ASSEMBLAGE

Decorated bronze mirror with handle. Silver Knotenfibel brooch in two pieces. Thirty pieces of pottery from a pedestal urn, flat based jars and other vessels.

All these objects were found in close proximity and probably come from a disturbed grave. Cremation burials became a common way to bury the dead in parts of south-east England in the 1st Century BC. Most graves contain pottery vessels used for drinking or eating. The richer graves sometimes contain decorated bronze mirrors. Silver brooches are very rare finds from Iron Age Britain, and only about nine or ten others are known. They all appear to have come from burials and are very similar in shape to this brooch. Dating to the middle of the 1st Century BC (the archaeological period known as La Tene D"), these safety-pin type brooches all have a decorative collar or boss in the middle of the bow, and are often called Knotenfibeln. The Shillington brooch is very similar to the two pairs of silver brooches found at Great Chesterford, Essex.

The mirror is one of the finest examples of a decorated Iron Age bronze mirror found in recent years. It is constructed from three parts; the circular mirror plate, the handle and the decorative ring on the bottom of the mirror plate near the handle. The back of the mirror was decorated with an abstract curving La Tene or 'Early Celtic' design. The design consists of repeated circular ovals and arches of similar sizes in-filled with a fine basket-weave of engraved or chased marks to make the design stand out. The front of the mirror would be plain and polished for seeing the reflection in. This mirror is well-preserved, except for the major tear in the top made when it was found. Decorated bronze mirrors are a uniquely British object. About thirty examples are known. Many are stray finds, but those found in archaeological investigations usually come from burials. A number of decorated mirrors have been found in south-east England, including examples from Aston (Hertfordshire), Dorton (Buckinghamshire), Chilham (Kent) Great Chesterford (Essex), Colchester (Essex) and Old Warden (Bedfordshire).

Decorated bronze mirrors were made and used for at least 150 years from about 100BC to AD 50. This is one of the earliest dating mirrors so far found.

Dimensions of brooch: Length when complete: 72mm. X-ray fluorescence analysis conducted at the British Museum indicated an approximate silver content of 85 per cent.

Dimensions of mirror: Diameter: 199mm, handle length: 132mm.