Technical Observations: Most of the surface is covered with a somewhat thick layer of corrosion products and burial accretions—the latter are particularly concentrated on the bowl. In several areas, a thick layer of the mineralized metal has chipped off. The corrosion ranges from light green to olive green to reddish brown, and there are some areas of white and small specks of black copper sulfide on the upper surface—the latter due to post-excavation storage conditions. Localized large patches of brownish-orange corrosion on the handle and outside of the bowl seem to be more rusty than coppery and suggest that these areas were in contact with iron-based objects during burial. In a few areas, the bare metal has been exposed and reveals a reddish-brown surface. One such area on the handle corresponds to the presence of dense parallel file marks. There is a small dent on the outside of the bowl. Remains of a paper label with a printed blue border pattern containing white dots with crescent-shaped highlights are present, and a fragment of another adhesive label has been stuck over part of that.
The ladle appears to have been formed as one piece; there is no evidence of a join between handle and bowl, as would have been indicated by metal-to-metal joins, thickenings, and signs of adhesive under ultraviolet light. The bowl may have been cast as a more compact form and raised. The lip of the bowl is slightly thicker than the rest. It was probably formed by hammering on the edges, perhaps enhanced by punchwork from the outside of the bowl to help define the line of the slightly protruding lip. The thickness of the handle is not even overall. The bulk of the handle, which is shaped as a band, may have started out as more of a square-sectioned rod, like the smaller part at the top end that is bent back into a hook, rather than a sheet, and was hammered flat. The thin curved terminal of the handle was also formed by hammering. Both bends in the handle were wrought during fabrication by hammering rather than being cast already bent. There is a slight thickening and narrowing of the metal at the bend close to the bowl that would be consistent with deformation by hammering. The decorative elements, such as the fine transverse molding and concave thumb rest on the handle may have been partially present in the cast blank but must have been subsequently worked over in the metal. Due to the corrosion and accretions, it is not possible to see hammer marks.
Francesca G. Bewer (submitted 2011)
