Chalk Figurines of the Parisi

Abstract

A small chalk figurine from Withemsea, North Humberside, is identified as the finest example of a distinctive group found only in the territory of the Parisi. Between forty and fifty figurines are now known and many represent a warrior, usually carrying a sword on his back. Most of the figurines come from Iron Age or Roman sites, and all the swords are shown in scabbards suspended about their midpoint—a fashion known in northern Britain in the Iron Age. The warrior represented is presumably a god, mythical figure or ancestor, and the figurines may well have had a ritual or magical function.