Robert M Chapple, Archaeologist

< Table of Contents Every time I see this panel of carved elephant ivory, I’m freshly stunned at the quality of the workmanship and I feel the need to remind myself that I’m looking at a piece from the late 4th or early 5th century AD and not a Pre-Raphaelite extravaganza that took a detour through the Arts & Crafts Movement’s basement. The piece, one of the leaves of a diptych, shows a priestess and a young child performing a rite – possibly relating to the god Dionysus. The inscription along the top ‘SYMMACHORUM’ refers to the aristocratic Roman Symmachi family, while the other panel (now in the Musée de la Moyen Age, Paris) mentions the Nicomachi family and depicts a similar priestess. While there are a number of theories as to why this diptych was carved, the most plausible (to me, at least) is that it was commissioned to celebrate and commemorate a wedding (either in 393/4 AD or 401 AD) between members of these two powerful families. Given their ne...

The British Museum holds 221 items identified as coming from Co Derry~Londonderry. A further six are located to Antrim/Derry~Londonderry and one to Tyrone/Derry~Londonderry. The majority of the artefacts (168) are assigned to the Neolithic/Bronze Age, followed by the Roman (Provincial) period (30). The most common object type represented are axes (139), followed by adzes (10). The most common material type is Stone (174), followed by Metal (51), Glass (2), and Amber (1). < Table of Contents Neolithic (?)/Bronze Age (?)/Iron Age (?): Amber item Port Stewart bead 18881225.110 Amber globular bead. http://britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1392347&partId=1 Neolithic (?)/Bronze Age (?)/Iron Age (?): Stone items Londonderry spindle-whorl Sturge.2244 Stone spindle-whorl, polished; plano-convex shape; thickness varies; some scratches but no surface damage; dark grey colour. http://britishmuseum.or...