BROOCH

A copper alloy late Iron Age or early Roman applied hook brooch dating to the period c. AD 25 - 100. The brooch can be classified as a Hull Group 7 T-shape brooch, type T112 or T113. The wings are C-shaped in cross-section with a perforated end cap, one of which is missing. The incomplete wing has a circular perforation adjacent to the break. A rectangular slot is located in the reverse of the wing and would have probably housed a Polden Hill type spring and pin mechanism, now missing. The wings are decorated by a series of longitudinal grooves, with alternating sections of undecorated space or diagonal and horizontal grooves between them.

The bow is unusual in form and U shaped in cross- section. It tapers form a width of 21.05m to 10.2mm at the foot. The brooch expands in thickness from 9.95mm to 23.45mm at the catchplate. The bow is decorated by two pairs of vertical incised grooves each flanking a zig zag ridge running the length of the bow. There are three perforations located on the bow. One contains a rivet holding a copper alloy moulded attachment. The attachment is rectangular at the head and then extends down into two pairs of circular knops with a tapering rounded tail. It terminates roughly midway along the length of the bow. The attachment has six rivets, the majority of which are not attached to the bow and seem to only have a decorative function.

The attachment measures 47.3mm in length and is 13.5mm wide at its widest point.

The catchplate extends from either side of the reverse of the head and joins mid-way along the bow, creating a V-shaped cavity on the reverse of the brooch. The catchplate features an openwork design of three asymmetrical petal shaped perforations surrounding a circular perforation.

The brooch has a dark green patina with brown flecks. The attachment has a dark brown patina. XRF analysis of this brooch shows that the attached plate has a higher copper and zinc content, making it a brass, whilst the composition of the main brooch is bronze, hence the distinctive difference in patina.

Bayley and Butcher (2004, p. 157) state " The distribution is centred in Dorset and Somerset and it appears that the distinctive riveted plate is a local invention. Most of those analysed are brasses and have very low lead contents, unlike most of the early to mid-first-century British brooch types which are normally bronzes." This example, therefore, fits within the standard typology both in terms of composition and location.

The brooch measures 75.7mm in length, 63.6mm maximum width, 35.8mm maximum thickness and weighs 61.12g.

Cf. Bayley and Butcher, 2004, p. 157.