BROOCH

Roman (AD c. 44-125) Hod Hill type brooch (Mackreth 2011, Chap. 6 Part 2, Hod Hill, Type 4a2, Plate 92, No. 9124); The upper edge is broken, therefore the wings are missing. The bow is a slender rectangle on the upper portion which expands into a lozenge. This lozenge is decorated with two vertical, wide grooves. Integral to the lower edge of this section, the bow is narrowed and tapers to a blunt point. The lower portion of the bow is decorated three wide horizontal ribs. There is only a trace of the catchplate.

The surface of the brooch has a dark grey patina.

The brooch is 28.32mm in length, 10.38mm in width, and weighs 1.71g.

Hod Hill type brooches were very popular in Britain and a wide range of variants are known and are closely related to Aucissa brooches from which they probably developed. They occur widely on the continent, particularly in Gaul and the Rhineland and the main centre of production was probably Gaul, but some were probably made in Britain They are often associated with military sites and probably introduced to Britain by the Roman army, although they are also found on non-military sites as they are known from post-conquest depositions and it is likely they went out of use c.70 AD (Bayley & Butcher 2004, p.153). This example can be classified as Mackreth 2011, Chap. 6 Part 2, Hod Hill, Type 4a2, Plate 92, with No. 9124 being the most similar.