Another bit was found in the large inner ditch of the extended fort, where it was cleaned out on the west side, and near it lay an iron head-stall decorated with enamel. The bit (Plate LXXI., Fig. 3) is a severe one. It measures 4¼ inches between the cheeks; the bar is curved, and assumes in the centre the form of a solid tongue of metal. The mounting of the head-stall (Plate LXXI., Fig. 4) is of iron. This part of the harness was placed over the horse's nose. Sometimes it broadened out above the nostrils. In the Newstead specimen such expansion is slight, its place being taken by an enamelled medallion. Round loops served for the attachment of the bit, and the whole was fastened securely by means of straps passing through the curved bends on either side.
Head-stalls, both in bronze and in iron, have been found in various parts of the Empire, although they are probably more common on early sites. Zschille and Forrer figure a specimen in bronze found in Rome.[1] Head-stalls Another of iron is illustrated by Liger,[2] and the Museum of St. Germain-en-Laye contains a bronze example from St. Paul Trois Chateaux, Drôme. In Germany instances are to be noted as occurring at Haltern,[3] at Hofheim,[4] and at Zugmantel,[5] while the horse on the monument of T. Flavius Bassus at Cologne appears to be wearing a metal head-stall. In none of these cases, however, do we find the same method of decoration as is employed in the present specimen, where the centre is composed of millefiori enamel with a brass edging, recalling the familiar egg and tassel ornament. Many examples of the use of enamel in harness-mountings of the Late Celtic period have been found in Britain. But neither in its form nor in its decoration is the head-stall associated with these. Probably the method of decoration combined with the 'find-spot' may be taken as evidence that it belongs to the Antonine period.
Figure 4, Plate LXX., which came from Pit XVI, seems to have formed some portion of a set of harness. It suggests hames for a collar. But the two long pieces of metal are of unequal size—8½ inches and 95⁄8 inches respectively. Again, one of them has a single projecting loop, as though for a strap, while the other, which is flatter and more solid, has two much
1 Op. cit. Taf. V. Fig. 7.
2 La Ferronnerie, vol. ii. fig. 101.
3 Mitteilungen der Altertums-Kommission für Westfalen, Heft ii. Taf. xxvii. Fig. 2.
4 Das früh-römische Lager bei Hofheim, Text Fig. 24, No. 16174.
5 Der Obergermanisch-Raetische Limes, Lief. 32, 'Kastell Zugmantel,' Taf xxi. Fig. 56.
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