- Chapter Seven -
One of the other luxuries for wealthier members of this society was the mirror.
Queen Ethelburga received a silver mirror to go with the ivory comb that the pope
had sent, but comparatively few silver examples have survived in comparison with the
copper alloy ones known from the early prehistoric period down to the Middle Ages.
One of the earlier types was found in the La Tene 'Princess's Grave' found at Reinheim
in 1954.^67 Although the mirror disc is badly damaged and incomplete, the handle,
which is in the form of a stylized janiform person, has the disc slotted into the deep
cut across the head, whilst arms, ending in hands stylized as roundels ornamented with
studs, appear to hold the disc steady. The style of the head with its comma-shaped
horns or locks of hair is closely related to the damaged stone head from Heidelberg.^68
However, in all other respects, it most closely resembles the caryatid mirrors of Greece
and Magna Graecia, which had their origins and inspiration from the stand mirrors of
Egypt which show gods and mortals supporting the mirror disc. The earliest date for
these Greek mirrors is towards the end of the seventh century BC, with the latest
examples being dated towards the end of the fifth century BC.^69 Some of these mirrors
appear to be held on top of the head by a caryatid figure, or her male equivalent, and
supported on the outstretched hands. It seems highly unlikely that the Reinheim
mirror, along with the more naturalistically modelled caryatid on the Hochheim
mirror, is a Celtic version of a mirror type which had already become established in
the Greek heartland'!o Other mirrors which owe their basic design to the inspiration
of examples from the classical lands are the Celtic mirrors in the British series, now
totalling some eight iron examples with, in some cases, copper alloy fittings; and
thirty-four copper alloy pieces complete or represented either by a handle or a disc in
varying states of preservation, with one outlier now in Nijmegen, the Netherlands'!!
The handles of the Celtic mirrors can be divided into two major groups. The first has
a grip with a series of loops along its length, as for example on the Desborough, Birdlip
and Colchester mirrors,72 which can be compared with the elegant silver example from
Villa Boscoreale, Campania,73 and less elaborate pieces from Vaison-Ia-Romaine,
Aquileia, Nimes and Nijmegen.^74 The second group has a more rod-like grip with a
small terminal ring, for instance the handle from Mount Batten, Stamford Hill I,
Ingleton, Yorkshire, and more recently the fragment from Thetford, Norfolk,75 which
can be compared with examples including ones from the Casa del Menandro, Pompeii,
the Villa Boscoreale, and three other close parallels,!6
DAILY LIFE, LEISURE AND OTHER ACTIVITIES
Within the household of individual families there were certain items which would
have been used on a daily basis. These would be the millstones for the grinding
of grain into flour for bread-making; buckets for carrying water, or milk from
domesticated animals, for instance the pre-Roman examples from Aylesford (Kent),
Marlborough (WiltshireY7 and the less elaborate example from a cemetery at Roanne
(Loire) with a suggested date of the first century Bc,78 These were made of wooden
staves with copper-alloy binding strips, some plain, others decorated, a base which
was held in grooves cut into the lower section of the staves, and a movable copper-
alloy handle. Three longer staves would have acted as rudimentary feet. A cauldron106