Romano-Celtic Mask Puzzle Padlocks by Jerry Slocum

9:1).Because of the unusual and delicate construction, the discussed padlocks served more as a visual guaranteethat the protected valuables had not been opened by unauthorized persons. 4), while the padlock from Novae discussed here has closeanalogies in the fi nds from Concordia (Fig. One of the sepulchral reliefs from Aquileia, discovered in the cemetery in Beligna (where two padlockspecimens come from), depicts a locksmith (Fig. Concordia andAquileia were important craft centres and Aquileia was also an important point on the trading route with theBarbaricum.

Finds distribution maps presented by Slocum and Sonneveld indicate that the padlocks couldhave been produced in Aquileia and Iulia Concordia in northern Italy or perhaps in Asia Minor. Their function was probably to securea purse (Fig. To date, the discovered specimens have threetypes of fastenings: chain, horizontal shackle, vertical shackle (Fig. Their mechanism was quite complicated and consisted in unlocking hiddenplates so that the lock could be opened with a key (Fig. Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego Keywords: Jerzy Kolendo archaeology Poland Europe University of Warsaw Polish Academy of Sciences Summary/Abstract: In 2013, during the construction work connected to the modernization of the Archaeological Park in Novae,a bronze padlock with an arched shackle and decoration in the form of a human face has been discovered (Figs 1, 2).This kind of padlock is a rare fi nd to date only 157 specimens are known, which are mostly found in collections.Their biggest catalogue was published in 2017 by Jerry Slocum and Dic Sonneveld, together with a review ofthe issue of their origins and functions. Kłódka z wizerunkiem twarzy znaleziona w Novae

Romano-Celtic Mask Puzzle Padlocks by Jerry Slocum