Linz

Thank you for your fascinating comments, I'm learning a lot! The hole at the top of the anvil is (now) more of an oval measuring 17mm x 13mm so the nail head would have had to be quite large not to fall through. Are we saying the main square shafted nail would first be hammered out into shape on the anvil's face leaving a thickened end and then slotted into the hole and hit with a hammer to make the nail head before being knocked out from below or the side to release it? Would that diameter hole be large enough to hold tools in the fashion of the hardie hole? It sounds a useful multi-functional piece of kit if one hole serves as a hardie/pritchel/nail header hole. Thank you Kozzy for the description of sponge iron.

I can see where you are coming from Kozzy but here is another angle which shows it more as a rather scrappy gouge. The example above is from a shipwreck off Turkey and is a great comparison. What actually is sponge iron and is a 'nail making hole' feasible?

Thanks all for the great comments and interest. I haven't yet seen the anvil at Bath so must make a trip over that way sometime. There are some wonderful carvings on tombstones, I especially like the one Cincinnatus posted. here's another from 1st century. In Rome and Pompeii (and other parts of Italy, they had a different style of anvil with a concave base forming four 'feet'.

Many thanks for the tip TRF, it's now in my Amazon shopping basket! Glad to hear you're interested in the Roman period too. Whilst excavating the villa in 2017 we uncovered half of a remarkable mosaic floor (google Boxford mosaic). Back this year to record the whole thing! The anvils were found by metal detecting a good number of years before my group started working there but I'm writing the metalwork report so thought I should include them.

Thank you Basher and Mark for your comments. I did wonder whether there had possibly been a horn present which had been knocked off. We've dated the villa which is less than 100m from both anvil find spots, to roughly AD 350 - 380, so quite late Roman. A few coins and weights have also been found near the find spots. The base hole does look sharp I agree so we'll need to do a bit more detective work on that!

Hi all. I am very new to the forum and am turning to you for help about 2 Roman anvils found at a site in West Berkshire, UK. Both were found in the same field and close to a Roman villa. The first one is approximately 180mm tall, 190mm wide and 100mm deep (weighs 18Kg). It has a hole in the top (pritchel or hardie??) which comes through the front in an open groove. Can you tell me why it does this? Would the hole be to hold tools or to make and head nails as some sources imply? There is also a small (10mm by 5mm deep) hole centrally based in the base (2nd image). Would this be to locate it and stop it moving? The 2nd anvil I don't have details for but it is a simple block anvil, slightly tapering at one end to insert into a tree stump or something similar I presume. Does anyone have any references so I can read up about these items. I believe they are quite scarce so to have 2 in the same field is rare indeed. I would be very grateful for any help understanding these great finds. Thank you, Linz.