Over the years, excavations at Castleford have produced some
real gems. Ian Marshman a PhD student from the School of Archaeology &
Ancient History at the University of Leicester recently came to examine 6 Roman
engraved gemstones from the site. Gems like these were worn in finger rings and
used to seal important documents and provisions, and were highly valued objects
to the people who wore them. The stones themselves would have travelled
thousands of miles to end up in Castleford, with some coming from as far away as
India and Sri Lanka.
These 6 gems will form part of Ian’s survey of these objects
from right across Roman Britain, whose total at present stands at well over
1,900 artefacts! He hopes to be able to study the way people chose different
images for their seals in different parts of the Roman province, and how this
might have changed across time. Every gem was someone’s personal seal, and as
such they can tell us a lot about the ancient people who owned them.
Two of the Castleford gems have engravings unique in Roman
Britain. The first is a red jasper engraved with the image of a hunting dog
seizing its quarry (possibly a hare, but this part of the gem is chipped). Hunting
was a popular pastime for wealthy people in the Roman period, and an image of a
fine hound like this would have highlighted its owner’s interest in this
prestige activity. The second gem still remains in its silver ring and is
engraved with the image of a Roman style lamp. Lamps like this were not very common
in Roman Britain, because they required imported olive oil for fuel. It is
possible that this ring came from the Mediterranean region where such lamps
were commonplace, and where it would have been understood as a symbol of hope.
Castleford's Roman gems. See if you can spot any of these tiny objects on display in The Forum when it opens later this year |
The other Castleford gems are no less interesting. One shows
a parrot, a bird which originated, like some of the gems, in far off India. The
Roman’s associated parrots with Bacchus, the god of wine, but they were also
kept as exotic pets by the wealthy. Another gem, a pale blue chalcedony, shows
the king of the gods, Jupiter. The only glass ‘gem’ from Castleford is also
interesting for it is moulded with a crude image of a warship full of soldiers
carrying shields…did this depict the invasion of Britain back in AD 43? Perhaps
the best of the gems so far uncovered at Castleford shows a Satyr (a creature
part man-part goat) using a bunch of grapes to tease a dog, who leaps up to try
to devour them. This playful and naturalistic scene is incredibly finely cut on
a carnelian gem less than 1 cm across. Tiny gems like these remind us of the
great skill of craftsmen in the Roman period, and provide us with a tangible
link with the ancient people who wore them on their fingers everyday.
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