PIN

An enamelled cast copper alloy pin, mount or stud of probable later Iron Age or Early Roman date (100 BC-100AD). It is broadly circular when viewed from above, with a hemispherical head and a sub-cylindrical shaft emerging from the centre of the curved surface. It measures 17.2mm length, has a maximum diameter of 13.3mm and weighs 4.46g.

The head has a deep concave recess in the top filled with a red glass-like enamel which has been abraded and damaged. The enamel does not fill the recess, but seems to have a concave surface. The outer edges of the head are not decorated, although the edge has been abraded so this is not certain. At the junction with the shaft there is a small amount of incised decoration consisting of an encircling concentric band of radiating diagonal lines. These may be formed from file marks and be functional rather than decorative. There is no other decoration present.

The shaft joins the head and from this point tapers to a broken abraded end. The edges of the shaft are faceted and relatively regular. It has a maximum diameter of 3.9mm. The object is a mid green colour with an abraded but polished patina which covers all surfaces. Where abrasion has affected the patina a light grey green corrosion product is present.

The style of this object is most likely to fit within the later Iron Age or early Roman period, and if Roman be best described as being influenced by the native British (sub-Iron Age) culture. The function is uncertain, perhaps being a box or furniture decoration, or possibly associated with horse harness or equipment. Three similar studs have been found at Dinorben, a hillfort in Wales (Gardner and Savory 1964, 11.1-3). These three examples are most likely (acording to the authors) to be associated with dress accessories and are probably pin heads; all are broken at similar points to this example. They have been analysed and shown to be leaded bronze, where the lead content exceeds the tin. Two of the Dinorben examplese were discovered from contexts associated with a roundhouse floor, reinforcing a possible domestic function. All three examples were from contexts which the authors have dated to the 'conquest period' - which I assume to mean the Iron Age-Roman transition. The best parallel for this example is pin head 11.2, which is deocrated in a similar way with red enamel. Similar examples have also been recorded with the PAS and dated to the same period; compare LVPL-F5BF41, WAW-DE9044 and PUBLIC-76EFD3 (all with red enamel), SWYOR-509885 and NCL-A9B646 (both with no surviving enamel) and NARC-9510C7 and SWYOR-801348 (both with blue enamel).