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YORKSHIRE, ENGLAND—A 2,000-year-old figurine of the Roman god Mercury was discovered in a field in north Yorkshire by a metal-detecting enthusiast. “Mercury was the god of commerce and so merchants would sprinkle their heads and merchandise with water from Mercury’s well, near the Porta Capena [in Rome], to appeal to the god for luck in their endeavors,” Rebecca Griffiths, the Finds Liaison Officer for the Portable Antiquities Scheme at the York Museums Trust, told Culture 24. The worn copper alloy figurine has lost the wings to its cap. To read about a spectacular piece of Roman-era sculpture found in England, go to "Artifact: Sculpture of an Eagle Carrying a Snake."
