i 



THE POTTERY 91 



(3) Strainers. Three fragments are from flat disks of 

 clay perforated witli small holes, and were perhaps wine- 

 strainers. A larger perforated vessel was perhaps for 

 squeezing fruit. It is a bowl of pink clay having a raised 

 boss in the centre surrounded by three concentric ridges. 

 Each of the hollows between these ridges is drained by 

 four drain-holes. 



(4) Open vessels such as flat-bottomed bowls and wide- 

 mouthed jars. The fragments of these are not very 

 numerous. Some vessels were slightly ornamented, as for 

 example with a roughly executed " engine turned " pattern 

 or with a wavy band of clay applied round the vase. A 

 common form of ornament is that of circular " thumb " 

 markings, either impressed or in relief, accentuated by 

 incised circles around them. 



Of unique type is a small open bowl of hard red clay 

 with a projecting "false rim" ornamented with curved 

 lines and dots in light-coloured slip (Plate III., 5). 



Miniature Clay Figure of a Horse. This may be men- 

 tioned here as being of the same red clay as the vases. 

 The legs are broken and the whole figure is very much 

 damaged. Part of the surface of the back is better pre- 

 served than the rest, having apparently been covered by 

 some sort of saddle. A much damaged object of red clay, 

 found near the horse, seems to be the remains of this 

 saddle, as it fits neatly to the back of the horse. It was 

 apparently in the shajje of a pack-saddle and attached by 

 strings. The horse may have been a child's toy, or perhaps 

 more probably a dedicatory offering for some shrine. 



[For another suggestion see p. 71, note 38. The two views are not very 

 far removed, as a solemn dedication on behalf of some ala quartered in 

 the camp might, later on, come to share the sanctity of the shrine. In 

 that case one would guess that the trappings of the little beast once 

 held more valuable offerings. The conjectures are especially interesting 

 because so far not a single other trace of any possibly religious object, 



