BROOCH

Incomplete copper alloy early medieval small-long brooch. The head plate of this brooch is rectangular in plan with small rectangular side lobes. To the top of the plate is a semicircular lobe, on a wasted neck, that has a central circular perforation. The bow is arched with a triangular section (i.e. it is bevelled). The foot is rectangular and flares at the end, though the brooch has received some damage at this point and the flared portion is truncated and damaged to one side. The worn break edges suggests that this damage occurred in antiquity. The brooch is decorated with multiple raised horizontal lines at various points. They are positioned on the wasted neck of the semicircular lobe, to either end of the bow (though not on it), and at the point of the foot just above where it begins to flare. There are no traces of tinning of gilding. The reverse of the brooch is plain and slightly concave to the reverse of the head plate and lobes. A single pin bar lug remains but the pin is entirely missing. The solid catch plate is mostly complete but missing its curl. The object has an even light green patina The brooch is 59.68mm long and 16.6mm wide at the head. Brooches of this type date from the early fifth century into the sixth century. Though an exact parallel is not illustrated, MacGregor and Bolick, 1993, illustrate many examples of this type of brooch.