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Description: | Incomplete cast copper alloy composite Roman brooch of probable Aesica variant type. The brooch consists of a plain triangular flat back plate and a separate decorative head plate. The two are attached via the use of 2 rivets and an integrally cast strap, which forms part of the reverse of the head plate and slots over the top of the triangular backplate. There are a further two rivets through the triangular backplate, just below the level of the decorative head plate which indicate that a further separate plate decorated the lower part of the front of the brooch but that this has now been lost. The plain triangular back plate, which also forms the foot of the brooch has the remains of a triangular catchplate on the reverse. Traces of a white metal coating (silvering or tinning) are present on the front and reverse of the back plate.The decorative head plate consists of a trapezoidal boss with central sub-circular domed boss with a central elongated vertical oval pellet at the centre of this boss and then 4 moulded pellets framing this domed boss, the two at the top being elongated oval pellets orientated horizontally and the bottom two being circular domed bosses, and actually formed from the upper part of the rivets which attach this head plate to the backplate. There are traces of white metal coating (silvering or tinning) on this head plate. The moulded decoration is broadly of La Tene style. Emerging from the top of this head plate are traces of the spring pin fitting but the exact arrangement of this fitting, as it would have been when complete, is not clear.This brooch is dated AD 25-75, broadly very late Iron Age to early Roman.In a discussion of these early brooch types in Bayley & Butcher, 2004, 'Roman Brooches in Britain', it is noted that they represent a disparate group with some similarities in having expansion of the upper bow & a broad, usually triangular foot. Mackreth (1982) is quoted as suggesting that these brooches represent local attempts to meet a demand for rosette brooches.Plates 187 & 186 in Jope's 2000, 'Early Celtic Art in the British Isles' illustrate examples of this variable class of brooches.
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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