BROOCH

Roman cast copper-alloy initial T-shaped or dolphin brooch with hinged pin dating to the later first century AD.

The brooch head has open-ended cylindrical wings, 26.8mm wide, containing the remains of an iron axis bar for the hinge. One outer end is filled with iron corrosion, the other with a white substance, probably solder. The wings are each decorated with three incised transverse lines near the outer ends leaving raised areas between. The two inner lines are close together and the third further away, closer to the outer edge. The broader raised area is decorated with multiple transverse incised lines. There is a large transverse slot through the centre of the underside of the head, between the wings, where the pin hinged. The pin is now missing.

The bow is sub-oval shaped in section with a flat back. The bow rises at about 120 degrees to the head before curving sharply back over and then having a shallow convex curve to the foot. In profile the top edge of the bow projects slightly above the wings. It appears to end in a straight edge with no head loop. The bow tapers in width and thickness gradually but consistently to the pointed foot. The upper, steeply curved, part of the bow is decorated with a short raised ridge running down the centre strating at the slot and ending abuot a sixth of the way down the bow. The upper part of this ridge is divided into three horizontal sections by transverse indented lines, a broad horizontal section flanked by narrow ones. The rest of the ridge is divided into two by an indented line running down the centre. This indented line appears to have zigzag edges.

The foot is plain and pointed. The catchplate is triangular with a curved upper edge, curved edge following the bow and straight outer side curled over to one side making the catch for the pin. There is a drilled circular hole through the centre of the plate. The back of the catch, ie the outer part of the curled over section, is decorated with three incised lines in a zigzag with a further incised line running along the outer edge marking off the curled over section and the main plate.

The brooch is 51.8mm long, 25.8mm thick and weighs 12.25 grams.

Bailey and Butcher (2004:158) illustrate similar pieces with a wide range of different moulded decoration and suggest a Flavian or slightly earlier context.