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Description: | A copper alloy pin of ring-headed 'swan neck' type, dating to the Early Iron Age, c. 600 - 400 BC. It is rather bent and measures 54.76mm in length and weighs 3.67g.The top of the pin resembles an S in shape, with an oversized top loop returning to touch the near side of the bottom loop. The ring-head measures 12.08x11.22mm (internal 7.34x6.54mm).The pin shaft is circular in cross-section becoming more D-shaped around the circumference of the pin head. Below the 'swan neck' the shaft measures 2.3mm in diameter, It narrows to a sharp point 0.7mm in diameter.The patina is a smooth and dark green/ brown in colour.There are concentrations of certain variants of the 'swan neck' pin in East Anglia and Wessex. Their exact function is unknown, they are rarely found in graves and don't appear to be gender specific. The bulk of finds come from watery contexts or settlements. Ring-headed pins of this form without a solid ring commonly carry simple decoration with notches on the front of the ring (Dunning 1934, pp274).An old but pertinent reading reference is Dunning, G. (1934). 'The swan's neck and ring-headed pins of the early Iron Age in Britain,' The Archaeological Journal XCI, pp. 269-95. There is also an unpublished study by a German student (written in German) - Becker, K. (2000), 'Eisenzeitliche Ringkopfnadeln in Grossbitannien und Ireland', which provides an updated look at Dunning and questions his dating. Dot Boughton suggests a date between the 5th and 6th century BC.
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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