BROOCH

A Roman copper alloy hinged initial T-shaped brooch, probably dating to c. AD 50-100. The brooch is complete apart from the pin but bent and distorted. At the head of the bow is a cylindrical wing casing, now 35.6m wide and 10.4mm thick, but this has been damaged on both sides and the terminals are missing. The surface is also badly affected by a green patina in this area. There is a stub of a (probable replacement) rectangular cross sectioned pin projecting from a rear notch between the wings. In the centre of the wings is a raised line which could possibly be the remains of a headloop attachment but is more likely decorative.The broad upper bow (14.6mm in width and 9.9mm thick) is decorated from top to bottom with , two shallow grooves and a pyramidal knop below them. This is flanked by two grooves which extend downwards from the bar on either side of the central decoration. Below the knop the green patina obscures the surface decoration once again but there is a hint of further grooves extending down the bow. The bow itself has been bent, and now veers to the right. It has a shallow D-shaped cross section.The solid catchplate is incomplete with a curved upper edge, angled lower and outer edge that was bent over to make the catch, now damaged.

The brooch is 54.7mm long and 35.3mm wide. It weighs 11.61g.

The form and decoration of this brooch appears to be fairly typical of "initial" T-shaped brooches (Bayley & Butcher 2004: 158, esp. no 133), a group concentrated in the South West and which appear to have a Flavian era date range (ibid: 159).