My favourite thing from our excavations at Binchester so far is this anthropomorphic mount. It’s made from a copper alloy and likely has a lead core, considering the weight- 78.2g even though it measures just 48x40mm! It would probably have decorated a piece of furniture, judging by the attachment area, which is angled approximately 45 degrees to the ground and is flat, so is unlikely to have adjoined the curving body of a vessel.

The figure has not yet been conserved and has been the subject of significant corrosion, so identification can only be tenuous at this point. However, it wears a helmet which may be in an ancient Greek style with curvilinear decoration, ‘eyes’ to the visor, and a crest that has now been eroded away. Some detail of the hair can be made out around the visor, but the majority of the face is obscured by corrosion. The figure does not appear to be wearing armour but might have draped clothing over one shoulder. In its present state, the first character that comes to mind is Minerva, the Roman equivalent of the Greek Athena, a goddess of wisdom and warfare (among other things). She would be very at home in the fort at Vinovia! #SemperFi