LOCK

A cast copper-alloy Roman lock pin. It has a globular, oval sectioned head that tapers at the top to a narrow neck before expanding to a flaring collar with biconical or acorn shaped knop projecting from the centre of its flattened upper surface. At the base of the head is a circumferential groove followed by a spool shaped collar. The head measures 21.31mm in maximum diameter, 7.86mm in diameter at neck and 7.52mm in diameter at knop. From the base of the collar projects an integral shaft, which is slightly uneven on one side as if originally having been cylindrical or semi-circular and subsequently reworked to produce a rectangular shaft. The shaft itself is rectangular in form, triangular in profile, tapering to a flattened base. At the base of the shaft is a central circular aperture. The shaft measures 11.73mm in width and 7.54mm in thickness, the entire object measures 72.49mm in height, 21.31mm in maximum diameter and 59.40g in weight.

Examples of similar Roman lock pins are noted on the Portable Antiquities Scheme database (e.g. NMS-B62B37 and ESS-BFCFD3) although the current example differs from the typical lock bolts with conical terminals such as those published from Colchester (Crummy, 1983: no. 4143) and Coventina's Well (Allason-Jones and McKay, 1985: nos. 79-85). Its form suggests a similar function and this would indicate a date range in the Roman period, c.43-410 AD.