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Description: | An incomplete cast copper alloy and gilded button brooch (Avent & Evison class L) of Early-Medieval (Anglo-Saxon) date (c. AD 450 - c. AD 550). Maximum diameter: 15.6mm and 8.4mm thick. Weight: 2.91g. This is an example of the smallest type of Early-Medieval button brooch. It belongs to the only group not to be decorated with some form of full or three-quarters face. At the centre, within a raised circle, is a face looking right with chip-carved features of abstract form. The circular edge is upturned, being almost vertical. Gilding is present in crevices at the front. However, this is only visible under magnification. The complete pin lug is an elongated D-shape in side profile (length: 4.9mm; width: 6.2m; thickness: 1.6mm) with a perforation obscured by a deposit of iron corrosion, indicating that the pin was probably made of iron. The complete catch-plate is rectangular in side profile (length: 4.0mm; width: 5.1mm; thickness: 0.9mm). The pin lug is at 12 o' clock and the catch-plate is at 6 o' clock. This brooch has a mid-green patina with powdery copper alloy corrosion products at the front and the rear. There is no evidence for burning or melting. A similar Avent & Evison class L button brooch was discovered at Chessell Down, Isle of Wight, Anglo-Saxon cemetery when a grave was excavated on 28 August 1855 (Arnold 1982, 34, fig.18, ref. 89ii). A more recent discovery of a class L brooch was made during a metal detecting rally in the West Wight, Isle of Wight (Treasure Annual Report 2007 forthcoming). Button brooches are distinguished by their small size and by the anthropomorphic face-masks which they feature. They may have been used in different ways as dress fasteners. It is thought that they may have been used singly rather than in pairs like the similar but larger saucer brooches. Button brooches are found throughout much of southern England and date between the later fifth and mid-sixth centuries.
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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