as the warrior god on earth, and was worshipped as Lord of Light, Lord of the Wide Pastures, Guardian of Creation and Saviour from Death96. In the relationship between the two gods, Mithras and Ormazd, Mithraism can be seen to be the same as virtually all the other mystery religions, with a supreme god in Heaven, and another who is, as it were, his deputy or son who is born on earth and dies, and ascends to heaven, and in so doing holds out a promise of salvation to those who worship or follow him.

97 It must be said however that Luna appears in the taurectomy reliefs, counter-balancing Sol, and is guardian of the fifth grade, the Persian, while Venus is guardian of the second grade, the Bridegroom. A fine head of Minerva was found in the London Mithraeum, and a small stone statue of a native-looking mother goddess was found in the ante-chapel of the Carrawburgh Mithraeum (Daniels 1989, 24, Fig. 19). But the inclusion of the statues of other gods was a regular practice in all Mithraea and none of them seem to have played any particular role in the cult except those who were guardians of particular grades. 98 Martens 2004, 43. 99 Henig 1984, 109. 100 As for instance the collection found in the London Mithraeum which included Bacchus, Mercury, Sarapis, the Dioscuri, Minerva (Sulis Minerva at Bath seems to have acquired the character of a mystery goddess) a Water God (who could be Achelous or Oceanus) and the Great Mother Goddess in between two Danubian Rider Gods (Toynbee, 1986, 60.)

But there are two vital features in Mithraism which set it apart from most of the other mystery cults and religious beliefs of the Greco-Roman world. The first is the dual concept of two 91

Bird 1996, 121. Ward Perkins and Claridge 1978, No 188. Drach and Fellmann 1986, Figs 237-9. 94 See Appendix VI, B.1-2. 95 Hoddinott 1981, 174. 96 Daniels, 1989, 2. 92 93

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DIONYSUS-BACCHUS-LIBER AND ASSOCIATED DEITIES or at least were seen to be part of a confraternity of saviour gods mediating between the Supreme God and Man. G.3.

and one to Hercules. Most interesting considering the cult’s close association with the army is the fact that both men and women are involved, in equal numbers.108. The names, for the most part, seem to be standard Roman names, with no evidence for oriental names. One man states his status as a veteran, another as a decurion109. They were presumably all serving soldiers, or veterans and their families, part of the military community of the Raetian frontier. Similar silver or very occasionally gold leaves are known from Britain and continental Europe, mostly from either the Rhineland or along the Danube, with just an isolated few from Switzerland, France and Italy. Some of these have either an impressed image of a deity or a dedicatory inscription or both, but the votees are not named. Those found on the Continent, to judge by the list compiled by Noll (ibid 72-5), appear to have been dedicated predominantly to saviour gods, such as Mithras, Dolichenus, Mercury, Sabazius, Fortuna (her identification with Isis implies she was well recognised as a saviour goddess) Hercules, Sol and Luna (both closely associated or equated with saviour deities). In Britain however, where a comparatively large number of these votive “leaves” have been found, in gold, silver or bronze, the names of the deities invoked, apart from Christ at Water Newton, are not those normally thought of as saviour gods. Mars is by far the most popular, sometimes called Teutates or Alator, then Vulcan, followed by Minerva, Mercury, Apollo, Nodens, Hercules, Victory, Cocidius, Abandinus and the Mother goddesses. It is an interesting insight into how these deities came to be regarded in Britain. These feathered plaques or leaves are also reminiscent of the much earlier gold leaves found in tombs in southern Italy and Greece mentioned in section A.3, note 6 above, with Orphic or Bacchic inscriptions promising salvation.

Jupiter Dolichenus

1. The worship of the ancient Hittite Sky God Jupiter Dolichenus with his Phrygian cap and double-headed axe was, like Mithraism, closely connected with the army, and seems to have been particularly popular in Pannonia, whence it may have spread through the movement of soldiers serving there to other provinces101. It was promoted by both Commodus and Septimius Severus; Dolichenus was equated with the supreme god of the Roman pantheon, Jupiter Optimus Maximus while his consort Dea or Juno Caelestis was identified with Julia Domna. Even less is known about this cult than about those of Sabazius and Mithras, and it is the archaeological finds that have produced the best evidence so far. Such Dolichena as have been identified in the western provinces are modest, narrow rectangular buildings, with little evidence for grandiose sculptures or reliefs. Like Mithraea, they often included images or altars of other gods102. 2. By far the most important collection of material related to the cult is a hoard of metalwork, dating to the middle of the first half of the third century, found buried outside the Roman fort at Mauer an der Url, near Lauriacum in Noricum, and thought to represent a complete set of cult equipment103. Of greatest importance are three bronze statuettes: one portraying a bearded Dolichenus with a Phrygian cap dressed like Mithras or Mars in a Roman officer’s tunic, holding a thunderbolt in one hand and his double-headed axe in the other, and standing on a bull; the second portraying his consort Juno Regina or Caelestis dressed as Roman matron standing on an ass or a mule; and the third a winged Victory. Then there are three quite large, relief-decorated, triangular bronze plaques featuring the same three deities, with Sol and Luna and an eagle at the top, and sometimes the Dioscuri at the bottom. Very similar plaques have been found in the Wetterau and in the Danubian provinces104. There is also a bronze votive hand, apparently female, with all the fingers raised, but with no symbolic attributes attached, as is the case with the hands of Sabazius. Quite a number of bronze votive hands of the same type have been found elsewhere in the Empire, though often flatter and more obviously masculine, with a similar distribution to the triangular bronze plaques, though with the addition of several hands from the Lebanon and Syria105. Two of these, found in Europe, bear dedications to Dolichenus and one, from the Lebanon, to Baal. Flat, open hands are frequently shown on the top of Roman standards, as can be seen in fact on one of the triangular plaques from Mauer an der Url106. Von Petrikovits (ibid, 191 and 197) suggests these may be connected with the swearing of oaths, the sacramentum, either the soldiers’ oath of loyalty to the Emperor, which seems to have been sworn before the standards, or the oath of loyalty and obedience to the god(s) taken by initiates of mystery religions. Apuleius describes a model of a left hand with outstretched fingers being carried in a procession of Isis, as a symbol of justice107.

4. In addition to the above, the hoard also included several very large bronze cooking pots or cauldrons (one of which contained the feathered plaques and had been placed on the top of the hoard, perhaps to seal or protect it), some finely decorated bronze strainers, various bronze lamps, three iron steelyards with sliding weights and scale pans, bells, a large iron grate and a tripod pot stand, meat hooks, and a whole lot of iron implements such as axes, two saws, large chopping knives, a pick axe and a sickle or scythe, all the equipment needed in fact, with the probable exception of the sickle, for dispatching a sacrificial animal (a bull?), cutting it up and boiling or roasting it. 5. The cult of Dolichenus appears to have come to an abrupt end in the middle of the third century, possibly as a result of the Persian invasions and the sacking of the great temple of Jupiter Dolichenus at Doliche in Syria in 253 or 256110. The cult’s close association with the Severan dynasty may also have contributed to its rapid demise111. G.4. Common elements, conflation and confusion As can be seen, there are a great many similarities in mythology and practice that link the above mentioned cults. All appear to have involved initiation rituals that included some kind of trial by ordeal followed by a celebratory meal. The frequent occurrence of steelyards and weights in cult hoards, or in the iconography, is thought to symbolise the weighing of the soul in judgement112. Pine trees or pine cones seem to be associated with most of them (perhaps they are the trees at the entrance to the underworld while the pine cone, as the seed, symbolises the renewal of life). Snakes play a role in all mystery religions. As they are born from eggs

3. The hoard also contained a uniquely large collection of 28 large votive silver “leaves” or feathered plaques with dedicatory inscriptions and the name of the votee stamped on the bottom. Most of them are to Dolichenus, but three are to Juno Caelestis 101

Mocsy 1974, 258. Ibid 256. 103 Noll, 1980 104 Ibid, 40-1. 105 Ibid, 77-8 and Von Petrikovits 1983, 193-197. 106 Noll 1980, Pl. 16. 107 Robert Graves 1983, 271. 102

108

Noll, 1980, 70. ibid, 71, Note 3. 110 Künzl 1982, 197. 111 Mocsy 1974, 258. 112 See Appendix IV, B.2. 109

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APPENDIX I ritual meals117. Evidence for a cult of the god Faunus has been identified further north in East Anglia by a Late Roman hoard of 33 silver spoons and a quantity of gold jewellery found at Thetford in Norfolk118. Almost all the spoons are inscribed, many of them with the name of Faunus coupled with a Celtic epithet such as Medugenus meaning “mead begotten” or Blotugus, “bringer of blossoms”. Eight of the spoons however just have Latin personal names, mostly followed by vivas, and it seems possible that these could be the names of worshippers, and that the hoard belonged to a cult group devoted to the worship of Faunus, similar to the collegium of Silvanus in Essex119. While there is no doubting the connection of this hoard with Faunus, some of the spoons and items of jewellery have figurative imagery which is clearly associated with Bacchus, including a satyr, a head of Pan, a panther and a Triton, suggesting that this local Faunus cult belonged in a wider framework of Late Roman Bacchic worship in East Anglia. Given the close relationship between Pan, Faunus and Silvanus, (see F. 8-9 above) the same could be true of the collegium Silvani. The fact that the Faunus cult had become so Celticised is an indication of how easily Bacchus and the GrecoRoman fertility deities associated with him could be integrated into Celtic belief and identified with the local deities120. Indeed one local, East Anglian, goat-horned god may lie beneath both Faunus and Silvanus.

and change their skin each year they are the archetypal symbols of death and re-birth, and also of healing. They were guardians of the home, and temples, and as dwellers in the earth, may also have been thought to embody the dead or to be their close attendants in the afterworld113. Snakes were closely associated with the household gods, and occur in almost all the lararium paintings in Pompei. The bull is common to Dionysus, Sabazius, Mithras and Dolichenus, and also to Sarapis, the Ptolemaic god whose name seems to be a combination of Osiris and the word for bull (apis). There are many other symbols and attributes such as goats, dogs, lizards, tortoises, frogs, scorpions, Phrygian hats (common to most eastern male gods but not to Dionysus), axes and hammers, that are shared by some but not by others. There must have been endless room for confusion and misunderstanding, particularly at the popular level. An excellent example of the kind of syncretism and conflation that resulted can be seen in a Late Roman decorated plate, probably from Egypt, found in a grave at Ballana in Nubia. As described by Martin Henig (1984, 166), “it shows a seated figure with the wings of Hermes on head and feet, holding the thyrsus of Dionysus, feeding the serpent of Asklepios, and accompanied by the griffin of Apollo. The armour of Ares, the tools of Hephaestus and the lion-skin of Herakles are also represented”. Whomever it accompanied to the grave was certainly provided with the maximum of protection.

3. At Weissenburg, on the Raetian frontier, a strikingly similar hoard of cult equipment to the one found at Mauer an der Url has been found buried beside a bath house outside the fort121, consisting of statuettes, silver feathered plaques (or leaves), and an almost identical collection of large bronze vessels, strainers and iron tools, as well as three bronze parade masks and one iron helmet cap. In this hoard however there is no indication of any obvious association with one or more of the oriental mystery gods. There were 14 bronze statuettes, all of Roman gods, three of Mercury, three of Venus, two of Apollo, one each of Jupiter, Juno, Hercules and Minerva, one Genius and one Lar. There was also a bronze jug with a relief of Vulcan on the base of the handle, shown in characteristic pose working at his anvil, as well as two bronze bowls with dedications to Epona. Mercury and Venus appeared to have been specially honoured, as some of their statuettes had been decorated with rather crudely made silver or gold ornaments - a silver torc and hat for Mercury, and golden armlets and leg bands for Venus. The silver votive plaques, only one of which has a dedication (to Hercules), bear the classical reliefs of Hercules, Mercury, Mars, Apollo, Minerva, Fortuna, Victory, Luna and a Genius. Like the hoard at Mauer an der Url, it was almost certainly buried during the Alamannic invasions of 233 or 260. Venus and Mercury are the equivalent of the Greek fertility goddess Aphrodite and her consort Hermes who were worshipped on Samos and Crete and elsewhere, and no doubt there was a mystery cult associated with them. But in this context, and in view of Mercury’s Celtic torc, the couple may well represent local deities equated with the Roman ones. Here there is no hint of specific Bacchic association, but there seems to be little doubt that the hoard must have belonged to some kind of mystery cult group.

H Some evidence for the fusion of mystery cults and Romano-Celtic worship in the western provinces. 1. In the later Roman period, the change in attitude to the gods and the desire for individual salvation does not seem to have been restricted only to the deities of the oriental mystery cults but, in some places at least, it appears to have extended to the established gods of the Roman Pantheon or at any rate to the native provincial gods equated with them. This is suggested by the votive feathers or leaves which, as already mentioned, were normally associated with mystery gods, that have been found in Britain dedicated to the familiar, local Romano-Celtic deities, and also by the caches of priestly regalia - crowns114, sceptres, statuettes and other sacred objects and pieces of ritual equipment such as rattles115- with which they have often been found116. Mars, Mercury and Minerva are the three Romano-British deities most frequently represented in such hoards, either as statuettes or with their names or images impressed on votive plaques, but the names or figures of Silvanus, Jupiter, Vulcan, Apollo, Hercules, Faunus and the Matres also occur. 2. A private cult group devoted to Silvanus may have existed in Essex to judge by a bronze ring found at Wendens Ambo inscribed Col(legium) Dei Sil(vani). The ring could have served as a pass to allow initiates or members of the group to attend meetings and

113

Toynbee, 1973, 224. It is known that crowns were worn by the priests of Cybele and Attis (Hennig 1984, 137), and indeed some of the priestly hoards found in Britain such as the one from Hockwold also contain items associated with this cult. It is likely that crowns were worn by priests of many other oriental mystery cults and this practice may well have been copied by the priests associated with the private worship of the gods invoked on the votive leaves. 115 A rattle has been identified in the hoard of religious objects found at Felmingham Hall, Norfolk, which included bronze heads thought to represent Minerva and Jupiter Taranis (Hennig 1984, 138). 116 Among the most notable are the hoards from Woodeaton (Green 1976, 177), Stony Stratford (ibid, 179), Brigstock (ibid, 181), Felmingham Hall (ibid, 205), Barkway (ibid, 209), Willingham Fen (ibid, 210), Hockwoldcum-Wilton (ibid, 212), and Cavenham Heath (ibid, 213). It is interesting that a high percentage of these come from East Anglia. 114

I.

Bacchus and Christianity

1. Despite its low profile in the archaeological record, the cult of Dionysus-Bacchus, together with Orphism, proved to be

117

Hassall and Tomlin 1981, 384, No 36; Henig 1984, 165. Johns 1986; Johns and Potter 1983. 119 Hassall and Tomlin 1981, 390, Note 95. 120 Johns 1986, 102. 121 Kellner and Zaalhaas 1984. 118

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DIONYSUS-BACCHUS-LIBER AND ASSOCIATED DEITIES remarkably resilient, particularly in Britain where it seems to have out-lived most of the other mystery religions, except perhaps for the cult of Attis (and Cybele), possibly undergoing some kind of a renaissance in the later fourth century under the Emperor Julian when Christianity was suppressed. The presence of the fine marble sculpture of a Bacchic group in the layers post-dating the destruction of the London Mithraeum in the early fourth century, could possibly indicate the re-use of the building as a temple of Bacchus122. More concrete evidence for the continuing influence of Bacchus and Orphism, can be seen in the remarkable series of mosaics found in villas of very wealthy landlords in Late Roman Britain, in particular those of the Durnovarian school in the south west. Many if not most of these have Bacchic scenes and imagery, and several have Orpheus-Apollo in a central panel, encircled by birds and animals, as at Woodchester123, Frampton, and Withington124.The triple-apsed building beside the villa at Littlecote with an Orphic/Bacchic mosaic has been interpreted by the excavator as a Neoplatonic cult room125.

continued to wear masks and to invoke Dionysus, whose symbolic blood was being shed with the juice of the grapes, regularly crying out his name. At the Second Council of Constantinople, it was decreed that they should no longer cry out Dionysus, but Kyrie Eleison instead!128. In European folk-tradition, the mime plays associated with his winter fertility rites lasted on much longer. Despite regular edicts by the Church forbidding such activities, particularly at Carnival time, masked villagers in Thrace, some of them dressed in goat-skins with phalluses, were still re-enacting the death of a goat king and his miraculous re-birth at the end of the winter in the early twentieth century129. Vestiges of similar plays and festivities survive all over what was once Roman Europe, and beyond it, as can be seen in Frazer’s “The Golden Bough”.

2. A few of these mosaics have Christian symbols, in particular the Chi-Rho, as is the case at Frampton, and one of them, in the villa at Hinton St. Mary, has the head of Christ, with the Chi-Rho behind it, in the centre of an otherwise pagan-looking mosaic with the four seasons at the corners and dogs hunting deer126. The extent to which these mosaics can be said to be Christian is far from clear. For the Romans of the fourth century, particularly those in provinces such as Britain which were well removed from Constantinople or Rome, their new official god Christ probably seemed like yet another god like Dolichenus or Sol Invicto, brought in from the east and given the stamp of Imperial approval. The Chi-Rho placed behind his head may not have appeared so different from the rays of the sun always depicted on the image of the invicible Sun God. Henig (1984, 164), argues convincingly that Christ is treated in these mosaics “no more nor less than as a pagan god”. Smith’s suggestion (1974, 69-73) that Orpheus, the enchanter of the animals, may have been identified by Christians with the Good Shepherd, is not incompatible with this. Given the poorly formulated state of Christianity in the provinces at the time, such identifications, including that of the Virgin Mary with Demeter-Persephone, must have been inevitable. The complex legends about Christ’s virgin birth, death and resurrection would not have seemed so very different from the Orphic myths of Jupiter, Persephone and Dionysus-Zagreus, or those connected with the cult of Isis, Sarapis and Harpocrates. Evidence for similar confusion or conflation, though in this case showing Christian iconography adapted to paganism can be seen in a mosaic from Cyprus, which has a scene of the birth of Dionysus modelled on the Adoration of Christ by the Magi127. Caches of Late Roman silver, such as those found at Mildenhall or Traprain Law, which include vessels with biblical scenes and Christian motifs as well others of pagan and Bacchic inspiration, also suggest that the two were seen to be compatible and not conflicting. After the death of the Emperor Julian however, and probably during his reign too, the confrontation between Christians and pagans became more entrenched. The mystery religions and in particular the Bacchic cults seem to have moved into the forefront of the resistance to state Christianity. Under the edicts of Constantius in the last decade of the fourth century the Bacchic faith in all its manifestations was expressly forbidden. However the influence of Bacchus the Wine God and saviour of souls was not so easily dispelled. In Greece, the men involved in treading the grapes 122

Henig 1984, 108. Neal 1981, Pl. 87a. Black 1986, Figs. 1 and 3. 125 Walters 1984. 126 Neal 1981, Pl. 61. 127 Burkert 1987, 146, Note 22. 123 124

128 129

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Kerenyi 1977, 67. Farnell, 1909, 107.

THE ROMAN LEGIONS AND THEIR FORTRESSES

APPENDIX TWO A ROUGH GUIDE TO THE MOVEMENTS OF THE LEGIONS THAT WERE STATIONED IN THE RHINELAND, THE DANUBIAN PROVINCES AND BRITAIN FROM THE FIRST TO THE THIRD CENTURIES, AND TO THE FORTRESSES THEY OCCUPIED

Part I

The legions and their movements

Part II.

The legionary fortresses and their garrisons.

Table A.

In the Rhineland and the Upper Danube.

Table B.

In the Danubian provinces.

Table C.

In Britain.

This guide is only intended to provide a rough summary of legionary movements in the western provinces during the first three centuries AD, and is based on published sources of a general nature. Information was first taken mainly from Mann (1983) and Keppie (1984), with further details from Wilkes (1969), Mocsy (1974), Alföldi (1974), Horn (1987) and Cuppers (1990). Legionary movements in the Danubian provinces and in Britain have been updated with reference to Wilkes (2000) and Hassall (2000). Few legionary movements can be exactly dated to one particular year, but many can be estimated within a year or two, or within a period of five years or so. But some are far less certain, particularly during the early years of the conquest of Britain, or in the first century AD in the Danubian provinces. Much of the information comes from the discovery of inscriptions and legionary stamped bricks, and can be subject to change from year to year as new details come to light and theories change. The movements of legions that only lasted a year or two, such as the brief returns of legio XIIII Gemina to Britain and legio X Gemina to Spain in 68/9 have not been included, as they can have had no noticeable effect on the development of ceramic traditions. Explanations to the text of Part I The date in brackets after the name of the fortress or province is the approximate date when the legion in question was moved to that base or province. A question mark is added after the fortress if the movement itself is uncertain, or after the date if it could be wrong by more than two to five years. Transfers to another province are in bold. Explanations to the tables A-C in Part II Underneath the name of each new legion occupying a fortress is written the name of the fortress (or province) from which it came, and the one to which it was subsequently transferred. When a legion is said to remain in a fortress until late Antiquity (LA), the end of the third century is implied and no attempt has been made to chart the dispositions of the army of the fourth century.

423

APPENDIX II

PART I THE LEGIONS AND THEIR MOVEMENTS 1 Germanica:- raised in Rome; Köln (9?); Bonn (43?); disbanded (70). I Adiutrix:- Raised by Vespasian from the Ravenna fleet (c.68); to the Rhine: Mainz (70); to Pannonia: Poetovio (c.86); Dacian Campaigns (101); Brigetio (120); remained until late Antiquity. I Italica:- Raised by Nero (66/7); to Moesia: Novae (70); remained until late Antiquity. II Adiutrix:- Raised by Vespasian from the Ravenna Fleet (c.68); to Britain (70); Lincoln (71); Chester (76/9); to Pannonia (87?); Aquincum (89?); to Dacian campaigns (101-6) and Parthian war; returns to Aquincum (118) until late Antiquity. II Augusta:- In Spain; to the Rhine: Strasbourg (c.10?); to Britain: Silchester? (43); Dorchester or Lake Farm1 (49); Exeter (55); moves to Gloucester (67) or remains at Exeter; Caerleon (75) until late 3rd.C II Italica:- Raised by Marcus Aurelius as II Pia (165/6) for his German wars on the upper Danube; to Noricum: Locica (171?); Albing (174/7); Lauriacum (191?); remained until late Antiquity. III Italica:- Raised by Marcus Aurelius as III Concordia for his German wars on the upper Danube (165/6); to Raetia: Castra Regina (Regensburg) (170?) but a large detachment probably based at Eining before the completion of the fortress at Castra Regina; remained until late Antiquity. IV Flavia:- Raised by Vespasian (c.70); to Dalmatia: Burnum (71?); to Moesia: Singidunum or Ratiaria (84?); Dacian Campaigns (101); Sarmizegetusa? (102); Berzobis (106); Singidunum (114); remained until LA? IV Macedonica:- In Spain (Herrera?); to the Rhine: Mainz (43); disbanded (70). IV Scythica:- In Macedonia-Thrace (which becomes Moesia under Claudius); Pannonian war (6); Scupi or Naissus (c.24 or earlier); to Syria (56). V Alaudae:- In Spain; to the Rhine: Xanten (9?); to Moesia: Ratiaria? (70); destroyed (86?). V Macedonica:- In Macedonia; to Pannonian war (6); Oescus (9/14?); Dacian Campaigns (101); Troesmis (106); to Dacia: Potaisa (166); to Pannonia?: Poetovio? (260?); to Dacia Nova: Oescus (271); remained until late Antiquity.. VI Victrix:- In Spain (León?); to the Rhine: Neuss (70); Xanten (101); to Britain: York (119/122?); remained until late Antiquity. VII Claudia:- In Macedonia; to Pannonian war (6) ; to Dalmatia: Tilurum (6/9); awarded title Claudia pia fidelis (42); to Moesia: Scupi? (56/7); Viminacium (70); remained until late Antiquity. VIII Augusta:- In northern Italy (Aquileia?) and Illyricum; Pannonian war (6); to Pannonia: Poetovio (14?); to Moesia: to Novae (45); to the Rhine; Strasbourg (70); remained until late Antiquity. 1

See Chapter IX, Pt I, A.1.3.

424

THE ROMAN LEGIONS AND THEIR FORTRESSES

VIIII Hispana:- In northern Italy (Aquileia?) and Illyricum: Siscia?; to Britain (43): Longthorpe, Newton-on-Trent or Leicester2 (43/5); Lincoln (55/62?); York (71); to the Rhine; Nijmegen (110?); sent to the East? (130?). X Gemina:- In Spain (Astorga? and Rosinos de Vidriales?); to Pannonia: Carnuntum (62?); to the Rhine: Nijmegen (70); to Pannonia (101); Aquincum (106?); Vienna (114/8); remained until late Antiquity. XI Claudia:- In Illyricum (Poetovio?); Pannonian war (6); Burnum (9); awarded title Claudia pia fidelis (42); to the Rhine: Vindonissa (70); to the Danube: Brigetio (101?); Durosturum (106); remained until the late third century? XIII Gemina:- Alpine campaign (15 BC); northern Alps (Augsburg?); Pannonian war; to the Rhine: Vindonissa (10/16); to the Danube region: Poetovio (45); Vienna (c.90); to Dacia (101); Apulum (106); to Pannonia (260?): Poetovio?; to Dacia Nova: Ratiaria (271) XIIII Gemina:- Pannonian war (6); to the Rhine: Mainz (9); to Britain (43); Leicester and/or Mancetter?3 (45?); Wroxeter (55); awarded the title of Martia Victrix after the Boudiccan rebellion; to the Rhine (67); Mainz (70); to the Danube: Mursa/Sirmium? (c.90); Dacian Campaigns (101); Vienna (101/6); Carnuntum (114); remained until Late Antiquity. XV Apollinaris:- In northern Italy (Aquileia?); to Illyricum; Pannonian war (6); Emona? (9?); Carnuntum (14); Savaria? (20?); Carnuntum (43?); to Syria (62); to Pannonia: Carnuntum (85); Dacian campaigns(101); to Cappadocia (117). XV Primigenia:- raised by Claudius; to the Rhine: Xanten (43?); disbanded (70). XVI (Gallica):- In Gaul?; to the Rhine: Mainz (9?); Neuss (43); disbanded (70). XX Valeria Victrix:- In northern Italy (Aquileia) and Illyricum (Burnum); Pannonian war (6); to the Rhine: Köln (9?); to Britain: Colchester (43); Kingsholm? (49); Usk (55); Gloucester or Wroxeter4 (67); stays in Wroxeter or moves there from Gloucester (75); Inchtuthill (83); Chester (87), until later third century. XX1 Rapax:- In Spain; to the Rhine: Xanten (9?); Vindonissa (45); Bonn (70); Mainz (83); to Pannonia: Mursa? (89?); destroyed (92?). XXII Primigenia:- raised by Claudius; to the Rhine: Mainz (43); Xanten (70); Mainz (92?); remained until late third century or later. XXX Ulpia Victrix:- Raised by Trajan (c.104); to Pannonia: Brigetio (104?); to the Rhine: Xanten (120); remained until mid third century?

2

Ibid, Pt. I, A.1.5. Ibid, Pt. I, A.1.4 4 Ibid, Pt I, A.1.2. 3

425

APPENDIX II

426

THE ROMAN LEGIONS AND THEIR FORTRESSES

427

APPENDIX II

428

THE BUST VASES OF NORTH EAST GALLIA BELGICA

APPENDIX THREE THE BUST VASES OF NORTH EAST GALLIA BELGICA

Pl. R1. Restored “planetary vase “ from Bavay of Group 1 with seven busts from the Cabinet des Medailles, Bibliotèque National de Paris (on exhibition at Bavay, 1983); height 23.5 cm.

The Gallo-Belgic bust vases or so-called “planetary vases” are decorated around the girth with relief busts of what appear to be classical deities, made by pressing the wall of the pot into a negative mould1. They do not come within the definition of face pots because of the use of moulds, the use of busts rather than masks, the more classical and naturalistic modelling of the features, and lastly but not least, the number of busts involved, generally six or seven, though a few have between two and four (Groups 2 and 3 and possibly 4). However as cult vases with human images on them of between 20 to 30cm tall and found mainly in the home or in graves, a few of which also have frilled rims and spouts, they are the Roman pottery vessels that come closest to face jars and are often compared or confused with them. They also have one important feature in common with face jars:- they are the only other group of Roman ceramic vessels that portray the Celtic tricephalic or three-headed deity.

isolated pot fragments such as the two found in Holland at Nijmegen and Aardenburg4, these vessels appear to have been found exclusively in the valley of the Meuse-Sambre river, along the road from Köln to Cambrai, and in the valley of the Escaut or Scheldt river to the north west (see map on Fig. R1). They are thought to date from the end of the first century until the early third century, with a hey-day during the reigns of Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius (ibid 108). By far the largest quantity have been found at Bavay, where they may well have been produced, but so far no evidence for their manufacture has come to light in the city. The only sherds found so far in association with kilns are from the small towns of Blicquy and Luttre-Liberchies, though fragments thought to be from wasters have been found at Bavay, Tournai and Blicquy. Apart from the clay mould said to be from Köln and one other from LuttreLiberchies, no moulds have been found, and it is possible that wooden moulds may have been used instead5. The vases from Bavay are mostly if not all in a fine ochre fabric sometimes with a pinkish or orange tinge, with a glossy, self-coloured slip. Those from elsewhere vary from greyish ochre to salmon pink or even brick red. Mica-dusting is quite common.

They form a far more numerous group than the face jars from the Bavay area, with sherds of several hundred vessels having been found, though all are fragmentary, and only a handful can be reconstructed, and then only partially. With the exception of one vase found in a grave at Troisdorf, across the Rhine from Köln2, a bust mould reputed to be from Köln3, and just a few

1

3

These unusual vessels were the life-time study of the late Dr Marcel Amand of Tournai. He published numerous articles on them, and a Corpus of all the vases and fragments that had come to his knowledge, representing around 400 separate vases (Amand 1984). 2 Amand 1984, 213

Ibid, 296. This mould, now in the Trier RLM (Inv. No 21132), is an early find from before 1897 and its provenance is not secure. There is no evidence for any bust vases being produced at Köln. 4 Ibid, 203-6. 5 Ibid, 58-60.

429

APPENDIX III

Fig. R1. Bust vases and associated vessels of Belgium, France and the lower Rhine (after M. Amand, 1984) 1, Tournai; 2, Blicquy; 3, Velzeke; 4, Baudour; 5, Haulchin; 6, Bavay; 7, Montignies-St-Christophe; 8, Luttre-Liberchies; 9, Tourines-St-Lambert; 10, Tienen; 11, Tongres; 12, Jupille; 13, Köln; 14, Troisdorf; 15, Nijmegen; 16, Aardenburg.

A.

2. As mentioned above, no complete vessels of this group, or indeed of any of the groups, have ever been found, but several have been partially reconstructed, including the one from Bavay, which was one of the earliest finds and is probably best known9 (No 3, Pl. R1). They have a very wide girth with a plain everted neck and narrow base. The average height is between 23 - 25 cm, but there are one or two vessels as small as 15 or 17 cm, and one, from Jupille as tall as 32.6 cm (No 1). They are all wheel-thrown, and the busts are made by pressing the wall of the pot into a concave mould. Often the same mould is used for several or even all of the busts on the same vase, and then a beard and/or moustache has been added by hand to identify the relevant deities. Frequently there are raised rings, omphalosshaped, on the shoulder of the pot between the busts, and sometimes the busts are separated by stylised columns, or other linear decoration, or by vertical rows of the raised rings. On the whole the facial features are portrayed fairly naturalistically, with almond-shaped eyes with raised eyelids, and carefully moulded mouth, nose and cheeks. The hair often tends to be two or three rows of spiral bosses around the head down to chin height, and the same technique may also be used for the beard. There is quite a wide degree of variation, from very naturalistic faces, with no spiral bosses (Fig. R3: 3), to a much more abstract and schematic style of portrayal, much closer to native Gallo-Belgic deities than to Roman ones (Fig. R3: 6).

THE MAIN VASE TYPES

The vases fall into four basic groups, of which by far the largest, Group 1, consists of the so-called “planetary vases” with seven or sometimes six busts. The groups listed below do not exactly correspond with the more detailed Type Series developed by Amand, but his type numbers are noted under each group6.

Group 1.

“PlanetaryVases” with seven or six busts (Fig. R2: 1-3), Amand Types A/1 and A/2

1. These vessels have seven, or more rarely six, busts. They were originally called “planetary vases” because it was thought that the busts represented the seven planetary gods after whom the days of the week of the Latin calendar are named. But none of the deities, apart from Mercury, bear the classical attributes of the planetary gods, and the order in which the busts are arranged around the girth of the pot, judging by the juxtaposition of bearded and beardless deities, is rarely the same, and has not been found to correspond with the order of the days of the week on any of the partially reconstructed vessels that have come to light so far7. The question is not helped by there being no way of knowing if those without beards represent female figures or youths. The fact that some of these vases, as it later emerged, have only six busts and not seven added further doubt to the matter8.

vases: one in the form of a krater was found at Trier, in typical glossy black colour-coated ware, with applied, mould-made, painted busts (Trierer Zeitung 1934, Pl. XX: 5); another, a handle-less red-ware jar, was found in a late third century grave at Mainz, with incised busts painted in red and white (Fremersdorf 1959, 43, Fig. 4:b); and a third, incomplete example of fourth century date was found at Köln, this time a two-handled flask in white ware on which the incised busts of four of the planetary gods survived (La Baume 1964, 84, Fig 67). Though the portrayal of the gods on this latter vase is rather quaint, the iconography is entirely classical, and their identification is not in doubt. 9 Amand 1984, Corp. III, 222, Pls. I-III; Bievelet 1974, 36-7.

6

Amand (1984) also includes in his Type series a number of snake pots found outside this area of Gallia-Belgica which do not have busts or face masks. These have not been included in this review of bust vases, but many of them are discussed separately in Appendix VI. 7 Amand 1984, 103 ff. 8 Three vessels with clearly recognisable representations of the planetary gods with their correct attributes are known from the Rhineland but are probably all of later date than these Gallo-Belgic

430

THE BUST VASES OF NORTH EAST GALLIA BELGICA

Fig. R2. Bust vases of Group 1 (Scale 1:4). 1, Jupille; 2, Montignies-St-Christophe; 3, Bavay. 3. The few examples from well certified contexts have mostly come from the cellars of villas or village (vicus) houses, sometimes below niches in the wall10. These are generally among the most complete vessels and include the one from Montignies-St-Christophe (Fig. R2: 2). Most of the examples from Bavay and Tournai however have come from inside the towns, from residential areas which were destroyed during the invasions of the later third century, and they tend to be just small fragments found in re-deposited material under later Roman buildings, which tells us little except that they are unlikely to have come from graves. Quite a number of fragments were also found in the early years of this century when gravel quarrying took place around Bavay, some of which cut into Roman cremation cemeteries causing whole-scale

destruction. From the little amount of evidence that could be salvaged, it seems as though in some cases several bust fragments were found in one grave, implying a whole pot had been present, while in other cases only one bust fragment was found (ibid, 239-40, 245-261). It is conceivable that just a single bust sherd may have been buried in a grave as a kind of talisman or apotropaic mask, as bust fragments have been found that appear to have been specially cut into a medallion or roundel shape11. Apart from these Bavay fragments, only a few other bust vases appear to have been found in graves. One with six busts was found at Troisdorf, on the east bank of the Rhine, well outside the normal area for such pots, in a Germanic

11 Ibid, 26, Note 6. P. Darche (Pro Nervia, Bavay I, 1924, 42; II, 1925, 243-253; and III, 1926, 174-183) suggests that both bust sherds from Bavay vases and mask sherds from sigillata vessels were cut into medallion shapes to serve as talismans or for funeral use.

10 I, 75 and 106. This may be true of all the groups, as so many examples of all four groups have been found in the ruins of houses.

431

APPENDIX III

Fig. R3. Bust fragments from Groups 1-2 (Scale c. 1:3) Bavay; 2, Tournai; 3, Amay; 4-5, Bavay; 6, Blicquy. grave of the third century12. The one other clearly identified context where vessels of this group and of the other three groups were found is a bronze-smithing site close to some kilns at Blicquy.

frontally portrayed and eliding into the central face with just four eyes between them, as in the case of the incomplete bust from Bavay (Fig. R3: 1). This latter type is similar to the tricephalic face on the face jar from Köln of RL Type 4A (see Chapter IV, Pt I. Fig. D4:4.), and to some extent to the one from Urmitz of RL Type 31 (see Chapter IV, Pt II, Fig. D15:4.). The tricephalic bust generally has beards on all three faces, but there are one or two examples where just the lateral faces have beards and the central one does not (Fig. R3: 2). A number of the tricephalic busts also have “wings” or stumps in the hair, as on the huge vase from Jupille (Fig. R2: 1), or the fragment from Bavay (Fig. R3: 1), and this is one of the reasons that has led to the identification of the Gallo-Belgic tricephalic deity with Mercury. Also, as far as can be seen from those pots where all or most of the busts survive, if a tricephalic bust is present, then there is no other bust on the vessel that bears a resemblance to Mercury, while if the classical bust of Mercury is represented, then the tricephalos is absent

4. Two bust types found on the vases of this Group can be easily identified, those of Mercury, and those of the Celtic tricephalic deity. Otherwise, apart from the presence or absence of beards and one small fragment showing part of a spoked wheel beside the shoulder of a bust that has not survived13 (Jupiter perhaps or Fortuna), no recognisable clues exist for the identification of all the other busts. No other attributes have been noted, and the hair styles and the small amount of clothing visible on the shoulders tend to be very unspecific. Mercury is generally portrayed with stubby “wings” in his hair looking rather like cat’s ears (Pl. R3, Figs. R3: 3-4, and R4: 4), and sometimes with a caduceus by the shoulder14. Normally the face is beardless, but not always. In the case of the reconstructed vase from Montignies-St-Christophe (Fig. R2: 2), a unique full figure of Mercury has been substituted for the bust, complete with all his main attributes: caduceus, purse, goat and cock.

6. Given the ease with which the busts representing the classical Mercury, or the tricephalic Celtic deity equated with him, can be recognised, the lack of identifying features on the other busts or any sign of a consistent or meaningful pattern of differentiation between them is certainly striking, and suggests that it was the Celtic Mercury who was the dominant deity where these vases were concerned, and that the other “deities” may only have played a minor, supporting role.

Of particular interest is the tricephalic, or three-headed deity, which only seems to occur on the vases of Group 1. Twenty seven examples of this type are included in Amand’s Corpus15. The deity is generally portrayed with a frontal face in the centre, flanked by two joined profile faces (Fig. R2: 1 and 3, and Fig. R3: 2), but occasionally with the two lateral faces also 12

Ibid, 213-15, Corpus II, Pl. V: 4. It could have been carried off as booty after one of the raids. 13 Amand 1984, Corpus III, Pl. XIV: 8 14 Ibid, Corpus III, Pl. VIII: 1.. 15 Ibid, 91.

432

THE BUST VASES OF NORTH EAST GALLIA BELGICA

Fig. R4. Bust vases of Groups 2-4, Nose 1-2, Group 2; Nos 3-4; Bust vases of Group 3, Nos 3-4, Group 4. (Scale 1:4) 1, Blicquy; 2, Luttres-Liberchies; 3, Tourinnes-St-Lambert; 4, Blicquy; 5 a-b, Tournai

433

APPENDIX III other the faces have been identified as Mercury, Fortuna, Minerva, and the river god Treveris. There seem to be few if any ceramic vessels from elsewhere in western Europe with three classical busts, but a large folded face beaker with three separate faces, as opposed to a tricephalic face, is known from Virunum (Klagenfurt) in Upper Austria, which has one bearded face and two beardless ones19 and a small bronze pot with three bearded faces is known from Huntingdon in Britain20.

Group 2. Similar vases with three or four busts (Fig. R4: 1-2), Amand Types A/3 and A/4.

4. These vases, to judge from the pieces that remain, seem to have had little obvious connection Mercury, but the Pan horns and the garlands are features associated with Bacchic imagery and worship.

Group 3.

Vases with one or more “winged” busts, flanked by attributes of Mercury and with snakes on the shoulder (Fig. R4: 3-4), Amand Type B 1-2

Pl. R2. Vase of Group 2 from Bavay with three busts, one beardless and two bearded, in the Musée Archéologique de Bavay; height 19.5 cm.

1. This is a much smaller group than the one above. The shape of the vessel, and the fabric, are much the same as for those above, but the busts, though much the same as those of Group 1, are somewhat larger, and there are wider gaps in between. It is however often impossible to tell whether there had originally been three or four busts if only fragments are found. Those with four busts seem to be most rare, and only two examples are cited by Amand (Type A/3), one from Pommeroeul and the other from Bavay, both of which have at least one bust with goat-like horns16 (see Fig. R3: 5). Unfortunately both are very incomplete, and little can be said of the other busts on the vases. Those with three busts (Amand Type A/4) are slightly more common, and three of them are almost complete such as the one from Bavay, found miraculously in the centre of the town in 196517 (Pl. R2). On some of them a notched garland links up the three busts, as on the one from Blicquy (Fig. R4: 1). The rule for the three-bust vases seems to be two deities with beards and one without. None of the busts so far identified as coming from vases of this group have either stubby “wings” in the hair or tricephalic heads.

Pl. R3. Reconstructed vase of Group 3 from Tourinnes-St-Lambert in Musée des Beaux Arts, Bruxelles, with three winged busts of Mercury, three snakes on the shoulder and traces of a goat, a cock and a purse; height 30 cm.

Only two vessels of this type have survived which allow partial reconstruction, one from Blicquy and the other from TourinesSt-Lambert (Pl. R3, Fig. R4: 3-4), on each of which just the upper halves of two winged busts survive. In both cases only the decoration of one side can be reconstructed, showing parts of a goat, a cock, a caduceus and a purse, all made by pressing the wall of the pot into negative moulds, in the same way as the busts were formed. In the case of the Blicquy vase, which was found under a hearth in the bronze smithy close to some pottery kilns, a second Mercury bust in the same fabric and made with an identical mould was found near by in a similarly dated context, and it is assumed that it came from the other side of the vase. No other fragments survive to indicate whether it was flanked by the same animal figures, or whether the other attributes of Mercury, the ram and the tortoise may have been added. Round the shoulder of the vessel are the wavy coils of what were probably three, rather flattened, applied snakes with ring-stamped bodies and arrow-shaped heads. Several

2. Where contexts can be identified, these vessels also seem to have been found in cellars, or in the ruins of houses, with the exception of the vase with three busts from Blicquy (Fig. R4: 1), which was found in the bronze smithy, and another more fragmentary one (Blicquy No 24) found near some kilns. None are known from graves. 3. The only other well-known examples of ceramic vases with four classical or semi-classical busts are two very fine beakers from Trier, in the same black colour-coated ware as the Gods of the Week vase, with the busts painted in naturalistic colours18. One features the female busts of the Four Seasons, and on the 16

Ibid, Corpus III, Pl. XXXIV: 2 and Corpus I, Pl. XXV: 7. Ibid, 303, Pl. XXXIV:1; Bievelet Archaeologia X, 1966.. Trierer Zeitung 7, 1932, 1-60, Nos 5-6; Cüppers et al. 1983, 230, and 1984, 263, Cat. No 173e. 17 18

19 20

434

See Chapter VII, UD Type 25, Fig. G9: 1. See Chapter IX, Fig. J. 19: 3, description under RB Type 44.

THE BUST VASES OF NORTH EAST GALLIA BELGICA fragments of similar pots have also been found at Bavay, Velzeke and Blicquy. The shape of these vessels is the same as for all the other bust vases described above, though the profile is slightly less angular than for those of my Group 1. The fabrics are the same, fine ochre or pinkish buff. A fragment from Bavay21, which has the top half of a goat on it, as well as a potter’s stamp with “CASTUS.F.”, could have come from either a vessel of this type or from one of Group 4 below. A similar stamp, with the same name but from a different die, appears on another fragment from Bavay, with what appears to be the head of a cock22. There seems little doubt that all these vases were closely connected with the worship of Mercury.

were used, but such evidence as survives does suggest some kind of cult associated with Mercury, but combining elements of Bacchic worship.

B.

DISCUSSION

1. Cult vases connected with Mercury? There has been much speculation over the years as to the significance and function of these interesting vessels, but they still remain relatively little known or understood. Amand’s valuable Corpus has for the first time assembled photos of the majority of the vessels and fragments known, allowing a much wider appraisal to be made. His conclusions however are rather disappointingly limited and non-committal, avoiding all the polemics of the past years. He seems to see them as all loosely connected with a general fertility cult of the local Celtic deity Cernunnos, who was equated with Mercury, with strong overtones of a Mithraic “folklorisme” in which are mingled elements of astrological mythology as expressed in the Jupiter Giant columns25. There is little to disagree with in this except for the emphasis on Mithraism which is hard to detect in any of the vases of groups 1-4, and Amand may have been influenced in his thinking by all the other snake pots from the Rhineland and elsewhere which he included in his Corpus, most of which are indeed Mithraic, but are in quite different fabrics and come from different regions and contexts. This is not to say that there were not Mithraic influences in the Meuse-Sambre area, as a centre of Mithraic worship has been identified at Tienen26, and there is one other vase, not included here, from Les Rues des Vignes, south of Cambrai and just outside the distribution area of the bust vases, which could well have had Mithraic connections27. But it is of completely different form, fabric and style of manufacture, not to mention decoration, and seems to bear little relation to the bust vases.

Group 4. Vases with two spouts joined by a“snake”, and with frilled rim and figurative decoration (Fig. R4: 5a and b), Amand Type C/3 Only one vase of this type, from Tournai23, has survived in sufficient pieces to allow partial reconstruction. The spouts are blind, and what appears to be a snake runs from inside one spout down the outside of the spout, round the neck and back into the other spout, with no head visible. The snake’s body is very flattened, and has no decorative stamps on it, so that it is barely noticeable except on the spouts. The vase has a frieze of appliqué or impressed moulded figures round the upper half of the vessel, of which about half survive. They appear to be a maenad, a panther-type animal, a goat (or possibly a ram), a cock, and four stamped stylised fir trees. It is possible that a bust could have fitted in on either side in the space left between the two spouts. Eight other sherds from similar vessels have been found at Tournai, while a large rim fragment with spout, snake and half of an impressed goat was found at Blicquy24 (in the area of the bronze smithy and kilns), and a smaller rim fragment with a snake-spout and cock comes from Aardenburg, just across the frontier in Holland, at the entrance to the Scheldt (Escaut) estuary. No evidence of a bust has survived on any of the sherds. The fragments from Tournai are almost all in a brick red mica-dusted fabric, different from the Tournai fragments belonging to Group 1 which are mostly in a salmon pink fabric with orange slip. The Blicquy sherds are also in a red fabric but with an orange slip, while the Ardenburg fragment is in a beige fabric. It is unlikely therefore that they were all made in the same kilns. So far no sherds of this type seem to have been found in the Bavay area or in the valley of the Meuse/Sambre.

Given the similarity of shape and fabric, the identical moulding of the busts, and the fact that they are frequently found in the same contexts, and alongside each other, it seems likely that all the vases of Groups 1-3 and possibly those of Group 4 belonged to some general cult which was connected with a local Celtic deity equated with Mercury who seems often to have been represented as a tricephalos. Rather than Mithraic influences, there is some limited evidence of Bacchic symbolism suggesting that the cult might have belonged within a wider compass of Bacchic worship. It is probable that the vessels of the different groups may all have served slightly different purposes within the overall framework of the cult. In view of the fact that so many vase fragments of all four groups have been found in the ruins of houses and villas, this cult must have been practised in the home, presumably at house shrines, and possibly also in cellars, given the number of vases found in such contexts, often at the base of niches hollowed out of the cellar wall28. These could have been buried as votive offerings for the protection of the building, or regularly used in situ because the cult itself depended upon the celebration of rituals in underground rooms.

These few vessels seem to be the only other examples of Roman pots in western Europe with frilled rims and spouts other than the face jars of the Lower and Middle Rhineland and Britain. They are certainly very different from those of Groups 1-3, and their only obvious connection, apart from being mostly in similar fabrics and coming from some of the same contexts, is through their similarities with the vases of Group 3, namely the snakes around the necks, the stamped or applied cocks and possibly goats, and the possibility that there might have been a bust. The cock and goats certainly imply a connection with Mercury, but the panther, “maenad” and fir trees all have Bacchic associations. As can be seen in Appendix VI, snakes do not occur only on Mithraic vessels, and can also be associated with the worship of Dionysus-Bacchus and other deities including Mercury.

2. Planetary vases? The vases of Group I are by far the most numerous. Amand sees a clear connection between these vases and the Roman planetary deities, though we cannot know how these gods were translated into Celtic mythology. Though the Celts, as has often been argued, may have had no concept of a seven day week

Given that the number of vases, or rather fragments, belonging to this group is so limited, it is impossible to draw any solid conclusions as to the deity or deities in whose worship they 21

25

22

26

Amand 1984, Corpus III, Bavay No 64. Ibid, Corpus I, Bavay No 21. 23 Ibid, 45, Corpus 1, C-Tournai 27, Fig. 9: 4 and Pls. XLVI - XLVIII. 24 Ibid, Corpus I, Blicquy No 18.

Ibid, 103-9. Martens, 2004, 25-56. Amand Type C/7; Corpus III, 308, Pls. XXXV-VII. 28 Ibid, 75, 106, and context references in the appended catalogue. 27

435

APPENDIX III before the Roman invasions, and may never have named any of their gods after the planets, it is clear from the many JupiterGiant columns found in the Rhineland and in eastern Gaul on which the planetary gods were frequently represented, that these gods and their Roman weekday names must have become known to sections of the local native populations in eastern Gallia Belgica by the later first and second centuries29. Though the majority of these columns, or rather the remains of them, have been found in Upper Germany30, or in the Mosel-Saar region to the west of it, parts of seven or more columns have been found along the road from Koln to Bavay31, including an octagonal column drum featuring the seven gods of the week at Arlon, and parts of two other columns at Tongres and at Fontaine Valmont, all within the distribution area of the bust vases32. But there are inconsistencies and irregularities on the Jupiter Giant columns also. The reconstructed column from Walheim in Baden Württemberg has an octagonal drum on which eight standing deities are represented, few if any of which can be securely identified, while the juxtaposition of male and female figures bears no relation to the order of the days of the week. Another column drum from SchwaigernStetten near Heilbronn in the Neckar valley has seven easily identified deities, but only four of them, Sol, Luna, Mercury and Venus are planetary gods, and in place of the other three, though not in the correct order, are Neptune, Vesta and Rosmerta, the latter standing beside Mercury and, like him, holding a caduceus and a purse. Was this ignorance and confusion on the part of the stone masons, or was there a coherent grouping of Celtic deities beneath these Roman images?

Roman bronze vessels throughout the Empire, but no examples closely resembling these vases are known. One rare example, which bears some slight similarity to the three-bust vases, though it is much smaller, is the little bronze vase found at Huntingdon mentioned under Group 2 above, with three bearded projecting heads and smith’s tools on the body. However, perhaps the most interesting parallel among bronze vessels is the pre-Roman Gundestrup cauldron, with its six different panels around the girth, each one occupied by the bust, or in one case the figure, of a different deity, accompanied by what are assumed to be his or her relevant attributes34. One of these panels has three busts, a central one without a beard and a smaller bearded one on each side35. It seems to be generally accepted that this unique cauldron is a Celtic cult vessel, though much influenced by the artistic and metalwork traditions of the Lower Danube region36. As mentioned in Chapter II, an important area for the production of cauldrons, decorated buckets and cult images in the pre-Roman period is thought to have lain somewhere in the region of the Seine valley, not so far from Bavay37. A number of the Late La Tène masks or cult images found in this region have a halo of spiral curls around the head which is not unlike those on the Gallo-Belgic bust vases38. A Celtic metal mask of unknown origin which has an even more similar halo of spiral curls is now in the museum at Tarbes in the French Pyrenees39. It too might have come from somewhere in northern Gaul. It is not impossible that a group of Celtic metal smiths, perhaps even with their priests, might have sought refuge in the more remote Bavay region after the Roman invasions, and taken to producing Romanised metal vases to be used in the cult of the Celtic Mercury which could have been the prototypes for the bust vases here discussed.

3. Bronze prototypes? The fact that so many fragments of practically all the different types were found in close association with the bronze smithing hearths at Blicquy could imply some connection with bronzeworking, though pottery kilns were also found close by. They may have been used in some kind of protective rite, to ward off the risk of fire or to ensure the success of the casting (or the firing if they were buried near kilns), as seems to have been the case with some face pots and terracotta masks33. Or, as Amand suggests, the vases may have been copied or derived from bronze vessels of similar shape and decoration which have not survived. Human masks and busts are found on a wide range of

4. Parallels from the rest of the Empire? What is perhaps most surprising about the bust vases is that no similar vessels appear to have been found in the rest of the Roman Empire, other than the few true planetary vases40. The only parallels in ceramic ware that come at all close belong to a little known series of vases scattered around museums of the world, all incomplete and very little understood, which are believed to be of Romano-Egyptian origin41. These also have relief busts around the girth and appear to be of very similar form, though only half as tall. All of them seem to have had the busts of Isis, Sarapis and Harpocrates, sometimes featured twice, at the font and at the back, with two standing male figures dividing each triad, as on a vase now in the Royal Ontario Museum42. There is generally room for eight busts or figures, and they are all portrayed in classical, Greco-Roman fashion. Other deities identified on a vase from the Egyptian Museum in Berlin are the bust of Hathor with her out-curling

29 The columns stood upon a square stone base known as a four-god stone with the standing figure of a Roman deity sculpted on each of its four sides, most commonly Venus, Minerva, Mercury and Hercules, but many other deities could be substituted. Above this could be another four-god stone, with different deities, but more frequently it was an octagonal drum with the seven gods of the week sculpted as busts or standing figures, generally divided by arcades or arches, plus an inscription or another deity such as Victory carved on the eighth side. On top of the column, supported by a capital which generally incorporated the female heads of the Four Seasons, was the statue of Jupiter himself. The model for such columns is thought to have come from Rome (Cicero mentions the erection of such a column in 63 AD in In Catilinam III, 19ff; and De Divinatione I, 19 ff.) but little evidence for them has been found there and they never achieved the popularity they enjoyed north of the Alps. The earliest Jupiter columns, put up in Mainz, are thought to have shown him standing or enthroned wearing a cloak in classical Roman fashion, but around the end of the first century AD a new Romano-Celtic sculpture type appears, which is unknown in Rome, in which breast-plated Jupiter is shown mounted on a horse carrying a spoked wheel as a shield and brandishing his thunderbolt, apparently crushing, but perhaps being supported by, a kneeling, snake-legged giant beneath his horse’s hooves (Bauchhens 1976, 17-22). 30 More than 300 are known from this province (ibid, 16). 31 Ibid, distribution map. 32 Amand 1984, 104. 33 See Chapter XIII, B.8, and Appendix V, C.1d.

34

Hatt 1980, 68-75, Pls. 1-13. Ibid Pl. 3. Olmstedt 1979,34. It is conceivable that not only the art style but the idea itself for such a cult vessel may have been of eastern origin, and was copied by the Celtic tribes such as the Boii and the Scordisci who were living in the Lower Danube area (with raids into Greece) in the third and second centuries BC, and from this developed the Celtic tradition for cauldrons decorated with mythical scenes, busts and masks. 37 See Chapter II, Pt. III, B.1. 38 Lantier 1940, Figs 2-3. It is unlikely in fact that they were true masks, as the holes cut out for the eyes almost certainly once contained coloured stones or glass. 39 Chapter II, Fig. B14: 6. 40 See Note 8. 41 Ibid Nos 2-25. 42 Hayes 1976, 106, Pl. 170. 35 36

436

THE BUST VASES OF NORTH EAST GALLIA BELGICA locks and the standing figure of the dwarf god Bes43. The busts and figures are generally separated from each other by some kind of vertical decorative motif such as columns or stylised trees, as is often the case with the “planetary” vases. It is difficult to see how these vessels could be connected with the Belgic bust vases44, but both groups could possibly be descended from a metal vase tradition which had its origins in Greece or the Lower Danube from which the Celts may in previous centuries have taken the idea for their decorated cauldrons (see Note 39 above).

be Mercury’s horns, or perhaps some strange confusion between spouts and horns. The Tienen face jar which is nearest to the Rhineland has fully functioning spouts, though they are placed close together in the position of horns. All the rest however just have two solid stumps with sometimes a shallow hollow at the top that give the impression of spouts. The spouts and the frilled rims of the Group 4 vases are clearly reminiscent of the Rhineland face jars of RL Type 2B, though these have three spouts and no snakes. Both the spouts and frilled rims are indications of cult use, but in the Meuse-Sambre region they appear to be limited only to the vases of Group 450.

Parallels in the western half of the Empire are less close, and for the most part seem to be of Bacchic inspiration. There is the group of Raetian vessels in glossy red ware from the Upper Danube which have three and occasionally four female faces on the shoulder interspersed with triangular clusters of plain round bosses possibly representing grapes45. On these the faces are also made by pressing the wall of the pot into a negative mould, but the faces themselves are all the same, all female and are thought to represent the fair Medusa. Fragments of little-known vessels from eastern Britain of RB Type 44 which may have had several appliqué, semi-classical protome busts or heads on the shoulder representing a range of different figures or deities including one which could be Attis with his Phrygian cap, have been found in Britain, in west Norfolk and Suffolk46. However these vessels are in grey coarse ware and much closer to face jars in form, and there is no knowing how many busts there originally were on each vessel. There are also the fine-ware mask vases described in Appendix V, A, some of which, like the green-glazed bowls or cups from Pannonia, have several mould-made Bacchic or Medusa masks around the girth47.

The tricephalic mask or head that occurs on so many of the “planetary” vases is also known on face jars, though only on a small number, all from the central Rhineland, namely one of RL Type 4A, one of RL Type 31, and one of RL Type 44A51. None of these tricephalic masks have beards, unlike those on the bust vases on which all three faces are generally bearded (though sometimes it can be just the two lateral ones), or the tricephalic masks on stone reliefs where all three faces seem invariably to be bearded. The face pot masks on the other hand are all supplied with an unusual number of phalli, while the four-faced jar of RL Type 44A has an applied ring, possibly representing a female organ, on the foreheads of all four faces52. The impression gained is that the three tricephalic face jars that have been identified were all unusual cult vessels, and very probably connected with some fertility rite or other. This may lend support to the theory that the Mercury cult with which the Gallo-Belgic bust vases are believed to have been connected was also a fertility cult. Other than these three face jars, clearly recognisable evidence for face pot connections with Mercury are few and far between. There seems little doubt that the face jar from Neuburg in Raetia with a cock and a purse incised beside an abbreviated, non-specific face was connected in some way with the worship of Mercury, though the mask itself may not necessarily be his. A caduceus without any other attributes of Mercury and in association with other symbols also occurs on two other face jars, one from Noricum and the other from Britain53. Connections with Bacchic worship are easier to find on face jars, and there are several instances of face masks with Pan-like horns, particularly in Britain54, though no evidence for garlands.

As can be seen from the above, many questions concerning the Gallo-Belgic bust vases remain unanswered, and it may be that the origins or meaning of these vases will never be fully understood, any more than we can comprehend the complex Celtic beliefs and mythology that underlie the deceptively familiar Roman imagery on the Jupiter Giant columns.

5. Connections between the bust vases and face pots The most obvious connection between these bust vases and face pots is, of course, the occurrence of large faces (though in this case busts) on the girth of the vessel. But there are also some other instances where more specific similarities can be noticed with certain groups of face pots. This is most evident in the case of the local face jars of the Bavay region where the stylised curls or stamped bosses around the faces appear to be a schematic reflection of the halo of spiral curls of the bust vase deities48. This halo of curls may not have been limited to the bust vases, but could have been the standard style of portrayal of Romano-Celtic deities in this region, but apart from the few cult images in silver or bronze mentioned above it is only on the ceramic bust vases that it has survived49. The odd-looking stumps that occur on the foreheads of all these face jars could

But perhaps the greatest value of the bust vases as far as our understanding of face pots is concerned is to provide an example of a relatively large group of cult vessels with human images on them that were, as face jars seem to have been, used mainly in the home and in other secular contexts as well as in graves, but only rarely if ever in temples. There seem to be few if any other groups of identifiable cult vases of which this can be said.

43

Tram Tam Tinh 1972, 321-320, Figs. 6-8. Though there could be connections within the sphere of Bacchic worship as the mystery cult of Isis, Sarapis and Harpocrates has affiliations with the Baccchic cult, while Hathor and Bes are both protective deities often represented as masks. 45 See Chapter VII under UD Type 7, Fig. G6: 2-3. 46 See Chapter IX, Pt IV, RB Type 44, Fig. J19: 4-6. 47 Gassner 1991, Figs. 2-4. 48 See Chapter V, Fig. E.5. 49 See Chapter IX, Fig. J13.I. Similar stamped bosses or ring stamps also occur around the faces of some late third to fourth century face pots in north east Britain of RB Types 28-9. This is probably just coincidence, but iIt is just possible that some Gallo-Belgians migrated to north east Britain after the devastating raids of the later third century, taking some potters with them. 44

50

For a further discussion of frilled rims and spouts see Chapter XIII, A.1, a-b. 51 See Chapter IV, Pt. I, Fig D4: 4, Pt. II, Fig. D15: 4, and Pt. III, Fig. D19: 5. 52 It is not impossible that the applied rings on the bust vases also represent the female organ. 53 See Chapter XII, Fig. M17. 54 See Chapter XII, B.1.

437

ROMAN HEAD VASES AND ASSOCIATED VESSELS

APPENDIX FOUR ROMAN HEAD VASES, BALSAMARIA AND STEELYARD WEIGHTS

Pl. S1. Romano-British head vase in fine burnished red ware from Piercebridge (restored, base missing) in the Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle; 3rd century; height with base c. 25 cm. (see Fig. S4: 1) (photo courtesy of the late Peter Scott)

A. A.1. A.2. A.3. A.4. A.5. A.6. A.7. A.8. A.9. B. C. D.

Roman head vases and head pots Head vases of the Black Sea Head vases of Greece and the East Mediterranean Head vases of Knidos Head rhyta from across the Empire Unprovenanced owl-faced vases Head vases of North Africa Head vases of Pannonia and the Lower Danube Head vases of Britain Head vases of Gaul and Germany Bronze head vases, balsamaria and steelyard weights Lamps Discussion

439

440 440 442 443 443 445 445 446 448 451 452 454 454

APPENDIX IV the western half, but North Africa was never a part of Europe, and its religious and artistic traditions, dating back to the original Greek and above all Phoenician colonisations, seem to have remained tied much more closely to the eastern Mediterranean than to the Latin West, in the same way that Greek-colonised southern Italy also remained closer to Greece than to Rome for most if not all of the Roman period and for many centuries afterwards. In western Europe however, the tendency towards abstraction and schematic portrayal soon manifests itself, particularly at a popular level, as can be seen with the RomanoBritish head pots, which by the fourth century seem to have merged with face pots, at any rate in north Britain. Very few pottery head vases have been found in Gaul and Germany (see A.8 below), and more examples are probably known in metal or glass, despite the fragility of the latter material. One reason for the existence of more head vases or head pots in Britain than elsewhere in western Europe could be that metal and glass vessels were less easily obtainable in this more remote province, and therefore these specialist cult vases continued to be made in pottery until, through years of copying, they became indistinguishable from face pots.

INTRODUCTION 1. The purpose of Appendices IV and V is to provide a brief selection of comparative material from the Roman period featuring masks or faces, which may help to shed some light on the identity of the faces or masks used on Roman face pots. It is very unlikely that the stylised or abbreviated faces on Roman face pots were limited only to these vessels and, to have been recognisable to the users of face pots, they must have occurred elsewhere, though quite possibly, as suggested in the Introduction, as masks that were mostly carved or painted on wood, leather and other perishable materials that have not survived in the archaeological record. It is hoped that this short survey of the more naturalistic and recognisable face masks used on ceramic, metal or glass vessels, on terracotta masks and antefixes and other objects, may provide some idea of the range of masks used in the Roman period and reveal some features that can be related to the simpler, more stylised images depicted on face pots. 2. Head vases and associated vessels in the shape of a head or bust are discussed here, while masks - on fine-ware beakers, antefixes and sculpted stone reliefs, as well as free standing terracotta, marble and metal masks - are discussed in Appendix V. In each category the illustrations have been made as representative as possible within the space allowed. The categories chosen are those that appear to have most in common with face pot masks, while at the same time providing some identifiable faces. One category that has had to be excluded on the latter grounds is the group of stone heads found in north Britain, some of which are quite similar to face pot faces, but unfortunately they are no easier to interpret than the nasks on face pots and are therefore of little help in this particular instance. The many Bacchic masks that feature so frequently in wall paintings and mosaics at Pompeii and elsewhere have also been excluded, but these masks are well represented on the mask beakers and the marble reliefs (in Appendix V, A and F), and need no additional demonstration.

A.1. Head vases of the Black Sea; second century BC to third century AD (Fig. S1: 1-4)

3. As has been made clear in previous chapters head vases appear to have had a close relationship with face pots, and so the identification of the figures or deities portrayed on these vases is likely to have some bearing on the identification of face pot masks. There is no room here to deal with these vessels adequately, and they deserve a separate study. All it is possible to do is to give a very brief description of the main groups, and outline the connections between them.

Pl. S2. Two male head vases, probably both from the Black Sea, a) Unprovenanced, in orange-brown colour-coated ware; possibly 1st century; height c.10 cm1,. b) Olbia, in orange-red colour-coated ware, 1st century BC-AD, height 11.6 cm2 .

1. There must almost certainly have been several centres around the Black Sea producing head vases, terracottas and other plastic vases during the Hellenistic and Roman periods, though few if any have as yet been definitely identified. One such centre was located somewhere on the northern shores of the Black Sea, possibly at Olbia, from around the second century BC to the second or early third century AD3. Production was in a red terra sigillata-type fabric, with an orange-red, or sometimes a dark brown, colour-coat. Typical forms are head cups with two handles close to the rim (Pl. S2 a-b, Nos 1 and 4), or small head flagons with a narrow neck and a handle at the back which portray the head and the shoulders of the figure represented (No 2). Several of the head cups from Olbia have a very small hole pierced in the chin, as in the case of Pl. S2b and No 1. There are also twohandled forms similar to the head cups where this hole has been made into a small spout as on a feeding bottle, but right down at

4. It has been seen in Chapters I and II that the pre-Roman head vase traditions of Greece and Etruria were closely linked and both appear to have been closely associated with the Dionysiac tradition, portraying the same rather narrow range of figures: Bacchus, his consort Persephone/Kore or Ariadne, or occasionally perhaps his mother Semele, members of his thiasos: satyrs, sileni and maenads, and more rarely other figures such as Pan, and his drinking companion Hercules. Very similar head vases continued into the Roman period, though their distribution is patchy, and most examples appear to have been made in eastern Greece and the Black Sea, in North Africa, and in Britain, with a scattering along the Lower Danube and in Pannonia, as well as a number of glass head vases made in the Rhineland This tradition of mouldmade vessels naturalistically modelled in the shape of a head belongs mainly to the Greek-speaking, eastern half of the Empire, where realism and naturalistic portrayal had since the sixth and fifth centuries BC dominated artistic expression, and this is where most Roman head vases are found. Though not necessarily all Greek-speaking, the Roman provinces of north Africa also seem to belong in this half of the Empire. Geographically they are in

1

Karslruhe Schloss Landesmuseum Inv No 68/48. Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg. A very similar vase, also from a grave at Olbia, is published by De Ballu 1972, Fig. LXVIII: 3. 3 The best collection of Black Sea vases from Crimean sites is in the Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg,. Examples from the Romanian coasts of the Black Sea are in the Constantia Archaeological Museum and the Delta Museum at Tulcea . 2

440

ROMAN HEAD VASES AND ASSOCIATED VESSELS HEAD VASES OF THE BLACK SEA AND THE EAST MEDITERRANEAN

Fig. S1. 1, Olbia; 2, Callatis; 3, Poiana (Romania); 4, Olbia; 5-7, EastMediterranean; 8, Athens; 9, Stobi (Macedonia); 10-11, East Mediterranean.(Scale: 1:2, except Nos 2,7 and 8 at 1:4 and No 3 at c. 1:5)

441

APPENDIX IV the base4. Somewhat similar head vases have been found in Thrace, in silver and gold, of earlier fourth to third century BC date, in the Bulgarian treasure hoard of Panagjuriste and in graves5. On these the lower half of the vase turns into a drinking horn with a human or animal head on the spout.

come from Olbia, though the fabric seems to be of a deeper red than is normal for this area. Similar beak-nosed faces occur on Knidian head flagons, and on north African head vases and head flagons (see below, A.3 and A.6, Fig. S2: 4). But none of them have a tall elongated hat as portrayed on this one.

2. The face types in this area appear to represent much the same cast of Bacchic characters as on the earlier Attic vases – a youth or bearded older man (Bacchus?), maidens who could be Ariadne, Persephone or a maenad (No 4), satyrs/sileni, and Hercules6. There are however a number of additions. Two small head cups from graves at Olbia appear to be connected with the cult of Achilles, and portray a young man in a helmet with Achilleos incised in Greek letters along the top7 (Pl. S2b). Achilles, was widely worshipped around the Black Sea, and the centre of his cult, which seems to have had some of the aspects of a mystery cult, was the island of Leuce very close to Olbia, where Thetis his mother was said made him into an immortal after his death at Troy. The young man with Alexander-like hair portrayed on a very similar head vase which is probably from this region (Pl. S2) could possibly also be Achilles or some other mythical hero with powers over death8. Both here and in north Africa the head vase tradition seems to have included some of the deities from other oriental mystery religions: the heads of Sarapis and Attis can occasionally be recognised, and there is a maiden with ringlets, who is thought to represent the Hellenistic Isis (No 2). Nubian girls in dark brown colour-coated ware are also quite common (Fig. S1: 1), as in north Africa (perhaps the dark Persephone or her underworld hand maidens), and more rarely a Nubian youth. Probably from another centre on the Black Sea come very tall, flagon-shaped head vases such as the fragmentary vase from Poiana, in Dacia, north-west of the Danube delta9 (No 3).

Pl. S3. Head vase in deep red colour-coated ware from the Black Sea or the East Mediterranean in the British Museum11; height c. 30 cm

2. A centre may have existed somewhere in north eastern Greece producing orange-buff head vases with narrow flagon-type necks which have been found at Samothrace12, similar to No 3 from Poiana, but smaller in size, some of which portray a god with short curved horns on his forehead, who could be Sabazius or Bacchus.

A.2. Head vases from Greece and unidentified sites in the eastern Mediterranean (Fig. S1: 5-10). 1. Very similar head vases were made around the shores and islands of the eastern Mediterranean, and almost certainly in mainland Greece as well, though few production centres have been identified. Many of them are in a paler, less glossy orange fabric than the “Olbia” vases, but they also occur in other wares, including polychrome glazed wares to judge by a head vase of the young Bacchus in the Getty museum.of first century BC date said to be of east Mediterranean origin. Around the beginning of the of the first century AD, or possibly slightly earlier, small, squat head vases appear with grotesque faces, some of them masks taken from Greek comedy, as on No 6 which portrays the comic “house slave” character. One, now in the Karlsruhe Badische Landesmuseum but said to be from this region, has a huge, beaked nose and a toothy grimace (No 5), very similar to the grotesque, large nosed terracotta masks that became so popular in the Rhineland10. A somewhat similar face, but less grotesque, and without the wrinkles, occurs on an unusual head vase in the British Museum in a glossy, deep red fabric, with a tall conical hat on a bald head (Pl. S3, No 7). It has been suggested that this vase may 4

Koepp et al.1909, 194-5, Fig. 12. Concave and Svoboda 1956, Pls. 12-15. 6 Gertsiger, 1981, 43-4. 7 Farmakovsky 1918, 20, Fig. 40, and De Ballu 1972, Pl. LXVIII: 3. 8 The faces on both these head vases (Pl.S2 and Fig. S1:1) bear quite a strong resemblance to some of the young male faces portrayed on cavalry parade masks (see Appendix V, E.10, Pl. 31b). 9 This may represent Sarapis, as on head vases in North Africa, but with these the neck of the vase is wide and he can clearly be seen to be wearing his habitual corn modius on his head. It is conceivable that a corn modius is intended here, but has been narrowed to fit the flagon-neck.. 10 See Appendix V, Fig. S8: 2-3. 5

Pl. S4. Unprovenanced head vase in red colour-coated ware made in Athens, in the British Museum, London, late 2nd to 3rd century; height c. 24 cm. 11 12

442

Inv. No 1907.5-20.61. These are exhibited in the Samothrace Archeological Museum.

ROMAN HEAD VASES AND ASSOCIATED VESSELS 3. One other type of head vase that emerges in the later second or early third century is in the shape of a small boy’s head, with a lunula pendant on a band around his neck, with a narrow flagon neck on top and a handle at the back (No 8). In the largest examples, c. 24-25 cm tall, the child is very naturalistically and beautifully sculpted and looks surprisingly modern. Slightly smaller, possibly later versions were less finely made. Numerous fragments of these vases were found in Athens, in the Agora and the on the kiln site of Kerameikos, as well as a complete one from a well (No 8)13, and it is probable that they were made there. An almost complete example comes from Aegyssus14, while other unprovenanced, complete examples are in the British Museum (Pl. S4), the Louvre and in the Löffler Collection, Köln15. Various interpretations have been put forward for these vessels, but a majority view seems to be that the child is the infant Bacchus, and in fact he is somewhat reminiscent of the baby god held by Hermes in the famous statue by Praxiteles16, and much more attractive than the fat, bald baby of the west European Bacchus risus mask17. Given the lunula pendant however, it could also be Harpocrates, the child of the Moon Goddess Isis and her Hellenistic consort Sarapis, though he tends to be portrayed with a finger to his lips.

2. Very few complete Knidian head vases seem to be known, of which one was found at Stobi on the Vardar river to the south of Scupi in Macedonia and is now in the Belgrade National Museum (Pl. S7a and No 9) and the other is an unprovenanced example in the British Museum22 (Pl. S5b). They are both of very similar shape and size, and represent the same figure, a large-nosed closely bearded man with bushy, knitted brows and thick lips. There is nothing particularly grotesque or caricatured about the face apart from the nose. On either side of the forehead is a stylised bunch of grapes. The back of the head is covered with tiny bumps in the case of the Stobi vase, and tiny dents in the case of the other, but right in the centre, on the back of both heads, is what looks like a small donkey-like tail, suggesting that these vases could represent satyrs. The portrayal of satyrs in the Roman period can vary greatly, some have more grotesque features with a wicked toothy grin, while others can have the faces of beautiful youths, with or without the animal ears or horns. A few fragments from other head cups with more grotesque, wrinkled features have also been found on Knidos, possibly satyrs or old hags, and one fragment from the face of a maiden or maenad23. 3. The head flagons from Knidos, of which rather more complete examples, or at least complete heads, are known, portray the same cast of characters as the head vases: satyrs, old hags and maidens, but also included is a young man type and in particular, the bald, beak-nosed male face which seems to be the most popular type used for the flagons, sometimes with a beard, sometimes not, and often with a wreath of ivy leaves on the forehead. The relief decoration on the sharply carinated biconical flagon body seems to be mainly vine and ivy garlands with grapes, interspersed with Bacchic masks and dancing figures. There seems little doubt that both the head vases and the head flagons are closely related to the Bacchic tradition.

A.3. Knidian head vases, probably late first to second century (Fig. S1: 9 and Pl. S4)

A.4. Small head rhyta of the east Mediterranean and elsewhere, first century AD (Figs. S1: 10; S2: 1, S5: 5-6)

a

b

Pl. S5. Two head vases in orange-brown colour-coated ware, very probably made on Knidos; 2nd century? a) Stobi (Macedonia), in the Belgrade National Museum18, height 13 cm; b) unprovenanced, in the British Museum19.

1. One centre in the eastern Mediterranean that has been identified is on the island of Knidos, off the Carian coast of Anatolia, where a range of mould-made plastic and decorated vessels were made from the end of the first century or beginning of the second century AD, including head vases, biconical head flagons and lamps20. The hard fine fabric with traces of mica tends to vary from orange to brown, with generally a rather matt, orange-brown colour-coat. Production may have lasted on into the early third century (ibid, 13). Knidian relief-decorated pottery was widely traded across the Mediterranean and around the shores of the Black Sea, and quite a number of examples have been found in north Africa21.

a

b

Pl. S6. Small rhyta in red-colour-coated ware; 1st century AD. a) from Olbia in the Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg; b) unprovenanced, probably from the east Mediterranean, in the Karlsruhe Schloss Landesmuseum.

22

Bailey 1972-3, Pl. 4. Bailey 1972-3, 21, Pl. 5: 4-6. Grotesque masks of various kinds regularly occur in assemblages of terracotta masks in archaic Greek, Phoenician and Punic contexts, and very probably were copies, among other standardised types, of masks worn in ritual processions and performances at fertility festivals associated with Bacchus, Artemis and other Greek and oriental fertility deities (see Appendix I, C.1-2). From the fifth century, following the development of the theatre of Dionysus out of two of his major festivals (ibid, A.6), the Greek grotesque masks begin to fade out and to be replaced by the masks of some of the characters from Greek comedy, in particular a buffoon-type house slave and a very wrinkled and often drunken old hag, a part habitually played by a man.

23

13

Harrison, 1978, 348 ff. Tulcea Delta Museum No 838. La Baume and Salomonson 1968, Cat No 297. 16 Boardman 1993, Pl. 129. See Appendix I, Pl. P3. 17 See Appendix V, A.6, Fig. S6: 17 18 See Fig. S1: 9 19 BM Inv. No GP 1814.7-4.301. 20 Bailey 1972-3, 13, Pls. 1-4. 21 Hayes 1972, 411-2; Salomonson 1980, 102, Radulescu 1974, 317-323. 14 15

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APPENDIX IV HEAD VASES AND PHALLIC JUG FROM NORTH AFRICA

Fig. S2.

1, Tunis; 2-6, North Africa, unprovenanced. (Scale c. 1:3 except Nos 1 and 6, scale unspecified)

444

ROMAN HEAD VASES AND ASSOCIATED VESSELS 1. In the early first century AD little pots occur in the shape of a head with a grotesque, comic face commonly described as rhyta (though very different from the ones from the Black Sea mentioned in A.1.1 above). They generally look like a rounded, boat-shaped lamp with a gaping hole for the mouth and two little handles on either side, or occasionally just one, and sometimes a suspension ring on the top (Pl. S6). The one from Olbia (Pl. S6a) with its round body and straight sides seems to be the odd one out. Suspended inside the mouth was generally, if not always, a clay phallic tongue, though most examples have long since lost their tongues. There can be little doubt that these too portray a satyr or silenus. Odd isolated examples have turned up in widely separated parts of the Roman world. They vary in fabric and in form, and so do not all come from one production centre24. Most are in a fine red ware with a glossy red colour coat, but the one from Haltern (Fig. S5: 5) has a green-yellow glaze. This one and the very fragmentary one from Colchester (see Note 25 below) both have two faces, a beardless one on top and a bearded head on the back or base, but most of the others just have the one face on top. One example from Kairouan in North Africa, has a bunch of delicately made applied ivy leaves on either side of his forehead (Fig. S2: 1). The only two identified from dateable contexts are the one from Haltern, which could be the earliest, followed by the one from Colchester, which is pre- AD 60. It would seem unlikely that the others would be much later, and they may all be of early to mid first century AD date25.

nose, notched eye brows and clay ear-rings, but there seems to be little indication that these green-glazed owl beakers were actually made in Italy. They do not seem to have been copied as face beakers outside Italy, in the western provinces.

A.6. North African head vases, third century and early fourth (Fig. S2: 1-5) 1. There are clearly very close links between the Knidian reliefdecorated pottery and that of north Africa, particularly as far as the head flagons are concerned, which have strikingly similar form, decoration and heads28. The links are rather less obvious in the case of the head vases, partly because so few Knidian ones have survived, whereas a great many of the North African ones have, mostly if not all from graves, and also because the forms are somewhat different. Most of the north African head vases are made in the hard fine North African Red Ware from Tunisia, which generally has a glossy red colour-coat. The ones in this ware are almost all of one form, with a tall slightly flaring neck and a small handle at the back near the base of the neck29, very different from the cup form with two handles of the Olbian and Knidian head vases. The names of the owners of the workshops in which they were made is often inscribed on the necks of the vases, such as NAVIGIUS, TAHINAS or OLITRASIS. The dating of the red ware head vases and head flagons has been disputed, but it now seems to be generally agreed that they start in the early third century, if not slightly earlier30, and probably continue into the fourth. As with the Knidian head vases, the Bacchic connection is not in doubt. The same familiar figures are represented as on the head vases in Attic Greece and on the Black Sea: youths, maidens (with at least four quite different hair-styles), bearded men and satyrs with bared teeth (Pl. S7b and No 5).

2. Easy to hold in the hand, and to slip in a soldier’s pack, these little vessels with their comic Bacchic masks and dangling phalli must have had much of the function of a protective amulet or charm, and were no doubt well appreciated by those soldiers far removed from home. This could explain their remarkable popularity right across the Roman Empire. Lamps with a face on the upper surface, generally a satyr-silenus or some other type of comic-grotesque face, which also crop up in most provinces of the Empire in the first and second centuries, probably served much the same purpose (see Pl. S18 below).

A.5. Green-glazed face beakers with schematic owl-like faces; first centuries BC and AD (Fig. S1: 11) These vessels have two thinly applied arched eyebrows joined with a small, pinched nose above two large but quite shallow eyedents, producing the effect of an owl-like face. These are the only examples known to the author of stylised face beakers with abbreviated features found outside the western provinces, in the Greek-speaking half of the Empire. They are in a typical twohandled form of the first centuries BC and AD, one that is clearly derived from metal prototypes, and are made in olive-green, leadglazed ware. Examples are known from the west coast of Anatolia26 and North Africa27. Some have small pellet eyes in the centre of the dents. They are very like the brown colour-coated Campanian face beaker from Pompei of IT Type 5, Fig. C2: 6 which has a similar owl-like face, though with a more pronounced

a

b

Pl. S7. North African red ware head vases, in the Löffler Collection, RGM Köln, 3rd to early 4th century; height 25-6 cm. a) Unprovenanced31. b) Sbeitla,32. .

24 Examples are known from Olbia (Hermitage Museum); from the eastern Mediterranean (Fig. S1: 10); from North Africa (Salomonson 1980, 99100, figs 57-9) (Fig. S2: 1); from Kosmaj, Serbia ( Belgrade National Museum No D318); several from Pompeii (Johns 1982, Fig. 75); from the Rhineland, at Haltern and Trier (Fig. S5: 5-6) and also at Neuss (Koepp et al.1909, 193-5, Fig. 12: 4-5, Pl. XXI: 3); and from Colchester, from the burnt pottery shop (Hull 1958, 155-6, Fig. 77: 1). 25 Other small vessels with a phallus inside have been found at Pompeii, but these are handled cups or beakers without faces and the phallus is hollow and air-tight, and pops up when the cup is filled (Carandini 1977, section VII, Pl. XIX: 85-7). 26 Charleston 1955, Pl. 28: B). 27 Musées et Collections de L’Algérie et la Tunisie 1900, Pl. V: 10.

2. There are also a few examples of a completely new type of head vase, with two heads one of top of the other (Pl. S8, No 4). 28

Salomonson 1980, 165-179. The north African head vases are scattered in museums all over the world, but a representative group of them is in Köln, in the Löffler Collection, published by La Baume and Salomonson (1968, Nos 624-632). 30 Hayes 1972, 412; Swan and Monaghan 1993, 24. 31 La Baume and Salomonson 1968, Cat No 629. 32 Ibid, Cat. No 630. 29

445

APPENDIX IV The lower head is the same as on the tall-hatted head vase in Pl. S3, Fig. S1: 7, bald with a large beaked nose and big fleshy lips (probably the same mask type as the beak-nosed face on the head jugs), and perched on top of it can be another smaller beak-nosed face or, as in the case of No 4, what appears to be the head of a young woman (a Maenad?).

to be of late Roman date, and similar examples are also known from Sardinia. There is also a head of Sarapis with his characteristic corn modius on his head in red fabric which could be either a censer or a head vase39. 5. There is one other type of north African vessel that bears the same bald, beak-nosed face as on the head flagons and the double head vases and must belong to the same tradition, namely a rather simply modelled jug in the form of a male figure with arms holding a phallic spout (Fig. S2: 6). Here once again the phallic face jug or figurine jug re-surfaces, which first appeared in the Cypriot Middle Bronze Age, if not earlier, and then again in Greece and the eastern Mediterranean in the first half of the first millenium BC40. A more stylised version of the same type, with phallic spout, face pot face and no arms occurs on Rhineland sites in late second to third century contexts, and possibly also at Vindonissa and London41.

3. Very similar head-types appear on the red-ware head flagons or lagynoi, which share the same Bacchic decoration as the Knidian head flagons which they resemble so closely33. The bald, beaknosed man figures prominently, but with no second head on top, and so do maidens. There do not appear to be any satyrs, but instead there is a wrinkled old hag with a down-turned mouth. This may be the same woman who appears on another type of North African Red Ware vase, a figurine vase representing an old woman, apparently drunk, sitting on a chair with a large wine jar between her knees34. Salomonson (1980, 90-94) suggests that she could be the drunken old woman of Atellan comedy, the anus ebria, whose raucous bawdy figure, played by a man, goes right back through Greek comedy to the fertility dances and the ritual hurling of insults and abuse that took place in Archaic Greece at the festivals of Dionysus and of Artemis35.

Pl. S9 Unprovenanced head vas, in red-brown colour-coated ware with a calcareous deposit on the outer surface, possibly 2nd century, height 21.7 cm42.

A.7. Head Vases of Pannonia and the Lower Danube; second to third century AD, (Fig. S3: 1-7) Pl. S8. Double headed vase in North African red ware in the Löffler Collection in the RGM Köln, 3rd to early 4th century36; height: 21.1 cm.

1. The female head vase from Obuda in Aquincum (Pl. S10) in glossy, red-slipped fabric, is very similar to a larger one found at Arrabona (No 2). They are both thought to be imports from the Black Sea. The one from Arrabona was found in an inhumation grave, suggesting that they could both be of third century date. The unprovenanced head vase of a youth with a wreath from the Lower Danube (No 1) is also likely to be an import, though as it is in buff ware, with reddish-brown painted hair and wreath, it is unlikely to have come from Olbia or the Roman potteries on the Black Sea coast near Constantia.. It could be of earlier date. The other vases in Fig. S3 all come from sites in Pannonia, and were probably all locally made. They are all in a fine red fabric, with or without a red-brown colour-coat.

4. Other types of head vases in different fabrics are also found in north Africa, some of which may date to the first century AD if not earlier, but they seem to be rarer, and are much less well known37. (Pl. S9). Some of them look just like head vases, but have an open base, and the neck of the vase forms a bowl on top of the head, which is pierced with holes, and it is thought they may have been used as incense burners or censers38. One of these represents the head of Hercules with the open jaws of his lion’s skin over his head, and another a maenad or maiden. These appear 33

Salomonson 1980, Figs. 12-17. Ibid, Figs. 41-44. 35 see Appendix 1, A.5 and C.1. 36 La Baume and Salomonson 1968, Cat No 632. 37 La Baume and Salomonson 1968, Pl. 68: 2, No 633. 38 Musées et Collections de l’Algérie et la Tunisie, Carthage, Supp. 1, 1913, Pl. VII: 8, 10-11. 34

39

Ibid, Supp. II, 1915, Pl. V: 3. See Chapter I, B.3 and C.2, Fig. B4: 1 and 3-4. 41 See Chap. IV, Pt II, RL Type 33, Fig. D16: 1-7. 42 La Baume and Salomonson 1968, Cat No 633. 40

446

ROMAN HEAD VASES AND ASSOCIATED VESSELS ROMAN HEAD VASES OF PANNONIA AND THE LOWER DANUBE

Fig. S3. 1, Lower Danube; 2, Arrabona; 3, Gorsium; 4, Aquincum; 5, Gorsium; 6, Arrabona; 7, Halimba. (Scale 1:2 except nos 2, 6 and 7 at 1:3)

447

APPENDIX IV 2. A number of moulds for head vases portraying maidens and youths, as well as more grotesque types similar to Nos 4-6, have been found in the huge pottery centre on the Gasworks site at Aquincum43. One or two moulds for head vases, and rather more for face-neck flagons, mask vases and antefixes have also been found at Brigetio44. Production on both sites seems to have been mainly during the second century. The most common types seem to be satyrs such as (No 4, though it is just possible this vessel represents an old hag) and bearded silenus types (No 5). The latter and the head vase with what looks like the mask of Pan (No 3) seem to have reversible faces, so that there is a face which ever way up the vessel is. One of the satyr vases has a wreath of ivy leaves and grapes (Pl. S11), and there seems no reason to doubt that these Pannonian head vases continued to be associated with the Bacchic tradition. Several of them have been found in graves.

Pl. S11. Head vase of a satyr in fine red ware with an orange-brown colour coat from Aquincum in the Aquincum Site Museum46 , 2nd century; height 12.3 cm.

4. A fragment from a different type of head vase in a hard, dark red, sigillata-type fabric comes from Lauriacum, now in the Enns City Museum, which is almost certainly an import. It has a large beaked nose, big fleshy lips and a protruding jaw47. Both the fabric and what can be seen of the face are very similar to those of the tall-hatted head vase which may have come from Olbia or the East Mediterranean (Fig.S1: 7).

A.8. Romano-British head pots; early third to fourth century (Fig. S4: 1-8)

Pl. S10. Head vase in fine red colour-coated ware from Aquincum in the Budapest National Museum45, base restored, 3rd century?; height 14.7 cm. 3. The two head vases in Fig S3: 6-7 (No 6 from from a Trajanic or Hadrianic grave at Györ and No 7 from a similarly dated grave at Halimba) are hand-modelled, and are probably native copies by potters unversed in mould technology. Examples of more free and stylised copying could be represented by the Danubian face beakers with a pedestal base of DAN Types 11 and 12 (see Chapter VIII, Fig. H5: 4-5), or the later Roman Danubian face beakers with bared teeth of DAN Types 13 and 14 (Fig. H6: 1, 3 and 4), which could well be derived from the satyr or old hag head vases with their toothy grins or grimaces.

Pl. S12. Large head vase from York in fine burnished red ware with dark brown outer surfaces, in the Yorkshire Museum, York; 3rd century; height 30 cm. 43

Kuszinsky 1932, 327-9, Figs. 330 and 332. Bonis, 1977, 127-137, Figs.13, 15 and 16. 45 Budapest National Museum Inv. No 115.1882.1 44

46 47

448

Kuszinsky 1932, 325-6, Pl. 331. Ruprechtsberger 1976, 148-50, Fig. 3.

ROMAN HEAD VASES AND ASSOCIATED VESSELS

HEAD POTS OF BRITAIN

Fig. S4. 1, York; 2, Piercebridge; 3, Littleport; 4, Lancaster; 5, Lincoln; 6, York; 7, Nottingham (Margidunum); 8, Water Newton. (Scale 1:4)

449

APPENDIX IV 1. These head vases are discussed in greater detail in an earlier paper by this author48, and by Swan and Monaghan49. Head vases first seem to appear in Britain around the beginning of the third century. The earliest dated examples have been found at York, and it is very possible, as Vivian Swan suggests, that the head vase tradition was introduced into Britain by the large numbers of soldiers and administrative staff who accompanied the Emperor Septimius Severus while he was here from 208 until 211 during the campaign to subdue the Caledonian tribes during which he died. These head vases do not seem to have been made using moulds, but on the wheel and then sculpted by hand, with the wall of the pot pushed in and out to form the main shape of the face. Their form, their lack of handles, and their comparatively large size distinguish them from most of the other head vases discussed so far, and right from the beginning they seem to have had a particular British character. This is reflected even in their modern name, as in Britain they are known as head pots rather than head vases.

2. However there is nothing in the choice of face types to show that the connection with the Bacchic cult or some other mystery cult did not still continue50. At York and in north east Britain maidens predominate with one or two who could be youths (No1), while there is one example, probably of later date, that looks like a very stylised satyr or Pan with almond-shaped ears or horns on the forehead (No 6). Further south there is a Bacchus-like youth with a leafy wreath on either side of his face from Littleport in painted parchment ware (No 3), and there are vestiges of what could be a painted wreath on the incomplete and much abraded head vase from Lincoln (No 5). This vase, which may also be of later date, has DO MERCURIO written around the base. This could be a vase portraying Bacchus presented to Mercury, or it could belong to some local Mercury cult51. A more stylised male head, with a curled beard and moustache is portrayed on a head pot from Colchester, also in parchment ware with red painted bands and facial details (Pl. S13).

. Pl. S13. Partially reconstructed head vase in light buff parchment ware with red-painted features and decorative bands from Colchester in the Colchester and Essex Museum52, 3rd century; c. 22 cm.

3. Thanks to the lack of moulds, the stylisation of the naturalistic features of the head pots began almost immediately, but as the British head vases were mainly large vessels, many of their later stylised copies seem to have ended up as face jars (particularly the bossed face jars of RB Types 28 A and B53) rather than face beakers, though the two unusual, large face beakers of RB Type 3754 could be rather free copies of head pots such as Nos 7 and 8 . No 8 shows the use of raised, stamped bosses in the place of hair which became common on later head pots55, and also occurs on the late Roman face jars of RB Types 28 A and B. The bosses on both types of vessel are mostly if not all stamped with rosettes, crosses, concentric rings or spirals which may have been astral signs symbolic of life after death56. 4. The odd one out among all the other British head pots is the strange looking vessel from Lancaster (No 4). Only an engraving survives of this early find, and it is hard to tell how accurately it was drawn. But it does look as though it could be a rather crude hand-made version of a head vase, similar to those from Knidos, North Africa or Pannonia (Figs. S1: 9, S2: 5 and S3: 3-5), representing a satyr or grimacing old hag, or perhaps more likely, in view of its large nose, the beak-nosed figure with jagged teeth portrayed on terracotta masks in the Rhineland57. It is so different from all the other British head pots that it is hard to date, and almost certainly belongs to quite another development, unrelated to the third century head pots thought to have been introduced by

48

Braithwaite 1984, 117-121, Figs 11-13. Swan and Monaghan 1993, 21-38. 50 Vivien Swan (ibid) has suggested that the early head vases made at York, which are almost all female, may, to judge by the hair-styles, represent the Empress Julia Domna (or one of the goddesses she was identified with) who, together with Severus’ two sons Geta and Caraculla, accompanied the Emperor to Britain. She also suggests that the one head pot with possibly male features (Fig. S4: 1) could portray Caraculla. Given the Severan dynasty’s close association with the cult of Dolichenus (see Appendix I, G.3), which may have been introduced into north Britain at this time, and the fact that Julia Domna is thought to have been identified inter alia with Juno Caelestis (consort of Jupiter Dolichenus)) it is not impossible that these early head vases from York may have had some connection with this cult, or with the worship of other oriental deities with whom the leading members of the imperial family were identified. The representation of such oriental deities on head vases is in keeping with portrayal of the other mystery deities mentioned above, and some kind of continuing connection with the Bacchic head vase tradition is very likely to have continued. 51 For the close links between Dionysus-Bacchus and Hermes-Mercury see Appendix 1, D.5 and Appendix VI, B.3.4 and B4, and for the links between mystery cults and the worship of Romano-Celtic deities in the later Roman period see Appendix I, H.2. 49

52

Hull, 1958 Fig. 120: 292. See Chapter IX, Pt. III, Fig. J13: 1-8. Ibid, Fig. J15: 1-2. 55 Braithwaite 1984, 121, Fig. 13: 4-6. 56 See Chapter IX, Pt III, under RB Type 28A. 57 See Appendix V, Fig. S8: 2-3. 53 54

450

ROMAN HEAD VASES AND ASSOCIATED VESSELS the troops accompanying the Emperor Septimius Severus at the end of the second century58.

There is one other much larger head vase known to have been found in Gaul, at Cusieu in the Loire region, which is mentioned but not illustrated by Déchelette (1904, 324). It is in plain grey ware, 17 cm tall, and represents a woman’s head. Nothing else is known about it. It is conceivable that it is similar to the British ones, as it is taller than most of the ones from the Greek world, except the north African ones, though these are made taller by their long necks. Two fragments from the top half of another largish head vase have been found at Zugmantel in the Wetterau, in fine orange-buff ware with reddish slip on the hair, and inside the neck63. It does not seem to have been made with a mould, and could be quite similar to some of the British head vases made in parchment ware with painted hair and other features64. Another head vase fragment comes from Eining in Bavaria showing the top half of a face with brown-painted hair65. This one does appear to have been made with a two-piece mould.

5. There is one other type of head pot found in Britain, so far only in un-reconstructable fragments, which represents a female head with a realistically sculpted mural crown on her head, representing the walls of a town complete with towers, gateways and windows59. The fragments, dated between AD 150-250, are all in the same creamy buff ware and have been found on five different rural sites in Surrey and West Sussex (a region where other head pots or face pots are unknown), three of them from villas - at Beddingham, Rapsley and Chiddingfold - one from Fishbourne palace, and the other from a roadside village at Alfoldean. They were clearly very large vessels, c. 34 cm high. She could be either Cybele or Fortuna, both of whom can be represented with mural crowns60, but no clues as to the identity of the figure portrayed, apart from some female hair and fragments of turrets and wall from the mural crown, have survived The fact that five pottery fir cones, objects virtually unknown in Britain, come from the villa at Rapsley, could indicate a connection with Cybele61.

As already mentioned, glass may have taken over from pottery for the production of precious cult vessels in the wealthier or more developed provinces of the Western Empire. The best known glass head vases are those from Köln, which seem to be mostly maidens, youths, bearded men and the bald, beak-nosed figure (Pl. S15) known from Knidian and Tunisian head vases and head flagons66. They often have a tall, narrow, funnel neck, and may have either one or two faces. The two-faced glass head vase found at Worms (No 4) seems to represent a double image of Bacchus, as probably does the small ceramic balsamarium from central Gaul, (No 1). There are also other glass head vases from Köln which are smaller and more like balsamaria.

A.9. Head vases of Gaul and the Rhineland; first to third century AD (Fig. S5: 1-6) 1. Only a very few ceramic head vases have been found in western Europe apart from Britain. By far the largest numbers were made in central Gaul in the terracotta and pottery workshops of the Allier valley. These however are all small bottles or balsamaria for holding precious oils or incense, and generally have a yellow-green glaze, (Nos 1-3).

Pl. S14. Small green-glazed head vase or balsamarium from Trier in the RLM Trier62, 1st century; height c. 10 cm. (Photo: RLM Trier) Pl. S15. glass head vase from Koln in the Löffler Collection, in the RLM Köln, 3rd century; height c. 14 cm.

58

It is also on the west coast of Britain in contrast to all the other British head pots which come from the east side of the province. 59 Bird 2002. 60 Ibid, 309. 61 Fir cones are regularly associated with Attis, the consort of Cybele, who castrated himself and died under a fir tree. But, as noted in Appendix I, G.4, fir cones and/or fir trees are common to quite a number of mystery cults, including that of Bacchus. 62 RLM Trier No 27,31.

63

Saalburg mus. No Z1196, ORL II, 1, No 8, 1937, 165, Fig. 21: 61. Braithwaite 1984, 119, Fig. 12: 1-4. 65 In the Stadt und Kreis Museum at Landshut. 66 Fremersdorf 1961, Pls. 104, 106-8, 166-170, 172-6. 64

451

APPENDIX IV them found in Britain72. Two others in the shape of female busts are in the British museum, ascribed to the second century BC73. Hutchinson suggests they served as incense containers for use in the worship of Bacchus (ibid, 22). As incense was probably burnt in most religious rituals, it is possible that they were used in other cults as well. These little pots are a clear continuation of the Archaic Greek ceramic balsamaria in the shape of human heads or busts of probable Bacchic inspiration described in Chapter I, C.5 (Fig. B5: 6-7). As mask or portrait types, they are very similar to the head vases.

B. BRONZE HEAD VASES, BALSAMARIA AND STEELYARD WEIGHTS (Fig. S5: 7-9) B.1 Bronze head vases Metal head vases were also made, in bronze, silver and gold, portraying very similar figures, though few in precious metals have survived The gold and silver head rhyta from Thracian tombs mentioned in A.1. above are among the rare exceptions. One little known group of bronze head vases is of particular interest, which are thought to have been used as containers for oil to be used at the baths67. They portray the familiar, bald, beaknosed figure, and have a carrying handle attached to loops on either side of the head and a small hinged lid at the top (Fig. S5: 7). Another group of bronze head vases, also with a carrying handle, but with a wider opening, and portraying the head of Bacchus as a youth, are known from north Africa68. Cylindrical metal pots with carrying handles but no faces and with smoke rising from them, presumably incense, feature on some of the marble reliefs carved with Bacchic masks described in Appendix V, F69, and it is possible that many of the small metal pots with carrying handles that have been found were used as censers. A small bronze pot from Köln which is described as both a censer and an ink pot, has three heads, or rather three Bacchic masks70 (Pl. S16). There is no sign of a carrying handle.

B. 3.

Steelyard weights (Fig. S5: 8-9)

1. These may seem an odd category of objects to include here, but quite a number of them are modelled in the shape of a human head or bust. They look very like the bronze balsamaria above, and indeed they may have started out the same, and then have been filled up with lead to the correct weight. The figures represented seem to be those of mystery gods or their associates, or occasionally deified Antonine empresses, possibly on account of their identification with oriental mystery goddesses. Again many of them appear to have represented Bacchus or members of his thiasos. Valerie Hutchinson lists ten of these that have been found in Britain, four thought to be busts of Bacchus, two naked figures of him, three busts of satyrs or sileni, and one bust of a maenad74. They vary in size, as they must have done in weight, ranging from four to twelve centimetres tall. 2. A balance or a steelyard is associated with a number of deities, particularly mystery gods, presumably because of their role as saviour gods and arbiters of the dead, and symbolises the concept of the soul being weighed in the balance. Egyptian funeral paintings show Anubis, the dog-headed guardian of the dead, we ighing the heart of the deceased (in which was thought to be the soul or the intelligence) against the feather of Truth. A balance is one of the symbols frequently depicted on the votive hands and bronze plaques connected with the cult of Sabazius, and a steelyard with weights is among the collection of cult objects belonging to the Dolichenus cult found in the buried hoard at Mauer an der Url75. There is also a poem written to Cybele by a tribune from Carvoran identifying her with Julia Domna and extolling her virtues and powers, describing her as “Mother of the Gods, Peace, Virtue, Ceres, the Syrian Goddess, weighing life and law in her balance”76. A weight in the form of Isis is known from London77, and Miranda Green lists three more from the city all thought to represent Cybele, as well as another Cybele from Avebury, and one possibly representing Attis from Felixstowe78. One other weight from Kingscote is in the shape of a bust thought to represent the Empress Faustina II or Fausta, which bears a warning not to take the gods or the Domus Divina in vain (presumably by giving short measure)79.

Pl. S16. Small bronze pot with three Bacchic heads or masks : a maenad, a satyr and one other which is not described., in the RGM Köln; size and date unspecified (Photo: Borger 1977, Pl. 41).

B.2. Bronze balsamaria

The bronze head vase from Köln in Pl. S17 is described as a sliding steelyard weight80. It is very similar to the “oil pots” described in B.1 above (Fig. S5: 7) and depicts the same beakednose head. It has presumably been filled up with lead to act as a weight, but unfortunately no description is given and the size is unspecified.

Bronze balsamaria were also made in the shape of a human bust or head, and are very similar to the small terracotta or glass balsamaria mentioned in section A. 9 above. These may have been more widespread than seems apparent, as they crop up in museum collections around the world, but only rarely do they survive in good enough condition to be displayed. Many if not most of these, as far as can be seen, portray Bacchus himself or figures belonging to his thiasos71. Valerie Hutchinson lists four of

72

Hutchinson 1986, Cat. Nos Me 31-34 B. M. Inv. Nos GR 1772.3-4.37A and GR 1839.11-9.40A. Hutchinson 1986, Cat. Nos Me 44-53. 75 See Appendix 1, G.1and G.3. 76 Henig 1984, 110. 77 ibid, 179. 78 Green, 1976, 222, Pl. XXII: J; 191, Pl. XXII: f; 218. 79 Henig 1984, 179. 80 Borger 1977, Pl. 44. 73

67

74

Nenova-Merdjanova 2000, 303-4, Figs 1-3. See also From Tisavar in Tunisia (Bardo National Museum No 119) and from Faras in Nubia (Khartoum State Museum No 693, Richter 1967, Cat. Nos 121 and 123). 69 Cain 1988, Pls. 23-6. 70 Borger 1977, 39a, Pl. 41. 71 Mainzer Zeitschrift 23, 1928, 7, Fig. 13. 68

452

ROMAN HEAD VASES AND ASSOCIATED VESSELS CERAMIC HEAD VASES OF GAUL AND GERMANY (Nos 1-3 and 5-6), A GLASS HEAD VASE (No 4), A BRONZE OIL POT (No 7) AND TWO STEELYARD WEIGHTS (Nos 8-9)

Fig. S5. 1, Gaul; 2, Trier; 3, Gaul; 4, Worms; 5, Haltern; 6, Trier; 7, unprovenanced; 8, Old Carlisle; 9, Aquincum. (Scale 1:2 except Nos 2, 3 and 4, scale unspecified).

453

APPENDIX IV C.

LAMPS

Pl. S18. Terracotta lamp in fine red ware from Straubing in the Museum der Stadt Regensburg.

There is not room, nor any need, to discuss these here in detail, but a small proportion of mould-made lamps, both bronze and terracotta, have faces on them, most if not all of Bacchic inspiration, and most commonly with a satyr or silenus face, though there is a small bronze lamp from Straubing which has the face of a maenad86. They clearly belong to the same Bacchic tradition as the little face rhyta discussed in section A.4 above. Just occasionally one finds hand-made versions with handmodelled faces, not so different from face pot masks. The unusual lamp from Straubing in Pl. S14 below has the dotted line decoration typical of the local pottery of the first and second centuries in the upper Danube region (see chapter VII, Fig. G3)

Pl. S17. Bronze “sliding weight” from Köln in the RGM Köln, size and date unspecified. (Photo: Borger 1977, Pl. 44)

3. A rather different steelyard weight from Old Carlisle is in the form of a small bearded head (Fig. S: 8), very beautifully moulded in a stylised, Celtic style and thought to represent a native god, possibly a Celtic Mercury by analogy with a rather similar looking bearded head from Lezoux wearing a winged cap81. Mercury in his role of god of trade would also have been an obvious deity to portray on weights, though he too as psychopomp was an arbiter of the dead and came to be included in mystery cults. However it could equally well be the bearded Romano-British Smith God who is represented82. The modelling of the hair with its raised stylised tufts is reminiscent of some British and Danubian face pots where flat pellet bosses are used to portray hair, some of which are similarly striated83.

D.

GENERAL DISCUSSION OF HEAD VASES

D.1. The identity of the figures represented. As far as can be seen, the connection between head vases and the Bacchic cult continues throughout the Roman period, though now with the addition of some new figures such as the house slave and the old hag from Greek comedy who relate to Dionysus through his theatre, several deities of oriental mystery cults whose inclusion would seem to be due to the role they share with Dionysus as salvation gods, and also the enigmatic bald-headed figure with the grotesque, Charun-like nose. Portraiture clearly changed over the centuries, and the hairstyles of Roman youths and maidens tend to be very different from those of Archaic or Classical Greece. Satyrs and sileni also now look very different. But though not all the figures portrayed on head vases can be clearly identified, the general connection of these vases with the Bacchic tradition is never really in doubt. The clearest evidence for this comes from Knidos and north Africa, where the same face types used on head vases also occur on mould-made head flagons which are decorated in relief with Bacchic scenes and imagery. But Bacchic decoration in the form of grapes, ivy wreaths and garlands is also common on the other groups of head vases, as is the occurrence of satyrs, maenads and sileni, and occasionally theatrical masks.

4. An unusual weight comes from Aquincum, in the form of a Janus figure with two up-turned male faces with sharply protruding noses and neatly hatched goatee beards (Fig. S5: 9). The two faces are remarkably like some of the masks on face jars and face beakers from Pannonia and Raetia84 and also one or two from further down the Danube85. These face masks are discussed in Chapter XII, B.4, where it is suggested that they might just possibly represent the native image of the popular pre-Roman Pannonian god worshipped under the Roman names of Silvanus or Pan. As both Pan and Silvanus are close associates of DionysusBacchus, they would be equally suitable subjects for steelyard weights.

To what extent these figures and imagery were still after all these years linked to aspects of Bacchic worship and had not just become the standard decorative scheme for any vessels connected with wine, is of course very hard to judge. The same is true of the many Bacchic or Orphic mosaics found in Late Roman villas, which could just have been considered the appropriate themes for

81

Toynbee 1986, Cat No 44, Pls. 46 and 244. See Chapter XII, B.6. See Chapter IX, Pt III, Face Group 5, Fig. J16: 8-9. 84 See Chapter VII, Figs. G5: 4-6 and G6: 1, and Chapter VIII, Figs. H3: 5 and H11: 4-5. 85 Figs. H4: 2 and H10: 2. 82 83

86

454

Walke, 1965, Pl. 90.

ROMAN HEAD VASES AND ASSOCIATED VESSELS vases that occur from time to time91, so that contact between the two traditions seems only to have been intermittent.

dining rooms. However, the regular occurrence of Bacchic scenes, imagery and masks on third century Roman sarcophagi argues against the disappearance of all religious content, as does the frequent occurrence of head vases in graves87. The inclusion of some of the oriental mystery gods, who had no particular connection with wine, in the head vase tradition, would also seem to indicate that the connection with Bacchus was less to do with his role as Wine God and rather more to do with his role as a salvation and underworld god.

The relationship with head vases seems in any case to have been closer in the case of face beakers than of face jars. To some extent most face beakers on which the face takes up most of the body of the pot, are somewhat reminiscent of head vases, and particularly those face beakers with protruding chins such as the ones from the Danubian provinces of DAN Types 6-1792, and one or two found elsewhere such as RL Types 14 A and B from the Rhineland, FS Type 16 from the French Channel coast, and the two of RB Type 37 from Britain93. But where face jars are concerned, there seems to be virtually no evidence that they ever developed just as stylised copies of head vases, in either the eastern Mediterranean or in western Europe, and apart from the one group of Late Roman face jars in north east Britain, the link with head vases seems to have been through face beakers or through the masks they share, most of which appear to belong to the same Bacchic tradition as head vases. Once the face beaker and face jar traditions had merged in the Rhineland and spread from there to other provinces, the original connection between the face beakers and head vases may have largely been forgotten, particularly in the northern provinces where face jars predominate and head vases, either ceramic or glass, were most of the time unknown or very rare. In the Danubian provinces however, where face beakers outnumber face jars and where imported head vases from the Black Sea and the eastern Mediterranean are not uncommon (as well as local copies), a closer link may well have been maintained.

D.2. The relationship between head vases and face pots As has been seen in Chapter II, B.3.c, the close resemblance between the early Etruscan face beakers in black bucchero ware with two handles and two faces and the early Attic two-faced kantharoi which portray the young Bacchus or a satyr (see below, Fig. M1: 1-2), suggests that the Etruscan face beakers may have originated as stylised copies of Greek head vases. Their apparent disappearance by the fourth century could mean that they were replaced by the locally produced Etruscan polychrome head vases. However the occurrence of face beakers with very similar faces in Rome and south-western Etruria during the later second and first centuries BC, in the very same area where the Etruscan face beakers had been found, may indicate some continuity of face beaker traditions in this area, though they could conceivably be the result of stylised copying of more recent head vases, made of metal or fineware pottery. The appearance of face beakers in northern Italy in the early first century AD with grimacing features and a grotesque beaked nose that looks like a caricature of the Charun mask, particularly the beak-nosed face beakers of the Ticino region of IT Type 18 which all have a Bacchic mask at the back, suggests that the Etruscan Charun head vase and others like it88 may have provided the model from which these stylised face beakers had at some time been copied.

The essential difference between head vases and provincial Roman face pots, would seem to be that head vases naturalistically portray the Bacchic figures themselves - Bacchus, Persephone/ Ariadne, satyrs, maenads, Hercules etc - and not just their masks, while face pots, and in particular face jars, are decorated with stylised versions of the Bacchic masks, including theatrical masks. It is true that there are one or two early and odd-shaped Roman head vases in the eastern Mediterranean with comedy masks, such as the one in Fig.S1: 6 but these seem to be the exception. Head vases therefore may well have been more associated with the worship of Bacchus as a mystery and salvation god and the same with the other deities portrayed on them, as well as connected with the drinking of wine, while face pots could have been more connected with the protective aspects of the Bacchic masks and of the local native masks equated with them which were also frequently used on face jars and just occasionally on face beakers. How significant this difference was, given that they were both part of the same Bacchic tradition, is hard for us to judge. But it is easy to see that over time in the provinces, once local copying began, there could have been some confusion, particularly in Britain where ceramic head vases, which seem previously to have been unknown, were suddenly introduced in the third century.

In the provinces, and at a later date, some merging of head vase and face pot traditions seems also to have taken place. In Pannonia some of the Roman face beakers of DAN Types 11-12 with pedestal bases appear to be derived from head vases, though no direct links can be drawn with any of the locally-made head vases so far identified by the author89. Similarly in Britain in the Late Roman period, it appears that the face pots of RB Types 28 A-B with faces on the girth and a circle of stamped bosses around the face are partly derived from the later third century British head pots, some of which also have stamped bosses representing hair90. It is not clear from the little evidence that survives to what extent the link between face pots and head vases was just the result of periodic interaction and copying, or whether is it possible to talk of two parallel traditions that existed all along, side by side, one naturalistic and the other abstract and stylised, both representing Bacchic figures. The latter may have been the case with the Etruscan and possibly even the early Romano-Italian face beakers, when head vases seem to have been more common in Italy. But for most of the Roman imperial period naturalistic head vases belonged mainly to the Greek-speaking eastern half of the Empire and north Africa while face jars and face beakers are known only in the Latin-speaking West and far outnumber the western head

91 However their number may have been greater in the West than is now apparent, particularly in the Rhineland, as it is clear that head vases were produced in glass at Köln, and perhaps elsewhere as well, only a few of which have survived. These could have influenced later Roman face beakers. 92 See Chapter VIII, Figs H3-6. 93 See Chapter VI, Pt. I, Fig. D7: 6-7; Chapter V, Fig. E4: 2; and Chapter IX, Pt. III, Fig. J15: 1-2..

87 Though for some reason very few head vases from Britain are so far known to have come from funerary contexts. 88 It is intrinsically unlikely that only the one surviving example of the Charun head vase was produced. 89 See Chapter VIII, Fig. H4: 4-5 and Appendix IV, Fig. S3. 90 See Chapter IX, Pt. III, Fig. J13, and Appendix IV, Fig. S4: 8.

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MASKS FROM THE ROMAN PERIOD

APPENDIX FIVE MASKS FROM THE ROMAN PERIOD: AS THEY APPEAR ON MASK BEAKERS, ANTEFIXES AND MARBLE RELIEFS, OR AS FREE-STANDING MASKS MADE OF TERRACOTTA OR METAL

Pl. S19. Unprovenanced pendant or steelyard weight in the shape of a Silenus mask from the Getty Museum.

Contents Introduction: Roman masks in general A. Colour-coated mask beakers B. Mask situla and jug handle masks C. Terracotta masks D. Terracotta Antefixes E. Metal parade masks F. Marble Reliefs with Bacchic masks G. Discussion

457

459 459 460 461 471 475 478 479

APPENDIX V ROMAN FINEWARE BEAKERS WITH LARGE MASKS MADE WITH MOULDS

Fig. S6.

Examples made in Central Gaul, Nos 1-10; made in The Rhône valley, Nos 12-13; made elsewhere, Nos 11 and 14-16. (Scale: Nos 2-4, 6, 8-10 and 17 at 1:2; Nos 1, 5, 7, 11-15 at 1:3; No 16 at 1c.1:6.) 1,Verulamium; 2, 4, 5, 7, 9 and 10 Lezoux.; 3, Vichy; 6, Amiens or Bavay; 8, Clermont-Ferrand; 11, Lyon; 12, St Rémy; 13, St Romain-en-Gal; 14, Brigetio; 15, Chester; 16, Corbridg; 17 Much Hadham.

458

MASKS FROM THE ROMAN PERIOD the wealthy. The colour-coated mask beakers and the marble mask reliefs with their finely sculpted classical imagery described below in sections A and F are hardly examples of popular art but both provide some of the clearest evidence for the full range of Bacchic masks used during the Roman period, and in particular in the first and second centuries, while the terracotta masks and the antefixes show how the masks could change with time and through repeated copying by inexpert craftsmen, both in the provinces and also in Italy.

INTRODUCTION: ROMAN MASKS IN GENERAL 1. It is evident to anyone who visits Pompeii and Herculaneum, and particularly the National Archaeologicial Museum in Naples, that masks played as important a role in everyday Roman life, and in death, as they had in classical Greece and in Etruscan Italy. And these masks, like the head vases, also belong to the Greek Bacchic tradition, and apart from one or two later additions such as Jupiter Ammon or Oceanus1, they are basically the same masks that had been used by the Greeks and the Etruscans before, just modified slightly by changes in the style of portraiture. Whether it is a carved stone theatrical mask hung between the columns of a peristyle courtyard, or the painted masks of Pan and Satyrs high up on the walls of a plastered room, or the bearded mask of Bacchus on a carved marble relief, or the countless satyr and silenus masks sculpted on door knobs and jug handles or carved into the shape of a lamp, Bacchic masks were everywhere in Pompeian homes, painted, hung, sculpted or carved in all places where they could bring protection to the living and to the dead. No less evident are wall paintings and carvings of vivid Bacchic scenes: dancing maenads and satyrs, Pan playing his pipes, Bacchus with a maenad (Pl. S18) or drinking with Hercules and members of his woodland company, even a haunting painting of a brooding Bacchus standing with his panther and a great snake below the now vanished sharp summit of Vesuvius2.

A. COLOUR-COATED MASK BEAKERS, OR OTHER FINEWARE VESSELS WITH FACE MASKS MADE WITH A MOULD (Fig. S6: 1-17) 1. Just as the head vase tradition continued into the Roman period, so too did the Greek custom of decorating fineware vases with large, prominently placed masks on gthe shoulder of girth, though now the masks are no longer just painted, but are moulded in relief. Evidence for one of the earliest Roman mask vases comes from northern Italy from an Arretine mould for a relief-decorated bowl with two bearded Silenus masks and two young satyr masks, all of them bedecked with ivy-leaf crowns and garlands and interspersed with pine-cone staffs or thyrsoi3. Bacchic masks continue to be common on Gaulish terra-sigillata vessels4, but they are mainly rather small, and tend to be just one among the many other elements of the decorative scheme, not the main theme.

These masks and paintings and the ubiquitous Bacchic symbolism and imagery that runs like a continuum through all Pompeian art - the profusion of grapes and vine leaves, garlands of ivy, pine cones, elegant glass or silver kantharoi, panthers, goats, satyrs and maenads, not to mention the countless phallic ornaments in carvings and paintings - had become an inseparable part of every day Roman life and art, an ever present back-cloth of comfortable, protective, popular belief and superstition, and an essential decorative framework for preserving the health and safety of the family and the security of the home.

2. Larger Bacchic masks forming the main theme of decoration do however occur on some of the wheel-made, decorated, colour-coated beakers that were also produced in Gaulish terrasigillata workshops in addition to the standard range of mouldmade bowls and platters5. Most of these beakers were probably produced in central Gaul, at the potteries in and around Lezoux, in the later first and early second centuries (Nos 1-10 and Pl. S20), and were widely exported to other provinces, including Britain6. Though they were all made on the wheel, the masks and other figurative decoration has been applied using moulds. They are generally in a red or reddish-buff fabric, with a dark-brown, black or greenish colour coat, often with a metallic sheen. Another smaller group of similar beakers with appliqué masks were made in the Rhône valley at Lyon and Vienne7 (Nos 1213). These are mostly in a light orange fabric with a glossy orange colour-coat, though there are also a few examples with a dark red or brown colour-coat. They appear to have been less widely exported than those from the Lezoux area.

3. Pompeii cannot have been unique, and though Greek influence must undoubtably have been stronger in the Campanian south than in northern Italy, enough evidence survives from Rome and the provinces to show that the houses of the wealthy throughout the Empire were decorated in a very similar fashion. Moreover, to judge by late Roman silverware and mosaics, the abundance of Bacchic imagery and masks and the popularity of Bacchic and Orphic themes continued right through to the end of the fourth century, despite the introduction of Christianity. However what survives at Pompeii and elsewhere is essentially expensive high-status art work in nonperishable materials such as metal, stone, fine ceramics, finely painted wall plaster, mosaics and occasionally glass, all of which belonged predominantly to the wealthy and not to the ordinary man or to the poor. The lower orders of society must have felt the need for a protective framework of masks, phalli and symbolic paintings just as keenly as the wealthy, but we find only scraps of evidence for the popular images and masks with which they would have decorated their homes, and with which face pot masks could be compared, for these would normally have been expressed in much cheaper, organic materials such as wood, leather and textiles, almost none of which, even at Pompeii, have survived into the present day.

3. As with the head vases and the pre-Roman mask vases, the faces or masks portrayed on these beakers all appear to belong to the Bacchic tradition, and include those of Bacchus, with or without a beard (Nos 5, 6, 16 and 17), satyrs (No 13), sileni (No 15), maenads (No 1), Pan (No 2), Achelous (No 3), beak-nosed masks - some more serious, others comic-grotesque (Nos 7-10) -

3

Chase 1916, Pl. XXI: 102. Déchelette 1904 II, 109-114, Nos 660-719. 5 See Braithwaite 2001, 287. 6 These are illustrated by Déchelette under the title “vases à relief d’applique “ (1904, II, 224-9 and 302-4) . Examples found in Britain have been published by Dr Grace Simpson (1957, 29-42, and 1973, 4751). 7 These form part of a larger group of beakers known as the “vases à médaillon”, which have appliqué medallions on the shoulder decorated in relief with scenes from mythology or contemporary life. Just a small proportion of the beakers have appliqué masks in place of medallions. These have been loosely dated to the second and third centuries (Desbat and Leblanc, 2001, 57-65, Fig. 6: 1-6 ). 4

4. This Appendix brings together some of the more popular mask types used during the Roman period, drawing in particular on pottery and terracotta, materials that were not limited only to 1 2

See Appendix 1, D.11 and E.3. Ward Perkins and Claridge, 1978, 60.

459

APPENDIX V and one or two monster masks that are half man and half lion8. Also now included are theatrical masks (Nos 6 and 14), and the ram-horned mask of Jupiter Ammon9, which became associated with the Bacchic masks in the late Hellenistic and early Roman period10 (No 12).

known. On one of these from Lezoux, a beak-nosed mask with a hole crudely pierced through the bridge of the nose is placed next to an applied figure of Fortuna (No 7, Pl. S20)), while on other beakers the masks are interspersed with Bacchic motifs such as acanthus leaves, as can be seen on a rare complete beaker from Verulamium with two masks, one a maenad and the other a Silenus (No 1), or pine cones as on a fragment with a mask of Pan from York12. The beakers from the Rhône valley (Nos 1213) appear to have had only one mask and no symbols, but too few reconstructable examples have survived for there to be any certainty of this.

4. The goat-horned mask of Pan (No 2) must have been particularly popular, in Britain at any rate, as at least seven examples are known from this country, probably all imported from central Gaul11, far outnumbering all the other known beaker-mask types found here. The beak-nosed mask, while quite common at Lezoux, seems to be rarely found on mask beakers elsewhere. At Lyon however there is a very unusual large beaker or jar which has a projecting beak-nosed protome head, wearing some kind of decorated skull cap or a crown composed of medallions, flanked by two incomplete profile heads wearing diadems or crowns, one of which at least can be seen to have had a beard (No 11).

6. Beakers with mould-made Bacchic masks were also produced in other western provinces, and a number of rather shallower beakers or bowls with three or four masks round the girth were produced in Pannonia in green glazed ware of probable late first to early third century date13. On some beakers the mask is not applied but made by pressing the wall of the pot into a negative mould. This is the case with a green-glazed twohandled beaker from Brigetio (No 14) with the high wig of a tragic actor, on which the eyes and the mouth have been pierced through the wall of the pot. The Late Antonine beaker from Chester with a bearded silenus face and a bronze metallic colourcoat, possibly an import from the Rhineland, also appears to have a similarly impressed mask (No 15). The mask beaker from Corbridge (No 16) is an anomaly, and quite different from the rest. It is also much larger. With its awkwardly applied bulky mask, close up against the rim, it appears to have been made by an inexperienced potter, and could be a local product. It seems to be the mask of the ecstatic Bacchus, similar to No 9 but with a beard. The small, chubby-cheeked mask from Much Hadham (No 17 )14, represents the infant Bacchus, and is a version of a specific type known in the western provinces as Risus15.

B. A MASK SITULA IN BRONZE OR SILVER 1. On the walls of the villa of Publius Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale near Naples was found a perfectly preserved painting, now in the Naples National Museum, of a large twohandled bronze or silver situla, with two ornate mounts on the rim, under one of which is a large mask of a bearded Bacchus or a silenus, and no doubt another is on the other side. The situla is painted standing on a table with other objects thought to be athletics prizes. Placed diagonally behind it is a trident with a snake climbing up it16. It is on three raised feet, in the shape of goats’ legs, possibly to allow a burner beneath it. This unique painting, of the first century BC, is an important reminder of the role played by bronze, silver and gold vessels in Roman cult traditions, so few of which have survived, but which were the proto-types for a great many ceramic vessels of the first centuries BC and AD, particularly in Arretine ware, but also in other wares as well.

Pl. S20 Unprovenanced, brown, colour-coated beaker made at Lezoux with an appliqué beak-nosed mask, in the Rijksmuseum van Oudheiden, Leiden; height 16 cm.

The masks, which are normally frontal and placed on the shoulder or girth can number more than one and be interspersed with figures and decorative ornament. Very few complete examples have survived, so the typical arrangements are not

12

Hall, 1954, 67-8, Pl. XV. Gassner 1991, Fig. 2-4. 14 This is a cast taken from an unpublished mould found in the Bromleyhall Farm kilns at Much Hadham (Bernard Barr, private info. 1999). 15 Small, free-standing pipe-clay busts with this baby face are found in 2nd century cremation graves and temple sites in Gaul, the Rhineland, and Britain, and are one of the subjects for bronze balsamaria. One of the latter, found in York, has a phallus depicted in relief on the hinged lid on the top of his head (Hutchinson 1986, 227, Me-32, Pl. V: c). Another risus bust found at Margate, made as a bronze bridle mount, also has a phallus on top of his head, this time in higher relief and looking like a topknot (ibid, 255, Me-57). For a further discussion of the risus mask see Hutchinson 1986, 139. 16 Ward Perkins and Claridge 1978, Cat No 107. 13

8 Déchelette 1904, 303, Nos 135-6. Lion masks are very ancient, and are always recurring, both in architecture and sculpture, and on ceramic and metal vessels. They probably have their origin among the demon and monster masks of the Bronze Age in the Near East, and are thought to be one of the elements that went into the creation of the Greek Gorgon mask (Boardman, 1968, 38). They are clearly apotropaic, but are only sometimes found in the same contexts as the Bacchic masks. 10

See Appendix 1, E.3 and Cain 1988, No 38, Fig. 52. Simpson 1973, Pl. IX: 2; Toynbee 1962, Cat No 150, and Hall, 1954, 67.

11

460

MASKS FROM THE ROMAN PERIOD C.

C.1.

TERRACOTTA MOULD-MADE MASKS (Figs. S7, S8: 1-5 and 9 and S9: 1-2 )

Roman terracotta masks in general

The production of terracotta masks using moulds is another tradition that was inherited by the Romans from the Greeks and the Etruscans19, and in the Roman period it is often found in association with the production of figurines for which the same mould technology was required. Here again, as with Roman head vases, we see a continuation of the same Bacchic types as in the previous five or six hundred years - satyrs, maenads, Bacchus, maidens and theatrical masks - though now the Gorgon is rarely if ever present. Probably the most common types of terracotta mask found on Roman sites across the Empire, though not so much it seems in the north western provinces, are theatrical masks, and in particular the tragedian’s mask with characteristic high wig and “tragic” expression with down-turned open mouth and anxious eyes, and the comic, house-slave mask with grinning, bearded mouth, short hair brushed back from the forehead, and wrinkled brows and cheeks. One notable difference from the earlier masks is the fact that far fewer of them have been found in graves20, and possibly none of the large, life-size masks from the north western provinces, and as a result very few whole examples have survived. There are however some less common miniature masks that do come from graves, which are discussed in section C.5 below. Pl. S21. Fresco from a villa at Boscoreale in the National Archeological Museum Naples, showing a large silver or bronze situla standing on three goat legs and with two ornate mounts on the rim below one of which can be seen a large Bacchic mask. Behind is a trident up which a winged serpent is climbing.

2. Déchelette suggests that some of the masks on the fineware beakers discussed above, such as the fine one of Achelous (No 3), were very probably made from moulds taken from silver or bronze vessels17. He presumably had in mind some of the many bronze jug handles that terminate in a bearded Bacchic mask. It is not impossible however that the mask beakers themselves, and not just their mould-made masks, were originally copied from metal vessels which have not survived, except in the case of this painting of a much larger mask situla. Such vessels could have played a part in the early development of face beakers and face jars, or have influenced them at some stage or other in their development. The forms of the two Italian face jars, of IT Types 35 and 36, are both reminiscent of situlae, while the large face beakers or face jars of the Danubian provinces of DAN Types 25-6 and 2818 are not unlike the taller mask beakers such as the one in Fig. S6: 13.

Pl. S22. Modern copy of a Greco-Roman terracotta comedy mask from Cherson in the Chersonnessus Museum, Sebastopol; height 16 cm.

C.2. Roman masks from Greece and Pompeii (Fig. S7) 1. A number of masks of first and second century AD date from Athens and Pompeii are illustrated in Fig. S7: 3- 8 showing most of the commonly found types: satyrs (No 2), maenads (No 6), house-slave (No 1) and tragic masks (No 7). There are also maidens (in all likelihood Persephone or Ariadne) and masks that could represent Bacchus, though most masks are so fragmentary that identification is difficult. An interesting feature of some of the Pompeian masks is the evidence for simplification and conflation that is revealed, as well as poor copying.

19 See Appendix I, C and E; Chapter I, C.7, Fig. B5: 4-5, and Chapter II, C.3. 20 Ibid, 2000, 63.

17

Déchelette 1904, 225, No 110. 18 Chapter VIII, Figs. H8, H9, and H10: 4-5.

461

APPENDIX V MOULD-MADE TERRACOTTA MASKS FROM ATHENS AND POMPEII

Fig. S7. 1-2, , Athens; 2-8, Pompeii. (Scale c. 1:3)

462

MASKS FROM THE ROMAN PERIOD Finer, larger and more classical-looking marble versions also occur in many of the larger houses where some of them at least were suspended, despite their weight, from the cross beams of peristyle courtyards in between the columns. While marble versions of classical-looking satyrs are plentiful, the satyr masks made of terracotta tend to be conflated with the house-slave type, as in No 4, where the satyr horns are barely visible in the hair, the ears are large but no longer pointed, and the mouth is now a gaping grin. One of the tragic masks still has the appropriate “tragic” expression though the high wig has been cut short (No 7), but in another more degenerate version the original tragic mask is virtually unrecognisable (No 8) 2. The grotesque, grinning mask from Pompeii (No 3) seems to be a new addition, and there is also one other similar mask from this site, also incomplete, with one eye shut21. No reconstructable versions of this type are known from Roman Greece, though there is a twisted nose fragment from the Agora in Athens that might perhaps have come from such a mask22. It is often suggested that these two Pompeian masks represents Maccus, the buffoon of the Atellan farces23. Another new-comer is the charming little mask of Attis with his pilos or Phrygian pointed cap (No 5). This is of particular interest, firstly because it shows that in this genre too, as with the head vases, oriental mystery deities are taking their place alongside the traditional Bacchic figures; and secondly because the face is of exactly the same dimensions as some of the maenad masks which have survived, and it is assumed they must all have been made from the same mould, suggesting that moulds existed for plain featureless masks and then distinguishing characteristics were added with a separate mould or moulds at a later stage before firing24.

Pl. S23. Incomplete Roman terracotta mask from Nijmegen thought to represent a satyr in the Museum Het Valkhof, Nijmegen27; height 17.5 cm

been the subject of a pioneering study by Hannelore Rose28. Again, as in Roman Greece, so few whole masks or large fragments survive that identification is very difficult. The most popular type however seems to be the grotesque, beak-nosed mask, followed by the female and tragic masks of which no complete versions have survived and which are very difficult to distinguish one from another. These latter seem to have been made in a different manner from the rest, the face being flatter and the terracotta thinner, with a flat outer rim, strengthened at the back by an inner band or strap projecting at right-angles to the mask, on which the hair appears to have been separately and much more thickly moulded29. As a result only rarely do female faces survive, but a lot of carefully moulded hair fragments testify to their existence30. Some of these are very similar in appearance to the hair on metal parade masks, with spiral curls and elaborate waves cascading around the face as in the rare, almost complete mask from Straubing31(No 9). The connection with parade masks may not be a coincidence, as there is also one very fine, complete terracotta mask found in a pit in the South Trier potteries32 which is very similar to a parade mask from Hirchova in Roumania, and could be a simplified copy of it or of a mask like it (see Pl. S32a-b below).

3. Most of the Pompeii masks seem to have been found in houses, though only in rare circumstances is information is available concerning contexts. The two “Maccus” masks came from an atrium and fragments from at least two masks have been found within a colonnaded enclosure in the recently excavated temple of Venus. It is thought likely that most of the others, like the Greek masks, were suspended between the columns of colonnades and courtyards. However the Attis mask and one of the maenad masks were found together in a cupboard in the house of Svedio Clemente, which might indicate use in some periodic ritual.

C.3. Roman masks in the north western provinces (Figs S8 and S9) C.3.a Large masks from the Rhineland 1. North of the Alps meanwhile a rather different grotesque mask type emerges with a huge, beaked nose and fierce, grimacing face with gaping mouth and jagged teeth, reminiscent of the Etruscan Charun and the Punic demon masks25 but with even more exaggerated features (Pl. S24, Fig. S8: 2-3)26. Other, more traditional mask types also occur, such as tragic and female masks (Fig. S8: 4 and 9) and what appears to be a conflated satyr and house slave type which now often has a toothy grin (Fig. S8: 1a-b and Pl. S23). These north western masks have recently

27

Inv. No GN BB 2. Unpublished thesis, Köln, 2000. Short summaries of this study have been published (Rose 1999 and 2001). 29 Rose 2001, 298, Figs. 4 and 8-9. 30 The surviving fragments of the tragic mask from Mainz, No 4, the most complete female or tragic mask so far identified in the Rhineland, were destroyed in the last War, and only this drawing survives. 31 This female mask from the fort vicus at Straubing in Raetia and the several other mask fragments found in and around the same site which are all very similar and must all have been made locally, are outside the mainstream production of the Rhineland, but there are numerous hair fragments from the Rhine region with very similar-looking hair. There is a snake-like quality to the individual strands of wavy hair and the neatly coiled arrangement on top which is reminiscent of the Medusa, but Persephone too can have snakes in her hair. 32 Rose, 2000, Cat. No 150; Trier RLM No 33,473; Trierer Zeitschr. 29, 1966, 33. 28

21

Rose 2000, Fig. 35; Pompeii, Deposito degli Scavi No 6590. Ibid, 71, Fig. 45. 23 Ward Perkins and Claridge 1976, No 303. 24 Rose 2000, 67. 25 See Chapter II, Pt I, B.4, Fig. B10: 2, and C.4, Fig. B11: 4-5. 26 An attempt to trace the origins and identity of the beak-nosed mask is made in Chapter XIII, A.2. 22

463

APPENDIX V MOULD-MADE TERRACOTTA MASKS FROM THE NORTH WEST PROVINCES

Fig. S8.

1, Nijmegen; 2, Baldock; 3, Trier; 4, Mainz; 5, Xanten; 6, Köln; 7, Köln; 8, Unprovenanced; 9, Straubing. (Scale c. 1:3 except Nos 6-8 at 1:2 and Nos 1b amd 4 at c. 1:4)

464

MASKS FROM THE ROMAN PERIOD from Pompeii or Roman Greece39, which though they too now seem to have been made with plaster moulds, tend to be around three quarters or two-thirds life-size. Holes are cut out for the eyes and mouth and generally for the nostrils as well, except probably in the case of the female and tragic masks, few of whose noses have survived.

3. The unusual, featureless mask from Xanten with its smooth hairless forehead (No 5) is thicker and less flat that the usual female mask and looks as though it could be a blank mask of the kind made at Pompeii to which distinguishing characteristics could be added before firing. There is no sign however of any terracotta hair or other features having been added at any time, yet the eyes, nose and mouth have been painted, suggesting that it must have been considered finished as it was. It is thought to have been made at Köln, but must have been sold as a completed mask to end up in Xanten. Perhaps some kind of hair or cap might have been attached which was made of organic materials, not of terracotta, but it is just conceivable that a blank, allpurpose mask might have come to be seen as all that was necessary, the rest was understood. Fragments from other similar masks have also been found in the Rhineland33. The beak-nosed mask (Pl. S24 and Fig. S8: 3) 3. The grotesque mask with gaping jaws and huge curved nose seems to be a specifically Rhenish version of the bald, beaknosed face represented on some of the head vases and mask vases discussed in Appendix IV and in section A above, and which appears in stylised form on many of the north Italian face beakers and the face jar from Aquileia of IT Type 36. None of these have gaping jaws with teeth however34, and the bristling teeth that occur on the Rhineland masks (on the beak-nosed masks as well as on satyrs) could be the result of local influences introduced either by the soldiery (perhaps from Spain) or by the local inhabitants. On quite a number of terracotta masks the end of the beaked nose has been pierced straight through, perhaps for a nose ring, as in Nos 2 and 3. This again is a feature so far unknown on the north Italian face beakers, though the earlier Etruscan Charun head vase has a nose ring as do many Punic masks. A similarly pierced nose also occurs on an early locallyproduced face beaker at Emona of DAN Type 535 and on several of the Rhineland face jars of RL Types 24 A,B and D36 (some of which also now have teeth), as well as on at least one mask beaker from Lezoux (Fig. S6: 7 and Pl. S20). The origins of this distinctive Roman mask, that may have first developed in Italy, are explored in Chapter XII, A.2.

Pl. S24. Roman terracotta beak-nosed mask from Worms in the Museum der Stadt Worms40; height 27 cm. (photo: Museum post card)

Production centres and distribution 5. The two main production centres in the Rhineland are Köln, where they were made in a white fabric from the later first to the end of the second century, and Trier where they were made in an orange-red fabric from the later second century until the end of the third (ibid, 64-5). The earliest evidence for mask production in this region however has been found at Nijmegen, on a shortlived, limited scale, thought to date from AD 70-100, which reveals close links with some of the masks made at Köln41. Two other small production centres catering for the local market have been identified at Rheinzabern and Frankfurt-Nied42. Masks or mask fragments have been found along the Rhine from the delta to Augst, along the Moselle as far south as Metz, in the larger Wetterau forts and vicuses, and along the route from Köln to Bavay43. A few mask fragments have also been found in Britain44.

The making of the masks 4. The masks were all made in plaster moulds, departing from the earlier technique of using moulds made of baked clay37. The masks all appear to have been painted, as were the earlier Greek masks, though in most cases only faint traces of paint survives. It is not certain if this was normally done before or after firing38. The faces were white, either due to the natural white china clay or to a white-slip, with the features, including all the wrinkles, outlined and accentuated in brown or black, while the hair seems always to have been painted red or yellow. They are almost all life-size (apart from some larger masks such as No 4 and one or two smaller ones), and are rather larger than the masks known

C.3.b. Large masks made in Gaul Another separate group of terracotta masks occurs in France, in the Rhône and Allier valleys, which were probably made mainly at Lezoux and but possibly at Lyon as well45. These are also

33

Rose, 2000, Cat. No 358. The one exception to this is the little head vase in the Karlsruhe museum said to come from the eastern Mediterranean (Fig. S1: 5), though this too could have been influencd by the Rhineland masks. 35 See Chapter VIII, Fig. H2: 5. 36 See Chapter IV, Pt. II, Fig. D13-2. 37 The use of plaster moulds is easy to detect thanks to the tiny balls of clay that can be seen on the surface of the mask, particularly in the hair parts, which are the result of air bubbles being trapped in the plaster as it hardens, which later burst leaving tiny round holes which then fill up with the wet clay (Rose 2001, 297). The is not the case however with the locally produced Straubing masks, mentioned above in Note 31, which are thought to have been made using terracotta moulds. 38 Rose 2001, 297, and 2000, 12-13. 34

39 Three separate unpublished groups, two from Athens and one from Corinth, are analysed by Rose 2000, pages 70-72, Figs.45-54. 40 Inv. No 4631. 41 Ibid, 25. This is the period when legio X Gemina was stationed there, having been transferred from Rosinos de Vidriales in the Cantabria mountains in north west Spain (see Chapter V, Group D). 42 Rose, 2001, 295. 43 See map in Rose, 2001, Fig. 3. Inevitably, this distribution has a strongly military flavour as both Rose and van Boekel remark (Rose 2001, 301 and van Boekal (1987, 816), and it is very similar to the face pot distribution in the Rhineland. 44 See Note 50. 45 Desbat 1977 and 1992, Rose 2001, Fig. 3

465

APPENDIX V made with plaster moulds, and they seem to stand half way between the more Hellenistic-style Bacchic masks of Pompeii and Roman Greece and the larger, more grotesque and frequently beak-nosed masks of the Rhineland. At Lyon 25 fragments were found in one particular, large town house, on the top of a hill above the river, now known as the “Maison aux Masques”. Only two examples, possibly both satyrs, can be reconstructed, one of which has an ivy wreath or crown, but the features are somewhat more twisted and grotesque than those of the Pompeian satyrs, but without teeth of the Rhineland masks. Other types are too fragmentary to be clearly identified, but some seem to be house slaves, or female or tragic masks. There seems to be no evidence here however for the beak-nosed mask with the jagged teeth. Other production centres undoubtably existed in other provinces, such as the one mentioned above in Note 31 at Straubing.

2. The majority of masks and fragments are unprovenanced or come from rubbish layers, site-levelling and pits, but enough are now known from secure contexts for it to be clear that they were used predominantly in dwelling houses and in temple precincts, where they are thought to have been hung on walls and over doorways, both inside and outside buildings, or hung up on or between the columns of porticos, verandas, colonnades or peristyle courtyards, in much the same way as many of the masks, both marble and terracotta, were hung at Pompeii. Clear evidence for their use in the latter positions has been found in the “maison aux masques” at Lyon, where fragments were found at the base of peristyle columns built around a pool; at the palatial villa at Bad Neuenahr-Arweiler south of Köln, again in similar positions; and beside the veranda of a burnt barrack block in the fort of the Rhine Fleet on the Alteburg in Köln, where fragments were found still lying where they must have fallen when the building was burnt49. On these three sites the masks appear to have been a mixture of several different types - comic, grotesque, tragic and female – all brightly painted, which must have produced a very colourful and eye-catching effect which was presumably just what was desired.

C.3.c. Large masks made in Britain Some life-size masks appear to have been made at Colchester, to judge by two separately found mould fragments and a small mask sherd46. One mould piece represents a young woman with a small part of her head-dress still attached near to her ear which “seems to belong to an ornamental plaque”. The other mould piece is from the upper part of a head-dress consisting of three rows of bossed curls stamped with concentric circles. The actual mask fragment appears to be from the lower end of a similar head-dress. Such masks with their “plaque” head-dresses sound rather similar to the female masks made in the Rhineland with a reinforcing strap at the back and separately moulded hair, though the hair itself with its stylised bossed curls is rather different, and more reminiscent of the Gallo-Belgic bust vases with their haloes of spiral or circled curls, or the Gorgon-Medusa antefixes from Rome (see below, Fig. S10: 3 and 5). So far none of these masks have been found outside Colchester, and the mould-made mask fragments found so far in Britain, at London, Harlow and Baldock, are all from masks imported from the Rhineland47.

3. Masks have also been found in what appear to have been religious or votive deposits, as in the case of some of the masks from the Altbachtal, and particularly it seems in the case of the few finds so far identified in Britain which all seem to come from temple or votive contexts50. Terracotta masks, not surprisingly, are frequently found on kiln sites, but not necessarily on those sites where they were produced51. Seven fragments from perhaps as many different masks, both female and grotesque, all of them made in Köln, have been found in the kiln complex at Holdeurn52, while at Trier a large fragment of a Hellenistic-style satyr or maenad mask with a finely modelled wreath with grapes which must have been imported, was found close to some kilns, almost certainly pre-dating the period when Trier started producing its own masks53. Two complete, locally made masks have also been found buried close to kilns at Trier, one of them the copy of a parade mask mentioned under C.3.a above. These finds strongly suggest some kind of protective ritual or votive offering, as may have been the case occasionally with face pots found in pits near kilns54. In the Greek world today Bacchic-type masks are still hung or placed near kilns to ward off bad luck and to ensure the success of the firing55, and it may well be that ancient Greek and Roman masks were also so used.

C.4. Contexts and function of large masks 1. When first discovered, the Rhineland masks were described as theatrical masks, due to their size, and the fact that some of the earliest examples were found in the Altbachtal temple complex in association with the theatre there. However, though most of the Altbachtal finds were lost in World War II, it has now been established that the theatre was in fact abandoned at the end of the second century and the internal area filled in and levelled to allow for the building of several houses. The masks found within the theatre area are now thought to have come either from these houses (one of which had a Mithraeum attached to it, built c. 275, in which five mask fragments were found48) or from rubbish layers brought in from outside the theatre when the levelling took place. When closely analysed it is clear that these terracotta masks were far too heavy to have been regularly worn (they can weigh more than a kilo), the eye holes are wrongly positioned, the inside surfaces too rough and the string holes at the top and at the sides wrongly placed, while the flatter female or tragic masks with their projecting rim at the back could never have been fitted on a human head. That is not to say of course that they are not copies of lighter-weight theatrical masks that were actually worn, though in fact, to judge by contemporary paintings and carvings, actors’ masks usually covered the whole head.

49

Rose 2001, 298-300, Figs 12-13. Comparatively large fragments from three separate Rhineland masks have been found in or beside the bed of the Walbrook stream in London where a lot of ritual material has been identified (Marsh 1979, 265). Fragments of what Rose has identified as a tragic mask were found in a well 350 metres north of the temple at Harlow (Britannia XIII, 1982, 371), and the fragments from Baldock,amounting to almost half of a mask made at Köln or Nijmegen (Fig. S8: 2), were found in a pit near to a temple (Stead, 1975, 397-8). The probably locally-produced mask found at Catterick (see below, Fig. S9: 3, Britannia IV, 1973, 279) also comes from a similar context (Britannia IV, 1973, 279). 51 Schumacher 1911, 347. 52 Rose 2000, Cat. Nos 122, 192 a-b; 211; 302; 341; and 353. 53 Ibid, Cat. No 155. 54 See Chapter XIII, B.8. 55 Hampe and Winter 1965, 199 ff, Pl 50: 3. 50

46

Hull 1963, 108, Pl. XVIII:a and 168, Note 1, No 3, Fig. 99: 3. See Note 50. 48 Rose 2000, 57. The fragments, Cat. Nos 443-7, from one or more unidentifiable masks, are presumed lost in the War, though photos of two of them, sadly providing little help with identification, do still survive. 47

466

MASKS FROM THE ROMAN PERIOD were. There is a very large mask with a huge bulbous nose and grotesque features from Aquileia (Fig, S9: 1) and a life-size beak-nosed mask from Aquincum which, like the Aquileia mask, has no holes for the eyes or mouth (Fig. S9: 2, Pl S25).Such masks without holes cut out for the eyes and mouth could possibly be the original positive models from which the negative moulds for masks were formed, which would not have had eye or mouth holes. Another mask is reported from a temple of Liber Pater at Apulum in Dacia60.

C.5. Rhineland miniature masks (Fig. S8: 6-8) 1. These are of Late Roman date and are much smaller than the above, mostly measuring between 7-10 cm, and on the whole they tend to be found complete. The majority are thought to have been made at Trier in a typical orange-red fabric, while another much smaller group in a whitish-beige fabric such as No 6 may have been made at Köln56. Those in red fabric all seem to have had a white slip, and some had the facial features and hair painted in different colours. 30 examples all together have been identified by Rose in the Rhineland57, far fewer than the 450+ large masks and moulds she has catalogued. They mostly represent maidens, not dissimilar, as far as can be seen, from the large-size female masks of the Rhineland, though there are also a few satyr/house-slave types, one theatrical mask and one representing Pan (No 6). There is no evidence for the beak-nosed mask. No 8 is the commonest female type, and represents one of the best examples, others being much more worn or poorly moulded. These all have two odd-looking square dents or hollows in the hair above the eyes and below the hair-band or diadem, which in the most clearly moulded versions such as No 8, and possibly also the earliest, seem to have been cut out of the hair, probably by a revision of the negative mould. No 7 is a much rarer type, only one other very similar example being identified, but it is of particular interest in that it could perhaps have a mural crown, similar to the one on the head vase fragments from southern Britain58 and might possibly represent Cybele. Quite a number of the versions of No 8 have the upper part of the head-dress divided into two parts which can look a bit like two towers and may possibly have been influenced by this type, though it could be pure coincidence. It is a surprise to see a Pan mask crop up at this late stage, but Faunus the Latin god thought to have been equated with Pan was worshipped in Britain in the Late Roman period (see Appendix I, H.2).

Pl. S25. Modern copy of a terracotta mask from Aquincum in the Aquincum Site Museum, Budapest; height 24 cm.

Contexts 2. Those that are from known contexts have all come from late third to fourth century graves. One rich grave from Meckenheim which, unusually, was a cremation grave, had two masks, both of the same female type, though these are barely recognisable having been burnt with the body. Though they were buried in graves, the masks were clearly designed to be hung up as they all have a specially made hook or loop attachment at the back by which they could be suspended. The only exception seems to have been the Pan mask (No 6) which has two simple suspension holes at the top.

C.7. Clay masks made without moulds (Fig. S9: 3-8) 1. Hand-made terracotta masks have occasionally been found in provinces such as Britain, Raetia and Dacia where terracotta production using moulds was not so well developed. It is quite possible that in these provinces terracotta masks were mostly replaced with hand-made ones made of wood or of other organic materials, but sometimes it seems they were also made of clay. 2. Two nearly complete life-size clay masks are known from Britain which are presumed to have been locally made, one from Catterick (No 5) which has clearly been made by hand and the other from Wilderspool61 which, from the photo, also appears to be hand-made. The one from Catterick was much abraded and broken and has been restored. It seems to have been in a fine whitish fabric with a dark brown colour coat. It has some kind of decorated band around the left side of the face, and on the forehead are what have been described as two horns or cat’s ears, though in fact only one survives. However this “horn” is pierced with a little hole, and a recent suggestion is that the mask is a hand-made copy of a bronze parade mask and that the two “horns” represent the sockets of a hinge at the top for the theoretical attachment to a helmet cap62 (see Section E below).

Distribution 3. These mould-made miniature masks appear to be limited to the Rhineland, and have been found along the Moselle and the Rhine from Trier to Nijmegen. However what may be a crude copy of a female miniature mask has recently been found at Billingford in Norfolk, which was almost certainly made in the Brampton kilns59.

C.6. Mould-made terracotta masks from outside the north west provinces (Fig. S9: 1-2) Elsewhere in the western provinces, apart from those already mentioned from Pompeii, few terracotta masks appear to have been published, and it is difficult to judge how popular they 56

Rose 2000, 86. Ibid, Cat. Nos 464-493. 58 See Appendix IV, A.8. 59 Alice Lyons 2001, pers. comm.. The mask is in grey fabric and 9.5 cm. high, It is obviously Late Roman and has ring-stamped hair around a semi-circular hollow above the eyebrows. 57

60 61

Baiesan 1992, 135-145.

Thompson 1965, 85, Fig. 21: 1. This interpretation is suggested by N J Cooper and J Evans in the latest Catterick Report, Vol. II (Wilson 2002, 200), and seems very plausible. 62

467

APPENDIX V TERRACOTTA MASKS MADE WITH MOULDS (Nos 1-2), MADE WITHOUT MOULDS (Nos 3-8)

Fig. S9. 1, Aquileia; 2, Aquincum; 3, Catterick; 4, Godmanchester; 5, Walton-le-Dale (Lancs); 6, Mautern 7, Regensburg-Kumpfmühl; 8, Micasasa (Roumania). (Scale c. 1:4 except No 1 at c. 1: 6 and No 8 unspecified)

468

MASKS FROM THE ROMAN PERIOD 3. There are also a number of face fragments from Britain that appear to be from hand-made masks rather than from face pots. Pieces from two separate, probably life-size masks or faces have been found at Godmanchester in Cambridgeshire in a light orange-brown, fairly coarse fabric, one of which, the more complete one, is shown here (No 4). Both were associated with a late second or early third century kiln63. They appear to be completely flat at the back and both have long, straight, thin noses and projecting, bearded chins with criss-cross hatching for the beard64. The eyes and upper parts of the faces are missing. No wheel marks are visible, and the more complete mask has what appear to be grass impressions on the back, suggesting that it had lain on the grass or some hay while drying before being fired, something that could not have happened if the face had belonged to a face pot. The upper part of another flat, mask-like face has been found at Walton-le-Dale near Preston in Lancashire65 (No5) This is in a finer and brighter red fabric. There were no grass masks, but again no wheel marks were visible. It too could have been life-size. The surviving upper edge of the face may have been the badly finished rim of the mask. The eyelids and eyebrows appear to have been applied in barbotine. The lower part of what could have been another mask with protruding, bearded chin, small, cut-out mouth and part of a large nose has been found in the ditch outside the south west gate of the fort at South Shields66. This is in thick, coarse, brick-red fabric, and would have been approximately half life-size. It is probably of second to third century date.

information as to its context was available. A rather similar but less complete mask has been found in the large kiln complex at Micasasa in Dacia, also cut from a large jar68 (No 8). 5. A quite different and unique group of five or six fragmentary terracotta masks with half human, half animal faces comes from the Danube fort of Mautern in Noricum69. They were found in a rubbish dump of Roman material dating from the late first to mid third century just to the west of the fort, and are presumed to have been locally produced. Two are almost complete, the rest just fragments. One appears to represent a calf, and the other has animal ears, short horns and a long tongue hanging from the mouth. It is described as a “devil’s mask” (No 6), though it too looks much like a calf. The rest all seem to have had animal ears but no horns, except for one small fragment which just shows a horn-like bump on the forehead. They too have been cut and moulded out of the side of a large jar before it was fired. The edges have been flattened and pierced with small holes which Kenner believes were used for the attachment of some kind of head-covering made of painted leather or woven material (ibid, 163). No 7). One would expect most wearable masks of this kind to have been made of wood or leather, which would have long since perished, and it is surprising that these ones were made of clay. Possibly they were intended as votive copies, or for hanging on the wall. Somewhat similar masks, which are also described as devil’s masks are still worn by mummers in Alpine regions today, and particularly in Austria, around Christmas and New Year or at the end of Carnival, though these masks tend to be more fantastical with real animals horns, often combining two or more species, from cows, goats and rams, while the masks themselves are made of light organic materials70. Though the Church continued to ban such activities during the Dark and Middle Ages and anathematised those taking part, it is clear that they continued in many parts of Europe for over a thousand years, and still take place even today around New Year and at the beginning of spring in isolated pockets all over Europe, including Thrace71. 6. Given the popularity of the mould-made terracotta masks with the army and with Roman or Romanised civilians in the Rhineland, one would have expected many more such handmade clay masks in provinces such as Britain, Raetia and Noricum. It is possible that quite a number of fragments from hand-made masks have been excavated but have not been recognised or published. The most likely explanation however is that the army and Roman or Romanised citizens found it simpler to use brightly painted wooden ones instead, of which no trace would remain.

Pl. S26. Crudely made grotesque mask from Regensburg cut from the side of a large pottery jar in the Museum der Stadt Regensburg; height c. 23 cm.

4. Just a few other examples of hand-made masks have come to the author’s notice. A crude pumpkin-style mask comes from the vicus of the auxiliary fort at Regensburg-Kumpfmühl (Pl. S26). It is in thick, pinkish-brown fabric, and has been cut out of the wall of a large jar or amphora before firing67. No further 63

Jane Evans, unpublished info and drawing. A very similar projecting chin with criss-cross hatching and thin nose occurs on the smith-face pot from Vindolanda of RB Type 22 (see Chapter IX, Pt III, Fig. J12: 8). 65 Find No WD96 607.9779. 66 Southshields Museum No SS 14687. 67 Regensburg Stadtmuseum No 1977, 269. 64

68

Mitrofan 1991, 177, Fig. 13: 1. Kenner, 1950. 70 Schmidt 1955, Figs 1-2. An excellent collection of some of these masks from the recent past is in the Steirisches Volkskundemuseum in Graz. 71 See Chapter XII, B.2. and Appendix I, I. 2. 69

469

APPENDIX V ETRUSCAN ANTEFIX (No 1) AND ROMAN ANTEFIXES FROM ITALY

Fig. S10.

1, Etruria; 2, Rome; 3, Ostia; 4-12, Rome.

470

MASKS FROM THE ROMAN PERIOD D.

Rome, who is represented quite correctly on one very fine antefix (No 9), but who, in No 12, has lost his beard and been turned into something akin to a turnip top.

TERRACOTTA ANTEFIXES (Figs. S10-12

1. It is impossible to do more than skim in a very selective fashion across the top of this large body of material which merits far greater study. Roman antefixes in Italy and the northern provinces date mainly from the mid first century BC until the beginning of the second century AD72. Further east, in Pannonia and particularly in Dacia, they seem to have lasted longer. Only those with masks have been illustrated, but by no means all antefixes had masks, and many just had palmettes, fir trees, weapon trophies, dolphins, lion or elephant heads, legionary emblems or other animals and decorative designs.

D.2. Antefixes in the western provinces (Figs. 11-12) 1. In Britain and the Rhineland the Gorgon appears to be the most popular type, if sometimes very difficult to discern, while in the Danubian provinces theatrical masks are probably the most common type. Two unusual antefixes with naturalistic, fair Medusa masks which have no wings or hair, but have six snakes sprouting from the sides of their heads and a tuft of fronds on the top are known from Colchester74 (Fig. S11: 7), but on other British sites bad copying and native stylisation has taken over to such an extent that the classical original is virtually unrecognisable. Fig. S11:1-7 shows a selection of antefix masks from Britain and the Rhineland which all seem to be derived from the Gorgon or the fair Medusa. At Augst a whole series of very similar antefixes have been found with round pumpkin-like faces with neither wings nor tongue, but still with some attempt at a frame of curving fronds (No 1). At Caerleon, the fortress of legio II Augusta, the pumpkin face is there but the fronds are gone while on some examples cat-like ears (or wings) occur on the temples (No 3). Yet others have no “wings” or tongue, but a row of notched teeth (No 4). At York, on what may be one of the earlier examples found there, the round face has flowing hair radiating out all around it, perhaps another conflation of the Medusa with Oceanus (No 2). A much commoner type from York however shows the round head much narrowed down with a very long neck making it somewhat phallic-shaped, and the hair disappearing into an incised zig-zag background decoration75.

2. Like the terracotta masks, antefixes were made with the use of moulds, and were usually brightly painted. They were originally used to decorate Greek and Etruscan placed over the end tiles on the lower edges of the roof. Their use continued into the Roman period and was extended to other public and domestic buildings. It is not clear why they went out of use. To some extent they may have been replaced by the terracotta masks, or with more easily-made wooden roof finials and gable ornaments carved or painted with similar masks and symbols or with protective images drawn from native provincial tradition (see D.3 below, and Pl. S27, Fig. S12: 7).

D.1. Antefixes in Rome (Fig. S. 10) 1. Fig. S7 shows a selection of the Roman antefixes from the Antiquarium Communale di Roma published by Lucilla Anselmino73, together with one example from Ostia (No 3) and one Etruscan antefix (No 1). The ones chosen show most of the mask types represented in the Antiquarium, and give some idea of the main Roman prototypes which one might expect to see copied in the provinces. Here again we find the ubiquitous Bacchic masks continuing from the Etruscan and early Republican period – Bacchus (No 8), his consort (No 7), a river god (No 10), a variety of theatrical masks (though there is only room for one, No 11), and the relative newcomer, the ramhorned Jupiter Ammon (No 9). Surprisingly, there are no recognisable masks of satyrs. Nor is there any evidence for any of the oriental mystery gods such as Attis, Cybele, Isis and Sarapis, whose images, as has been seen above and in Appendix IV, had begun to appear on head vases as terracotta masks, but this could be because most antefixes in the western provinces are too early, fading out as they do at the end of the first century AD.

2. A remarkable stone tomb “antefix”76 from Brumath, near Strasbourg, could be a conflation of the Gorgon mask with that of the bull-horned Dionysus (No 5), with curling fronds rising from the head and spreading out from the mouth as in Green Man masks, but the mouth is full of teeth, and there are two large bull horns sprouting from the temples. The “wreath” or “diadem” on the forehead that looks like a boned fish could be derived from the hair on antefixes such as Nos 2-3 in Fig. S11 or No 1 in Fig. S12, or the wings on Nos 3-4 in Fig. S12. A somewhat similar hybrid mask occurs on the colour-coated face jar of RL Type 4A found at Bergheim-Torr just to the east of Köln77. In No 6, from Vindonissa, the Gorgon has become a comic monster mask, not unlike the huge terracotta mask from Aquileia (Fig. S9: 1), though this latter may owe its development more to the comic version of the local beak-nosed mask that occurs on the Aquileia face jar and face beakers78 than to the Gorgon.

2. Still the most popular apotropaic image however, as had been the case in Etruscan times, is the Gorgon-Medusa. Her grimacing face with protruding tongue still continues, with perhaps more copies in the Antiquarium of just this one version (No 3) than of any other mask type, but most of the copies are very worn or corrupted, and the best example comes from Ostia. A variety of new, fairer masks without the tongue or grimace can be seen to be taking over (Nos 2, 4, 5 and 6), though with their round chubby faces and tightly controlled, curled hair they are still a far cry from the classical fair Medusa of Greece and Magna Grecia of the enchanting face, with wings in her wind-blown hair and snakes knotted under her chin. The nearest may be No 6 with what could be flat, leaf-like wings on her head and perhaps a glimpse of snakes (unknotted ) under her chin, or No 4 which has no snakes or wings but does have the fairest face and suitably wild hair, though this could be a conflation of the Medusa with Oceanus. Even in Rome copying is taking its toll. There is only room for one glaring example, namely Jupiter Ammon, perhaps the least familiar mask for the first century mould-makers of 72 73

74

Hull 1958, 184 and 209, Pl. XXX: B. Toynbee 1964, Pl. XCVIII: b and c; Ross 1969, Fig. 74: a-f; Eburacum: Pl. 39. 76 It has been included here even though it is in stone and from a tomb, as it is such a good example of the combination of elements from different masks. 77 See Chapter IV, Pt I, Fig. D4: 5. 78 See Chapter III, Figs. C: 7 and C11: 2. 75

Anselmino 1977, 16. Ibid, Vol. 1.

471

APPENDIX V ROMAN ANTEFIXES FROM UPPER GERMANY AND BRITAIN

Fig. S11.

1, Augst; 2, York; 3-4, Caerleon; 5, Brumath; 6, Vindonissa; 7, Colchester.

472

MASKS FROM THE ROMAN PERIOD be possible early bases for this same legion83, it is possible that the British masks may have represented some deity or figure particularly associated with this legion, who could have been any of the above or someone quite different84.

3. A particularly rich and varied collection of antefixes has been found at Vindonissa, all from the fortress period79, which includes theatrical masks, maidens (or maenads) with crimped hair and ringlets hanging down to the shoulders, one or two unusual-looking Jupiter Ammons, and various versions of a mask with neatly trimmed beard, protruding ears and a fringe of hair across the forehead (Fig. S12: 1 and Pl. S.27). On other similar faces the ears seem to have been moved up onto the temples to become cat’s ears or “wings” (Fig. S12: 2).

Pl. S28. Incomplete antefix from Dorchester in the Dorchester County Museum. (photo: Pictorial colour slides).

5. Further east, a Gorgon antefix somewhat similar to the one at Vindonissa (Fig. S11: 6) comes from the temple complex of the fortress at Carnuntum, though without the huge comic mouth85, but the most popular types in the city itself seem to have been theatrical masks, frequently the tragic type with the high wig86. Further east, in Dacia and along the Lower Danube, most of the antefixes visible in museum collections or in publications also seem to be of the same high-wigged variety, such as the example from Potaisa which is covered in a type of ring-stamped ornament typical of the region (Fig. S9: 6)87. Others however have been corrupted almost beyond recognition. The mask of Bacchus also occurs, in ecstatic mode with hair swept back as at Potaisa 88, or in more sober mood as at Sarmizegetusa89 looking more like the example from Rome illustrated in Fig. 10: 8.

Pl. S27. Antefix of the 11th Legion from Vindonissa in the Vindonissa Museum Brugg. (photo: museum postcard)

4. What may be another version of this mask, though now with horizontal wings above the fringe of hair, occurs on an incomplete antefix from Dorchester on which the ears at the sides have got knocked off (Pl. S28, Fig. S12: 3), A very similar type occurs on several antefixes found at Silchester with carrotshaped “wings” and protruding lateral ears, but without a beard80 (Fig. 12: 3), and again at Caerleon on a triangular antefix with fir trees in the corners, though without the wings (Fig. S12: 4).

D.3. Native terracotta antefixes or roof finials

Some of the masks could perhaps represent “a British male Medusa”, as Toynbee suggests (1964, 431), or a native-looking Bacchus, while those with “cat’s ears” could possibly be Mercury81. Neither Hermes nor Mercury have figured hitherto in the range of masks here discussed, but as can be seen in the case of some of the Gallo-Belgic bust vases and of two snake pots at Corinth, it is possible that Hermes-Mercury may in some cults have been closely associated with the fertility god Bacchus82. As Caerleon was the permanent fortress for legio II Augusta, and Silchester and Dorchester are both now thought to

It seems very likely that the native people living in the provinces would have had their own apotropaic masks and symbols which they placed on roofs and over doorways etc. to shield the home from evil influences. These would almost certainly have been made mainly from wood and very few are likely to have survived. However there is one unusual terracotta roof finial or decoration from Raetia, from the legionary fortress at 83

Hassall 2000, 61. Legio II Augusta came to Britain from the upper Rhineland, probably from a base at Strasbourg, not so far from Vindonissa, and it is conceivable that such a mask was popular with the army in that region of the upper Rhine in the first half of the first century. There is a stone relief from Vindonissa portraying a native-looking Mercury with somewhat similar “cat’s ears” but no beard, carrying a caduceus in his left hand and his purse in his right hand (Drack and Fellmann 1988, 214, Fig. 193). 85 Kandler 1981, Fig. 8. 86 Jobst 1983, Figs. 81 and 82. 87 See also Barbulescu 1994, Pl. 5a: 1-3. 88 Jude and Pop 1973, Pl. XXXIII: 2. 89 Sarmizetusa Museum display case. 84

79 A small selection of these has been published by Victor Jahn (1909, Figs. 2-3 and Pl. VI). 80 Boon 1957, 169, Fig. 27. 81 The “horned” figure carved on the front of a chalk candle holder from Silchester (Boon 1957, 168-9, Fig. 26) thought to be warrior god carrying a sword in his left hand with his right hand resting on his shield is almost certainly a corrupt or crude copy of this same Celtic Mercury. A snake is carved on one side of the candle holder and a bird on the other. 82 See Appendix III, B.7, and Appendix VI, B.4.

473

APPENDIX V ROMAN ANTEFIXES FROM VINDONISSA, BRITAIN AND THE DANUBE

Fig. S12.

1-2, Vindonissa; 3, Silchester; 4, Dorchester; 5, Caerleon; 6, Potaissa; 7, Lauriacum.

474

MASKS FROM THE ROMAN PERIOD Lauriacum, which would seem to reflect such practices. It appears to be hand-made, and would have fitted over the ridge of a roof or gable. It is decorated with a distinctive native mask in a style that has much more in common with wood carving techniques than terracotta mask modelling (Fig. 12: 6, Pl. S29). This mask appears to be local to the Upper Danube region, as almost identical masks occur on early Roman face pots found along the stretch of the Danube between Burghöfe and Lauriacum90..

Fig. S30. Bronze parade helmet and mask from Ribchester (Lancs) with a mural crown above the forehead and two snakes in the hair on either side of the face; late 1st century92. (Photo: British Museum slide.)

Occasionally the masks have a wider slit cut out for the eyes which is then blocked by a metal guard made in the shape of the pupil of the eye as on the visor from Weissenburg (Fig. S13: 2). Pl. S29. Terracotta roof finial or ornament with a local native mask from the fortress at Lauriacum, in the Museum der Stadt Enns.

E. METAL PARADE MASKS (Fig. S9:8-10) Parade masks are almost the only masks to survive into the present day that were actually worn. They were attached to decorated bronze or steel helmets worn for special parades and exercises by cavalry units. At first sight they may not appear to have much in common with face pots, nor with the masks discussed above, but on closer examination it can be seen that some of the component parts of the helmets, in particular the face mask itself or the visor, or the peak above the face, do bear some similarity to some of the masks on Roman face pots. E.1. The helmet types Most parade helmets are made in two pieces, the face mask at the front and the helmet cap covering the head. The face mask is generally attached to the helmet with a hinge at the top and some straps (Fig. S13: 1).. In some cases the helmet is tripartite like the one from Pfrondorf below (Pl. S31), on which the face mask extends further back towards the crown of the head, and a separate visor is cut out of the face which just includes the eyes, eyebrows, nose and mouth (Fig. S13: 2). This is also attached with a hinge. All the face masks have narrow eye-slits and generally a thin slit for the mouth and two holes for the nostrils. The purpose was to protect the rider’s face from the wooden spears and lances that they used in their exercises and jousts as described by Arrian in his Treatise on the Cavalry91.

90 91

Pl. S31. Tripartite parade helmet in silvered bronze, with helmet cap, face mask and visor, from Pfrondorf (Baden-Württemberg) with snakes and wings in the hair and an eagle on the forehead; end 2nd century93.

92

See Chapter VII, UD Types 1 and 11, Figs. G2: 1-4 and G7: 1. Eye guards and head plates were also provided for the horses.

93

475

Garbsch 1978, 58, Cat No I.1 Ibid, Cat. No O.48.

APPENDIX V

Fig. S13. Two bronze face masks and a visor from cavalry parade helmets 1, Nijmegen; 2-3, Weissenburg. Some helmet caps are decorated with mythical scenes and imagery or with military combat scenes as on the Ribchester helmet (Pl. S30), while others just depict hair, of a man or a woman. Many of the masks on two-part helmets extend above the forehead and have two or three rows of male curls along the top and down the sides, or part of a woman’s headdress, or some kind of crown or diadem around the top. But others are smaller, without any hair, and just cover the face from chin to forehead, as in Fig. S13: 1.

The masks themselves however are more difficult, and there seems to be no consensus on who they represent. The majority of the faces seem to be those of an idealised hero or youth, occasionally with a beard, but mostly clean-shaven and with an Alexander-style hair cut. (Pl. S34). Others are clearly female and represent a fair young woman. A suggestion often made is that the mock battles that were staged during the special parades were re-enactments of the war between the Greeks and the Amazons. This would certainly explain the female masks but in that case they do not seem to be numerous enough. Others have suggested the battles of theTrojan War95, but these were not specifically fought on horses, and why then the female masks?

E.2. Similarities with face pot masks, and with some terracotta masks These smaller masks and visors which have no hair above the face or at the sides can have a surprising likeness to face pot faces. One reason for this of course is that they are the only Roman masks that regularly have slit “coffee-bean” eyes and slit mouths, like the ones found so often on face pots, particularly in the Rhineland. The masks with the pupil-shaped grill in the eyeholes might just possibly have been the model that was copied for the eyes on so many first century Rhineland face pots that have slit eyes with a small round pellet in the centre, though this resemblance could be entirely fortuitous.

Several of the latter have hair that is strikingly similar to the hair fragments from Rhineland terracotta female masks or the mask from Straubing (Fig. S8: 9), or to the early British head vases from York. which may represent Persephone or one of her counterparts, or one or more of the oriental mother goddesses. As mentioned in C.3.a.1 above, there is also one complete terracotta mask from Trier representing a youth or a young woman that is remarkably like some of the parade masks, in particular the one from Hirchova, and could be a slightly simplified and stylised copy of it or of another similar parade mask (Pl. S32a-b), suggesting that parade masks were not just a separate group of military masks, but did bear some relation to the other mask types of the Roman world. There may well have been other terracotta masks, both male and female, which resembled parade masks, but so few of the non-grotesque masks have survived even partially, that no serious comparisons can be made.

There are however other elements in common between parade masks and all the other masks here discussed. For one they were quite clearly designed to be protective, and not just in the physical sense, but in a spiritual and magical way as well. There is often a Medusa mask flanked by snakes on the peak above the face mask itself, as can be seen on the helmets from Brigetio and Frankfurt-Heddernheim and on several others94. But the helmet caps themselves, as well as all the other items of parade armour, were also often decorated with a variety of apotropaic and otherworld imagery such as lions, eagles, snakes, dolphins and other sea creatures, mingled with busts or figures of Minerva, Mars, Victory, Ganymede, Attis and the Dioscuri. One helmet from Newstead has a dramatically portrayed Cupid driving a chariot drawn by panthers at break-neck speed. The imagery on the helmets is quite easy to identify.

94

95

Garbsch 1978, Pls. 28 and 29.

476

Webster 1979, 155.

MASKS FROM THE ROMAN PERIOD quite likely that parade armour and the highly decorated masked helmets may always have had a double purpose, being designed not only to protect the wearer in this life, but also to reflect the rituals of mourning and invoke the protection of the underworld powers for the dead on their journey into the world beyond.

a

Roman parade masks, with or without the helmet itself, have often been found in graves102, mostly of first and second century date, which tend to be cremations. Sometimes however they are found in inhumation graves, both male and female, and where records exist, the mask seems normally to have been placed over the face of the deceased in lieu of a death mask103. In one Late Roman grave at Mainz, a long-treasured second century visor mask was so used, similar to the one on the Pfrondorf helmet (Pl. S33).

b

Pl S32 a). Parade mask from Hirchova (Romania), later 1st century AD; height 17.5 cm96 b) ). Terracotta mask from Trier with two suspension holes in the top, 2nd century; height 19.7 cm97. E.3. Masks with snakes and sometimes wings on the hair

There are quite a number of masks that have snakes climbing up the hair on either side of the face, in particular the one from Pfrondorf (Pl S29) and an incomplete one found inside the fort at Weissenburg (Fig. S13: 3). The Ribchester mask also has two short snakes on either side of the face. On the Pfrondorf mask one can clearly see two wings in the hair in addition to the snakes, as well as an eagle on the forehead, and on the fragmentary one from from Weissenburg it is just possible to make out part of a wing and the lower half of the body of an eagle rising out of the hair. Such a mask with wings and snakes would normally be thought to represent the fair Medusa and in many of the masks with snakes, including the ones with wings are described as having the face of a young man. The only male mythological figure with snakes in his hair seems to have been Bacchus, described by Euripedes as “the god with serpents in his hair”98, though he seems an unlikely subject for such military masks, and there seems no evidence that he ever had wings. Do these masks represent yet further examples of a male Medusa as in the case of the British antefixes described above? Or as Garbsch suggests, were the snakes and wings of a Medusa, as well as the eagle used as separate apotropaic symbols to magically protect the mask and its wearer99?

Pl. S33 Silvered bronze visor mask from a tripartite parade helmet of 2nd century date found in a Late Roman inhumation grave at Mainz re-used as a death mask104.

It would seem then that these military masks were believed to have protective powers, not only for the living cavalry soldiers who wore them but for the dead as well, who, in the case of the masks found in female graves, could not even have been soldiers. Such protective powers would certainly be enhanced if the mask represented such figures as the Medusa or Bacchus. Heroes who had defeated death and returned from the underworld would presumably also be suitable, such as Perseus, Orpheus, or Hercules, though there seem to be no masks that resemble a traditional Hercules.

This is a conundrum that cannot be solved here, but what is of particular interest as far as Roman face pots are concerned is the possibility that there might be a link between these snake-haired masks and the very fragmentary face jar from Old Penrith of RB Type 13K on which the head of what looks like a snake is just visible above one eyebrow100. It is also possible that the spiral bosses above the surviving eyebrow of this face pot are a stylised representation of the rows of spiral curls on many of the parade masks with or without snakes. Very similar spiral bosses occur on the terracotta mask from Trier in Pl. S32b which appears to be a copy of a parade mask.

Further evidence for the religious or sacred significance of parade masks comes from Weissenburg, where in addition to the mask with a snake in the hair mentioned above, which came from inside the fort, and the visor with a pupil-shaped eye guard which was found in the fort vicus (Fig. S13:2-3), three parade masks and a helmet cap were also found in a large hoard of bronze cult material buried outside the fort, which included an important group of statuettes and much other cult equipment as well (see Appendix 1, H.3). To have been a part of such a hoard implies that they were not just beautiful pieces of armour but objects of religious significance. The best preserved of the masks is an excellent example of the popular Alexander-style mask (Pl. S34) and eloquently expresses the Greco-Roman ideal of the perfect hero. A very similar image with the same distinctive hairstyle occurs on a head vase that is probably from

E.4. A connection with death and the afterworld The origin of the particular cavalry exercises in which the Roman parade masks were worn seems to have been the funeral games which during the Roman Republic and possibly even earlier were held at the end of the nine days of national mourning101. In 16 AD funeral games with a cavalry parade (decursio) were belatedly held by Germanicus to honour the death of Drusus and the lost legions of Varus (ibid). It seems 96

Garbsch 1978, Cat. O.27. Rose 2000. Cat No 150; Trier RLM No 33,473. 98 Bacchae 100-1. 99 Garbsch 1978, 5. 100 See Chapter IX, Pt. II, RB Type 13K, Fig. J8: 4. 101 Garbsch 1978, 35. 97

102

Ibid 1978, 45 ff. Ibid, parade masks Cat Nos O.29, 0.41 and 0.49; Benndorf 1878, 331. 104 Ibid, Cat No O.49. 103

477

APPENDIX V the Black Sea and almost certainly from a grave (Pl. S2a), further suggesting identification with a mystery god or mythological figure with protective powers over the dead. As we have seen in Appendix IV, the figure portrayed on the head vase could be the deified Achilles whose cult was centred on the Black Sea island of Leuce, close to Olbia, and whose helmeted head is portrayed on two other very similar head vases or head cups, both from Olbian graves105.

Pl. S35 Half of a marble relief from Rome depicting a mask of Bacchus, in the Museo Nazionale, Rome109. The reverse side has the maskof a satyr.

From the evidence found at Pompeii, it seems they were placed on pillars in gardens, and were probably the equivalent of the marble masks found in the villas and town houses of wealthy Romans, fulfilling the same protective, beneficent function.

Pl. S34. Bronze parade mask buried with two others and a helmet cap in a mid third century cult hoard outside the fort of Weissenburg106.

The use of stylised copies of such revered masks on cremation urns by members of the Roman military community is not therefore totally improbable. For some military potters, these beautiful masks may have been the best known, or the most easily copied, versions of the protective Bacchic masks and other masks associated with them, for use on such vessels.

a

F. MARBLE RELIEFS OF GROUPS OF BACCHIC MASKS (Pls. S35-36, P4) These are two-sided rectangular blocks of marble that are carved on both sides. The front side is highly polished and sculpted in deep relief (Pls. 35 and 36a) while the other side is carved in much shallower relief or simply incised(Pl. 30b), and can sometimes show the figures as well as the masks of characters from the sacro-idyllic tradition. Many of the reliefs depict two juxtaposed Bacchic masks, often just a bearded Bacchus facing Ariadne, but others may show a group of masks of satyrs, maenads and Pan, or several theatrical masks, or the figures of deities and mythical figures recently included in the Bacchic tradition such as Attis. They are further discussed in Appendix I, E.2-3. They have not been found in the eastern half of the Empire, and most of the ninety or so examples known come from Italy, from Pompei107 and Rome, with just a few from Provence and north Africa108. They are thought to date from the first century BC until the second century AD.

b Pl. S36. Two sides of the same marble relief from Rome, both depicting Bacchus and his consort ; in the P. Sarti collection110.

The beautifully sculpted, sophisticated, and easily identifed masks on these marble reliefs which are in sharp contrast to the cruder and more popular terracotta masks hanging in porticos, atria, verandas and peristyle gardens, may have been connected with some specific aspect of Bacchic worship, but they provide

105

Appendiix IV, 1.2, Pl. S2b and Note 2. Kellner and Zahlhaas 1984, Cat No 40, Pl. 20. Ward Perkins and Claridge 1978, Cat. Nos 66-7 and 71. 108 Cain 1988, 107-222. 106 107

109 110

478

Ibid, Pl. 41. Ibid, Pls. 43-4.

MASKS FROM THE ROMAN PERIOD some of the finest examples of the classic Roman masks of Bacchus. Of particular interest is the stiff, jutting beard, the boss-like spiral curls of the hair on his forehead and sometimes of his beard, the ringlets hanging down his neck, and the crownlike head-dress or diadem on his head. A rather similar mask to these is portrayed on a pottery protome head found in Carlisle111. The same kind of jutting beard also occurs on face jars or large face beakers in Dacia and Pannonia of DAN Types 25 and 27112. G.

on their roofs in place of antefixes, these would presumably have soon begun to reflect the local mask types and images of the provinces where they were living, but the only surviving evidence for this that could be found in the course of this survey is the unique roof finial from Lauriacum with its local mask known to us otherwise only on the face pot masks of the same Upper Danube region (Pl. S29. Fig. S12: 6). 4. Only in northern Italy and the Rhineland does a new non Greco-Roman mask type break through and become as popular as the other Bacchic types, namely the grotesque beak-nosed mask. There seems little doubt however that this was originally an Italian mask, not a provincial or Celtic one. This mask, that occurs on the mask beakers of Central and southern Gaul and occasionally on the later head vases of the eastern Mediterrranean and north Africa, is also the mask that it easiest to recognise on Roman face pots. Judging by its appearance on north Italian face pots of early first century AD date114, this Roman face mask may have first become popular in northern Italy around the end of the first century BC if not before. There appears to be little evidence for it in the rest of Italy further south. From there, thanks to the many Roman legionaries recruited from the north of Italy, it seems to have been taken by the army in the early first century AD eastwards towards the Danube, along with the face beakers with the same beak-nosed mask, and northwards across the Alps to the Rhine and even into Britain. It was in the Rhineland however, where the greatest number of legions were concentrated in the first century AD, that it seems to have gained and retained particular popularity, especially perhaps as a terracotta mask to protect the home115. The virtual absence of imported Italian face beakers (or indeed face jars) north of the Alps, makes it clear that this mask was introduced into the north-western provinces as a mask in its own right, and not just as a face beaker mask. The fact that it then occurs on large Rhineland face jars which must have been used for very different purposes from the face beakers, may provide us with some clues as to the function of this mask, but in no way indicates that this mask owed its popularity only to its use on face pots. Its popularity however did not last for ever and seems to have faded by the end of the third century to judge by the absence of beak-nosed masks on the Late Roman face pots and miniature masks in the Rhineland116. This mask, like all the other Bacchic masks, must have been a copy of masks that were actually worn, or had been in the past, either in the theatre or the amphitheatre, or in religious and carnival-type processions.

DISCUSSION

1. This review of Roman masks as portrayed on fineware pottery, terracottas, parade masks and marble reliefs was intended to provide as representative a picture as possible of the range of masks which were commonly used and portrayed during the Roman period, both in Italy, and in the provinces, by the Romanised members of the population, and to provide an indication of how much and how little they changed over the years. Though the many representations of Roman masks on wall paintings, mosaics, silverware, and sarcophagi have had to be omitted, it is doubtful if they would have added much to the general picture. Some information has also been gleaned as to how these masks were used, shedding a ray of light onto the complex web of superstitious beliefs and practices that existed in every Roman home, whether in Italy or the provinces, irrespective of the established state religion, which was designed to prevent ill fortune and to bring good luck. 2. One point that clearly emerges from this review is how surprisingly limited the number of mask types was in the Roman period. The portrayal of the faces and the hair may change to some extent, but basically it is the same Greek Bacchic masks (including the Gorgon-Medusa) which continue to dominate, with the addition of just a small number of other masks such as Jupiter Ammon and Oceanus. It was not the principal gods of the Roman pantheon who were portrayed on these Roman masks, nor the deified Augusti of the state cult, but ancient fertility deities of the Greek and Roman countryside: the Greek Dionysus-Bacchus (or the Latin Liber-Pater), his consort, and his woodland throng of satyrs, maenads, sileni, river gods and Pan, gods of the countryside and of the home, but also of the underworld, whose protection was essential both for the living and the dead. Occasionally mystery gods such as Attis or Cybele can be recognised, though these deities, as far as can be seen from the very fragmentary material that survives, seem to occur less often as masks than they do as head vases113.

5. From the contextual evidence it seems clear that the function of these Roman masks, whether they were portrayed on pottery, antefixes or on terracotta masks, remained the same as it had been for the Bacchic masks in previous periods, namely to provide protection from evil spirits and promote fertility and well being for the living, and also, almost certainly, some promise of salvation for the dead. The new additions to the range of free-standing terracotta masks such as the “Maccus” and the Attis masks at Pompeii and the beak-nosed masks of the Rhineland must also have been thought to have had the same protective and beneficent powers for the living and the dead. The fact that the terracotta masks of all types are found inside

3. Virtually no evidence for provincial masks or images of local Celtic deities is revealed on the mould-made pottery, terracotta, marble and metal masks. It is only when we come to the much rarer hand-made masks such as those from Catterick, Regensburg, Godmanchester, Mautern and Micasasa, that we are afforded a glimpse of the native protective images that must have existed throughout the provinces, carved or painted on doorways and roofs, inside and outside houses and in the farms and fields. If, as seems possible, the soldiers and Roman citizens used painted wooden masks instead of terracotta ones to hang in their homes and farms, and painted or carved protective images 111

See chapter IX, Pt IV, RB Type 42, Fig. J19: 2a-b See Chapter VIII, Figs. H9: 1-3, H10:1, and H11: 2-3. 113 This could be a question of date, as head vases portraying mystery gods may belong mostly to the third and fourth centuries AD, particularly in the western provinces. It is also not inconceivable that some or many of the Rhineland Late Roman miniature female masks represented Cybele, as could possibly have been the case with some of the large-size ones also, which only survive in unrecognisable fragments apart from the one from Straubing. 112

114

See Chapter III, IT Types 18, 19 and 36. See Chapter XII, A.2. 116 The beak-nosed mask may however have lasted on in northern Italy in other ways that are not recorded, possibly as part of a theatricoreligious tradition, for the Harlequin and Pulcinello masks of the Comedia dell’Arte have the same grotesque nose, and such masks are still worn today at Carnival time in Venice and other cities of northern Italy. 115

479

APPENDIX V and outside temples and in ritual or votive deposits117, as well as in graves as miniature masks clearly suggests that they still retained some generally accepted religious significance over and above their talismanic value and attractive and often comic appearance.

end of the third century, As mentioned above, the beak-nosed mask with bared teeth seems to have vanished completely. The one Pan mask with its non-standard suspension holes is something of an oddity, and belongs to a much smaller and less known group made at Köln, though this group too seems to consist mainly of the same basic female types that belong to the larger group made at Trier.

6. It seems however that even in Pompeii and Rome the identities of some of the masks may have been little understood at the popular level to judge by the and virtually unrecognisable copy of the tragic mask at Pompeii and the Jupiter Ammon antefix at Rome (Fig S7: 8 and S10: 12.). And clearly once the Roman antefixes reached Britain, even though they must have been brought by military potters, no one had much of an idea of their correct image nor indeed, in all likelihood, of their original identity. The only exceptions are the easily recognisable if rather unusual Medusa antefixes from Colchester (Fig. S11: 7) but these are thought to date to the earliest, pre-Boudican period of the fortress, and the potters very probably brought their moulds with them.

Alongside this reduction in types there may perhaps have emerged a plain, character-less mask, with no hair or or any other identifying features such as the one in Fig. S8: 5. This is the only example that has survived complete, but there seem to be quite a number of fragments from smooth unwrinkled foreheads without hair that could have belonged to such masks. Some of these may have been intended as female or tragic masks that were to have had their hair added separately, as was generally the case with such masks, but for one reason or another they ended up being fired with no hair attached or it came off at a later date. Others however seem to have been produced deliberately, representing perhaps the ultimate stage of a simplification process in which the plain, blank mask became a generic, all-purpose Bacchic mask, to which distinguishing details could be added later if required. A similar technique of adding the identifying upper part to a basic bland mask seems to have been practised at Pompeii, to judge by the maenad and Attiis masks, and perhaps similarly featureless masks were produced there too. All of the different mask types seem to have been credited with the same protective powers, so the identifying features may have come to seem superfluous. The detached featureless masks from parade helmets used in graves may have fallen into the same category. A similar technique of adding the identifying upper part to a basic blank mask seems to have been practised at Pompeii to judge by the maenad and Attis masks, and perhaps similarly featureless masks were produced there too. If that were the case, could such blank generic Bacchic masks be what the Italian and later the Rhineland and other provincial potters were copying when they drew the “serene” mask on Roman face pots, just occasionally adding a comic grin, or some teeth, or phalli, or a beard, or two horns, to fit the circumstances, if need be?

7. It is unfortunate that antefixes fade out so early, and never seem to have penetrated much beyond the military occupiers of the provinces to the homes and temples of the ordinary inhabitants of the provinces. Had they lasted longer, they might have begun to portray local protective masks and images, as seems to have been the case in Provence and Spain, to judge by occasional finds displayed in local museums. What they do provide however, which is almost as useful, is a picture of how quickly classical Roman images could be corrupted and rendered unrecognisable to the unpractised eye through repeated copying by uncomprehending potters. The use of moulds which might have been thought to keep the images relatively true to the originals turns out to have been remarkably ineffective, thanks no doubt to the constant movement of the legionary potters, and the practice of making moulds from antefixes and masks that were already worn or defective. 8. Valuable insight is also provided by the terracotta masks, both at Pompeii and in the Rhineland, as to the simplification of the images and the conflation of types that took place. A clear instance of this can be seen at Pompeii in the hybrid satyr/houseslave mask type that develops there (Fig. S7: 4) and which seems to re-appear in the Rhineland without much change118, possibly brought by legionaries recruited from Pompeii or from other veteran colonies in Campania. As a result the classicaltype satyrs of the Romano-Greek terracotta masks as found at Athens and Corinth (Fig. S7: 2) may never have been portrayed on the Rhineland masks, just this hybrid type with the gaping mouth which then seems to have developed locally into the satyr type with bared teeth (Fig. S8: 1a-b). This is different from the situation in south west and central Gaul where rather more traditional satyr masks were produced119, influenced presumably by models brought from another source closer to the classical Romano-Greek types.

The magnificent parade masks are the one group that appear to have least in common with all the other masks described here, but even where these are concerned, it is clear that they had some connection with the more mundane mask traditions of the Roman period. The fragmentary hand made terracotta mask from Catterick (Fig. S9: 3) seems likely to have been a copy of one of them, and so almost certainly is the fine, mould-made mask from Trier (Pl. S32b), implying that people saw no distinction between them and the terracotta masks they normally hung up around their houses and temples to ensure good fortune and repel the evil spirits. And when it came to placing a mask in a Late Roman grave and invoking the protection of the deity portrayed, a parade mask it seems, even the small and unidentifiable visor mask form Mainz, was as appropriate as one of the terracotta miniature masks, or a head vase, or a face pot perhaps, and even better because it could be placed over the face.

9. This process of simplification, conflation and borrowing of elements from one mask type to another seems to have resulted, if the evidence of the Late Roman miniature masks is at all representative, in a considerable reduction in mask types by the have the same grotesque nose, and such masks are still worn today at Carnival time in Venice and other cities of northern Italy ort117 See Note 41. 118 As far as can be seen from the many fragments identified by Rose, though no complete or even half complete examples survive. 119 As seen on examples on display in the Musée de la Civilisation Gallo-Romaine at Lyon. See also Desbats 1977, 10-28; Rose 2000, Figs. 55-6.

480

ROMAN SNAKE POTS

APPENDIX SIX SNAKE POTS: WITH TWO OR THREE HANDLES, WITH OR WITHOUT SPOUTS

Pl. T1. Reconstructed snake pot in pinkish buff fabric with three handles, three snakes and three frilled, blind “spouts” from Pocking in Bavaria1 in the Prähistorische Staatssammlung, Munich; 2nd to early 3rd century; height 25.5 cm.

A. A.1. A.2. B.1 B.2. B.3. B.4. C.

1

Introduction Pre Roman snake pots Roman snake pots Snake pots connected with the worship of Mithras Snake pots connected with the worship of Sabazius Snake pots connected with the worship of Liber-Dionysius and other associated deities Snake pots connected with the worship of Mercury (and Bacchus) Discussion

See Chapter VII, Fig. G7: 2.

481

482 482 482 483 483 485 486 487

APPENDIX VI

A. A.1

provinces of the Roman Empire. Though always relatively rare, they are found most frequently in the western provinces bordering on the Rhine and Danube frontiers, from the first to the third century AD, and with the possible exception of Dacia, they tend to be found in the military areas. A few are found in Italy. They are the only other type of Roman pottery vessel that often have two or more of the characteristic features found on face pots, namely spouts, handles and frilled rims. It could well be therefore that they fulfilled a similar function. As such they form a group of pots that might, by analogy, help to throw some light on the use of face pots. There are however, almost no snake pots with human face masks or busts on them. There is only one face pot with a snake known to the author, namely the fragmentary vessel from Old Penrith in north Britain where just the head of a snake survives above the eyebrows of the face10, though there are one or two fragmentary bust vases from Belgium with one or possibly two large, mould-made busts on the girth which also have snakes around the shoulder of the vessel11. There are also a number of snake pots which have small appliqué mould-made masks on the girth, generally of a Bacchic nature (see section 3 below).

INTRODUCTION Pre-Roman snake pots

Snakes seem to have played an important role in cults since time immemorial, due no doubt to their association with the underworld in which they live and their perceived connection with fertility and re-birth due to their birth from an egg and their symbolic reincarnation through the casting of their skin. They are also powerful apotropaic symbols. There are constant references to snakes, and to deities taking the form of a snake, in ancient Greek and Roman mythology. Snakes were encouraged and cultivated at many sanctuaries and offerings were left out for them. Herodotus (VIII, 41) speaks of the huge snake living beneath the temple of Athena on the Acropolis, fed on cakes, an odd diet for snakes. It is not surprising therefore that vessels with snakes coiled around them should crop up in almost all periods before the Roman Empire, as well as during it, and they are certainly not all connected with the cult of Mithras as has sometimes been thought. One of the earliest is a Neolithic head vase with what appears to be a horned face and a snake or snakes curling round it from Tell Azmak in central Bulgaria2. A more familiar type of snake vase, in the form of a handleless jar with three ring-stamped snakes climbing up the sides and peering over the rim comes from Tell Brak in Syria, dating to the second half of the third millenium. On one side is an incised scorpion, and on the other an incised sun with radiate rays, and a fir tree3. Snake cults seem to have been very important in Minoan Crete, and there is an Early Minoan figurine jug from Kumasa on Crete thought to represent the Minoan Snake Goddess with a snake around her shoulders4. There are also quite a number of cylindrical vessels or tubes with applied snakes on the sides which have been found on different Minoan sites on Crete and which are thought to have been used for the keeping of snakes5. Two snake vases of a different kind come from sub-Minoan tombs at Ialysos on Rhodes: globular flagons with a handle at the back and a cupshaped spout on the shoulder, towards which two applied snakes are slithering6 and in one case with their heads over the edge of the spout, peering in or perhaps sniffing the smell from within7. These must be some of the earliest prototypes for the Roman pots with snakes peering into spouts. Another vase from a Cretan tomb at Milatos of the Late Geometric period is a very unusual face pot. It has no spout on the shoulder, but a rather phallic-like opening at the top with a spider-like face just below the rim and a snake draped around the body of the pot8.

Roman snake pots have been found in a wide variety of contexts, including the shrines and temples of several different deities, and it is becoming increasingly obvious that they cannot only be connected with the cults of Mithras or Sabazius as has been thought, though many of them undoubtably are. This brief excursus is not in intended to be a typology of snake pots, but merely an attempt to identify the main cults with which these vessels may have been connected in the western provinces, and to describe the principle characteristics that contribute to this identification. Where possible the more recent publications dealing with specific groups are mentioned. Snake pots with neither handles nor spouts, such as the comparatively large group found in Switzerland which seem to have little in common with face pots12, have not been included. The three main deities with whom Roman snake pots are most often connected are Mithras, Sabazius, and Dionysus-Liber while a small group of the bust vases of the Bavay area and central Belgium appear to have been associated with a cult of Mercury, possibly combined with aspects of Bacchic worship13. However, as will be seen, the lines separating the different cult groups are not rigid, and there appears to be a certain degree of overlap and in some cases what may have been a conflation of two cults. In the area of the Lower Danube, other cults, such as that of Aesculapius in Dacia, also seem to be involved (see section 3 below). What becomes clear from the analysis of these vessels is that though they were almost certainly cult vessels, meaning that they were used for religious worship, their use was certainly not restriced to shrines and temples. The fact that some are discovered on such sites contributes towards their identification with particular deities, but just as many if not more, with the possible exception of those used in the worship of Mithras, have been found in domestic contexts, and the likelihood is that many were used at household shrines. As can be seen from the painted lararia and domestic shrines at Pompei, Mercury, Bacchus and Aesculapius figure prominently as household gods or guardians, and Sabazius, through his association or equation with BacchusLiber may have been worshipped in the same way.

A.2. Roman snake pots In the Roman period snakes were associated with the Lares and Penates, and the household Genius, and regularly feature in lararium paintings at Pompei, while the caduceus, composed of two confronted snakes was the attribute of Hermes-Mercury and of Asklepios and Hygeia. Snakes were also closely connected with many if not all the mystery religions9. Roman snake pots, so named because of the two or three applied snakes crawling round the body of the vessel towards the rim, and up the handles if they are present, occur occasionally in most 2

Gimbutas 1982, Pls. 63-4. Bossert 1951, Nos 741-2. 4 Evans 1936, 163, Fig. 121. 5 Evans 1936, 140, Fig. 110. 6 See Chapter I, Fig. B4: 6. 7 Evans 1936, Fig. 122. 8 See Chapter I, Fig. B4: 5. 9 See Appendix 1, G.4. 3

10

See Chapter 1X, RB Type 13 K, Fig. J8: 5. See Appendix III, Group 3, Fig. R4: 3-4. Schmid 1990, Type A. 13 See Appendix III. 11 12

482

ROMAN SNAKE POTS B.

Quite a number of them have frilled rims. Features which help identify these pots as Mithraic, other than the fact that they were found in or near a Mithraeum, are the presence of Mithraic scenes or figures on the wall of the pot, generally Mithras, Cautes and Cautopates as on the vessel from Köln in Pl. T2, or applied scorpions, either on the outer wall, or more often on the rim or inner phlange. Lion heads, thought to be symbolic of the lion grade, are also often found, as on a lid, a krater handle and on five mortaria from the ritual pit at Tienen18. Ravens too can occur as on the rim of the recently discovered krater from the Ballplatz Mithraeum at Mainz19. They may also have painted stars with eight spokes, trees - mainly pines or firs - and ladders, though these are all common to many mystery cults.

SNAKE POTS ASSOCIATED WITH DIFFERENT CULTS

B.1. Snake pots connected with the worship of Mithras 1. These are probably the largest and certainly the best known group, and the many examples do not need to be listed here. In the provinces, those pots clearly identified with Mithraea have been found mainly in the Rhineland, with rather fewer it seems from the Danube frontier, at any rate from the lower Danube, though several fragments were found in the Mithraeum at Linz in Austria14. A group of thirty or more fragments identified with two three-aisled buildings in the sanctuary in the eastern canabae at Carnuntum15 are now thought more likely to belong to the cults of Sabazius or Liber (see Section B.2. below). None seem to date to before the end of the first century, and most are of later second to third century date. Though referred to generally as kraters, the forms of the handled vessels vary quite considerably between a fairly wide-necked kantharos-type vessel with a pedestal foot though without the high handles, and a taller, more narrow-necked jar with a flat base which normally has two handles but can sometimes have three. There tend to be just two handles, invariably it seems with snakes climbing up them. There is often a phlange just inside the rim, narrowing the opening, which sometimes has holes pierced through it. Bird suggests that such pots may have been censers, and that a flat round lid of the kind sometimes found associated with Mithraea with sooting on the underside, could have rested on the edges of the phlange, allowing the smoke to rise through the pierced holes. Alternative lighted tapers could have been placed in the holes16.

B.2. Snake pots connected with the cult of Sabazius

Pl. T3. Snake pot from Vindonissa with snakes, three handles (one missing, replaced with plaster), and three spout-cups on top, decorated with schematic trees or ivy branches, in the Vindonissa Museum;1st century; height 33 cm20.

1 Vessels connected with this cult have been identified on the basis of the applied animals and other symbols decorating the outer wall of the pot, which are very similar to those found on the votive bronze hands dedicated to Sabazius21. These include tortoises, frogs, lizards, ox or bull’s heads, snakes with crested or uncrested heads, ladders, musical instruments, little round cakes or loaves, grapes, and possibly scorpions. Though some of these symbols, on their own, may be associated with other deities, such as the tortoise with Mercury, or the scorpion with Mithras, only on the bronze hands and on these vessels, do they occur together, and it is assumed that the vessels, like the hands, are connected with the cult of Sabazius.

Pl T2. Two-handled Mithraic snake pot from Zeughausstrasse, Köln in the RGM Köln, with a pierced inner flange on the rim, a lion on top of the left handle and a snake climbing up the other; Sol-Mithras is portrayed on one side of the pot in between Cautes and Cautopates, and three large stars are painted on the other side17; height c. 26.5 cm. 2nd c

2. There appears to be no secure evidence for spouts or little cups on the handles or rims of Mithraic snake pots. Many of these vessels are made in fine-wares, either sigillata, or glazed or colour-coated wares, and may well be copies of metal proto-types.

2. The pots can have two or three handles. Often they have blind “spouts” or little cups on top of the handles with the snakes climbing up and peering in, and in that case there are generally three rather than two. They have been found mainly in Italy, North Switzerland and Bavaria and occasionally in North Africa,

14

18

15

19

Ruprechtsberger 1982, No 231. Gassner 1990. 16 Bird, 2004, 192. 17 See Binsfeld 1960-1, 67-72.

Martens, 2004, Fig. 8: 3 and Fig. 9: 1-2. Huld Zetsche 2004, 213-228. See Chapter VII, Fig. G7: 3. 21 Bird 1996, 121. 20

483

APPENDIX VI but a few vase fragments from different provinces may also belong to this group. Two excellent examples with spout-cups on the handles and a full complement of symbols applied to the wall of the pot have been found beside a garden shrine at Pompeii, together with a typical bronze votive hand22. Anotehr has been found at Capua23. Several vessels with three handles and spoutcups are known from north Switzerland, two from Augst24, and a complete pot, and sherds from several others, from Vindonissa25. A further vessel from Avenches has four handles26. These are all from contexts dated to the first century. Appliqués on these pots include all the above mentioned animals, as well as tear-shaped objects (purses of Mercury?) and branches, though the one complete one from Vindonissa (Pl. T3) just has schematic trees or branches applied in barbotine. No less than three of the rare Sabazius hands have been found in Switzerland, one of them in the early fortress at Dangstetten, and it is assumed that the cult was introduced by an auxiliary unit from the East attached to legio XVIIII who occupied the fortress from 14-9 BC27. These vessels are not just limited to the western provinces. There is a two-handled jar from North Africa in the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum in Mainz, which has snakes climbing up the handles, but no spout-cups, and which is completely covered with symbols known from the votive hands as well as some additional ones (Pl. T3).

be surrounded with snake pot fragments, and were thought to be associated with the cult of Mithras. However, no overtly Mithraic vessels have been found, while quite a number of fragments with frogs, lizards, a ladder and various other non-Mithraic symbols have been identified, and the suggestion now is that one of the buildings at least may have been used for the worship of Sabazius28. A separate shrine to Liber and Libera has also been identified within the complex but away from the main buildings. There is also thought to have been a temple or shrine to Sarapis somewhere close by. Many of the fragments found in the sanctuary, which are thought to amount to around 70-80 cult vessels, are plainer, just with ring-stamped snakes and handles, while one or two are quite differently decorated with vine scrolls and grapes, in one case with a head of Sol with radiate crown29, all of which are very similar to snake pots and their fragments found in association with shrines and temples dedicated to Liber and Libera in Dacia and along the Lower Danube (see B.3 below). To add to the confusion the one relatively complete snake pot from the Carnuntum sanctuary, which was found separately in association with the shrine of Liber and Libera, has spout cups on the handles and many of the symbols connected with Sabazius: a lizard, one or more frogs and a snake climbing up a ladder (see Fig. T5 below). Vera Gassner draws no final conclusions as yet, but it would appear that much the same cult vessels were used in the worship of several different mystery gods, particularly those without any special appliqués. These vessels it seems could all be very quickly produced in a small pottery situated within the sanctuary.

Pl. T.4 Three-handled snake pot from North Africa thought to have been associated with the worship of Sabazius, in the RGZM Mainz.. Height c. 40cm.

3. Other, fragmentary vessels which have one or more of these animals and which may also belong to this cult, have been found at a number of sites in the western provinces. The largest number almost certainly come from the temple complex at Mühläcker in the easteren canabae of the fortress at Carnuntum dated to the second to third centuries (Gassner 2004, 229-38). On the basis of inscriptions and altars found on the site, the two main temples are assumed to have been dedicated to the Helipolitanian gods, but two three-aisled buildings to the south of the temples turned out to

Pl. T5. Part of a very large snake pot from a shrine of Liber and Libera in the temple complex of the Heliopolitanian gods at Carnuntum, which may also have been used in the cult of Sabazius One handle with a snake and part of a spout-cup survives and there were probably two more. .The applied symbols decorating the pot include a ladder with a snake and a bird, a lizard, and a frog (found separately) (Gassner 2004, 233, Fig. 6)

4. Other sites where similar fragments have been founds are: London, one example with a frog30; Neuss, two examples with frogs and one with a scorpion, all found in the military area in deposits dated to c. 25-50, the latter being presumed to be too

22

Bird 2004, 122, Fig. 14.3. Ibid, 123. 24 Schmid 1991, Figs. 12-13, Pl. 24; Bird 1996, 123, Fig. 14.4. 25 See Chapter VII under UD Type 1 and Fig. G7: 3; Ettlinger 1951, Fig. 13; Schmid 1991, Fundliste 2, 2. 26 Schmid 1991, 24. 27 Drach and Fellmann 1988, 250. 23

28

Gassner 2004, 231 ff Ibid, Figs. 7-8. 30 Ibid, 119 29

484

ROMAN SNAKE POTS early to be connected with Mithras31; Hofheim, one example of Flavian date with lizard and applied tree32; Trier, one example from the temple complex of Altbachthal, with a snake and a lizard crawling up to a frilled rim33; Straubing in Bavaria, a reconstructed fragmentary pot with a snake, a lizard and a frog climbing up the sides (Pl. T6), Westheim bei Augsburg and Pfaffenhofen, also in Bavaria, one fragment with a lizard from each site34; Vienna, an unprovenanced fragment in a sigillata-type fabric consisting just of a spout-cup and a handsome crested snake with partly open mouth poised above the cup35, very similar to ones found on the Sabazius hands; and Poetovio, where various fragments with lizards have been found36. Many of these pots are from first century contexts, which is one of the features that helps to distinguish the fragments from those from Mithraic pots, but the two found in Bavaria, at Pfaffenhofen and Westheim bei Augsburg are of second to third century date., as are the ones from Carnuntum

form and very like the simpler snake pots found at Carnuntum: large, fairly wide-necked jars or kraters with a rim diameter of 2125 cm, with three handles but no spout-cups and an inner phlange just inside the rim (ibid 133). The snakes are generally notched or ring-stamped, and at least half the vessels are decorated with rows of stamps, typical of the region. Roughly a quarter of them have appliqué medallions or figures representing Liber and Libera, Pan, a satyr, a maenad, and a figure who could be Mithras or Sol. Some may also have vine scrolls and grapes38. Almost half have been found in the countryside, in villas and settlements, the rest in “urban” contexts in forts, towns, temples, votive deposits, and one grave (ibid 136). 2. Of the four temples, three are dedicated to Liber and Libera, at Apulum, Porolissum and Sarmizegetusa, and one to Aesculapius and Hygieia also at Sarmizegetusa. No snake pots have as yet been found in any in Dacian Mithraea (ibid, 125). The presence of one or more snake pots in the temple of Aesculapius, the god of healing, implies that not all of these vessels were used in the worship of Liber, and as in the sanctuary of the Helipotanian gods at Carnuntum it seems that they could equally well be used in the worship of other mystery gods. This is not the only instance of the linking of Bacchus-Liber and Aesculapius, for both seem to have had a role as protective household gods, and they frequently figure, along with Hermes-Mercury, Isis-Fortuna, Apollo and Hercules in lararium paintings at Pompei39. Another cult with which these vessels might well have been connected is that of the Danubian Rider Gods, given that a krater and snakes figure on most if not all the lead plaques connected with this cult40, though so far no snake pots have been positively identified with it. There is also a possibility that snake pots may have been associated with the worship of Sarapis at Micasasa in central Dacia41.

Pl. T6. A large reconstructed snake pot in fine buff ware from Straubing with two handles and two snakes and a frog and a lizard climbing up one side in the Prähistorische Staatssammlung in Munich; height c. 35 cm.

5. There is also a unique fragment from a large face pot of DAN Type 33 from Novae which has what appears to be a lizard on the left cheek, though again not enough survives to show the form of the vessel, or whether it had snakes and handles on it37.

B.3. Snake pots associated with the worship of Dionysus-Liber and other associated gods such as Demeter, Aesculapius and Sabazius. 1. Snake pots associated with Liber-Dionysus appear to be much more common in the Danubian provinces of Pannonia and Dacia than further west. Almost fifty snake pots have been found in Dacia on twenty two different sites spread across the province, and have been the subject of a recent study by Viorica Bolindet (1993). Despite their wide distribution, they are all of very similar

Pl. T7. Large two-handled snake pot used in the worship of Dionysus from Tomi (Constantia) in fine matt red ware in the Museum of History and Archaeology at Constantia; 2nd to 3rd century.

3. A rather different snake pot has been found at Tomi, now Constantia, close to where the Danube canal enters the Black Sea (Pl. T7). This too was clearly used in the worship of Liber, though

31

Filtzinger 1972, Pl. 45: 8-9 and Pl. 44: 4. Schwertheim 1974, 273. 33 Schwinden 1987, Fig. 5. 34 Ulbert 1963, Fig.6: 1-2. 35 Museum der Stadt Wien No MV 9712 36 Abramic 1914, Fig. 110. 37 See Chapter VIII, DAN Type 33, Fig. H11: 7. 32

38

Bolindet 1933, 127, Fig. 1:a. Descoeudres 1994, 92. Thomas 1980, 190, Pl. CXXXI: 2. 41 Bolindet 1933, 127. 39 40

485

APPENDIX VI of the 3rd and 4th centuries found locally. The third vessel in buff fabric, which could be an import, was found in a built-in basin in a small room to the west of the temple with steps going down into it. It is almost complete and undecorated except for the two snakes and two circular disks on the sides of each handle46, perhaps intended to convey the appliqué masks of Dionysus as on the handles of the Tomi vessel. Two other snake pot fragments were found in the sanctuary of Demeter near by. The snakes on all the vessels are notched. It is suggested that all five pots may have been used in the worship of Dionysus and Demeter (ibid 354), though the two in the tunnel could have been associated with Hermes. Such vessels are extremely rare in Roman Greece, and Marty suggests that the practice, and possibly one of the snake pots, could have been imported from the Danubian provinces to the north by soldiers who were stationed on the Isthmus at some time in the Late Roman period.

here he may have been known as Dionysus. It appears to have somewhat similar appliqué figures to the Dacian snake pots around the neck, as well as bunches of grapes (though these are hanging from unlikely looking branches), but its wide strap handles, each with an applied mask of Bacchus with blown-back hair (see Pl. T8 below) are much more elaborate and strongly suggest derivation from a metal prototype. The flat square plaques on the top of each handle seem to be in place of the spoutcups on snake pots used for the cults of Sabazius and possibly Liber further west. They are reminiscent of the handles on the Villanovan face pot from Etruria42, and in both cases the pots and their handles could well be copies of metal vessels Two thin snakes can be seen climbing up the pot wall and peering over the rim on either side of each handle.

5. In western Europe, far fewer snake pots have so far been identified with the cult of Bacchus or of those deities associated with him, with the exception of those used in the worship of Sabazius described above. At least two however have been found in a shrine dedicated to Liber Pater at Cosa, on the Italian coast north of Rome47. These are again similarly shaped, krater-type vessels with applied snakes, but in this case they only have two handles, with spout-cups on top48,. Of particular interest is one handle fragment with a tiny lamp in place of a cup which supports the theory that the spout-cups might have served as oil lamps49. There is also a fragment with a lizard, an ox head and a snake, and another with a winged head, probably Mercury, all symbols found on the votive hands of Sabazius, which suggests that here two the two cults were linked as at Carnuntum. No other snake pots appear to be specifically linked with shrines or dedications to Liber-Bacchus, but it is possible that some of the snake pots found in the Rhineland and not linked to any Mithraea might also have Bacchic connections, such as the one with six appliqué “Cupid” masks round the girth from Heddernheim50, and another from Köln with hunting dogs on the body51, both of which have two handles with snakes climbing up. There is also the incomplete vessel from Pocking in Bavaria in Pl. T1 with three handles and snakes and three separate frilled spout-cups on the shoulder, which has appliqué female masks with drawn-back hair of Persephone type at the base of the handles52.

Pl. T8. Detail of the Dionysus snake pot from Tomi, showing two thin snakes clmbing up to the rim on either side of the handle.

B.4. Snake pots associated with the worship of Mercury (and Bacchus?).

3. Snake pots have also been found at Varvara in Thrace, in a temple to Aesculapius43, and in Moesia Superiore in contexts thought to be connected with Cybele44

1. There are two very small groups of fragmentary bust vases from the Meuse-Sambre region in Belgium which differ from all the other far more numerous bust vases in that they have snakes around the necks, as well as some of the attributes of Mercury on the body of the vase. The Gallo-Belgic bust vases are discussed all together in Appendix III, Groups 1-4. One group, listed as Group 3, have a bust of Mercury with stubby wings in his hair on either side of the vase, and are decorated with applied or impressed cocks, goats and purses, as well as one (or possibly two) snake(s) around the shoulders of the vase. The vases of the other group, Group 4 are even less complete, and it is not clear if they ever had any busts at all. Enough survives however to show that they had frilled rims and two blind spouts (unlike all the

4. In the Isthmus sanctuary at Corinth, where Poseidon was the principle deity, but Dionysus and Demeter were also worshipped, three large but incomplete snake pots with frilled rims (with a double band of frilling) and two handles but no spouts have been found. One of them, the most ornate, has, in addition to snakes, what is thought to be some kind of knotted ribbon around the neck with grapes and vine or ivy leaves hanging from it and marks of sooting around the rim and upper part of the vase. It was was found in a narrow underground passage to the east of the temple of Poseidon, linked to some Late Roman houses situated above, together with fragments of several lamps, a tazza , a bowl, and a “small, handsome, winged head of Hermes”. A second snake pot fragment was found near the entrance to the tunnel45. Both are in a coarse, reddish fabric very similar to local pottery

46

Ibid, 350-2. Collins-Clinton 1977. 48 Ibid, Pls. 18-22. 49 Ibid Pl. 26, Figs. 65-6. 50 Behn 1910, 98, No 679. 51 Ibid, 182, No 1218. 52 Ulbert 1963, 57, Fig. 1; see Chapter VII, Fig. G7: 2. 47

See Chapter II, Pt. I, B.2, Fig. B7: 7. Ulbert 1963, 66, Note 26a. 44 Marty 1991, 354. 45 Ibid, 353. 42 43

486

ROMAN SNAKE POTS other bust vases which have plain, everted rims and no spouts), as well as cocks and goats and a smooth, flat unnotched “snake” around the neck of the vase that has both ends disappearing into the spouts. The most complete example also has a panther and a female figure, perhaps a “maenad” on the body. The bust vases as a whole appear to have had a close connection with Mercury, but the panther and “maenad” and the snakes would seem to suggest some kind of association with Bacchic worship. Given the number of bust vases found in cellars, often with built-in niches, cult ceremonies in honour of Mercury may have been performed in underground rooms.

the implication is that they must have been used in rituals that had a particular association with mystery and salvation religions. Snakes seem to play a role in all mystery religions56, and it is no surprise therefore to find snake pots used in their worship. Unfortunately there are still very few clues as to how they were used. It is very possible that the many snake pots found in Mithraea symbolised the sacred krater and snake which figure in all the tauroctomy reliefs. Though there seems little evidence that a bull was regularly sacrificed as part of the mysteries, these vessels may have been filled with wine or other liquids symbolising the blood or semen of the primeval bull slaughtered by Mithras, whose sacrifice bought life to the world57. The same could be true of the snake pots used in the cults of Sabazius and Bacchus, though in this case symbolising the blood of the god whose death and miraculous re-birth brings the hope of salvation. An important element in all religious ceremonies was incense, and some of these pots, particularly those made of coarse, welltempered fabrics that would withstand heat, may, as Bird suggests, also have been used for burning frankincense or myrrh. In ancient Greece, a kernos, a cult vessel with pierced spouts round the rim, was sometimes so used58. Bird (1996, 125) suggests that some of the spout cups may have held incense. She draws attention to the fact that the frilled spouts on the snake pot with appliqué masks from Pocking (Pl. S1) look very like miniature tazze or incense burners. Incense, to be burnt however, needs contact with fire, and it is not clear how the heat could be maintained in such small receptacles; it is more likely that the incense was sprinkled on hot coals inside the pot. If the spouts were pierced and hot coals placed inside the pot, it is conceivable that incense or other substances placed in the spouts might have given off a special fragrance. But this is unlikely to have worked if the spouts were not pierced. Blind spout cups on the other hand could possibly have held a light of some kind, a candle or burning oil, and the fact that a lamp occurs instead of a cup on the handle fragment from Cosa is perhaps indicative of such a function. The flat square plaques on top of the handles of the Tomi vessel (Pl. T8) could perhaps have served as lamp stands (for tiny lamps!). However in some instances the snakes appear to sip out of the cups, as on the Tournai vase59, and they would hardly do this if they contained candles or burning incense, and in these cases some kind of liquid is more likely, perhaps honey. Another quite different possibility is that they may have been used for mixing some kind of ritual drink, for which spices and other ingredients could have been added through the spouts, though only through those that were functional. It is also entirely conceivable that these pots were used together with real snakes. The snakes may have been kept in the cistae or hatbox-like baskets shown in Bacchic “rural temple” scenes, and brought out during cult rituals to eat or drink from the snake pots just as the panther seems to be licking up the spilt contents of the over-turned krater on the Coupe des Ptolémées60.

2. It seems possible that these two small groups of vases may have been designed for some special acts of worship that were still part of the general Mercury cult but which had come to include elements of cult practice borrowed from the new mystery religions, expressed in a framework of Bacchic imagery and ritual. A similar mixing of Roman, Celtic and Bacchic religious elements may perhaps be observed in the Late Roman cult of Faunus quite recently identified through a hoard of silver spoons, strainers and gold jewellery discovered at Thetford in Norfolk53. This seems to have had many of the aspects of a private mystery cult with members (perhaps of a collegium), some of whose Celtic names appear on some of the spoons, and probably a ritual meal at which the spoons would have been used. 3. As mentioned in section B.3.4 above, one of the snake pots with frilled rims from the Isthmus sanctuary at Corinth was found in a narrow underground passage linked to some Late Roman houses situated above, together with cult vessels and a bronze head of Hermes, with a second snake pot fragment near by. It is possible that these pots too were used in underground rituals associated with Hermes-Mercury. 4. One other snake pot which may also have had a connection with Mercury and Bacchus or Sabazius comes from Drobeta in Dacia and has two applied snakes, ox heads, a pine cone, grapes and a cock 54.

C.

DISCUSSION

1. Though many of the snake pots with handles and spouts in the western Empire may have been connected with the worship of Mithras, Sabazius and Bacchus-Liber, it is clear that not all of them were, and other deities such as Mercury and Aesculapius were also involved, and possibly Sarapis in Dacia, Cybele in Moesia Superiore, and Demeter in Greece. They were used in temples and shrines and in votive deposits, but they are also found in domestic contexts, on both military and civilian sites. In the light of the two found by a garden altar at Pompei, they may often have been used in household shrines. Only rarely do they seem to have been found in graves. 2. It cannot be a coincidence that all the gods who can be identified with these snake pots, and in whose worship they were presumably used, are all mystery gods from Greece and the Near East, even Hermes-Mercury and Aesculapius on occasion55, and 53

See Appendix I, H.2. Bird 1996, 124. 55 Aesculapius was often worshipped in the form of a sacred snake, and the snake played an important role in his healing rituals. His cult at Epidauros seems to have had many aspects in common with mystery religions (see Burkert 1985, 268; Richards 1949, 107, 4). And in fact Hermes with his consort Aphrodite was also at the centre of a number of cults in Greece and the eastern Mediterranean (see Appendix 1.H.3, and Burkert 1985, 220. 54

56

See Appendix I, G.4. See Appendix I, G.2.. 58 See Chapter II, Pt. III, C, Fig. B12: 10. 59 See Appendix III, Fig. R4: 5. 60 See Appendix I, Fig. P.1.a. 57

487

Index of sites mentioned in the Catalogues to Chapters III-IX and the face pot Types found on them Bertrange (Lux), Pt II, RL Type 4C. Bierg (Mamer, Lux), Pt II, RL Type 4C. Bingen, Pt II, RL Types 20A, 21A, 30; Pt III, Types 44A, 50C. Bingerbruch, Pt III, RL Type 50B. Bonn, Pt I, RL Type 11B; Pt II, Types 21A, 26A. Butzbach, Pt II, RL Types 21A, 26A. Cuijk, Pt I, RL Type 2B. Dalheim, Pt II, RL Types 4C, 21A, unclassified.sherds. Darmstadt, Pt II, RL Type 37A. Dieburg, Pt II, RL Types 4C, 20A, 21A. Dormagen, Pt III, RL Types 42, 48A, Echternach (Lux), Pt II, RL Type 26B Echzell, Pt II, RL Type 4C. Eisenburg, Pt II, RL Type 20B Feldburg, Pt II, RL Type 26A. Frankfurt-Zeilsheim, Pt II, RL Type 29. Friedberg, Pt II, RL Types 26A, 36. Gellep, see Krefeld Gellep. Gondorf, see Kobern Gondorf. Gross-Krotzenburg, Pt II, RL Types 4C, 26A, 31 (or 44A?), unclassified sherds. Gross-Sachsen (Hirschberg), Pt II, RL Type 33? Haltern, Pt II, RL Type 33? Hambacher Wald (Jülich), Pt II, RL Type 3; Pt III, Type 44A. Heddernheim, see Nida-Heddernheim. Heerlen, Pt I, RL Types 4A-B; Pt II, Types 26A, 35A. Heftrich, Pt II, RL Type 24A. Heidelberg, Pt II, RL Type 20B, 39? Heldenbergen, Pt II, RL Type 26A Hofheim, Pt I, RL Types 1, 2B, 5; Pt II, Types 20A, 21A, unclassified sherds. Izel-Pin (SE Belg.), Pt II, RL Type 30. Jülich, see Hambacher Wald. Kastel (Mainz), Pt II, RL Types 20A, 25. Kastel-Staadt, Pt III, RL Type 48A. Kobern-Gondorf, Pt II, RL Type 26A; Pt III, Type 51. Koblenz, Pt II, RL Type 4A; Pt II, Type 21A. Köln, Pt I, RL Types 1, 2B, 4A-B, 11A-C, 14B, 16A; Pt II, Types 4C, 11D, 21A, 35B, 37B; Pt III, Types 47B, 48A, 50C. Krefeld-Gellep, Pt I, RL Type 16B; Pt II, Type 26A; Pt III, Types 47B-C. Lösnich, Pt II, RL Type 26A. Lövenich, Pt I, RL Type 4B. Mainz, Pt I, RL Types 1, 2B, 11B; Pt II, Types 20A, 21A, 23, 24A; Pt III, Type 50A. Mainz-Weisenau, Pt I, RL Type 15; Pt II, RL Type 24B. Mamer (Lux), see Bierg. Mastershausen, Pt III, RL Type 44B. Mayen, Pt II, RL Type 26A; Pt III, Type 44B. Mayschoss, Pt II, RL Type 26A. Mersch (Lux), Pt II, RL Type 31. Mülheim-Kärlich, Pt II, RL Type 21A. Munster-bei-Bingen, Pt III, RL Type 50B.

Chapter III, ITALY ITALIA ( within modern Italy) Abbiategrasso, IT Type 18. Alba, IT Types 16B, 23. Altino, IT Type 20A. Angera, IT Type 21. Aquilieia (see also Pozzuolo), IT Type 36. Arsago Seprio, see under IT Type 18. Bologna, IT Type 20B? Calvatone, IT Type 15. Como (see San Carpaforo di Camerlata). Cosa, IT Type 1. Cremona, IT Type 20-22? Garlasco, IT Type 15. Grosseto, see Chap III, Footnote 8. Herculaneum (see Pompeii), Legnano, see San Giorgio su Legnano Mercallo dei Sassi, IT Type 18. Milan, IT Types 18, 22, 24. Nave, IT Type 16A. Olgiata Comasco, IT Type 15. Pavia, IT Type 21? Pigozzo (Verona), IT Type 20A. Pompeii (and Herculaneum), IT Types 5, 6, 7. Pozzuolo (Aquileia), I T Type 19. Rome, IT Type 1. San Carpaforo di Camerlata (Como), IT Type 18. San Giorgio su Legnano, IT Type 18. San Lorenzo di Pegognaga, IT Type 20-22? Stanghelle di Franzine, IT Type 15. Turin, IT Type 21? Valegio Lomellino, IT Type 15. Validone, IT Type 15. Verona (see Pigozzo), Villa Bartolomeo, IT Type 15. Viterbo, IT Type 4. ITALIA (within modern Switzerland) Cadra Minusio, IT Type 18. Giubiasco, IT Type 17. Muralto, IT Type 18.

Chapter IV, Parts I-III THE RHINELAND between the Rhine delta and Strasbourg and including the Trier-Luxembourg-Alsace region Altenstadt, Pt II, RL Type 21A. Altrier, Pt III, RL Type 47A. Andernach, Pt II, RL Types 21A, 26A, 30. Arnhem-Meinerswijk, Pt I, RL Type 2B. Arnsburg, Pt II, RL Type 22. Aspelt, Pt III, RL Type 42. Bastendorf (Lux), Pt II, RL Type 30. Bergheim Torr, Pt I, RL Type 4A. 489

Mutterstadt, Pt III, RL Type 50D Neuss, Pt I, RL Types 2A, 11B. Nida-Heddernheim, Pt I, RL Type 8B; Pt II, Types 4C, 20A, 21A, 21B, 24B, 26A, 33, unclassified sherds.. Niederbieber, Pt II, RL Types 11D, 31, 33. Niederheimbach, Pt III, RL Type 50C. Niederlahnstein, Pt II, RL Type 26A. Nijmegen, Pt I, RL Types 1, 2B-C, 4A-B, 11B, 13, 14A, 16B, 17; Pt II, RL Type 26A. Oberflorstadt, Pt II, RL Type 20A. Okarben, Pt II, RL Type 26A. Osterburken, Pt II, RL Type 39B. Rheingonheim, Pt II, RL Type 21A. Rheinzabern, Pt I, RL Types 4A, 12; Pt II, RL Type 20B. Riedstadt-Goddelau, Pt II, RL Type 21A. Rinschheim, Pt II, RL Type 39A. Rodheim, Pt II, RL Type 21A. Rückingen, Pt II, RL Type 21A. Saalburg, Pt II, RL Types 21A-B, 26A, unclassified sherds.. Saarbrücken, Pt II, RL Type 37A? Speicher, Pt II, RL Type 21A; Pt III, RL Type 47A. Speyer, Pt II, RL Type 38. Stockstadt, Pt II, RL Type 33? Trier, Pt II, RL Types 4C, 11D, 21C, 26B, 27; Pt III, RL Types 47A, 49, 52. Urmitz, Pt II, RL Types 26A, 30, 31. Utrecht, Pt I, RL Type 2B. Valkenburg, Pt II, RL Type 26A. Vechten, Pt I, RL Types 2B and 9. Virton (Alsace), Pt II, RL Types 4C, 24D. Vleuten-de-Meeren, Pt I, RL Type 2B. Wasserbillig, Pt III, RL Type 52. Weert, Pt III, RL Type 47B. Weisenau, see Mainz-Weisenau Wesseling, Pt I, RL Type 1; Pt II, Type 26A. Wiersdorf, Pt III, RL Type 42. Wiesbaden, Pt I, RL Type 2A; Pt II, Types 20A, 26A. Worms, Pt II, RL Types 20B, 24C, 37B, 39C. Xanten, Pt I, RL Types 1, 2B, 4A, 8A; Pt II, Type26A; Part III, Type 48B. Zeilsheim, see Frankfurt-Zeilsheim Zugmantel, Pt II, RL Types 20A, 21B, 24A, 26A, 33, unclassified sherds. Zwammerdam, Pt I, RL Type 4A.

BELGIUM Fayt-les-Manège, Group C, FS Type 27. Haulchin, Group C, FS Types 21, 27. Jupille, Group C, FS Type 23. Oudenburg, Group B, FS Type 10. Tienen, Group C, FS Type 21, Thuin, Group C, FS Type 27 SPAIN Ampurias (Emporion), Group A, FS Types 5, 7. Astorga, Group D, FS Type 31. Huerña, Group D, FS Type 31. Melgar de Tera, Group D, FS Type 31. Riudoms, Group A, FS Type 6. Rosinos de Vidriales, Group D, FS Type 31. Vilanova i la Geltrú, Group A, FS Type 6. Villasbariego, Group D, FS Type 31.

Chapter VI THE RHINE DANUBE CORNER The Strasbourg region, Baden Württemburg and north Switzerland Group A, STRASBOURG REGION Brumath, RD Types 6, 7. Lingolsheim, RD Type 5, Strasbourg, RD Types 1, 2, 3, 4. Group B, BADEN WÜRTTEMBERG Bad Cannstatt, RD Type 11. Lorch, RD Type 14. Oberesslingen, RD Types 12, 13. Welzheim, RD Type 13. Group C, NORTH SWITZERLAND Augst, RD Types 27, 30, 31, 33. Avenches, RD Types 25?, 30. Baden, RD Type 32 Büron, unclassified sherd. Kaiseraugst, RD Type 35. Obersiggenthal, RD Type 30. Rheinfelden-Görbelhof, RD Type 30. Seeb, RD Type 30. Stein am Rhein, RD Type 36. Urdorf, RD Type 30. VINDONISSA (Windisch, Brugg), RD Types 21, 22, 25, 26, 30, 33, and unclassified sherds. Wittnauernhorn, unclassified sherd.

Chapter V, FRANCE, BELGIUM AND SPAIN FRANCE (for Virton in Alsace, see Middle and Lower Rhineland Site List above, for the Strasbourg region, see Rhine-Danube Site List below)

Chapter VII, THE UPPER DANUBE Raetia and Noricum RAETIA (Bavaria) Burghöfe, UD Type 1. Eining, UD Type 6. Faimingen, UD Types 2, 3. Günzburg, UD Types 1,2,3,4. Heidenheim, UD Type 2. Neuburg, UD Type 3

Bavay, Group C, FS Types 21, 22. Boulogne, Group B, FS Type 12. Ensérune, Group A, FS Type 1. Harfleur, Group B, FS Type 16. Vatteville-la-Rue, Group B, FS Type 15.

490

Niedererlbach, UD Type 5B. Oberdorf am Ipf, UD Type 3. Pförring, UD Types 6, 7. Pfünz, UD Type 4. Regensburg, UD Types 5A, 6. Schwäbmünchen, UD Types 3, 5B. Straubing, UD Type 1. Wehringen, UD Type 3.

DACIA BOLOGA, DAN Type 6. Buciumi, DAN Types 25, 26, 31. CUMIDAVA (Risnov/Rosenaua), DAN Type 11. Drajna de Sus, DAN Type 30. Micasasa, DAN Type 25. POROLISSUM (Moigrad), unclassified sherds. ROMULA (Resca), unclassified sherds. ULPIA TRAIANA SARMIZEGETUSA, DAN Type 6; unclassified sherds.

RAETIA (Switzerland) Chur, UD Type 9.

Chapter IX, Parts I-III. BRITAIN

NORICUM (Austria) SOLVA (near Leibnitz), UD Type 23. Kematen, UD Type 11. LAURIACUM, (Enns-Lorch) unclassified sherd (see under DAN Type 27), Magdalensberg, UD Types 21, 22. Salzburg, UD Type 21. St Pölten, UD Type 23. VIRUNUM (near Klagenfurt), UD Type 25.

Alcester, Pt III, unclassified sherd 8. Aldbrough (East Yorks), smith pot (see RB Type 21E). Aldborough, smith pot (see RB Type 21E). Baldock, Pt II, RB Type 13D; Pt III, Type 31A. Balmuidy, Pt III, Face Group 4. Bancroft (villa), Pt III, RB Type 31A. Bielby, smith pot (see RB Type 21E). Billericay, Pt II, RB Type 13A. Binchester, unclassified sherds, No 14. Bodiam, Pt II, RB Type 13E. Braintree, Pt III, RB Type 21B. Brampton, Pt I, RB Type 3C; Pt III, RB Types 21C, 39; Pt IV, Type 44. Brancaster, Pt III, RB Type 21C. Brenley Corner, Pt III, RB Type 21A. Brough-on-Humber, Pt III, RB Type 21E; Pt IV, Types 41F, 41G. Burgh-by-Sands, Pt IV, RB Types 41A, 42. Burgh Castle, Pt III, RB Type 31A. Caerleon, Pt III, unclassified sherd 1. Caerwent, Pt II, RB Type 13G. Caister-on-Sea, Pt. II, RB Type 15; Pt III, Type 31A; Pt IV, Type 44. Caistor-by-Norwich, Pt II, RB Type 13C; Pt III, Type 31A; Pt IV, Type 44. Cambridge, Pt III, RB Type 31A. Camelon, Pt II, RB Types 13A and 13L Camerton, Pt I, RB Type 3A, 13L. Canterbury, Pt II, RB Type 13E; Pt III, Types 21A, 31A, smith pot (see RB Type 21E). Carlisle, Pt III, unclassified sherd 6; Pt IV, Types 41F, 43. Catterick, Pt III, RB Types 21E, 28B, 30, smith pot (see RB Type 21E). Chester, Pt III, Face Group 1. Chester-le-Street, Pt III, RB Type 21E, smith pot (see RB Type 21E). Chesters, Pt III, RB Type 21F. Coddenham, Pt III, unclassified sherd 12. Colchester, Pt I, RB Type 6A; Pt II, Types 13A-B; Pt III, Types 21B, 31A-B, 32, 33; Pt IV, Type 41H; smith pot (see RB Type 21E). Corbridge, Pt III, RB Type 28A; Pt IV, RB Types 41C, 44. Crambeck, Pt III, RB Type 28A. Darenth (villa), Pt III, RB Type 31B. Dover, Pt II, RB Type 13E.

Chapter VIII, THE MIDDLE AND LOWER DANUBE Pannonia, Moesia and Dacia PANNONIA AQUINCUM (Budapest), DAN Types 21, 28. Baranya region, DAN Type 5. BRIGETIO (Szöny), DAN Types 10, 14, 17, 21, 27, unclassified sherd. CARNUNTUM (Deutsch-Altenburg, Petronell), DAN Types 9, 10, 21, 27, unclassified sherds. EMONA (Ljubljana), DAN Types 2, 5. GORSIUM (Tác), DAN Types 5, 22. INTERCISA (Dunaujváros), DAN Types 13, 15. NEVIODUNUM (Drnovo, Krsko), DAN Type 7. POETOVIO (Ptuj), DAN Type 2. SAVARIA (Szombathely), DAN Type 14. SCARBANTIA (Sopron), DAN Type 28. SIRMIUM (Mitrovica), DAN Type 3. SISCIA (Sisak), DAN Type 1 TAURUNUM (Zemun), DAN Type 8. Vasas, DAN Type 6. VINDOBONA (Vienna), DAN Types 9, 10, 15, 16, 21, 27, 28, unclasified sherds. MOESIA Azanja, DAN Type 12. BONONIA (Vidin), unclassified sherds. DUROSTURUM (Silistra) DAN Type 25. Guberevac, DAN Types 6, 30. MARGUM (Dubravica) , unclassified sherd. NOVAE (Svistov), DAN Types 32, 33. OESCUS (Baikal), DAN Type 25. RATIARIA (Arcer), DAN Type 6; unclassified TALIATA (Veliki Gradac), DAN Type 13. TROESMIS (Turcoaia), DAN Type 30. VIMINACIUM (Kostolac), DAN Type 6.

sherds

491

Stanwix, Pt III, RB Type 21E. Stebbing (villa), Pt III, RB Type 31A. Teversham, Pt III, RB Type 31A. Tiddington, Pt IV, RB Type 41E. Towcester, Pt II, RB Type 13D; Pt III, Type 31A. Trent Vale, Pt I, RB Type 7. Usk, Pt I, RB Type 1A. VERULAMIUM (St Albans), Pt II, RB Types 1C, 13D; Pt III, Type 31A; Pt IV, Type 41D. VINDOLANDA (Carvoran), Pt III, RB Types 22, 28A. Wall, Pt III, Face Group 3. Wattisfield, Pt III, RB Type 21C. Welwyn, Pt II, RB Types 13D. West Stowe, Pt III, RB Type 21C. Winterton (villa), smith pot (see RB Type 21E). Worcester, Pt III, Face Group 6. Wroxeter, Pt I, RB Type 3B; Pt III, Face Group 1, smith pot (see RB Type 21E). York, Pt II, RB Type 8B; Pt II, Type 13J; Pt III, Type 28A, smith pots (see RB Type 21E).

Drayton Woods (Banbury) Pt III, RB Type 37. East Studdale, Pt II, RB Type 13E. Elmham (Spong Hill, Norfolk), Pt III, unclassified sherd 11. Elmswell (Suffolk), Pt III, RB Type 21C. Elmswell (Yorks), Pt III, RB Type 21E, smith pot (see RB Type 21E). Enfield, Pt II, RB Types 1C, 13D. Felixstowe, Pt III, Face Group 5. Fincham, Pt III, unclassified sherd 10. Freckenham, Pt III, RB Type 21C. Fulham (London), Pt III, RB Type 31A. Gloucester, Pt I, RB Types 1A, 1B, 2; Pt III, Face Group 1. Great Chesterford, Pt III, RB Type 31B. Hacheston, Pt III, RB Type 21C; Pt IV, Type 44. Harlow, Pt III, RB Type 31A. Hayton, Pt I, RB Type 8A, Hereford, Pt III, Face Group 6. Heronbridge (Chester), Pt III, Face Group 2. Heybridge (Elms Farm), Pt II, RB Type 13A; Pt III, Type 31A, unclassified sherd 13; Pt IV, Type 44. Hibaldstow, Pt III, RB Type 29. Holme-on-Spalding Moor, Pt III, RB Type 37; Pt IV, Type 41G. Hutton Ambo, Pt III, RB Type 28A. Ixworth, Pt III, RB Type 33. Kelvedon, Pt III, RB Type 31A. Lakenheath, Pt III, RB Type 21C. Lancaster, Pt III, Face Group 2. Leicester, Pt III, Face Group 6; Pt IV, RB Type 41B. Lincoln, Pt I, RB Type 6B; Pt III, Type 21D. smith pots (see RB Type 21E). Little Chester, Pt II, RB Types 1E, 13F; Pt III, Face Group 5, unclassified sherd 9. Little Hadham, Pt III, RB Type 31A. Littlecote (villa), Pt III, RB Type 31A. London, Pt 1, RB Types 1A, 9, 10; Pt II, Types 1C, 1D, 13C?, 13D, 14, 16; Pt III, Types 31A, 38, unclassified sherds 4-5. Malton, Pt III, RB Types 21E, 28A, 30; Pt IV, Type 41G, smith pots (see RB Type 21E). Mancetter, Pt III, unclassified sherds 2-3. Much Hadham, Pt III, RB Type 31A. Mucking, Pt III, RB Type 31A. Norton, Pt III, RB Type 21E, smith pots (see RB Type 21E). Old Penrith, Pt II, RB Type 13K. Pakenham, Pt III, RB Type 21C, smith pot (see RB Type 21E). Piddington (villa), Pt III, RB Type 31A. Piercebridge, Pt III, RB Types 21E, 28A-B, smith pot (see RB Type 21E). Saham Toney, Pt III, RB Type 21C. Scole, Pt III, RB Type 21C. Shepton Mallet, Pt III, RB Type 34, Face Group 6. Shiptonthorpe, Pt III, RB Type 21E; Pt IV, Type 41G. Sicklesmere, Pt III, RB Type 38. Snettisham, Pt III, RB Type 21C. Southwark (S. London), smith pot (see RB Type 21E). Springhead, Pt II, RB Type 13E; Pt III, Type 35. Staines, Pt I, RB Type 1A.

492

Sources for the Drawings in Chapters I-II, and Appendices III-V1 Chapter I

Chapter II

Fig. BI I. Mellaart 1975, Fig. 69. 2. Kalicz and Makkay, 1972, Fig. 7:1. 3. Crawford 1957, P1. 8: b. 4. Leisner 1943, P1. 28: 34. 5. Crawford 1957, P1. 8: a. 6. Ibid, PI.31:a. 7-9, Kalicz 1970, Cat. Nos 65-8. 10. Schliemann 1880, 340, No 227. 11. Ibid,575, N0 1294. 12. Schuchhardt 1891 (1979), Fig. 68.

Fig. B7 I. Undset 1890, Fig. 2. 2. Ibid, Fig. 3. 3. Vonbank 1978-9, 133. 4. Brendel 1978, Fig. 2. 5. Cristofani 1985, 60, No 2.4.11, 1. 6. Undset 1890, Fig. 22. 7. Ibid, Fig. 9. Fig. B8 1. Brendel 1978, Fig. 73. 2. Montelius 1895-1910, II, Pl. 223: 6. 3. Brendel 1978, Fig. 74. 4. Undset 1890, Fig. 28. 5. Enciclopaedia d'Arte Pl. 172: a. 6. Brendel 1978, Fig. 96.

Fig. B2 1. Bossert 1951, No 109. 2. Pieridou 1968, Pl. VIII: 10. 3. Orsi 1897, 263, Fig. 11. 4. Bossert 1951, No 1094

5. 6.

Fig. B9 I. Szilyagyi 1972, 121, PIs. 7-8. 2. Colonna 1959-60, 125, Pl. III. 3. Gjerstad 1960, 228, Fig. 141:7. 4. Undset 1890, 137, Fig. 29 a-b.

Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, display cabinet 1984. Bossert 1951, No 260.

Fig. B3 I. Arch. Anzeiger 1898, 191, Fig. 5. 2. Walter 1957, 44, P1. 62: 2. 3. Pieridou 1968, Pl. IX: 5 4. Ibid, Pl. IX: 6. 5. Evans 1936, Fig. 123. 6. Ibid, Fig. 124.

Fig. Bl0 1. Cristofani 1985, 304, No 11.26. 2. Pallotino 1974, Fig. 45. 3. De Ruyt 1934, Fig. 4, No 3. 4. Ibid, Fig. 19, No 43. Fig. B11 1. Walters 1905, II, Fig. 185. 2. Van Ingen 1933, P1. XXX: I a. 3. Dressel 1884, 236-7, Pl. 0: 3. 4. Cintas 1946, P1. X, No 76. 5. Boardman 1964, Fig. 213.

Fig. B4 1. Garstang 1932, Pl. XLII. 2. Bossert 1937, Pl. 168, No 294. 3. Maksimova 1916, Pl. IV: 33 4. Boardman 1961, No 378, frontispiece. 5. Beazley 1929, Fig. 1. 6. Ibid, Fig. 8. 7. lbid,Fig. 6. 8. Ibid,Fig. 13.

Fig. B12 I. Glob 1937, 202, Fig. 39. 2. Broholm 1953, No 380. 3. Haalvaldsen 1985, 26, Fig. 1: 3. 4. La Baume 1956, 104, Fig. 1:3. 5. Luka 1966, 155, P1. LXXXVIII: 1. 6. Ibid, P1. LXVI: 3. 7. Bergman 1968, 68, P1. 16: 7. 8. Bronsted 1960, 169, a. 9. Stuart 1963, 73, Type 201C, P1. 19: 306. 10. Déchelette 1927, 811, Fig. 325: 1.

Fig. B5 I. Boardman 1974, jacket cover. 2. British Museum, Amasa Collection. 3. Boardman 1974, Fig. 17:1. 4. Wrede 1928, Pl. XXVIII: I. 5. Dawkins 1929, Pl. LVI: 2. 6. Higgins 1959, Pl. 12, No 1627. 7. Ibid, Pl.9, No 1618.

1 The drawings are all by the author, from published photos or from the objects themselves, with the exception of the folowing which have been adapted from published drawings and engravings: Figs. B1:10-11; B3:5-6; B4:4; B9:4; B11:1 & 3; B12:4,7 & 9-10; B14:1; S5:2-3 & 7; S6:2-6 & 810; S10:2; S12:3.

493

3. 4. 5. 6.

Fig. B13 1. Temple of Hathor, Abu Simbel. 2. Frey 1980, 81, Fig. 12. 3. Jacobsthal 1944, Pl. 21, No 20. 4. Hoddinott 1981, 92, Fig. 85. 5. MacCana 1970, 24. 6. Olmsted 1979, P1. 28. 7. Hoddinott, 1981, 92, Fig. 86: 3. 8. MacCana 1970, 120.

Ibid, No 627. Ibid, No 632. Ibid, No 630. Salomonson 1980, 123, No 39.

Fig. S3 1. Bucharest City History Museum. 2. Fitz 1980, No 26. 3. Banki 1978, 265, No 530, Pl. XXI, photo courtesy of Dr Jeno Fitz. 4. Nagy and Urogdy 1966, Fig. 20. 5. Banki 1976, 173, No 248, Pl. XV: 3, photo courtesy of Dr Jeno Fitz. 6. Szönyi 1976, 1976, 18, Pl. VIII.I. 7. Magyar Nemzeti Museum, Budapest, No 55.18.29.

Fig. B14 1. Cabré Aquilo et al. 1950, Pl. 93: b 2. Knez, 1990, Pl. 90. 3. Torbrügge 1968, 249. 4. Jacobsthal 1944, 124, Note 84, Pls. LIII-LIV. 5. Torbrügge 1968, 237. 6. Ibid, 245. 7-8. Halberd 1961, Figs. 1-2.

Fig. S4 1. Braithwaite 1984, Fig. 11: 4. 2. Ibid, Fig. 11: 6. 3. Ibid, Fig. 12: 1. 4. Ibid, Fig. 9: 4. 5. Ibid, Fig. 12: 3 6. Ibid, Fig. 12: 4. 7. Ibid, Fig. 12: 5. 8. Ibid, Fig. 13: 5.

Appendix III Fig. R2 1. Musée d’Archéologie Curtius, Liège, author’s photos. 2. Amand 1984, I, Pl. XXX: 3-4. 3. “ “ III, Pls. I-III.

Fig. S5 1. Trier Landesmuseum No 27,31. 2. Déchelette 1904, II, Pl. X: 2. 3. Déchelette 1904, II, Pl. X: 3. 4. Museum der Stadt Worms, display cabinet, 1985. 5. Koepp et al. 1909, Pl. XXI: 3. 6. Trier RLM No G.F. 530. 7. Nenova-Merdjanova 2000, Fig. 3. 8. Toynbee 1962, Cat No 44, Pl. 40. 9. Fitz 1980, No 2.

Fig. R3 1. Amand 1984, III, Pl. XXV: 1. 2. “ “ I, Pl. XL: 3 and 5. 3. “ “ I, Pl. I: 4. 4. “ “ III, Pl. XX: 4. 5. “ “ III, Pl. XXXIV: 2. 6. “ “ I, Pl.XIV: 1-2. Fig. R4 1. Amand 1984, I, Pl. X. 2. “ “ I, Pl. XXVIII:1. 3. Musée des Beaux Arts, Bruxelles, author’s photos. 4. Amand, 1984, I, Pl. V: 1-2. 5. “ “ I, Pl. XLVI: 1-2.

Appendix V Fig. S6 1. Toynbee 1962, Fig. 182. 2. Déchelette 1904, 224-6, No 108. 3. Ibid, No 110. 4. Ibid No 115. 5. Ibid No 101.i 6. Ibid No 103. 7. Rijksmuseum van Oudheiden, Leiden, display case. 8. Ibid 227-8, No 121. 9. Ibid No 122. 10. Ibid No 127. 11. Musée de la Civilisation Gallo-Romaine, Lyon, display case. 12. Glanum (St Rémy) Museum display case. 13. St. Romain-en-Gal Museum display case. 14. Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Inv. No.IV.4345. 15. Droop and Newstead 1931, 127, Pl. LV: 47. 16. Green 1978, Pl. 102. 17. Unpublished sherd from the Bromley Hall Farms kilns. Much Hadham, courtesy of B. Barr.

Appendix IV Fig. S1 1. Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg. 2. Constantia Historical and Archaeological Museum No 1882. 3. Glodariu 1976, 170, No 35, Fig. C34/35. 4. Koepp et al. 1909, Fig. 12: 1. 5. Karlsruhe Landesmuseum, display cabinet 1984. 6. Ibid 7. British Museum No GR 1907.5-20.61 8. Agora Museum Athens No P10004. 9. Belgrade National Museum, display cabinet. 10. Karlsruhe Landesmuseum, display cabinet 1984. 11. Charleston 1955, Pl. 28: B. Fig. S2 1. Salomonson 1980, 134, No 58. 2. La Baume and Salomonson 1968, No 626.

Fig. S7 1. Rose 2000, Fig. 40; Athens Agora Museum.

494

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Ibid, Fig. 43; Athens Agora Museum. Ward Perkins and Claridge 1978, Cat No 303. Rose 2000, Fig. 29; Pompeii Deposito degli Scavi No 11227. Ibid, Fig. 26; Naples National Museum No 116711. Ibid, Fig. 25; Naples National Museum No 116710. Ibid, Fig. 31; Naples National Museum No 21430. Ibid Fig. 33; Naples National Museum No 21429

Fig. S13 1. Garbsch 1978-9, Pl. 18: 1. 2. Garbsch 1978-9, Pl. 21: 1. 3. Garbsch 1978-9, Pl. 26: 4

Fig. S8 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Boon, 1957, Pl. 28. Dorchester County Museum. Boon 1984, No B.iv.1.. Jude and Pop 1973, Pl. XXXIII: 1. Museum der Stadt Enns, display case 1985.

Museum Het Valkhof, Nijmegen, Inv.No GN BB 2. Wacher 1975, Pl. 5. Gose 1974, Fig. 23: 1. Rose 2000, Cat. No 162; van Boekel 1987, Mask No 804, Fig. 136. Rose Cat. No 145; Bonn RLM No 36.3836. Rose Cat. No 489; Köln RGM (D) No 4128. Rose Cat. No 471; van Boekel 1987, Mask No 789, Fig. 133. Rose Cat. No 474; Köln RGM (D) No 338. Rose Cat No 187; Straubing Gauboden Museum, no Inv. number.

Fig. S9 1. Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Aquileia, display case 1985. 2. Aquincum Site Museum, display case 1987. 3. Wacher 1975, Pl. 6. 4. Unpublished fragment, Jane Evans pers. comm. 5. Unpublished fragment, Walton-le-Dale, No WD96, 607.9779. 6. Kenner 1950, Fig. 57. 7. Museum der Stadt Regensburg display case. 8. Mitrofan 1991, 177, Fig. 13; 1. Fig. S10 1. Getty Museum, Los Angeles, display case, 1984. 2. Anselmino 1977, drawing No XXIII. 3. Ibid, Pl. XXVI, No 5. 4. Ibid, Pl, XXII, No 92. 5. Ibid, Pl. XVIII, No 75. 6. Ibid, Pl. XI, No 47. 7. Ibid, Pl. XX, No 83. 8. Ibid, Pl. XVIII, No 72. 9. Ibid, drawing No XV. 10. Ibid, Pl. XXI, No 88. 11. Ibid, drawing No XVI. 12. Ibid, Pl. XXI, No 85. Fig. S11 1. Römermuseum Augst No 68.2205. 2. Toynbee 1964, Pl. XCVIII: b. 3. Boon 1984, No B.ii.2. 4. Ibid, No B.iii.1. 5. Espérandieu 1907, No 5568. 6. Jahn 1909, Fig. 3. 7. Hull 1958, Pl. XXX: B. Fig. S12 1. Vindonissa Museum Bruggg display case, 1984. 2. Ibid.

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Abbreviations: RCRF Acta ORL BAR

Rei Cretariae Romanae Fautorum Acta Der Obergermnisch-raetische Limes des Römerreiches British Archaeological Reports

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Photographs Most of the photographs have been taken by the author, but some have been reproduced from other sources, and the author gratefully acknowledges permission to publish the following photos granted by the owners of the copyrights concerned: Pl. B1, Etruscan head vase representing Charun in the Staatliche Antikensammlungen und Glyptothek, Munich (Inv. No VAS 1728), copyright the museum. Pls. C16 and E2, Roman face beaker from Ensérune in the Musée Archéologigue d’Ensérune, France, museum post card, copyright the museum. Pls. D1, D14, D18 and D26, and unnumbered plate on page 351, two Roman face jars and a face beaker from MainzWeisenau in the Mittelrheinisches Landesmuseum Mainz (Inv. Nos F 4207; F 4206; and 0,3916), copyright the museum. Pls D2, D3, D4, D10, D11, D38 and D43, Face jars and face beakers in the Römisch-Germanisches Museum Köln (Inv. Nos 4300; 3695; 24,1; 25,39; 65,40; 35,1090; 35,1091, 35,1079; 74,1079), copyright the Rheinisches Bildarchiv Köln. Pls. J7, J12, J18 and unnumbered plate on page 252, Roman face pots from London in the Museum of London (Inv. Nos 73.68; 18302; 21739 and A1739), copyright the museum. Pl. J5, Roman face jar from Colchester in the British Museum (museum diapositive No PR 57), copyright the Trustees of the British Museum. Pls. J1 and J33, Roman face jars from Colchester in the Colchester and Essex Museum, copyright the Colchester Museums. Pl. J42, Roman “spout-shaped” head from Carlisle in the Tullie House Museum, Carlisle (museum diapositive, Inv. No 16-1902), copyright the museum. Pl. M1. Mediaeval glazed face jug from Winchester (Ref. No WINCM:ARCH 2829) in the Winchester City Museum, museum post card, copyright the Winchester Museums: Winchester City Council. Pl. P1, Attic black-figure cup in the Staatliche Antikensammlungen Munich, showing Dionysus in his ship (Inv No 2044,) published by Johns 1982, British Museum Publications, copyright the Trustees of the British Museum. Pl. S14, Small glazed Roman head vase from Trier in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier, copyright the museum (photo No RD. 60.25). Pls. S16 and S17, Small bronze head vase and steelyard weight in the Römisch-Germanisches Museum Köln, published by Borger 1977, Pls. 41 and 44, Callwey Verlag, Munich, copyright Bildarchiv Marburg, University of Marburg. Pl. S24, Roman terracotta mask from Worms in the Museum der Stadt Worms, museum post card, copyright the museum. Pl. S27, Roman antefix of the 11th Legion from Vindonissa in the Vindonissa Museum, Brugg; photo by M. Weber; museum post card, copyright the museum. Pl. S28, Roman bronze parade helmet from Ribchester in the British Museum (museum diapositive No RB 33), copyright the Trustees of the British Museum. Pls. S29, S30a and S31, Roman parade masks from Pfrondorf, Hirchova and Mainz, published by Garbsch 1978, Pl. 26, Nos 1-2 and Pl. 22, No 3, copyright the Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Munich. Pl. S32, Roman parade mask from Weissenburg, published by Kellner and Zaalhaas, 1984, Pl. 20, photo by M. Eberlein, copyright Archäologische Staatssammlung Munich.