BROOCH

A lead alloy early Anglo-Saxon cruciform brooch which is broken with two large fragments surviving and other parts missing. The brooch has a rectangular head with a raised central panel. Moulded terminals project upwards and to the sides. These consist of a central zoomorphic lobe with moulded eyes and a projecting snout with a projecting scroll on each side. The scrolls are open work and may be exaggerated nostrils or whiskers. They are tapered. Only the left hand terminal is complete. The lower edge of the head of the brooch is torn and missing, and the other surviving piece is the base of the foot. This has a matching terminal, but with larger scrolls, but above it the foot is faceted and shaped rather like a horse's head with small raised domes as eyes. There is a slightly raised bar across above the eyes, but then is another break and the middle of the brooch is missing. The head piece is 66.1mm from side to side and 38.68mm long. It weighs 39.1g and is mainly 1.75mm thick, but has a maximum thickness of 8.53mm because of two projecting semi-circular lugs which are positioned like pin lugs but which are not pierced for the pin bar. The foot piece is 40.05mm long, 24.5mm wide and 5.75mm thick. It weighs 19.2g. The thickness of the foot piece is explained by a raised central ridge on the reverse which is the remains of a catchplate. The undamaged edges are very sharp and crisp, and almost all the damaged edges are well patinated. The reverse is rough and pitted. The brooch dates from the sixth century.

Lead alloy cruciform brooches are rarely found and there is much debate over their function. Medieval Archaeology 2005 (issue XLIX) contains information on other discoveries of lead alloy cruciform brooches on page 337. All the published lead examples have come from the areas of Anglian England where copper alloy cruciform brooches are most common. It has been suggested that the lead alloy examples may by patterns or models used in the casting process of copper alloy examples. The evidence for this is the unfinished pin lugs and catchplates, like on this example, which make the brooch unusable. However, some examples have incised decoration on them which was usually done after casting, and imply an object beyond the stage of a rough model. Some examples have been found with other metal work that suggests the presence of a cemetery, though none has yet been found securely in a grave. However, lead alloy annular brooches and a great square-headed brooch have been found in graves, some seeming to have had a functional use, and others with un-pierced pin lugs. It is possible that these latter had some sort of symbolic use.