Vindolanda 2012 day seven

A somewhat frustrating day.  Maybe I will tell that story tomorrow.  For today, just a few small finds that have turned up on site....

This is a lump of lead.  You can recognize these by the powdery white lead oxide on the surface and by their weight.  I looked hard at this to see if it might be another mold for bronze casting.   Nah, just a lump of lead.

Here is a bit of decorated Samian ware.  I like this stuff.  It has the color of a ripe Halloween pumpkin, and sometimes comes with elaborate designs.  It is very helpful for dating purposes too, as the designs have been studied and dated with some accuracy.  Note the water in the trench, rained again last night.

A nifty little blue glass bead.  You need sharp eyes to spot these babies.  May I express my thanks to my ophthalmologist at this time?

There were some other finds on site.  A coin, a fire starting flint, another bead.  But my favorite of the day was this:

The brick I showed a few days ago had some debatable animal prints vs. finger prints.  Well, this brick/tile leaves no doubt.  Clear dog foot print!  I sometimes wonder...does our current alternative name for dog, Fido (Latin for faithful) reflect after all these years a common Roman dog name?  I'd like to think so.