Rights Holder: Birmingham Museums Trust
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Unique ID: WAW-BE8B15
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Published
Two fragments from an incomplete cast copper alloy Roman brooch of Colchester derivative Polden Hill (flat wing ends type, West Midlands) dating from the late 1st to early 2nd centuries, circa AD80-120. The brooch is a Polden Hill type. One fragment is the head of the brooch including 1 wing and the spring hook. The other fragment is the lower part of the bow with the majority of the catch plate present, but the foot of the brooch is missing.
On the head of the brooch, 1 wing, the spring and the pin are missing due to old breaks. The head of the bow and the remaining wing form a hollow cylinder. Half of the wing cap survives with a partial pin hole present. The reverse of the wing is plain with a moulded step on the side of the bow. A partially surviving forward facing spring hook survives on top of the bow. The top of the bow is flattened with a triangular recess which probably originally retained an enamel fitting. The bow terminates in a break just below the wings. The length of the fragment from the spring hook to the broken end of the bow is 16.68mm. Width from the surviving wing cap to the broken end is 15.39mm. Width below the wings is 6.81mm and thickness at the same point is 3.95mm. Weight is 4.1g.
The upper face of the bow is worn but evidence of decoration is still discernible in places. The bow is widest at the top of the fragment - approximately the centre of the complete brooch - with 2 diagonal cross hatching grooves. The sides of the bow narrow towards the broken end. Parallel grooves run down the centre of the bow from the top of the fragment towards the foot. A solid catch plate is present on the reverse of the bow. Length of the bow fragment is 34.78mm. Width is 7.93mm. Maximum thickness of the bow and catch plate is 11.02mm. Weight is 3.4g.
The total length of both fragments is 51.46mm. The total weight is 7.5g. The surfaces of both fragments are worn. The brooch has a mid grey / green patina.
A comparable Polden Hill type brooch is recorded in Bayley and Butcher, 2004 Roman Brooches in Britian: A technological and Typological Study Based on the Richborough Collection Society of Antiquaries, p159, fig 128. Bayley and Butcher comment that Polden Hill brooches are typically found in the West Midlands area and date from circa AD80-120.
Class: Colchester derivative Polden Hill (flat wing ends type, West Midlands)
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Broad period: ROMAN
Subperiod from: Early
Period from: ROMAN
Subperiod to: Early
Period to: ROMAN
Date from: Circa AD 80
Date to: Exactly AD 120
Quantity: 2
Length: 51.46 mm
Width: 15.39 mm
Thickness: 3.95 mm
Weight: 7.5 g
Date(s) of discovery: Tuesday 1st January 2013 - Monday 29th April 2013
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Primary material: Copper alloy
Manufacture method: Cast
Completeness: Fragment
4 Figure: SP0055
Four figure Latitude: 52.19323852
Four figure longitude: -2.00141771
1:25K map: SP0055
1:10K map: SP05NW
Grid reference source: From finder
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 100 metre square.
No references cited so far.