NCMD Member, Paul M, entered this very interesting Roman Bird statue into last months Finds Competition. Potentially a religious artefact which may have been a staff terminal or finial. While it wasn’t the overall winner in last month’s Finds Competition, it created a very interesting conversation between the judges.
One judge said this reminded them of an old story told by grandparents about the Crow and the Pitcher. On further investigation it was amazing to see that this was a story/fable that had actually been passed down the centuries. It has been credited to Aesop, a slave and storyteller who lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 BCE.
The fable is about a thirsty crow that comes across a pitcher, and the water inside is beyond its reach. After trying to push it over, the bird begins to drop pebbles in until the water rises to the top, allowing the crow to drink.
Over time this story has been told many times, resulting in numerous quotes and morals over the centuries, including the early 20th-century retelling of the story which quotes the proverb ‘Where there’s a will, there’s a way’.
This is why we love metal detecting, something that might not seem that interesting, has a fantastic story behind it.
Image Attribution: Illustrated by Milo Winter in 1919. Public Domain.
