Head of clay figure.
Head, round in front and flat at the back, from a crudely made human figurine in red terracotta. The upper head is expanded into a fan-like decorative element, now broken off, the eyes are huge and roughly incised and with punch mark pupils. The mouth is a crude slit and the nose hardly delineated at all. One ear remains and is incised with diagonal lines. Remains of a collar or neck ornament are discernible. This piece comes from a votive object or image and it depicts probably a deity of some kind, probably female, but even that point is unclear. Archaeological context: presumably unstratified and from a surface collection. The head is marked on the reverse in black ink with ‘Bhita’, a major ancient site on the banks of the Yamuna River about 20 miles south of Allahabad in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is further inscribed with the number ‘37’ in pencil. Marshall dug there and published a report on his work. The site may date to as early as the Mauryans (3rd Century BCE) and as late as the Guptas (4th-6th century CE). This piece seems to be ‘early centuries CE’ in date. Given by Col D H Gordon (1952/3).
