Roman Nails

For the Want of a Nail

The stories a dead doornail can tell

Blog by Collection Manager Archaeology, Deirdre Harrison

Auckland Museum has received two sets of these ancient Roman nails. This unusual situation is the result of a chain of serendipitous events, ancient and modern. Each link of this chain holds stories and information which increase our understanding of ancient technologies and rituals, modern museum practices, scientific analyses, and conservation methods.

Ancient Roman Nails donated by Pacific Steel NZ (2014.93.1-.8)

In 1959, Professor Ian Richmond and Dr J. K. St Joseph excavated the site of a Roman fortress at Inchtuthil in Perthshire Scotland. The fort had been constructed around 83 C.E. but was dismantled hastily and very thoroughly, in 87 C.E. Not wanting the valuable resource of a large quantity of unused iron nails to fall into the hands of the resident tribes, the Romans buried the nails in a deep pit beneath their workshop (#3 Fabrica in the plan to the left) and collapsed the building over the top. It is believed that Richmond first noticed the site because of the soil was discoloured by the corrosion of the buried nails¹; however, the remarkably large hoard of nails he discovered were (mostly) in very good condition.²

Paradoxically, the nails buried in damp acidic soil for almost two millennia fared better than when carefully stored in a display box for merely 65 years.

_{¹McConchie, 2014; p3}

_{²The almost 7 ton hoard contained approximately 875,000 individual nails or spikes for use in construction and were all of similar shape and manufacture. They were later separated into 4 length categories: 763,840 small nails, 85,128 medium nails, 25,088 large nails, and 1,344 extra large spikes (16 inches or longer).}

This box, and many similar ones were made to distribute and display sets of Roman nails by the Dalzell Steel and Iron Works of David Colville & Sons (Colvilles), Scotland The National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland, could not cope with the enormous problem of the storage and conservation of such a weighty collection of nails and they appealed to the Scottish Iron and Steel Institute, who in turn called on Colville’s for assistance in counting, categorizing and distributing the hoard. To fund the excavations of Inchtuthil, many thousands of nails were distributed to museums and collectors all over the world, individually or in similar presentation boxes. Sales were stopped only in October 1963.³ Auckland Museum received these nails as a gift from BOAC in 1962.⁴

Now it is a truth universally acknowledged, that a pair of metals in possession of differing electrode potentials contacting each other in a conducting environment, must result in galvanic corrosion.⁵

This is perfectly demonstrated by the five ancient Roman iron nails in this box. The iron nails are held in place by U-shaped steel staples and coper alloy clasps to allow for display. The box is well made, but not air-tight or humidity-proof, so, the entire surface of each nail is exposed to both water vapours and the acidic vapours off gassing from the wood varnish which provide the conductive environment. Rust is inevitable.

By contrast, the buried nails were densely packed, in a deep hole and although ground moisture and oxygen were present; the surface corrosion of the outer nails created a protective (sacrificial) layer, accounting for the discoloration of the surface soil. This effectively prevented further oxidation of the bulk of the hoard. ⁶

The Australian National University Museum received a similar box of nails from Inchtuthil and has done extensive analyses and remedial conservation of their objects. Their group is a donation from the Abott family of 1 large, 2 medium and 2 small nails, mounted in the same way as Auckland Museum’s set. In 2011 when Mr Abbott presented the box to the Australian National University’s Classics Museum all the nails showed significant signs of corrosion. Matasha Conchie has published a paper discussing both the journey of the objects until they reached the museum, and the chemical and physical analysis undertaken on the nails.⁷ This research has enabled important conservation efforts on their nails as well as contributing to the understanding of the origins of the raw materials, the smelting temperatures and the smithing techniques used to make the nails.

Early removal from the clips and fasteners inside the display box, and some earlier conservation treatment has led to a better preservation of the other set of nails donated to Auckland Museum by Pacific Steel in 2014.⁸ As can be seen in this image the structure of the nails and something of the manufacture techniques are more readily visible.

_{³Despite tons of the nails being recycled, they were still appearing for sale in department stores and mail order catalogues during the 1900s and early 2000s, and can still be purchased on line. (Budrovich 2020)}

_{⁴ These nails were received as a donation from British Overseas Air Company in 1962. Acquisition number 1962.151 Sys ID 69005-9, Eth number 36913.1-.5. The occasion or reason behind the gift is not recorded, except to note that the contact person was the Sales Manager for BOAC.}

_{⁵ Apologies to Jane Austen for borrowing the style of the opening to Pride and Prejudice.}

_{⁶ By providing a case study extending over more than a thousand years, the contents of this site have provided useful evidence for the corrosion resistance of low carbon steel. This has been suggested as a possible material for the construction of buried repositories for radioactive waste. (Milodowski et al NAWG The Inchtuthil study)}

_{⁷ M. McConchie 2014, Canberra - Five iron nails from the Roman hoard at Inchtuthil}

_{⁸ These nails were donated by the Pacific Steel Company of New Zealand. They were brought to NZ from Scotland and donated to Pacific Steel before 1970, by an engineer who worked for the Dalziel Company in Scotland before relocating to New Zealand. At some stage these items were removed from the presentation box and later deposited at the Museum (1996). After some consultation, they were donated to the Museum in 2014. Acquisition number 2014.93.1-.8 Sys ID 775622}

Box of Ancient Roman Nails donated by BOAC. (1962.151; Eth numbers 36913.1-.5)

Roman nails were made by heating the iron ore in the presence of a small amount of carbon which was then fashioned into the shape of square rods and left to cool (wrought iron). After re-heating the rod in a forge, the blacksmith would cut off a nail length and hammer all four sides of the softened end to form a point. Then the hot nail is inserted into a hole in a nail header or anvil and a hammer is used to form the rosehead (a shallow pyramid shape).

When used in construction the four sharp edges on the shank would cut deep into timber and provide friction down its full length. This was especially useful for shipbuilding where the wood fibres could swell if damp and bind round the nail making an extremely strong attachment.⁹

Nails like many other common artefacts can be used to shed light on social dynamics and networks. A quantitative analysis of such a large hoard of nails can indicate manufacture rates and quantities of ore extraction, which in turn suggests population and occupation distribution (miners, refiners, tradesmen, transporters, craftsmen builders). That the quantity of nails found far exceeded the requirements of the site, indicates stockpiling was occurring which in turn denotes attitudes to the value of the nails as commodities, concerns about stock shortage or the anticipation of large construction projects etc. An examination of the symmetry and uniformity of the nails can reveal the technical competence or the haste with which the nails were made.

_{⁹ Unknown Author, 2002 The history of Nail Making}

The research value of the nails does not end there. In Ancient Roman societies, as in many others the raw material, iron, has value due to its initial rarity, difficulty of extraction and the mysterious property of magnetism. Force acting at a distance is difficult for even contemporary scientists to explain, and iron has always held magical associations. In recent times beliefs and superstitions around iron include using horseshoes to repel evil or for good luck, erecting iron fences around graveyards to contain the ghosts, and burying an iron knife in front of the doorstep to repel fairies or spirits. Similarly, the value of a nail to the ancient Romans was not just its use as a versatile engineering device but also as a small, available iron object to be used in ritual and on religious occasions.

To be able to distinguish the nails used in ritual or magic from those used in construction, it is helpful to understand the kinds of rituals for which the nails were used.¹⁰ Roman life was infused with spirit beings which communicated through omens, oracles and events. Humans communicated with these beings via priests, prayer and ritual. This occurred in all walks of life, from the state occasions in temples to individuals offering prayers at domestic shrines in their homes and fields. Nails were used in some of these ceremonies and rituals, and we have the works of the Roman and Greek writers to explain some of these practices and beliefs.

_{¹⁰ How, 2019 Historic ‘Magic’ Nails: Their typologies and their ritual uses}

The clavus annalis is the event referenced by most writers describing the history of nails. It involved the hammering of a ceremonial nail, into the temple wall on the ides of September each year, and it is mentioned by the Roman historian Titus Livius (Livy) in circa 20 BCE. although the ceremony first occurred much earlier, in 331 BCE.¹¹

There is an old law …… that enjoins he who is vested with supreme power to drive a nail every year into the temple wall on the thirteenth of September. It was driven into the right side of the temple of Jupiter Oper Magnum, where it joined the temple of Minerva.
Titus Livius

The exact reason for this ritual had been lost to the ages even at the time of Livy. Literally, clavus annalis means “year-nail” and some scholars have suggested it was a way of marking the age of the temple. Significant for this explanation was the association with Minerva who is credited with inventing numbers. However, Livy also explains that in 363 Rome had been swept by a plague but after a dictator had been appointed to complete the nail-driving ritual and voice an incantation; the plague had broken.

Whatever the reason of the nail hammering, the tradition was strongly maintained. The metaphor of driving a nail was also significant to the Ancient Romans beyond this ceremony. The Roman a phrase “Clavum fingere“, (to nail in, or fix with a nail) refers to the strong bond between the nail and the substrate and could be used for the “sealing” of fate.¹² For this reason plaques with curses or spells were often nailed to their substrates

On a more domestic level nails were used around the house, driven in walls or lintels or placed in shrines; indoors, or outdoors to propitiate the spirits or invoke a magic spell. The nails could be made of high value material or inscribed with symbols or text. Often just the nail itself was sufficient, due the magical properties of the iron. This non-utilitarian use was often made more “obvious” and irreversible by bending or twisting the nail preventing its future use in construction as a “normal” nail.

Once this practice was more widely recognized by scholars, and archaeologists began actively looking, many such nails were found in excavations. Attempts to distinguish ritual nails from those used in construction rely on:

- the context of the find,

- the presence of script (spells?) engraved onto the nail ,

- the unused state of the nail or the use of precious metals

- the form (eg bent shape) of the found nail.

In particular, the presence of bent and re-bent (or S-bend) nails are being re-evaluated due to the ease of identification and frequency of occurrence in archaeological sites.

_{¹¹Livy History of Rome, 7: 3: 4-5).}

_{¹² Britanniae, 2016 https://blogs.transparent.com/latin/seal-your-fate-the-ides-of-september/}

East Bath-Suite Mosaics at Rockbourne Roman Villa
Lauren Smart The history of Rockbourne Roman Villa and Twelve Days of Collections: day ten by Lauren Smart More information ›

Auckland Museum has one such deliberately re-bent, S-shaped nail from the archaeological excavation at the Roman site at Rockbourne, in the town of Fordingbridge, England.¹³ As a large, prestigious dwelling this villa could be expected to contain several altars dedicated to household or regional gods, each containing sacrifices or offerings of various kinds. Little is known about this 1966 donation or its donor, Mrs Vera McMullen, and unfortunately the exact excavation context within the site has been lost. The object is too corroded to tell, without XRF analysis, if it had any precious metal plating or inlay, often associated with ritual nails of this shape, but the shape is the distinctive S-bend.

_{¹³ Donated by Mrs Vera McMullen in 1966, Acquisition number 2017.x.757.1 Sys ID 851509.}

S-BEND nail from Rockbourne Roman Villa, England. Donated by Mrs Vera McMullen (2017.x.757.1)

Apart from shrines and altars mystical or ritual nails are found in graves as offerings or spells to placate and constrain the spirits. Different sizes and materials of nails have been excavated from Roman graves. Most usually these are found placed near the feet, but positions vary and some pierce the body or skull The interpretation of these is largely context based.

Roman nails have long been recognized for their value in providing insights into aspects of Roman commercial, military and engineering life. Their significance is now being extended into interpreting social networks and obtaining a deeper understanding of rituals and belief systems on the domestic and state level. However, as poetically expressed in the second law of thermodynamics, the entropy of a closed system cannot decrease. This means that chaos in the universe is increasing, and consequently the process of metal corrosion is irreversible. So the conservation of these nails and other such small, domestic, metal goods is important for fully investigating the information they contain.

The old saying “for the sake of a nail the shoe was lost ….” suggests the large-scale loss which may occur if smaller problems are not fixed before they get out of hand. In this case saving the nail is literally the problem which needs to be addressed as such ancient nails are rare in New Zealand and serve as important educational and cultural references. Once these ancient nails corrode, their form and their meaning are lost forever.

Close up of corrosion on S-BEND nail from Rockbourne Roman Villa, England. Donated by Mrs Vera McMullen (2017.x.757.1)

References

ANCIENT REFERENCES

Livy History of Rome’, 7: 3: 4-5

MODERN REFERENCES

Britanniae, B. 2016 Seal Your Fate, the Ides of September! posted in Roman Culture, Uncategorized, https://blogs.transparent.com/latin/seal-your-fate-the-ides-of-september/
Budrovich, N. 2020 From Ancient Scotland to Online Auctions: A Tale of Roman Nails posted in The Getty Iris Blog15 January 2020, updated 13 July 2020
Dungworth, D. 1998 Mystifying Roman Nails: clavus annalis, defixiones and minkisi, in TRAC97 Proceedings of the Seventh Annual Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference (C. Forcey, J. Hawthorne, R. Wictcher)
How, C. 2019 Historic 'Magic' Nails: Their typologies and their ritual uses. Construction History Society. Retired Engineer https://www.academia.edu/44985568/Historic_Magic_Nails_Their_typologies_and_their_ritual_uses?auto=download&work_id=44985568chris how
McConchie, M. 2014, Canberra Five iron nails from the Roman hoard at Inchtuthil School Visitor, Research School of Social Sciences, School of history, Australian National University
Milodowski, E., Alexander, W.R., West, J.M., Shaw, R.P., McEvoy, F.M., Scheidegger, J.M., and Field, L.P. Longevity of steel containers for radioactive waste: Roman legionary nails from Inchtuthil, Scotland. Case study for NAWG Natural Analogue Working Group British Geological Survey and Bedrock Geosciences https://www.natural-analogues.com/the-natural-analogues/long-term-material-stability-archaeological-analogues
Unknown Author, Clavus Annalis (Annual Nail) posted in Rome in the Early Republic (509 - 241 BC), https://www.keytoumbria.com/ROMAN_REPUBLIC/Clavus_Annalis.htmlUnknown Author, c.1961? A Little Before our Time, seven tons of history at Dalzell. A reproduction found with our collection items, an unattributable record from the Glascow Steel and Nail Company written shortly after the nails were found
Unknown Author, 2002 The history of Nail Making posted on http://www.glasgowsteelnail.com/nailmaking.htm (this page contains the substance of an article entitled 'Traditional Cut Nails - worth preserving?' at the request of, and for inclusion in, the RICS Building Conservation Journal)

MUSEUM ACQUISITION DOCUMENTATION

Group of Roman nails from Inchtuthil (Scotland)

Donated by BOAC

Acquisition number 1962.151 Sys ID 69005-9

Eth number 36913.1-.5

Group of Roman nails from Inchtuthil (Scotland)

Donated by Pacific Steel NZ

Acquisition number 2014.93.1-.8 Sys ID 775622

Small bent Roman nail (donated with small mosaic tesserae)

Donated by Mrs Vera McMullen in 1966

Temporary Acquisition number 2017.x.757.1 Sys ID 851509