BROOCH

An incomplete Middle Iron Age (500-200 BC) copper alloy brooch in the form of two roundels with an openwork area between, formed by a central pierced lozenge with a U and inverted-U shaped arm above and below. It is missing its pin.
Each roundel (c.3mm thick) is decorated with raised concentric rings. One has six, the other seven running into six at one edge. At the centre of each is a piercing (2.5mm diameter) which goes all the way through the metal and now holds iron corrosion.
A pierced lozenge (2.4mm diameter) touches each roundel at opposing cardinal points. The U-shaped arms terminate in a circular area at either end, also pierced (c.2mm diameter). Where these touch the edges of the roundels and the other opposing cardinal points of the lozenge, four triangular areas are created around the lozenge and between the roundels. Similar openwork decoration can be seen on WILT-E2D3B2, also a Middle Iron Age brooch.
To the reverse, at the centre of one roundel is an integral loop for missing pin. The loop is roughly D-shaped in cross-section (c.3x2.2mm) and 10.93mm in length. There is indication of wear to the inside edge. With both loop and catchplate arranged horizontally, the loop is set on the horizontal plane while the integral catchplate (at the centre of the other roundel) is set on a vertical plane. This is also D-shaped in cross-section (c.3x2.3mm), 9.26mm in length and has an opening to one end for the pin (it is only attached to the brooch at the other end).
The metal of the brooch is dark brown in colour and shiny with traces of an orange/ light brown deposition on both faces.
The brooch measures 55.43mm in length, 45.67mm in width, 13.74mm in max. depth and weighs 19.60g. It has broad similarities with another Middle Iron Age brooch on this database, WILT-8A5D32.
Found in close proximity to the brooch was a curving piece of corroding iron, 46.40mm in length, 7.4mm in diameter and weighing 0.93g. It is unlikely given its relatively good condition that this was originally part of the brooch, but has been added here for the record.