The Teynham Triton and its significance to the funerary architecture of Roman Kent and beyond
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the-teynham-triton-and-its-significance-to-the-funerary-architecture-of-roman-kent-and-beyond.pdf
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Size
1.32 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
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Resource type
Journal article
Date published
November 2024
Abstract
This article examines the significance of a highly unusual stone statue discovered at Teynham, Kent, depicting a triton and a ketos. It discusses the context of the find in what appears to be a mausoleum complex adjacent to Watling Street. It provides a detailed description of the statue itself, alongside a petrological study, and places this in the context of other depictions of marine deities, particularly of tritons, in Britain and beyond. The article considers how the sculpture might have been placed on the exterior or interior of the tomb. It also discusses the possible occupant of the mausoleum (perhaps a villa owner or sailor), taking into account the possible symbolic value of the triton, either as signifier of afterlife beliefs or biographical achievement, as well as the ritual treatment of the statue after the tomb was dismantled. The wider context of the Teynham mausoleum is then analysed in terms of its location and form in relation to comparable monuments found in south-east England and better preserved tombs on the continent.
Journal title
Britannia
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Place of publication
Cambridge
ISSN
0068-113X
eISSN
1753-5352
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Keywords