Gold
Numerous findings from Roman villas in the area around Trier reveal that the ancient arts and crafts were highly developed.
Highlights from the Villa Borg include a ring out of solid gold with a red gemstone.
A portrait of a man has been cut into this translucent carnelian with the utmost precision.
Bronze
Not only many kinds of equipment were made out of bronze.
Cast bronze was also of considerable significance for jewellery and ornaments.
One ornamental piece from the Villa Borg is especially artistic:
The perforated work depicts a rider with a hunting dog.
As a corresponding attachment on the reverse shows, it was used for fastening a leather strap or band of fabric and possibly formed part of an elaborate horse’s harness.
Roman sacred sites often featured small figures of gods which were also sometimes made out of coloured metal – in Borg, for example, there were statues of Amor, the god of love and Mercury, the god of merchants and thieves.
A further bronze element from Borg shows a seated Celt cast on to a type of spout, a slim funnel, and is probably a candle holder or receptacle for hair pins.
Fittings of chests and boxes were also made out of bronze and shaped as lion heads, for example.
Bone
Roman craftsmen sometimes decorated everyday objects with carvings out of bone or horn.
The small eagle of Borg was probably used for the handle of a jack knife.