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BROOCH
Unique ID: NMGW-A26065
Workflow
status: Published 
Head fragment from a Roman brooch of Colchester derivative, Polden Hill (Mackreth 2011, Part 3, Group 5, flat wing ends type, Western Group), c.f. Mackreth 2011, X.1. Plate 54, no. 13485, dating to the 2nd and 3rd century AD. The brooch is represented by the head and a section (four coils) of the spring. The brooch employed a spring mechanism secured by a Polden Hill lug type arrangement with a copper alloy axis bar. The wings are angled to the rear of the brooch and carried some moulded decoration. The head is wide and flat and is decorated with a slight raised crest, upon which sits a moulded human head, above a triangular moulding. The human head has circular indentations for the eyes and a groove representing the mouth. The nose may have been raised, but has now eroded. The rear of the bow is concave, and develops to a D-shaped section at the break.
Notes:
The anthropomorphic decoration on the bow is an unusual and interesting feature, not least since it suggests the brooch was worn with the spring at the bottom. It has proved difficult to parallel similar decoration on Roman bow brooches.
Class:
Colchester derivative, Polden Hill (Mackreth 2011, Part 3, Group 5, flat wing ends type, Western Group)
Sub class: Mackreth 2011, X.1. Plate 54, no. 13485
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: ROMAN
Period from: ROMAN
Period to: ROMAN
Date from: AD 100
Date to: AD 250
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Length: 22.3 mm
Width: 22.7 mm
Thickness: 6.1 mm
Weight: 6.4 g
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Thursday 1st January 2004
Personal details
This information is restricted for your access level.
Other reference numbers
Other reference: NMGWPA 2004.21.1
Materials and construction
Primary material: Copper alloy
Manufacture method: Cast
Completeness: Fragment
Spatial metadata
Region: South West (European Region)County or Unitary authority: Wiltshire (Unitary Authority)
District: Wiltshire (Unitary Authority)
Parish or ward: Grittleton (Civil Parish)
Spatial coordinates
4 Figure: ST8681
Four figure Latitude: 51.527735
Four figure longitude: -2.203202
1:25K map: ST8681
1:10K map: ST88SE
Grid reference source: From finder
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 1000 metre square.
References cited
No references cited so far.
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Timeline of associated dates
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