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Red Slip Oil Lamp Fragment with Medusa from Caesarea Maritima and Fingerprints

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Jay GT4:
I missed this.  What an amazing piece. 

v-drome:
Thank you Shawn and Jay.  David, here are three more objects from the same area.  Let me know if you think they are parts of the discus, or if they could be lamp lids, and if they also represent Medusa.  The third one, BCC CG23, has what appears to be the remains of a filler hole at the bottom, so I am pretty sure about that one.  With regard to the original object in the first post, BCC CG20, the edge above the face is quite thin, and I am wondering if it would have been strong enough to support a hinge.  Could the red slip on the underside just be contamination from the maker's thumb?  This piece has a lot of erosion and wear from exposure, so it is hard to know for certain what the edge originally looked like.  I will try to get a good photo of the edge to add to this post.  I would also consider sending it to you if you think inspecting it in-hand would be helpful. 

Thanks, again.  Jimi

Strobilus2:
I'm amazed at your talent for finding not only discus fragments - but always discus fragments with faces on them! No animals, standing figures, objects, etc.? :)

Yes, that is almost certainly part of a filling-hole on BCC CG23, confirming the fragment is from a discus, and I imagine the other two fragments are also from discuses.

Since the edge above the face is quite thin on BCC CG20, that fragment may be from a discus too. It seems unlikely to have been hinged if the edge is so thin and, as I say, lids typically have a stem on the underside - though the traces of red slip on the underside and the centralised fingerprint with clear border are strange for a discus fragment.

David

v-drome:
Thank you so much, David.  I was looking for more examples of terracotta lamps with "Lamp-lid" on Google last night and I found some others, including a complete one with the hinged lid still attached, from Antioch.  Very cool!  I also came across an amazing, short article about fingerprints from a lamp factory in Beit Nattif, Israel, which showed how the mould was packed and that the same person made many of them.  Here is a link with PDF download:

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/ancient-fingerprints-from-beit-nattif-studying-late-roman-clay-impressions-on-oil-lamps-and-figurines/242426A0AC1A51E6A44ACD238B84C7D4

These small fragments, that no one else seemed to notice or care about, were some of my favorite things to come across.  I posted a couple others back in 2013, before you joined.  Here are the links, in case you would like to see them.

Best regards, Jimi

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=92051.0
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=88208.0
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=124134
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=123967

Strobilus2:
Many thanks for posting the link to that PDF about fingerprints, Jimi. Fingerprints are very common on mould-made lamps since the clay was of course pressed into the moulds but not often seen unless the lamp is broken since they are internal.

It's about time they were studied and it's particularly interesting that some fingerprints seem to match.

I was of course kidding about you only finding discus fragments with faces on them. You have a nice assortment. It must have been such an amazing experience to find them on the beach!

David

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