Museum of: Rome
    Name of the artefact: Bull’s shaped handle cup
   
The cup was recovered within a ceramic vessel among other 148 bronze objects. These objects, which have survived in a good state of condition, had been intentionally hidden underground and were probably connected to a settlement in the area.
                                 
 
WHERE IS IT AND MAIN CHARACTERISTICS
  
STATE
Department:
-
Preservation:
 Very good
Inventory number:
62754
Restauration:
 Restored
Name of the artefact:
Bull’s shaped handle cup
Completeness:
 Complete
Object type:
Animal figurine
  
Material:
Bronze
 
Methof of manufacture:
Fusion, hammering and embossed decoration
Decoration type:
No decoration
Distinctive mark:
-
DIMENSIONS
  
PERIOD OF USE
Length (mm):
-
Epoque:
Bronze Age
Heigth (mm):
57
Culture:
-
Diameter (mm):
149
Period:
Late Bronze Age
Width (mm):
-
Face:
-
Thickness (mm):
-
Absolute chronology:
1100-1000 BC
Weight (g):
-
DISCOVERY
Date:
1880
Country:
Italy
District:
Lazio
Town hall affiliation:
Roma
Village:
Tolfa
Discovery findspot:
Coste del Marano
Condition of discovery:
Chance Discovery
Discovery type:
Deposit
 
ANALYSES – DETERMINATIONS
 
FILLED IN BY
Type:
-
Name:
Chiara Delpino, Vincenzo Tinè
Laboratory:
-
Institution:
-
No./Code:
-
Date:
10-2005
 
DEEPENINGS

Morphology of the object:
Hemispherical shaped bronze cup, with horizontal rim, short neck, round embossed decorated base, internal ashlar feature, vertical handle surmounted by a fused trapezoidal shaped plate depicting a bull’s head. The cup presents a fracture in the area of the handle: the fracture was reinforced in the Bronze Age Period, internally and externally with two narrow rectangular plates fused together. The narrow handle is fixed to the lower part of the cup through means of two nails on the reinforced plates. Instead on the upper part of the cup the handle is double curved and fixed on the trapezoidal plate with a nail. The plate, attached to the interior rim with 3 nails, has elongated corners and is surmounted by a bull’s head with long, narrow horns and a long cylindrical shaped neck.

Decoration:
The cup is decorated with embossed work: on the upper half, an horizontal row of studs along with rows of small dots, one above and three below the studs. The decorative rows are interrupted at the side of the handle by a vertical row of dots. The lower half of the cup is decorated by five groups of three laid out in triangular shapes.

Inscription:
-

Analogies:
The cup’s shape and studs decoration (Jenisovicé- Kirkendrup type) can be traced to objects found in continental central-eastern Europe in Tyrol, Switzerland, Hungary, Rumania, Poland and Southern Germany. Because of these analogies is probably an imported object.

Interpretation:
The cup was recovered within a ceramic vessel among other 148 bronze objects. These objects, which have survived in a good state of condition, had been intentionally hidden underground and were probably connected to a settlement in the area. Most of the artefacts are ornamental objects such as fibulae, pins, bracelets, rings and pendants. The cup is part of a pair also recovered intact while a third, smaller bronze cup is equipped with a vertical handle but lacks zoomorphic decorations. It has been suggested that, because of the nature of the objects (intact and mostly ornamental) that it was a cult deposit, an offering to the gods. It is also possible, however to interpret the group of objects as the wealth of an important person or merchant.
Bibliography:
COLINI G.A., 1910, Le antichità di Tolfa ed Allumiere e il prinicpio dell’età del Ferro in Italia, Bullettino di Paletnologia Italiana, XXXVI, pp.96-149 FUGAZZOLA DELPINO M.A., 1974, I ripostigli “protovillanoviani” dell’Italia insulare, in Popoli e Civiltà dell’Italia Antica, 4, pp.43-60 PERONI R., 1961, Ripostigli del massiccio di Tolfa, Inventaria archeologica, Italia, 1, Firenze PERONI R., 1996, l’Italia alle soglie della storia, Roma-Bari.