Steven’s Ear Pick
Steven Grimmett chose this silver ear pick as his object. From MODES Steven was able to discover what material it was made of and that it is 14.5cm long with 4.8cm of the handle decorated in a twist pattern. One end has a tiny bowl whilst the other has a leaf shaped blade. It was discovered at the Roman villa site at Norton Disney, about 8 miles from Newark in 1935. Norton Disney was a fairly large villa site, which was in use from the end of the first century AD until the middle of the fourth century AD. It is described as an ear pick, with the suggestion that the bowl end may have been used to scoop wax out of the ear, whilst the blade may have been a tooth pick, although similar items from elsewhere have been discovered with food related objects, suggesting it may have been a tool used to pick at food. The fact it is made from silver suggests that its owner would have been fairly rich. This is also suggested by the other items discovered at Norton Disney such as the mosaics chosen by Helen and Jess.
Steven & Cameron examining the ear pick
Steven chose this object because of its interesting shape and the fact that there was a lot that could be found out about it. He can relate it to cotton buds that we use to clean our ears with today, but slightly less costly than being made of silver!
