authorities. Gold jewellery The gold belt-buckle is an unusual find, and would have been worn by a man; we know that belts decorated in various forms were important symbols of office or status in late Roman times, though few elements of them have survived. Its decoration, of a satyr carrying a pedum (shepherd's crook) and a bunch of grapes, accords with other hints at Bacchic imagery throughout the assemblage, in both the jewellery and the tableware. For example, the running feline animal on spoon (cochlear) (item 66), originally identified as a panther or leopard, and referred to as the 'panther spoon', is certainly a reference to Bacchus, who was regularly accompanied by a panther or leopard (Panthera pardus), or by a tiger (Panthera tigris). In fact, the animal on Thetford spoon (item 66) is probably a tiger: the rendering of the stripes as very short curved lines, easily mistaken for spots, was common in Roman art. The gold finger-rings could have been worn by either men or women, though the bracelets, and necklaces with pendants were chiefly feminine jewels at this date. Many of the rings display elaborate filigree work, typical of late-Roman taste, and a few are of highly unusual design. The tiny horned, Pan-like head that forms the bezel of ring (item 23) appears to be unparalleled, and may well be intended as a reference to Faunus, while the design of (item 7), two birds flanking a vase, is both a standard Bacchic image, eventually adopted in Christian iconography, and possibly something more specific in this instance. The birds, even though they are at a very small scale, have the appearance of woodpeckers, and picus, the Latin name for birds of this kind, was also the name of the father of Faunus in some sources (Virgil, Aeneid 7, 48). Much of the jewellery will have been designed and selected for its talismanic, religious or personal significance. A gold amulet pendant, intended for suspension around the neck (and with parallels including one from York), was filled with sulphur, possibly because of its apotropaic qualities. One ring is set with an engraved gem of brown chalcedony 13 × 9.5 mm. Upon it is depicted a cock-headed, snake-legged deity known as an Anguipede, holding a shield which is inscribed in Greek with ΩΑΙ, reversed ΙΑΩ or (iao), a magical word often associated with this deity (see Voces mysticae). Although set in