Rights Holder: St. Albans District Council
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Unique ID: BH-6382F6
Object type certainty: Possibly
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status: Published
An incomplete copper-alloy Roman headstud brooch, dating from the late 1st to late 2nd/early 3rd century AD.
The head of the brooch broadly takes the form of a trapezoidal prism, open on the underside, with the axis bar cylinder at the top. A fragment of the iron wire pin protrudes from a central slit in this cylinder, and corrosion at the ends of the head indicate that the axis bar is also of iron. A copper-alloy chain loop projects upwards from the otherwise flat upper surface of the head, whose vertical sides are also decorated by vertical ridges and interspersing grooves. The concave underside of the head extends downwards into the upper portion of the bow; below this, what remains of the rest of the bow is of solid construction and of thinner section than the area above. The headstud is unusually low, being situated halfway down what remains of the bow; it comprises a moulded central pellet and outer ring, with a red enamel inset between the two. Beneath this stud is the start of a column of lozenge-shaped settings, flanked on either side by inward-pointing triangular settings.
Length: 34.3 mm; width: 22.6 mm; depth: 11.1 mm. Weight: 11.33g.
Class: Headstud
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 75
Date to: Circa AD 200
Quantity: 1
Length: 34.3 mm
Width: 22.6 mm
Weight: 11.33 g
Date(s) of discovery: Tuesday 10th November 2015
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Other reference: Ver 15/177 - 15
Primary material: Copper alloy
Secondary material: Iron
Completeness: Incomplete
Surface Treatment: Inlaid with enamel
Grid reference source: Generated from computer mapping software
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 10 metre square.
No references cited so far.