Bits
At Newstead a large number of the objects of metal could be identified as harness-mountings. Of these the most easily recognisable were the bridle-bits. Two were found with the helmets in Pit XXII (Plate LXXI., Figs. 1 and 2). They are both of iron, and appear to have been originally of the same pattern. The bar, which is 45⁄8 inches in length between the
cheeks, is ridged by twisting. Joined to it at either end is a rigid curb bent almost to a semi-circle, and also twisted. Immediately beyond the points at which the curb is attached are two rectangular loops, each 1½ inches long, by which the bit must have been fastened to the head-stall. Beyond these, on either side, are rectangular plates, the corners of which have been hammered out, and the edges serrated, the whole somewhat in the shape of a St. Andrew's cross. Fastened to each end of the bar are the rings for attaching it to the reins. These bits probably date from the end of the first century. A Gallo-Roman specimen, somewhat similar in construction, showing a rigid curb and the same square loops for attachment to the head-stall, was found at Alesia.[1]
1 Zschille und Forrer, Die Pferdetrense in ihrer Formen-entwicklung, Berlin, 1893, Taf. vii. p. 19.
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