Erotic knife handle to star on ITV

ITV are currently screening a new series of Britain's Secret Treasures, and once again an object from our collections is set to feature.  In the last series, our Spanish American gold coins were the star of the show (see our blog post here), but this year the object in the spotlight is something rather more unusual...

Roman knife handles are known from across the vast expanse of the Roman Empire, and feature a range of imagery.  Some are very plain.  Some have animals. Some feature mythological scenes (even this example from Lincolnshire).  A small number of knives, currently only known from Britain, feature imagery that is certainly more eye-catching, and definitely more difficult to explain.

Our knife handle was discovered at Syston, near Grantham, in 2008 and bought by the museum shortly afterwards. The imagery  is, for the most part, quite clear.  The scene is of three people - two males and one female.  The female is in the centre and has her legs lifted around the waist of one of the males.  She is naked, but has a thin line around her neck - variously interpreted as a neck torc or the hemline of a lifted tunic.  She is supported by the second male, and she grasps her hands around his sides.  The second male is back to back with the female and clutching in his hands what may very well be a severed human head, though any facial details there might originally have been have worn away.  The scene is quite clearly of a sexual nature, though closer inspection actually reveals that the first male's penis is actually entering the other male, rather than the female.

This strange scene is known from a small number of other finds in Britain - mostly other knife handles, though it does also feature on some ceramics.  Although all differ in small details, the three characters are in the same positions.  The major difference is that this example is the first to feature the possible severed head.  All of the examples except one have been found outside of archaeological excavation, so their dating and potential use is difficult to determine.  One example, however, was excavated from a fourth century context just outside the theatre at Verulamium (modern day St Albans), and it is assumed that they all date to this period.

So what exactly is going on? It is easy to interpret the scene as something erotic and created purely for titivation - after all, the Romans were all about sex, weren't they?  Although its true that the Romans were much more open about sexual activity than we are today, there is probably something else going on in this scene.  The fact that the Verulamium example was found near to the theatre might offer a clue.  Roman theatres weren't just about staging plays, they were community venues used for a range of public meetings and religious rites.  It is possible that these knife handles are souvenirs from public performances, perhaps recreating a climactic (pun intended) scene from something performed on the stage.  But rather than a 'top shelf' theatrical performance, the scene may represent something from a religious fertility rite, or a scene from mythology now lost to us.  If mythological, it is likely to relate to native British belief rather than Classical religion, where no such parallels can be found.

The presence of the three characters and the severed head might be of specific relevance here.  Native British religion certainly perceived a signifance around things appearing in triplicate - we find bulls with three horns and mother goddesses sitting in threes, for example.  Equally, head-hunting was popular among British warriors, taking the heads of defeated enemies and displaying them as trophies.  Perhaps this scene of sexual conquest is representing a head-hunter's prowess in more than just battle?

The knife handle is on display at The Collection, and will feature on Britain's Secret Treasures on ITV1 at 8.30pm on the 24th October 2013.

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