Metal

Metalworking is documented in tomb 29 of the Isola Sacra necropolis, by three terracotta reliefs (replaced by casts). The inscription in the facade informs us that the tomb was built by Verria Zosime and Verrius Euhelpistus, for themselves and for their freedmen and freedwomen. A sarcophagus lid was found with a relief of the myth of Meleager, and with an inscription telling us that Zosime had the sarcophagus made for herself and her husband Euhelpistus.

The facade of tomb 29 of the Isola Sacra necropolis.
Photo: visitostiaantica.org.

Two of the reliefs are in the facade. On the one to the right of the inscription we see two men, busy in a workshop. The upper, bearded man is standing next to a chest on two legs, with a handle on the front and seemingly the head of a dog on the left side. He seems to be sharpening or polishing an object. The lower, bearded man is seated at an anvil and is fashioning a tool. Most of the relief is taken up by tools: scissors, a meat cleaver, knives, a surgical instrument, a hatchet or bag, a shearing knife, an awl, a hoe, a small hammer, a cobbler's knife, an anvil with two horns, a saw, and pliers.

Relief of a metal workshop. Width 0.405, height 0.415.
Zimmer 1982, cat. nr. 119. Photo: American Academy Rome.

On the relief to the left of the inscription a bearded man is standing next to the upper part of a millstone (catillus). He wears a long apron, probably made of leather. In the top of the catillus a slab seems to have been set to create a flat workspace.The remainder of the relief is taken up by tools: a sickle, a knife, a cleaver, a pruning knife, a hoe, a drill, and a plane.

Relief of a metal workshop. Width 0.415, height 0.405.
Zimmer 1982, cat. nr. 117. Photo: Floriani Squarciapino 1956-1958, Tav. II,2.

The third relief is in the facade of the oldest part of the tomb and in the interior. Again a man is standing next to the upper part of a millstone. He seems to use it to sharpen an object (Eve d'Ambra suggests that he holds two objects, a tool and a whetstone). The background of this relief was painted blue, the skin of the man red.

Relief of a man standing next to the upper part of a millstone. Width 0.44, height 0.47.
Zimmer 1982, cat. nr. 118. Photo: Floriani Squarciapino 1956-1958, Tav. III,1.

A staircase directly behind the entrance leads to an upper floor of the tomb. Here a black-and-white mosaic was found depicting once again the upper part of a millstone. The volcanic stone of which millstones were made may have been well-suited for sharpening. However, in view of the emphasis on the millstone, the possibility cannot be completely ruled out that the upper parts of millstones were by these carpenters precisely sized for the proper turning over the lower part (the meta). If the distance between the two parts was too great, the grain would simply fall to the ground. If it was too small, the grain was not ground, but burned.

Plan of tomb 29: lower floor (left) and upper floor (right), with indication of the mosaics.
D'Ambra 1988, fig. 2.

A collection of metal objects found in Ostia: hooks, needles, tweezers, balances, a comb, spoons, keys, compasses.
Photo: ICCD E027319.