Rights Holder: Berkshire Archaeology
CC License:
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Unique ID: SUR-D8E807
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation
A cast copper alloy bow brooch of most unusual form and probably of 5th century AD date. The brooch has a a small D-shaped headplate, a widely curved rounded bow with ten equally-spaced projections down the centre, and an upturned foot. The head plate has a semi-circular knob at its apex and is decorated with four deeply incised double-ring-and-dot motifs which lie over an engraved lozenge (above) and a pair of horizontal engraved lines (below). On the reverse of the headplate is a B-shaped projection with two holes, one in each of the upper and lower lobes, to accommodate the iron spring and chord, a small amount of which survives in a corroded condition. The bow is a low triangle in cross-section, and is decorated at the top and bottom with pairs of double-ring-and-dot motifs. At the top, a transverse engraved line separates the pair of ring-and-dot motifs from the rest of the bow. Below this, five similar motifs are set down each side of the bow and there is a further ring-and-dot on the catchplate (making 19 in all on the entire brooch). Much of the surface of the lower part of the bow is missing owing to corrosion.
The bow narrows towards the catchplate, which is set on the reverse of a sharp turn making an sharply upturned foot which ends in an expanded circular button-like terminal. Much of the curve of the catchplate has been lost.
Sophia Adams and Justine Bayley have seen images of this brooch and have given much useful advice. Sophia Adams feels that although it has features reminiscent of Iron Age material, Iron Age brooches are on the whole less solidly made than this example and it is unlikely to be of this date. Justine Bayley has drawn attention to a group of 5th-century brooches with upturned feet published by Böhme (1986, Abb. 43) as his Typ Glaston; one of these, from Mucking, also has a rounded headplate. Schulze-Dörlamm (1986, Abb. 45) illustrates a brooch of her Bügelknopffibeln Typ Grepault, found in Martigny, Switzerland, with the knobs down the bow and the upturned foot ending in a button, but with a long catchplate and without the semi-circular headplate. The three examples of Typ Grepault are all from the Alps, and none from closed grave contexts, but comparison with Schulze-Dörlamm's Typ Gurina suggests a date of late 5th or early 6th century (1986, 668).
At present, then, the available information for this very unusual brooch suggests a date in the 5th or early 6th century, and either a late Roman, sub-Roman or Continental Germanic cultural milieu.
Notes:
Many thanks to Sophia Adams and Justine Bayley for their help with this brooch.
Sophia Adams's opinion: Although it has features reminiscent of Iron Age material, it is more likely to be a variant on the Roman trumpet brooch. The double pierced lug on the back of the head is similar to Group L brooches, some of which may be late Hallstatt types but others, in my opinion, are actually La Tène II types. The upturned foot might make one think also of late Hallstatt Group LX and continental brooches, but the form at the end here is quite different. While concentric circle impressions are found on Iron Age objects, they tend not to be all over a brooch, as seen here, and also appear on later material. The width of the bow and flattening of the underside and headplate are atypical for an Iron Age brooch, and it is quite long in comparison to the aforementioned possible late Hallstatt brooches. Although its solidity might make one think of Iron Age material the majority of Iron Age brooches are more dainty.
A trumpet brooch was found with a scatter of Roman objects around the Claudian fort at Woodcock Hall, Saham Toney, Norfolk (Brown 1986, 33, fig.21. brooch 143). Although otherwise the Saham Toney brooch has many differing features, the raised ribs on the bow and the longitudinal lug for the mock spring are reminiscent of SUR-D8E807. The solid catchplates of the trumpet brooches are also more in keeping with SUR-D8E807 than Iron Age types.
I may well be wrong but I am not comfortable placing this in the Iron Age without further contextual information or closer comparisons.
Justine Bayley's opinion:Although many pre-Roman brooches have a curved foot, most brooches of this date with this feature have a fairly plain thin bow and a one-piece construction, so I would rule out an Iron Age date. The ribs across the bow on the Saham Toney trumpet brooch are also not a good match, as they are an unusual version of the central knob with symmetrical features (acanthus leaves or ribs) each side, and not a variant of a row of transverse ribs or knobs all along the bow. Although the knobs could be compared with Hull's type 185 (Richborough Cat. 247), all the other features don't match what is a very standard type, so that should also be ruled out.
The out-turned foot, the relatively small but long (i.e. distance it protrudes from the bow) catchplate, and the tab on the back of the head on which to fix a spring can all be paralleled with Böhme's Glaston type, which should be dated to the very late Roman to sub-Roman periods. The ring and dot decoration also suggests to me a late or sub-Roman date.
The possibility that this might be a recently planted brooch has to be considerd.
This is a find of note and has been designated: Include in MedArch
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Broad period: EARLY MEDIEVAL
Subperiod from: Early
Period from: EARLY MEDIEVAL
Subperiod to: Early
Period to: EARLY MEDIEVAL
Date from: Circa AD 400
Date to: Circa AD 550
Quantity: 1
Length: 54.06 mm
Width: 17.39 mm
Weight: 13.01 g
Date(s) of discovery: Sunday 25th March 2012
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Other reference: B12-105
Primary material: Copper alloy
Secondary material: Iron
Manufacture method: Cast
Completeness: Incomplete
4 Figure: SU4095
Four figure Latitude: 51.652375
Four figure longitude: -1.423219
1:25K map: SU4095
1:10K map: SU49NW
Grid reference source: From finder
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 1 metre square.
No references cited so far.