Pewter plate, Appleford (Berkshire) Alison E. Cooley AEC/ASHL AN2009.1064.xml 157982 Oxford Ashmolean Museum AN2009.1064 AshLI 458

A pewter plate with three graffiti on the upper surface of the rim, all of which are of uncertain legibility (Tomlin in RIB).

Dimensions Diam.: overall 0.45; diam. of footring: 0.224.

Three graffiti on the upper surface of the rim.

 Appleford (Berkshire) 4th or 5th century AD Four large plates bearing inscriptions (also AN2009.1044, AN2009.1065, AN2009.1066) were discovered in a large collection of pewter tableware found by Amey Construction during gravel extraction at a pit near the village of Appleford in 1968 (Wilson 1969: p.231; Brown 1973: p.184; Poulton and Scott 1993: pp.121-22). The collection comprised twenty-four vessels, including fifteen plates of various sizes, eight small bowls, and a jug. They had been deposited as a set in two groups – plates and bowls separately – probably in a well-shaft (or perhaps even a ‘ritual shaft’), a context which would suit a ritual interpretation (see below, with Poulton and Scott 1993: p.122). Alongside them were found fragments of iron (from objects such as a cauldron-chain, steelyard, scythe blade, padlock, shovel-handle, frying-pan), stone, pottery, leather, and bone (Brown 1973: p.186, 193-201). The plates are currently on display in the Rome Gallery.
MIILVNAE SOMIA

To Meluna. Somia

MIILLVNAE (RIB); \\\\\\\MILIVSSIIX (Tomlin in RIB)

This is one of four large pewter plates bearing graffiti scratched into the underside, found in a hoard of pewter-ware at Appleford. There have been two main suggestions as to why the pewter had been deposited in this way: either it had been hidden away in times of trouble and never reclaimed by its owners, or it had been deposited as a ritual offering, as suggested by the votive style of the inscription by Lovernianus (AN2009.1066). This second explanation would fit into the broader picture of the deposition of pewter in Roman Britain, which suggests that pewter was commonly deposited as ritual activity, in a development of Celtic religious practices, which are often associated with water, and that pewter may even have been manufactured precisely for such a use (Poulton and Scott 1993). Compare the pewter bowl from Bossens, AN1836 p.126.146 (no.191). These ritual associations would suggest that the names should not necessarily be seen as ownership marks but rather perhaps as the names of individuals making the votive dedications (Poulton and Scott 1993: p.128). The names are otherwise unattested, but one (Lovernianus) is certainly Celtic in character; the name here may be Meliuna or Melluna. The names may represent the owners of the plates, but the use of the nominative case in the examples of Narina, Somia, and Pacata, suggest instead a dedicatory function. The name Melunae is usually interpreted as genitive, but could perhaps also be a dative version of an unknown deity receiving this dish as an offering, as translated above; given the uncertainties of reading these graffiti, however, the interpretation should be regarded as extremely hypothetical.

Wright (1969) p.239, no.23a, with Plates XVI and XVII; Brown 1973: p.193 no.22, with drawing Fig. 9; RIB II.2.2417.25 (1991); Vickers (1992) pp.21-22 + p.20 fig. 19 for overall photo of the hoard; Lee (2009) p.240, with p.101 fig. 42.

Online: http://www.ashmolean.org/ash/britarch/roman-oxon/appleford.html: Kristina Glicksman, 16 December 2011 [accessed 17/12/16]

Brown D 1973 A Roman pewter hoard from Appleford, Berks Oxoniensia 38 184-206 Lee R The Production, Use and Disposal of Romano-British Pewter Tableware Oxford BAR British Series 478 Poulton R. Scott E. 1993 The hoarding, deposition and use of pewter in Roman Britain Theoretical Roman archaeology: First Conference Proceedings Scott E. Aldershot Avebury 115-132 Vickers M. 1992 The Ancient Romans Oxford Ashmolean Museum Wilson D.R. 1969 Roman Britain in 1968. I. Sites Explored JRS 198-234 Wright R.P. 1969 Roman Britain in 1968. II. Inscriptions JRS 59 235-246