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Reference: CA8 / Cat. No.
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Period:
Late Roman / Byzantine
Origin:
South East Europe
Date:
350 – 525 AD
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Description:
Truncated conical body with ridged and perforated circular top. Flanged band handle attached by two rivets.
Fabric:
Copper alloy.
Manufacture:
Sheet metal.
Size (cm):
L. 10.1, W. 7.3, H. 4.9 (ih)
Condition:
Handle probably bent further forward originally.
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Notes:
Cf. Landessammlungen Niederösterreich, CAR-M-3032 (found at Carnuntum).
A lamp of this type was excavated at Kovachevsko Kale near Popovo (Bulgaria) in a context of the 4th to 6th centuries AD; the cross shape of its central filling-hole suggests an advanced date within that period.
Comments:
Devices of this Danubian type, the circular top typically perforated in basic openwork patterns around a central filling-hole and usually pierced with a crude wick-hole at the front, are likely to have served as both lamps and censers.
Incense was used not only at religious and other formal ceremonies in public locations, it also played a traditional role in the domestic environment where it was commonly heated at household shrines, valued for its supposed medicinal properties or simply employed as an aromatic amenity.
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