BROOCH

Two fragments of an Early Medieval brooch, comprising the lower half of the foot-plate of a Frankish copper alloy radiate-headed brooch. The foot is rectangular in plan and cross-section. The front is decorated with two pronounced longitudinal ribs with a narrower one between and to either side. The pronounced ribs are decorated with ring and dot motifs. A short bar transverse rib linking the two main ribs is visible just below the break at the top, and again across the bottom leaving a short flat undecorated panel as a foot. There is a short catchplate on the reverse at the top near the break, though this is not noted further down. It is possible that the catchplate was openwork and that the lower stub is now worn completely away. The brooch has a reddish-green patina. From the few close parallels (Lyminge (Kent) and Lonay (Switzerland), Kühn 1965, 216, no. 22.55 and 111, no. 6.82) it seems likely that the transverse bar at the top marked the boundary between the foot and the bow. The Lyminge and Lonay brooches have very differently decorated headplates, and so were classified by Kühn as belonging to different types with different dates; the closest parallel, Lyminge, is type 22 and Lonay is type 6. Kühn dated these to 550-650 and 500-550 respectively. Today we would date a brooch like this found in England to the sixth century AD.