BROOCH

Early Medieval copper-alloy brooch, 26mm long, 24mm wide and 1mm thick (9mm thick at lug). The object is in fair condition and weighs 8.32grams. The object consists of a rectangular plate with a raised border containing a Mammen-style design. This shows a bird facing right with a curving long, swollen body (possibly striped?) and a long ribbon-like neck with a small round head. The head is facing downwards in front of the body and contains an almond shaped eye. Extending out from behind the body are two overlapping wings, each formed ot two double contoured tendrils. These are contained within a loop formed of a double-contoured head lappet, which arches downwards from the rear of the head to interlace with its body and wings before terminating in an open-ended tendril behind the head. Below the head, in the bottom right corner, is an upturned angled foot. The reverse of the object contains the remains of a semi-circular pin housing with a central hole and a broken off catchplate, with a patch of iron corrosion between.

Mammen-style decoration is rare in Britain and this brooch is only one of three rectangular brooches known in England, the other two being from West Stow Heath, Suffolk and Bergh Apton Norfolk (Kershaw 2010, nos. 491 and 492; Kershaw 2013, 116-8, fig. 3.68). It is a type which has Carolingian-inspired shapes and Scandinavian decoration, which seem to have been produced in the Danelaw (J. Kershaw, pers.comm). This object extends the distribution significantly to the North. The date of these brooches is thought to be late 10th century (Kershaw 2013, 151)

Published in Medieval Archaeology Vol. 56, 2012, Kershaw, J. & Scott, W. p.312-3.