ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the elephant-scalp headdress. The use of the elephant scalp for both 'Africa' and 'Alexandria' has led to confusion, as artefacts in other media have been identified as either 'Alexandria' or 'Africa'. The elephant scalp, which had been used in Alexandria, had become, by the Roman Empire, a symbol for various distinct areas along the North African coast. Salcedo points out that the need to create a symbolic identity arose from the concept of Empire. The elephant scalp would have been understood differently by the two different ethnic groups: as 'Alexandria' by the Alexandrians, and as 'Africa' by the Africans. The face of Africa tends to be a Roman face. The 'Africa' connection might well be seen as a 'Pompey' connection. Salcedo maintains that provenance is the key factor, 'Alexandria' being found only in Alexandria, as on the Alexandrian coin of Hadrian.
