FIGURAL ROMAN BONE HANDLES FROM <EM>MURSA</EM>

Abstract

This paper deals with four figural handles from the Collection of Roman Bone Objects of the Archaeological Museum Osijek, Croatia. This Collection holds 19 Roman bone handles divided in four different types: Figural handles, Double-sided knife handles, Various full handles and Cylindrical handles. Three figural bone handles are clasp-knife handles (cultellus) and anthropomorphic displays are featured on two of them – murmillo gladiator and Hercules, with a zoomorphic representation of a pig on the third one. All three objects are made of compact long bone tissue of medium-sized or large mammals. The fourth artefact, probably a patera handle with a lion’s head terminal, is also made of compact long bone tissue of a medium-sized or large mammal. This artefact is clearly a high-quality piece and we believe the object came to Mursa as an import, while the other handles may have been manufactured locally.