Bucket (type Eggers 33)

Bucket (type Eggers 33), bronze, cast, riveted, mounted, chased, soldered, bronze, Total: Height: 21 cm; Diameter: 17,2 cm; Height: 18,7 cm (without attatch), Funeral receptacle, Augustus, Tiberius, Early Imperial Period, The bucket, chased from thin sheet metal, has a hemispherical body, which after a sharp heel merges into an almost horizontal shoulder. Three twisted grooves divide the surface up to the rising neck. To the muzzle edge the neck widens in a bulge. This is decorated with a braided band, which encloses small, but lost globules. The braided band is bordered at the top and bottom by an imitation cord decoration. Inside it has a small repair with a square rivet. The bucket stands on three spherical feet. Only one of the two handle pockets is preserved, the soldering traces of the second one are clearly visible. The eyelet is flanked by two mule heads looking at each other. Underneath them hang three pointed leaves, which nestle up to the throat. The bucket was found during the excavations in the urn cemetery of Nienbüttel (district of Uelzen). It is a Roman object that came to Germania as a gift, booty or merchandise. Traces on the dark green patina show that the bucket was placed in a grave pit lined with sedges, grasses and moss. The bucket contained the cremated body of an adult. On top of it lay several intentionally smashed grave goods: a broken spearhead, a pilum and a battered shield boss; furthermore three bronze shield edge fittings and a shield nail. The clothing included an eye fibula, a bone needle with a profiled head and an eight-point buckle with end fitting. A crescent-shaped razor, parts of scissors and a bent comb made of bronze belonged to the toilet device. An iron knife with a curved blade and a handle ending in a bronze ram head is also part of the set (Inv. 1995.258). Except for the knife, the whereabouts of the other grave goods and the cremation remains uncertain. The furnishings indicate the burial of a warrior who once held a