Roman head discovered at Hadrian's Wall dig to go on display in Northumberland museum
The head is thought to be the same figure as another uncovered at the Magna site which has been on display in Newcastle's Hancock Museum since the 1980s
A terracotta head dating back to Roman times discovered during Hadrian's Wall excavations is set to go on public display. The head was found by volunteers Rinske de Kok and Hilda Gribbin at the Magna Roman Fort excavations near Walltown Crags in June 2025.
Measuring 78mm by 67mm, it depicts a female figure with a centrally parted, four-strand plaited hairstyle. The piece is said to be "crudely made" with notably asymmetrical eyes, with Roman artefact specialist Lindsay Allason Jones saying it appears to have been a "practice piece by an inexpert hand."
Lindsay said: "The eyes do not match at all, and the ears are very weird. That leads me to presume it was made on site as no-one would have bothered to transport this very far or paid good money for it!"
Though terracotta face pots are common in Roman Britain, free-standing heads are rare, with a second, more accomplished head found at the Magna site in the 19th century. The earlier example, donated to the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne in 1982 and now held in Newcastle's Hancock Museum, preserves a fuller head and bust and shares striking similarities with the new find, including the distinctive hairstyle and facial features.
Rachel Frame, senior archaeologist at Magna, said that the two heads were clearly meant to depict the same figure, adding: "My current hypothesis is that the 2025 find is a locally made copy of the earlier example, which may itself have been imported. The woman depicted was clearly important to the people living at Magna."
The Vindolanda Trust says that terracotta busts such as these are widely interpreted as votive objects, used in religious contexts. While common elsewhere in the Roman world, they are unusual in Britain.
The identity of the woman remains unknown, though possibilities include an imperial figure or a goddess. Researchers are now inviting further comparisons from across the Roman world.
Barbara Birley, the Vindolanda Trust's curator, said: "The newly discovered terracotta head will go on display at the Roman Army Museum as part of a recent finds display along with some of the other highlights of the project so far. These include leather shoes, a silver ring, bone hairpins, glass beads and a Venus pipe clay figurine."
The head was discovered as part of a five-year £2.5m research project, with the National Lottery Heritage Fund granting £1.625m towards the excavations.