Tools and equipment; Spindle whorl

Spindle whorl, carved from a darkish green soapstone/steatite (also known as talc). The whorl is deeply carved. There are four opposing knobs, each decorated with two circles; these were originally engraved, but all are worn, making the original design difficult to see. The designs appear to be different on each. The object had certainly been used, as the raised parts of the decoration are all rubbed and shiny. However, the central hole has not been subjected to wear; on the edge can still be seen a few shaping marks where the hole was rounded, which demonstrate that the hole was not drilled, but cut from both sides. Dating of an object like this, found in a later Roman context, can only come from the decoration: the design is typical of numerous pieces of 'Celtic' art of the Iron Age, particularly in the relief 'Plastic' style of the fourth and third centuries BC.