Roman Military Razor

[GlennConti]

Here is another.

[M. Demetrius]

I suppose one could get used to whatever tool was in vogue at the time. But somehow, the tool in the subject line of this post looks like more of an amputation knife, at least to me.

http://www.amazon.com/Best-Science-Suppl...B0016QTS7I
http://www.amazon.com/Parker-SR1-Stainle...02PQZEHQ/2

But lest we forget, ancient and modern tools are sometimes very different.

[GlennConti]

Not too belabor the point, but the blade on the tool I acquired is approximately 2-7/8". The amputation knife blade is approximately 7-7/8". It seems too small at 2-7/8" to do any heavy work like that. But I am open to any suggestion.

Here is a post I found when I googled straight razor blade length. The gist is the blades are typically 3" in length maybe a little more a little less.

http://straightrazorplace.com/razors/711...ength.html

[jvrjenivs]

Maybe it is a tool of a wealthy person or officer?

It's way to plain/simple for the tool of a wealthy person. These would have used much more ornate tools. I'm also not sure about it being a razor either.

[caiusbeerquitius]

Blade form is very unroman. Patina and state of object make it look like a fake indeed. Excellent! There should be way more fakes out there on which people spend their money. :-) Leaves more to do for the archaeologists.

[GlennConti]

The blade form is not that of a knife so does not have a pointed end. It does look similar in form to the known Roman razor HAMP3381. And I thought we put the patina question to bed. Did you look at the correct picture? I reposted the 2 pictures for comparison. But you bring up a good point about it's condition. You think it in too good condition to be real? If the blade is steel, might it not corrode as fast as an iron blade? And the soil type where it was found make a difference. It was supposedly a metal detector find.

[Kegluneq]

I've just been reading the Carlisle Millennium Project report which includes a few Roman razors of Manning types 1c, 4 and 7. I don't have immediate access to Manning's 1985 catalogue of Roman iron objects but the examples illustrated would cast some doubt on the identification of that object as a razor. The principle problem I can see is the handle - as yours is decorated it clearly didn't originally have a grip, but it looks far too small to have been comfortably used to shave by itself. Roman knives of most descriptions would have handles of wood, bone, antler or ivory, so it's unusual to see one that has so small and narrow a grip.

HAMP 3381 also has a small handle, but it also has a significantly smaller blade, so might be meant for fine shaving (or other function) rather than be directly comparable to your much larger blade.

[Robert]

Hi Robert M.

There have been a good few bronze handles found attributed to knives.
[attachment=7129]2004_0909_201039AA.JPG[/attachment]

This is my favorite Found at Albaniana fortress, NL. The bladeshape is similar to the "razor", it also has that sort of sharp drop at the point, but I believe the back to be less wide.

[Kegluneq]

Hi Robert M.

There have been a good few bronze handles found attributed to knives.

This is my favorite Found at Albaniana fortress, NL. The bladeshape is similar to the "razor", it also has that sort of sharp drop at the point, but I believe the back to be less wide.

Thanks for that! I knew I was missing something. That knife too has quite a chunky handle though, which I'm fairly sure is important!

[Martin Moser]

Hi Robert,

This is my favorite Found at Albaniana fortress, NL.

very nice - do you perhaps have a bibliographical reference for this one?

Thanks,
Martin

[Robert]

Sorry, Martin, as far as I know it was a loose find made on the dumpsite and is held by a private person. Photographs of this and some other knives were collected by the local archeologist, I do not even have a picture of this one with a scale bar or something to reference size with. It is a rather nice knife though. Zoömorphic bronze knifehandles do occur more often, but seldomly is the whole body of the creature sculpted.

[Martin Moser]

Too bad, but thanks anyway, Robert!