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Unique ID: WMID3316
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Published
The item is a fragment of a 1st century BC/AD linch pin terminal. Originally the terminal would have been a horizontal crescentic shaped type, however, only less than half remains. One flat face of the item is decorated. The border of this face is a series of sub-parallel notches on a high-relief platform. The internal edge of this platform is decorated with a single ridge. The corner of the crescentic shape of the linch pin terminal is missing. The break does not appear to be recent. The break has an irregular surface, which is a similar colour to the surfaces with a well developed patina. The border encloses a sub-pointed oval shaped platform which has a 'V' shaped indentation on one side. At the centre of this platform is a circular cell, whose centre has a smaller conical cell. The field of the platform appears to have irregular shaped shallow cells either side of the circular cell, however, corrosion distorts any detail. The platform of this face does have traces of silvering or tinning. The field between the pointed oval shaped platform and the border of the item has a roughened surface, and was likely to have been filled with enamel originally. There is not trace of the original colour of the enamel, but the floor of the field varies in colour slightly from the patina of the metalwork. The crescentic shape of the terminal is also broken at its mid point. This break does not appear to be a recent break, however, the patina of the break does not match the outer surface of the item. The break at the mid point of the item suggests there was a cylindrical portion of the lynch pin which terminated just before the concave edge of the crescentic shape. The opening of this cylindrical component, or the portion that remains, has a curved collar which protrudes below the convex edge of the crescentic shape. The reverse of the crescentic shape is undecorated and has a flat smooth surface until the cylindrical component of the terminal protrudes as it is wider than the crescentic shape. The flat surfaces of the terminal has a dark green coloured patina.
Notes:
This record was created before the Portable Antiquities Scheme began using the Central Database. We are aware that this record may fall below our usual standards of recording, and we are working to rectify this.
Class:
terminal
Sub class: Crescentic
Broad period: IRON AGE
Subperiod from: Late
Period from: IRON AGE
Subperiod to: Early
Period to: ROMAN
Date from: 100 BC
Date to: AD 100
Quantity: 1
Length: 22.86 mm
Width: 25.63 mm
Thickness: 17.77 mm
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Primary material: Copper alloy
Manufacture method: Cast
Completeness: Fragment
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 100 metre square.
Author | Publication Year | Title | Publication Place | Publisher | Pages | Reference | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ward Perkins, J.B. | 1940 | Two early linch-pins, from Kings Langley, Herts., and from Tiddington, Stratford-on-Avon | London | Society of Antiquaries | Kings Langley terminal - similar style. |