🥇 BANNER <<<ROMAN BRONZE BULL>>>

CRUSADER · Aug 3, 2012

Took another day off work to try some more Barley Fields. Cru'Dad had done some hunting yesterday (picture 1) & scouted out which fields are available. The first field I picked from the list, I knew had some cropmarks on but we had found very little in previous years, but worth another try.
First Field (2 hrs) - Roman Bronze Bull, Tudor Buckle, 1 Roman Coin
Second Field (1 hr & 15 mins) - Medieval Belt Mount, not much else
Third Field (1 hr) - Tudor Book Clasp,Poor hammered coin, Spur, Great Northern Railway Button

The Story:
We arrived at the first field & I had a plan in my head as to where we would start gridding (over the cropmark). However, as soon as I walked into the field, I had an erge/feeling to try right in the middle of the field. Now although I don't like to leave anything to 'chance', I do always listern to my instincts. Therefore, I sent Cru'dad over to start plan 'A' & I peeled off. After less than 30 minutes of making my way over to the middle, & on my 4th dig, up popped the surprise Roman Bronze Bull (only missing a small 'loop' of the tail). I called Dad over, he GPSed it & we gridded that area with nothing else to show. :icon_scratch:

A Roman or Celtic animal/person figure was in my top 5 Wish List for many years, but I kind of cheated & crossed it off when I got a Roman Mars Bust Knife Terminal. Now I can really cross it off. :headbang:

THERE ARE NONE RECORDED WITH THE PAS OR UKDFD DATABASE!
What more can I say other than 'thank-you Lord' & this story was not bull. :thumbsup:

CRUSADER · Aug 7, 2012

snowdogg70 said:
it must feel so good to return this to its rightful owner! i bet you just cant wait to hand it over to the museum. nice piece and now all who visit that museum will be able to see what you have unearthed after hundreds of years!

I don't get your sarcasm but this one is about to backfire in your face :laughing7:

I work/volunteer my time (free of charge) & do displays for the local Museum (free of charge), do school project loans, displays at work, & displays at Farm open days (all free of charge). This Bull was not found near my local Museum & there is no local Museum nearby, & if you know anything, you will know that UK Museums have Geographical areas (or specialisms) by which they collect in.
It will be recorded for future study (including GPS) & one of the leading experts will be looking at it at the end of the month.
Having said that, I never sell anything, so where do you thing they will end up (free of charge).

....and finally, yes it does feel good. :laughing9:

oldsoapy · Aug 7, 2012

Congratulations on the Bull Cru, nice find. Hutch.

Michigander Dan · Aug 10, 2012

A hell of a find, truly once in a lifetime. :hello2:

CRUSADER · Aug 11, 2012

Michigander Dan said:
A hell of a find, truly once in a lifetime.

Thanks, it will be hard to beat that one this year (or any other), but we will not give up trying. We have some great spots just on the horizon.

English Bob. · Aug 13, 2012

That Bull is a great find mate, nice one.

hammered · Aug 13, 2012

WOW Cru old mate, nice find. Sorry for the long absence but education takes first place these days. That Bronze Bull is one of a kind, there should be a banner of banner finds, and this should be number one. The Bull has been sacred from about 3000 bc, and still is in some Spanish thoughts, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for late pre-roman iron age, it looks about right, but the patena could be playing tricks with me. What ever, go out and find something else really good, you are the maestro on finds, as usual :laughing7:

hammered

ps. I'm going out soon, harvest time and all :thumbsup:

CRUSADER · Aug 26, 2012

UPDATE:

After showning this to a leading Roman Expert here are his thoughts (not to disimilar to mine):

It has a Celtic Influence but is cast in a Roman way, therefore it's maybe Romano-Celtic - 2nd Century AD.
The band around it's body is interesting, & it's been recorded that Bulls that were being sacrificed would be adorned with a decorative band around its waist.
Therefore, the thoughts that it had some ritual or votive meaning is possible. However, he did not rule out that it could have gone in a small family Shrine.

Roger Mn. · Sep 13, 2012

Nice finds crusader. I looked at some bulls online and other countries also had bulls.

Your bull looks like it has the word " JIT " on its head so I typed in search Jit bull UK and guess what came up.

A big Load of Bull Jit.

By the way I'm German and English so I know about British sence of humor.