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BROOCH
Unique ID: DOR-532FBD
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Published 
A gilded copper alloy Roman disc plate brooch with projection in the form of a star dating to the period c. AD 250 - 370. The brooch consists of a circular disc, the reverse of which is flat and undecorated. It features a single lug for the missing spring pin mechanism with a hooked plate opposite.
The obverse is heavily gilded. It has a rasied rim around the outer edge with another concentric circular ridge inside. The space between the ridges is decorated with a circle of stamped saltires. The centre of the disc features a central domed projection terminating in a circular knop surrounded by projecting spokes. There were originally six arms, however, one is missing and two have been bent out of shape. The central dome and the surrounding wheel are separately applied.
Comparable brooches are recorded in Snape: 1993, p83, fig 223 and Mackreth: 2011, p110, plate 107. In both these examples the central protrusion terminates with a knop. Although it is a possibility that the domed central projection may also originally have had a knop, there is no indication that the brooch has been damaged in this way. Mackreth dates the brooch as AD250-370. Snape dates the brooch as mid-fourth century. Both Mackreth and Snape comment on the comparative rarity of this type of brooch.
The brooch measures 27.72mm in diameter, is 14.90mm thick and weighs 10.52g.
Find of note status
This has been noted as an interesting find by the recorder.
Class:
spoked disc
Sub class: Mackreth 2011, Chapter 7, Part 1, Type 3.b5. Plate 107
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: ROMAN
Period from: ROMAN
Period to: ROMAN
Date from: Circa AD 250
Date to: Circa AD 370
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Thickness: 14.9 mm
Weight: 10.52 g
Diameter: 27.72 mm
Personal details
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Other reference numbers
Other reference: GCD5a
Materials and construction
Primary material: Copper alloy
Completeness: Complete
Surface Treatment: Gilded
Spatial metadata
Region: South West (European Region)County or Unitary authority: Dorset (County)
District: East Dorset (District)
To be known as: Gussage St Michael
Spatial coordinates
Grid reference source: From finder
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 100 metre square.
References cited
No references cited so far.
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Timeline of associated dates
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