The Carlisle’s Heads

At the beginning of the 2023 summer excavation, we unearthed two stone-carved heads positioned by the Roman road. The artefacts might have been abandoned due to their irregular shapes so left on the side of the road during medieval robbing of the site to build the Carlisle Castle and the town walls.

The heads are very unusual. Carved in a Romano-British style and measuring 56 and 57 cm respectively. One is red sandstone and the other white. Volunteers Dr Jan and Dr Ollie Mather have done much research into the origin of the stone quarries these came from, both close to Carlisle. The angular nature of the faces and one of the stones having the traces of a Hercules carving on the back indicated it was made out of a recycled bit of stonework - possibly an altar to Hercules.

Speculation began after their discovery as to what they might be, often visitors and volunteers thought they might represent members of an Imperial family, or be part of a larger statue pair, and much smaller but similar heads have been found associated with funerary sculpture also. These resemble Roman Theatre Masks - such as those you can see here in the British Museum Collection. Unrelated to the Romans, the Carlisle Heads hair having a passing resemblance to Elvis did not escape many volunteers.

After consultation with leading archaeologists, it is now believed that the Carlisle Heads represent Roman theatre masks that would have been placed high up on the building looking down to the ground, watching over those coming to the bathhouse. In Roman belief such icons would be essential in protecting those entering the bathhouse from becoming vulnerable to the evil eye and evil spirits.

Image of the Carlisle Heads on display for the Tullie “Digging Deeper” Exhibition in 2023. Picture by Stuart Walker Photography.