UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT

A copper-alloy 'moustache', so named because of its shape, a sort of comedic, droopy moustache of Iron Age date, c. 750 BC - AD 43. The object is cast in one piece comprising a swollen body which tapers towards the pointed terminals. The centre of the body has a circumferential recess which appears to have been made by gouging into the metal, presumably while still malleable.

The object is decorated with alternating ridges and grooves, running slightly diagonally in the line of the shape of the artefact, to either side of the central recess.

The metal has a dark green patina and is worn. The object is 25.7mm long, 20mm wide, 12.9mm thick and weighs 15.8g.

A number of similar objects have been recovered and several are recorded on the PAS database, such as LIN-9296A3, WMID-CA9D04 and BH-037A57.

LIN-9296A3 discusses and example found in the Salisbury Hoard (Stead, 1998, no.117) which is thought to date from the middle Bronze Age to the late Iron Age. Dr JD Hill at the British Museum suggests that they are Iron Age rather than Bronze Age, but this is yet to be confirmed by excavation of a stratified example.

The function of such objects is uncertain, although it is likely that they were mounted on or below something. This was possibly something such as a dagger handle, although the absence of evidence makes this conjectural.