BROOCH

An incomplete copper alloy "kräftig-profilierte" or 'strongly profiled' brooch (AD 43-AD 100).

The brooch can be classified as a "kräftig-profilierte" type. It has short wings that are slightly concave at rear in order to form a seating for a bilateral spring of which about half is missing. A claw at the rear secures the interior chord which is an extension of the spring. The bow flares outwards and downwards and then tapers inwards to a collar. Below the collar curves forwards slightly and is circular in cross-section. The terminal at the foot is missing. The catch-plate is missing the curled-over part that accommodated the pin-tip.
The brooch is matt reddish brown.

Height: c. 39.5mm; width of wings: 17.20mm; width of bow: 12.16mm; diameter of collar: 7.62mm. Weight: 9.65g.
A close parallel for this brooch from Newport Parish, Isle of Wight, is one from Colchester which has been dated contextually to the mid-first century AD (Crummy, N. 1983. "Colchester Archaeological Report 2: The Roman small finds from excavations in Colchester 1971-9". 11, fig. 6, no. 37. Colchester: Colchester Archaeological Trust.
Another close parallel for this brooch is from Richborough, Kent (Bayley, J and Butcher, S. 2004, "Roman Brooches in Britain: A Technological and Typological Study based on the Richborough Collection". 59, fig. 42, 41. The Society of Antiquaries).
One-piece "kräftig-profilierte" brooches are probably the progenitors of the well known and comparably prolific native British Trumpet brooch and are regarded as Pannonian in origin. They are well known in Claudian forts in the Rhine/Danube provinces. They also occur further north and east, including the region of the Elbe and Oder and in Bohemia. This type of brooch is far less common in Britain and most come from the eastern side of the country. It has been suggested that the type came to Britain with the Ninth Legion from Pannonia. Further information is given on the origins and development of "kräftig-profilierte" brooches by Hattatt, R. 1985. "Iron Age and Roman Brooches". 64).