London find of Roman chariot dashboard?

Today (10th April), an item was published in The Times newspaper about the finds from an excavation undertaken by the Museum of London in the City of London. About eight thousand objects have been found, and the most remarkable is a large leather Roman panel decorated with a scene showing a warrior on a chariot with a hippocamp on each side (a hippocamp is a mythical creature, half horse and half fish). This panel has no parallel in Roman archaeology, but it is thought to be the dashboard of a chariot. Archaeologists have descibed the site as ‘the Pompeii of the north’.

Read more about the find and the site in ‘”Unparalleled” Roman artefacts found in London’ (posted yesterday, 9th April) at www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1ea973b2-a13c-11e2-990c-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2Q2uoPFuL and view a gallery of eighteen images on the web-site of The Independent at www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/8000-artefacts-and-rising-city-dig-pronounced-the-most-important-ever-in-london-8566348.html?action=gallery&ino=1

The possible ‘dashboard’ is of great interest to the Trust because of the Roman circus which existed in Colchester, and where racing chariots were used. We have a life-size replica of a Roman racing chariot which will be on display in our circus visitor centre at Roman Circus House, hopefully from the end of May. Racing chariots didn’t, in fact, have dashboards but the British used to use chariots of a different design for warfare, so maybe that is one possible explanation for the mystery object. Racing chariots were covered with leather or hide to keep them light and strong. Parts of these could have been decorated.

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