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Description: | An incomplete cast copper alloy small-long brooch of Early Early-Medieval date (AD 400 - AD 550). Length 31.0mm, width 20mm and thickness of bow 2.3mm. Weight 5.61g. A small portion of the foot just below the bow has survived. The pin is missing. The flat head-plate is rectangular in plan with rounded corners and measures 20.0mm in width and about 14.5mm in depth. Decoration at the front of the plate consists of six punched ring-and-dot motifs. At each corner the motifs are similar and each has a central dot with three concentric rings, the outer ring having a diameter of 5.9mm. At the top centre a smaller motif comprises a central dot with two concentric rings, the outer ring having a diameter of 4.0mm. At the bottom centre a motif with a single ring has a diameter of 4.3mm. This motif is slightly off-centre. The parallel sided bow is strongly arched in side profile and flat at the rear. At the front it is bevelled (or faceted) to form three longitudinal faces. Each face was probably decorated throughout its full length with a line of punched motifs which consist of two concentric rings without a dot at the centre. However, these motifs are barely visible and some appear to be lost, possibly due to wear and the loss of the patina in places. The outer diameter of these motifs is about 2.0mm. Unlike some other brooches of this type, the bow is not squared-up at its extremities to produce bevels or facets at its corners. The foot of the brooch is lost and a transverse break at the base of the bow is old. MacGregor and Bollick 1993, 125, comment that the foot generally originates in a flattened area below the bow, decoratively expanded on some examples and on a few forming fully-developed lateral lobes or lappets. Stamped or incised decoration is sometimes applied to the flat field, while the lappets may be deoratively profiled. A cast moulding forming multiple bands often separates the upper part of the foot from the terminal, which is usually expanded to some degree and may form itself into a well-defined rounded, crescent-shaped, triangular or T-shaped outline. On some brooches the entire foot adopts a decorative profile, most notably in lozenge-shaped varieties. A few examples incorporate vestigal zoomorphic elements (eyes or nostrils) that recall cruciform types, but they are seldom highly developed. On the lower part of the head-plate, at the rear, is a perforated pin lug which is D-shaped in side profile and measures 6.2mm in length and 6.9mm in width. The perforation is circular and has a diameter of about 1.5mm. It is filled with iron corrosion. There is also a large patch of iron staining in the vicinity of the lug. The top of the catch-plate is just visible at the junction of the bow and minimal part of the foot. The piece has a patchy mid-green patina overall and traces of tinning are present on the front and rear. There is no evidence for burning or melting.
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
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