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BROOCH
Unique ID: DEV-7E23F1
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Published 
An incomplete Roman copper alloy enamelled zoomorphic horse-and-rider brooch, dating to c. AD 250-410. The head, rear, and most of the front leg of the horse are missing. On the reverse side, only the catchplate survives. In length, it measures 24.1mm from the top of the rider's head to the bottom of the horse, and 24.6mm from the top of the horse's head to the bottom of the horse's front leg remnant.
The two figures are depicted facing right, with the profile of the rider clearly showing the hair, eyes, nose, and lips. The rider is formed of four visible cells, the body consisting of three and one for the leg. The arm of the rider is angled down at his side, and appears to be holding a stick or sword in his hand. Projecting out from the bottom of the horse's body is the foot of the rider. The horse's mane and ear are visible, shown by parallel grooves. Four cells make up the remaining body of the horse. None of the original enamel remains.
Length: 24.1mm; Width: 22.6mm; Thickness: 1.4mm; Weight: 3.67g.
Examples presented by Bayley and Butcher (2004: 175-176) broadly date horse-and-rider brooches to the late third century into the early fifth, and suggest that this brooch type has a strong religious connection due to large quantities discovered at temple sites. It has also been suggested that these brooches may depict a Romano-Celtic rider god, perhaps a combination of Mars and a native deity, and may have been purchased from shrines as the Roman equivalent of medieval pilgrim badges (Johns 1996: 173-174).
Class: zoomorphic (horse-and-rider)
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: ROMAN
Period from: ROMAN
Period to: ROMAN
Date from: Circa AD 250
Date to: Circa AD 410
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Length: 24.1 mm
Width: 22.6 mm
Thickness: 1.4 mm
Weight: 3.67 g
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Tuesday 15th August 2017 - Tuesday 15th August 2017
Personal details
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Other reference numbers
Other reference: SCC receipt: 019413
Materials and construction
Primary material: Copper alloy
Secondary material: Enamel
Completeness: Incomplete
Surface Treatment: Inlaid with enamel
Spatial metadata
Region: South West (European Region)County or Unitary authority: Somerset (County)
District: South Somerset (District)
Parish or ward: Lovington (Civil Parish)
Spatial coordinates
4 Figure: ST5930
Four figure Latitude: 51.06785811
Four figure longitude: -2.58651417
1:25K map: ST5930
1:10K map: ST53SE
Grid reference source: From finder
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 100 metre square.
References cited
| Author | Publication Year | Title | Publication Place | Publisher | Pages | Reference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bayley, J. and Butcher, S. | 2004 | Roman Brooches in Britain: A Technological and Typological Study Based on the Richborough Collection | London | The Society of Antiquaries | |||
| Johns, C. | 1996 | The Jewellery of Roman Britain: Celtic and Classical Traditions | UCL Press |
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