Nail

Nail

Part of a small iron nail, possibly with evidence of the now missing head. The shank shows evidence of longitudinal lamination, perhaps assocaited with its production. The surface is a dark brown colour with patches of yellow and cream.

The nail is one of four fragmentary examples, broadly similar to Roman types, said to have been uncovered by ER Sgt Leslie William Page below a mosaic floor on a hilltop at or near Deir El Belah, Palestine, in 1917, along with human remains, tesserae and coins. This collection was donated by Page to the Queensland Museum in July 1933. In a letter accompanying his donation, Page records that he uncovered the mosaic and other finds "on the top of a fairly high sugar load sort of hill... at a depth of some 6 or 8 inches under the sand". The find probably occurred between march and May 1917 when Page was stationed with the Australian Provost Corps near Deir el-Belah.

AD 100 - AD 600

Height: 34 mm

Width: 18 mm

Depth: 14 mm

C.013.0010

QM H2381

© Queensland Museum, Peter Waddington.

Collected by ER Sgt. Leslie Page, Deir El-Belah, Gaza Strip, 1917.
Donated by ER Sgt. Leslie Page to the Queensland Museum, Brisbane, July 1933.

Queensland Museum, Brisbane

Angus, N.S., Brown, G.T., & Cleere, H. (1962). 'The iron nails from the Roman legionary fortress at Inchtuthil, Perthshire.' Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute, 200(11): 956-68.

Queensland Museum Inwards Correspondence #00323 (1933)

Queensland Museum Inwards Correspondence #00373 (1933)

Sim, D., & Kaminski, J. (2012). Blacksmithing Techniques and Production Methods. In Roman Imperial Armour: The production of early imperial military armour (pp. 25–48). Oxbow Books. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvh1dt0h.8

P.013

Mr James Donaldson