Chemical Composition: XRF data from Tracer
Alloy: Mixed Copper Alloy
Alloying Elements: copper, tin, lead, zinc
Other Elements: iron, silver, antimony
K. Eremin, January 2014
Technical Observations: The patina is mostly dark brown on the upper surface with some localized areas of green corrosion products. There are also a few spots of cuprite, such as where a chip in the patina on the nose reveals deep mineralized material. The underside of the object has more green areas and is partly covered with burial accretions. This piece is in good structural condition and much of the surface is well preserved. The small rectangular feature attached to the middle of the edge on the underside appears to have been flattened after its creation. One of the perforated tabs projecting from below the snake heads is broken; it was probably weakened by the hole that was made through it.
This object was cast in one piece by the lost-wax process. The rough form of the snake was created in a mold that may already have contained the shapes of the broader ridges. The details in the snake heads and the patterns on the body were drawn in the wax with a pointed tool. The necks and heads were bent slightly in the wax stage to raise them in relation to the body. Segments of the rim that project above the end of the ridges may be evidence of wax that projected above the mold. Small thickenings of the metal around a small rectangular feature on the middle edge of the underside and on one of the tabs below the snake heads suggests that they were modeled onto the hollow wax body before it was invested and cast. What appears to be threading of the tabs is perpendicular to its sides, and therefore probably served more to enhance the “bite” with whatever material they were joined. It is not clear to what this object would have been joined. The small dents on the inside of the body at the height of the small rectangular feature may be the result of cold working that element.
Francesca G. Bewer (submitted 2001)
