Bow-puller? Amulet?

Collection type: Object
Description: Bow-puller? Amulet?
Geographical reference: Italy
Europe > Southern Europe > Italy; Umbria Provincia di Perugia Perugia
Person: Field collector Charles James Longman; PRM source Charles James Longman
Date / Period: Archaeological period: Etruscan
Date collected: By 1927
Acquisition information: Donated: 1927
Materials and processes: Material Bronze Metal, Material Copper Alloy Metal, Process Looped
Dimensions: Length x Width x Height: max 60 x 35 x 25 mm
Object numbers: Accession number: 1927.24.36
Research and responses: These 'bow pullers' were examined by Lucy Shipley as part of the Fell funded project Characterizing the World Archaeology collections. She noted that McDaniel (1918) suggested that rather than performing a practical function as their name suggests, these small objects, consisting of two holes with a small plate between them from which protrudes three spikes, varying in length and sharpness, were used as charms to protect the wearer and more particularly their horses. While no further research has investigated these enigmatic objects further, their use as amulets would appear to be supported somewhat by the animal faces inscribed upon the opposing side of the plate to the spikes. See McDaniel, W.B. 1918: The so-called bow-puller of antiquity. American Journal of Archaeology 22(1), 35–43. [AS 04/11/2010]

Search