IRON AGE BROOCH

75

A complete cast copper-alloy, miniature dragonesque brooch from the Roman-British period. The brooch survives intact complete with its pin and some of the enamelling. The brooch is S-shaped in plan, typical for its type. The two terminals are highly stylised zoomorphic heads. The top one has a pointed ear with a raised ridge. Below which there are two loops. The larger and lower loop contains the pin spring. The spring consists of a coil of flattened copper-alloy strip, coiled twice before extending into the pin, which is also formed from a slightly tapering strip of flattened copper alloy. As the pin extends it becomes circular in section and the end is slightly bent. In the centre of the S, the body swells and has been decorated with a raised design. Inside a border which matches the edge of the S-shape the field has been divided into rectangular cells, eight in total. Three of the cells (in alternating positions) retain their shiny blue enamel. The other cells would once have been infilled with enamel, but this has now been lost. Below this the brooch extends into the second highly stylised zoomorphic terminal. It also has a pointed ear with a raised ridge, with a circular loop above it. The reverse of the main body of the brooch is slightly concave. Bayley and Butcher consider the dragonesque brooch to be a development in British made plate brooches (p 171). Bayley and Butcher also note that the distribution of dragonesque brooches is mainly in Britain, with a marked concentration in the North, where they were presumably made (p172). Based on a review of literature, Worrell (2007) dates Dragonesque brooches to AD 75-175. Similar brooches can be seen in Hattatt, p152-7.