|
Date: |
|
Description: | A fragment of an early medieval copper alloy cruciform brooch. The fragment consists of an incomplete head plate with a central panel, incomplete wings and an integral top knob. The front of the rounded knob is broadly flat with a horizontal groove towards the base. The central panel runs from top to bottom of the head plate, with straight sides which diverge towards the break at the base of the head plate. The wings are incomplete, particularly on one side which only retains a fragment beyond the central panel. In profile, the rounded knob protrudes beyond the central panel on the front of the brooch, which protrudes beyond the wings. On the reverse of the fragment, at about the centre of the central panel, there is a broken projection with rounded cavity for attaching the pin. The reverse thickens slightly towards the projection and is slightly curved (concave) in profile, from top to bottom.The fragment is 36.4mm long, 36.9mm wide and 9.3mm thick. These are maximum dimensions. The fragment has a mass of 13.8g. The brooch has a dark brown patina in parts, but where this is missing the surface is an uneven, pitted brown/green. The breaks do not appear recent.In: "A Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections (Non-Ferrous Metals)", MacGregor and Bolick (1993. p95) state that only a minority of the cruciform brooches that they catalogued were found in pairs. They suggest, "they were, it seems, commonly worn singly on the breast, sometimes in association with a pair of brooches of different design on the shoulders. Whether their occurrence in this position is to be interpreted as purely decorative, or whether they may have secured an over-garment such as a cloak remains unresolved. Where the context is known, they are almost invariably found in female graves."Cruciform brooches date from the fifth to sixth centuries AD (Geake, "Finds Recording Guide", 2001, p21. Peter Liddle has suggested that the fragment is probably sixth century (Leicestershire Museums and Art Gallery Identification Service ref. M10451, dated 3/10/90).
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
|
More Like this...
-
Brooch
A fragment of an early…
-
BROOCH
A fragment of an early…
-
BROOCH
A fragment of an early…
-
Brooch
A fragment of an early…
-
BROOCH
A fragment of an early…
-
Brooch
A fragment of an early…
-
BROOCH
An incomplete copper alloy cruciform…
-
-
-
|