BROOCH

An almost complete copper-alloy Roman trumpet brooch, dating to the period AD 75-175. It is complete except for the lower half of the pin which is missing. The brooch measures 73.91mm in length, 20.65mm at maximum width and weighed 23.45g. There is a small headloop at the top of the brooch, with a piercing measuring 2.54mm in diameter. From here the headloop extends into a rimmed edge, which extends downwards to form a semi-circle. Behind this is the hinged pin.

The top half of the body of the brooch measures 22.85mm, extending from the semi-circular rim down to the ridged middle. After the semi-circular rim, the top half of the brooch tapers inwards to a width of 10.48mm. There is a central rimmed line dividing the decoration in two. At the top there is a triangle pointing outwards, one either side, a broadly crescent shape facing outwards (one either side) and below this, another triangle pointing towards the outside of the brooch, one either side. There appears to be traces of what now resembles blue enamel, but this can only be seen on the incised decoration on the right hand side, in particular the top triangle and the top half of the crescent. From here the brooch extends to a ridged mid-section, tapering slightly outwards in width from 9.17mm to 12.68mm. It comprises of three prongs each side, one in the centre, one either side of this central prong, enveloping a central ridge. After this, the body tapers inwards to 9.14mm, then out again to 10.74mm, where the bottom half of the brooch begins. The decoration on this a central line running down the length of this half, with thirteen triangles facing towards the outside of the brooch either side. This is then contained in a rectangular rimmed edge. After this, the brooch tapers slightly outwards to the foot, measuring 8.26mm in width. At the back of the brooch there is no discernible decoration, but the spring mechanism and catchplate are complete, with only part of the pin missing.

Similar brooches may be seen in Hattatt (2000) p327, nos.432, 433 and 957, but the decoration is not exact.