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LiveScience
LiveScience
Kristina Killgrove

Miniature Skeleton: A ghostly 2,000-year-old party favor from a Roman banquet

A bronze human skeleton that rotates to show four sides.
QUICK FACTS

Name: Miniature Skeleton

What it is: A bronze skeleton with moving joints

Where it is from: The Roman Empire

When it was made: Circa 25 B.C. to A.D. 100

This small, bronze skeleton is one of only a dozen known examples of an ancient Roman "larva convivalis" — a "banquet ghost" figurine given out as a party favor 2,000 years ago.

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