Hey 298, Your medallion has symbolism which I believe is Minoan or Ancient Greek in origin. The double headed axe above the bull's head may be as described in the following from Wikipedia:
Labrys (
Greek: λάβρυς,
lábrys) is the term for a symmetric doubleheaded
axe originally from
Crete in
Greece, one of the oldest symbols of Greek civilization; to the Romans, it was known as a
bipennis.[SUP]
[1][/SUP] The symbol was commonly associated with female divinities.
The double-bitted axe remains a forestry tool to this day,[SUP]
[2][/SUP] and the labrys certainly functioned as a tool and hewing axe[SUP]
[3][/SUP] before it was invested with symbolic function.[SUP]
[4][/SUP] Labrys symbolism is found in
Minoan,
Thracian, and
Greek religion, mythology, and art, dating from the
Middle Bronze Age onwards, and surviving in the
Byzantine Empire.
The article goes on to say that the Labrys (axe) is often seen in artwork in connection with sacrifice, such as a bull. The (male?) figure on the reverse appears to be an ancient Mediterranean subject, maybe standing in a patch of lily flowers and holding a yoked oxen in a field of tall wheat(?) Your guess is as good as mine, but it may be a good luck charm, fertility charm, and how and when it got into your road bed is a mystery. Is there a large Greek American population near you? Who knows!? Sub
