Dear Andy and everyone else,
We had a small fragment of a gladius handle from Chester Amphitheatre.
It is certainly from an ungulate metapodial and when I saw it on site I
was confident it was from a cow. The outer surface is sculpted to
produce slight transverse depressions which would have made it easy to
grip. Some of morphology of the inner surface survives including a
fragment of the division beneath the vascular groove. The fragment has a
polish to it that suggests it may have been used. So possibly or
undoubtedly part of a gladius used in the amphitheatre!
It is in a display case in the Chester Visitor Centre (next to the
amphitheatre) at present. I plan some comparisons with long sectioned
deer and cattle metapodials when it emerges.
Best wishes
Ian
-----Original Message-----
From: Analysis of animal remains from archaeological sites
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Andrew Bates
Sent: 18 October 2004 17:21
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [ZOOARCH] Gladius Handles
Dear Zooarch
A colleague brought me two of the gladius handles from the Millenium
Project (Carlisle) to see if I could ID the original bone. These are
possibly handles which broke when an attempt was made to put them on the
tang. One was clearly from a cow metatarsal, although the second had had
almost all of its interior filed away making an ID impossible.
Does anyone know if this is the normal bone used for a Gladius? It seems
a good size and obvious choice. Or were parts such as distal tibia also
used?
Best wishes
Andy Bates
Please note that the domain chestercc.gov.uk has changed to chester.gov.uk, please amend your records accordingly.
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