PIN

Pins with small polyhedral heads and no collar are known from both Roman and Anglo-Saxon contexts. Cool's (1991, pp. 164-5, fig. 9, nos. 11-13) Group 15 Roman pins with polyhedral heads date to the late third-fourth century, while Ross's (1991, fig. 5.44a) Type LXXII.ii.a.1 has a cuboidal head with no collar and is middle to later Anglo-Saxon in date. Several known from Flixborough (Evans and Loveluck 2009, 51, nos. 301, 302, 304 and 305) have been dated to the ninth century, while another from Winchester has been ascribed to the tenth century (Biddle 1990, no. 1432). Similar pins with polyhedral heads and no collar have been recorded on the PAS database from Cambridgeshire (CAM-357FC0) and Northamptonshire (BH-DB93B8). The present cannot be very closely dated, therefore, but is likely to date to between the late third and fourth centuries, or the late seventh to ninth centuries, perhaps likelier to be early medieval in date.

Conclusion:

Despite the uncertainty over precise dating, the pin fragment is more than 300 years old and composed of more than 10% precious metal and should therefore be considered Treasure under the terms of the Treasure Act 1996.

References:

Cool, H., 1991. Roman Metal Hair Pins from Southern Britain. Archaeological Journal 147, pp. 148-82

Evans, D. H. and Loveluck, C., 2009. Life and Economy at Early Medieval Flixborough, c. AD 600-1000: The Artefact Evidence. Excavations at Flixborough Volume 2. Oxford and Oakville: Oxbow Books

Ross, S., 1991. 'Dress pins from Anglo-Saxon England: Their Production and Typochronological Development'. Unpublished DPhil thesis, University of Oxford