The one known wooden Epona is of oak, and is from Mediolanum (modern Saintes, Charente-Maritime, Poitou-Charente, France). Its now 16cm (6 inches) tall, but the legs of the horse and the head of Epona are missing. Epona is riding sidesaddle to the right, and holds a small dog on her knees. Beside the horse a small naked child holds up a patera (offering plate) or a cake. The use of a small child to symbolise thermal springs is also known from the Epona at Aquae Neri (modern Néris-les-Bains, Allier, Auvegne, France)[Espérandieu #1562]. Has anyone else seen this type of depiction with other deities?

I have never seen the Mediolanum Epona and so do not have a photo I can post, unfortunately. It is illustrated in [Magnen & Thevenot plate 17].

Mediolanus has a long history and there are substantial remains visible today. The civitas of the celtic nation of the Santons, a triumphal arch was erected in 18-19ce at the entry to the bridge crossing the river Charente. There was an amphitheatre capable of seating over 1500 people, and an aqueduct, stretching north four 14 km (9 miles), brought clean water to the city. Thermal baths were established at a part of the town now called Saint-Saloine. Mediolanum was the capital of Aquitania for a century and a half. In the late third century the town was reduced in size and substantial defensive walls built from reused masonry, to resist the Germain incursions.

The Epona was found in a rubbish pit beside the Saint-Saloine thermal baths, and is now in the Musée de Saintes. Its possible that the pits were waterlogged, preserving the wood, but I cannot confirm this. It might just be that the press of other material excluded enough oxygen to slow decomposition. Wooden materials are generally found either where the ground is extremely wet, such as bogs, springs, or wells; or alternatively, where it is very dry such as desert lands.

You are right to point out that stone and bronze sculpture will be preserved much more readilly than wood; however this will only skew the distribution if there was a substantial and consistent difference between the wooden and non-wooden items. Such a difference might be in the times in which it was used (certainly a possibility here), the social classes using the two materials (clearly carved wood is much cheaper), the type of use to which wooden statues were put, or use by different peoples in different geographical areas. But its difficult to suggest a different geographical distribution based on a single sample.

It seems to me that the use of this wooden Epona is votive; similar to the moulded pipeclay Eponas that are known all over the Empire. An oven with ceramic remains and fragments of an Epona statue is also known from Mediolanum [Papinot].

Espérandieu, É. Recueil général des bas-reliefs de la Gaule romaine (1907 onwards, Imprimerie nationale, Paris).

Magnen, René; Thevenot, Emile Épona : déesse Gauloise des chevaux, protectrice des cavaliers (1953, Delmas, Bordeaux).

Papinot, J. C. Informations archéologiques : Circonscription de Poitou-Charente Gallia XLI 325-353, 1983.

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