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BROOCH
Unique ID: SUSS-8C1187
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Published 
A cast copper alloy, gilt Anglo-Saxon saucer brooch. The brooch has an angular rim, which is badly damaged but is otherwise flat and circular (maximum diameter 26.6mm. Its face bears a raised circle, just inside the rim within which is a long cross. Situated in each quadrant is an 'open heart' motif, with a pellet in the centre of each heart. These motifs are all raised from the surface if the brooch and are a light greyish-green colour. Gilding survives in-between the raised relief patterns. Almost 40% of the rim is damaged and there is some corrosion on the raised parts of the motifs.
The reverse is undecorated, but the broken remains of the pin lug and the catchplate survive. The pin lug is a single lug, with a hole through the centre (now surviving as a small lumps). The catchplate also only survives as a small lump. The pin lug and the catchplate have been arranged in a longitudinal alignment. No pin survives. The brooch is otherwise complete. The metal appears worn and corroded. The artefact is generally a light greyish-green colour. The thickness measurement below includes the rim.
An exact parallel for the brooch could not be found, but similar brooches (with different motifs) can be seen in Macgregor and Bolick, 1993. This type of brooch dates from the Early Anglo-Saxon period, between the 5th - 6th centuries AD.
Class:
cast saucer
Sub class: floriate cross
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: EARLY MEDIEVAL
Subperiod from: Early
Period from: EARLY MEDIEVAL
Subperiod to: Early
Period to: EARLY MEDIEVAL
Ascribed Culture:
Anglo-Saxon style
Date from: Circa AD 450
Date to: Circa AD 570
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Thickness: 2.54 mm
Weight: 6.99 g
Diameter: 26.66 mm
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Friday 1st January 1999
Personal details
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Materials and construction
Primary material: Copper alloy
Completeness: Incomplete
Surface Treatment: Gilded
Spatial metadata
Region: South East (European Region)County or Unitary authority: East Sussex (County)
District: Lewes (District)
To be known as: Firle
Spatial coordinates
Grid reference source: From a paper map
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 100 metre square.
References cited
| Author | Publication Year | Title | Publication Place | Publisher | Pages | Reference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MacGregor, A. and Bolick, E. | 1993 | A summary catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon collections (non-ferrous metals), Ashmolean Museum, Oxford | Oxford | Tempvs Reparatum | 42-54 |
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Timeline of associated dates
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