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BROOCH
Unique ID: HAMP-5DBCF0
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Published 
An incomplete Roman (AD 50-200) copper alloy enamelled and silvered skeuomorphic plate brooch in the form of an axe, missing part of the pin shank and the lower part of the axe shaft (presumably including catchplate to the rear). It measures 17.82mm in length, 20.99mm in max.width, 6.10mm in depth (including the pin as it is bent backwards, 11.89mm) and weighs 2.16g. The white-metal coating is quite thick with punched decoration and appears to be silvering rather than tinning.
The axehead is roughly triangular in shape with a concave lower edge. Its 'cutting edge' is 12.25mm wide, its 'butt end' 8.48mm wide. The handle or shaft extends from the outside of the concave edge and is parallel-sided, 4.48x1.95mm and c.9mm in length to the recent-ish break. The head of the axe is divided into two cells by a curving copper alloy wall. These cells would have originally held enamel. The cell flanking the curved bottom edge is a crescent in shape. A small area of silvering, decorated with tiny transverse punches, adorns the curved wall/ outside edge of the head. The other three edges of the head have tiny square outward projections - three along the 'cutting edge', one at the centre of the 'butt end' and five along the top edge (the centre one of which only has a stump remaining).
The surviving portion of handle carries a now-green and crazed enamel. A portion of silvering, again with tiny transverse punches, adorns part of one edge.
To the reverse of the head are two D-shaped lugs holding between them a copper alloy axis bar. Around this are two coils with the incomplete pin shaft between them (circular in cross-section -1.65mm diameter - but flattened at the point of breakage -1.90x0.49mm). The cord curls beneath.
Cf. Hattatt (Hattat, R. 1989 'Ancient Brooches and Other Artefacts': Oxbow) no.1629.
Notes:
Hattatt commented in 1989 (in Ancient brooches and other artefacts) that only three of this enamelled type of 'axe' brooch were known at the time of publishing, and although this number will no doubt have increased, this example is only the fourteenth to be recorded on the PAS database. Hattatt comments the use of enamel is a peculiar native British adaptation. Other types of axe brooch are known across the Roman provinces although they appear confined perhaps by type to local areas. Miniature axeheads from Britain, perhaps worn as pendants, are thought to date from the Roman period and although of different form, is does suggest a particular significance of the object. Johns (Johns, C. 1996 'The Jewellery of Roman Britain': UCL Press p. 178) comments that axes are a type of object associated with different cults. The axe-shaped plate brooches may be used in the same way as Medieval pilgrim badges, and are therefore associated with a shrine; one was found at the shrine of Apollo at Nettleton, Wiltshire, for example (Wedlake 1982, 129-130; ref. 71).
Find of note status
This has been noted as an interesting find by the recorder.
Class: Skeuomorphic (axe)
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: ROMAN
Period from: ROMAN
Period to: ROMAN
Date from: Circa AD 50
Date to: Circa AD 200
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Length: 17.82 mm
Width: 20.99 mm
Thickness: 6.1 mm
Weight: 2.16 g
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Friday 26th April 2013
Personal details
This information is restricted for your access level.
Materials and construction
Primary material: Copper alloy
Completeness: Incomplete
Surface Treatment: Multiple
Spatial metadata
Region: South East (European Region)County or Unitary authority: Hampshire (County)
District: Test Valley (District)
Parish or ward: Nether Wallop (Civil Parish)
Spatial coordinates
4 Figure: SU2735
Four figure Latitude: 51.11366056
Four figure longitude: -1.61566369
1:25K map: SU2735
1:10K map: SU23NE
Grid reference source: GPS (from the finder)
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 1 metre square.
References cited
| Author | Publication Year | Title | Publication Place | Publisher | Pages | Reference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hattatt, R. | 1989 | Ancient Brooches and Other Artefacts: A fourth selection of brooches together with some other antiquities from the author | Oxford | Oxbow Books |
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