diameter of 63⁄8 inches, while the domed central portion projected about 1½ inches and had a diameter of 37⁄8 inches. It had been fastened to the shield by five nails or rivets. Similar bosses have been found at the Saalburg and other Roman castella abroad. From the bottom of the same pit came a number of decorative fragments of brass, which may well have formed part of the ornament of the shield. The remains of a second shield-boss of iron were found in Pit LXXXIII.
Remains of their Framework
Another object, found in association with tools and weapons in Pit XVI, appears to have belonged to the framework of a shield. This is an iron rib (Plate XXXIV., Fig. 1), 28 inches long, flat on one side and rounded on the other. It has a width of half an inch. Although only one of the ends remains, it would appear that each of them has been beaten out flat so as to form an almost circular plate, having in the centre, on the side corresponding to the flat side of, the main rib, a large flat-headed rivet 5⁄8 of an inch in diameter: evidently intended as a fastening for attaching to thin wood or thick leather. The iron rib is perforated with four holes, at equal distances apart, for fastenings. Another rib, 25½ inches long, came from Pit XCVI. It is somewhat thicker than the last specimen. In addition to the flattened plates at each end, it has four nail holes. The metal, 3¼ inches from each end, has been curved outwards just enough to permit a strap being passed between it and the wood to which it was fastened. Another object, which was evidently the terminal of a similar rib, came, like the shield-boss, from the pit in the Principia. It too shows the flat-headed rivet for attachment. Three other portions of similar ribs (Plate XXXIV., Figs. 4, 5 and 12) were taken out of the ditch of the early fort. They are all flat on one side and rounded on the other, and have holes through them, by means of which they were fixed to the shield. Two of these latter pieces are characterised by a new feature. They bifurcate at the end, while the terminals are curved backwards, one on each side of the rib, and have their ends flattened out and perforated. The iron mounting illustrated in Plate XXXIV., Fig. 2, has in shape something in common with the objects just described. It was found in Pit XIV, and may also have served as a shield mounting.
A rib of some sort was often employed in the construction of shields. It may be seen, for instance, attached to a central boss on the early Gaulish shields, from the cemeteries of the Marne, which are now in the Museum of St. Germain-en-Laye. Again, it occurs on the later
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