Rights Holder: Somerset County Council
CC License:
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Unique ID: SOM-08D517
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation
A fragment from the head and upper bow of a Roman copper-alloy initial T-shaped brooch. Between the wings is a slot on the lower surface for a hinged pin, below which a sub oval recess. Aligned with the slot on the upper surface is a longitudinal ridge which is given a ridged, or serrated, quality by numerous transverse nicks. Just before an old transverse break two lower, finer ridges begin to flank the central one. At the head end another old break has removed any lateral elements from the wings, or any of the head located above.
The fragment curves in profile in a regular fashion through ninety degrees. It is corroded, with a variable mid-green patina. A brooch with similarly 'serrated' upper bow can be found illustrated in Hattatt (2000, 302; no. 394).
Notes:
Found at the same time as a hoard of 138 Roman bronze coins placed under a stone (Treasure case 2013 T73a). These coins, found scattered from the rest of the field, appear to be a mixture of Roman copper-alloy denominations dating from across most of the four centuries of Roman rule over Britain.
Age
All are of Roman date and therefore over 300 years old.
Metal content
They are all essentially base metal in composition (copper alloy).
From the same find?
This group of coins has the appearance of an accumulation of losses from different periods over the course of the second to fourth centuries AD. It spans a wider period than is likely for a hoard deposited in, say, the late fourth century and contains a mixture of denominations. The coins were therefore probably not deposited together as a hoard but instead form a series of technically separate finds as a result of random deposition over a period of time. As such, these coins do not appear to constitute Treasure under the stipulations of the Treasure Act 1996 which require that coins must be from the same find.
Class:
T-shaped
Sub class: initial
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder after being declared not Treasure
Treasure case tracking number: 2013T73B
Broad period: ROMAN
Period from: ROMAN
Date from: Circa AD 60
Date to: Circa AD 100
Quantity: 1
Length: 16.2 mm
Height: 6.5 mm
Width: 9.3 mm
Thickness: 3.2 mm
Weight: 1.74 g
Date(s) of discovery: Sunday 10th February 2013
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Other reference: SCC receipt 22401
Treasure case number: 2013T73B
Primary material: Copper alloy
Manufacture method: Cast
Completeness: Fragment
Grid reference source: Generated from computer mapping software
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 100 metre square.
Author | Publication Year | Title | Publication Place | Publisher | Pages | Reference | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hattatt, R. | 2000 | A Visual Catalogue of Richard Hattatt's Ancient Brooches | Oxford | Oxbow Books | 302 | 394 |