Michel FEUGÈRE, Sylvie SOUBEYROUX A ROMAN-PERIOD "MAGICAL" LEAD OBJECT FROM CHÂTEAUBLEAU (SEINE-ET-MARNE)

Abstract

An engraved disc retrieved from a well in a craft quarter of the Roman settlement at Châteaubleau is described and analysed within the site context and beyond. The object bears an inscription in Greek characters together with other marks associated with ritual contexts (scratches and repetitive blows from a sharp instrument) suggesting a "magical" function. The disc may have been thrown deliberately into the well, close to a temple, to be directly in contact with the tellural powers which, in Roman belief, inhabited the underground world.

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