key
- Description
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Lever-lock key made of copper-alloy, from an advanced lock, possibly from a pad-lock. Fine workmanship. Key; Bronze, incrusted; flat with ring on end; several wards and depressions on lower part.
- Production date
- 100BC – AD300
- Dimensions
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Length: 3 centimetres
- Curator's comments
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Object owned and held by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. This record is included in the British Museum database as part of the Museum’s Naukratis Project, a research collaboration that aims to virtually re-unite finds from the ancient port city of Naukratis, now distributed over 80 museums worldwide.
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Roman period parallels from Egypt (Petrie 1917, 59, Pl. lxxvi, W. 156 - 164). From an advanced lever-lock, possibly a padlock, a very advanced form of locking mechanism used in the Roman period and found across the Roman Empire, including Britain (Manning1985, 94-5).
Manning, W. H. 1985. Catalogue of the Romano-British iron tools, fittings and weapons in the British Museum. London : BMP.
Petrie, W.M.Fl. 1917. Tools and weapons illustrated by the Egyptian collection in University college, London, and 2,000 outlines from other sources. London.
- Location
- Not on display
- Department
- External
- Additional IDs
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Miscellaneous number: 86.816 (Accession Number)
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Miscellaneous number: M.1235 (Metalworks ledger number)