BROOCH

A bent and broken fragment of an Iron Age or Roman copper alloy bow brooch, probably dating to c. AD 50-150. The surviving portion comprises the lower portion of the bow, the foot and the catchplate, with the head and pin mechanism missing.

The bow is narrow and flat in cross-section. It gradually narrows in width from its its broken termination at its top towards to the foot of the brooch which becomes a sharp point. A portion of the bow has been bent at 90 degrees away from the front front of the brooch.

The catch-plate projects from the rear of the foot and thins from the width of the bow to a flat piece of metal. Its upper edge meets the back of the plate on a diagonal while its lower edge projects outwards and downwards from the foot of the brooch. Part of the outer edge has been lost. The remaining outer edge is rolled irregularly and slightly, this looks to be from wear rather than the intention to provide a pin rest.

The catch plate, bow and foot are plain and undecorated and are now a dark green/brown colour

The surviving brooch is 38.5mm long, 5.4mm wide, 1.0mm thick along the bow excluding catchplate and 10.5mm thick including the catchplate. It weighs 2.25g.

Lacking its upper bow and pin mechanism the brooch cannot be classified with certainty, although it is likely to be a early bow brooch type and therefore is given a broad AD 50-150 date range. A similarly narrow bow can be found on SOM-979BBA which has been defined as an applied hook brooch.