IRON AGE LINCH PIN

-100

An incomplete Iron Age linch pin of vase-headed type. This example has a cast copper alloy head with a flat top and part of an iron shank that is 36mm in length, 26.80mm in width and 14.57mm in thickness, the remainder now missing due to old breaks. The top of the head is circular in shape measuring 33.20mm in diameter and has a circular recess that is decorated with two raised ring and dot motifs. To one side (possibly the back) of the circular top the edge has been worn or flattened into a straight line, producing a faceted outer edge perhaps deliberately or simply through continued usage in antiquity. The underside of the top has a single circumferential groove. The bulbous body of the head has a transverse perforation, and the opening of the perforation on each side of the head is surrounded by a raised circle. This perforation may have allowed for the linch pin to have been attached to its now missing foot via a leather thong attached to a miniature terret ring. See Stead, 1991: pp. 44-47 for a discussion of Iron Age linch pins and their usage. On one side of the head between the openings for the perforation, and opposite the flattened area noted on the outer edge of the top, is a single raised ring and dot motif. Beneath the perforation and ring and dot is a circumferential groove followed by a small raised collar, beneath which the iron shank is attached.The iron shank is an orange/brown in colour and heavily encrusted and corroded. Its original form is difficult to identify, however, it is approximately square in section with large areas of encrustation to one side giving it a more rectangular appearance. The shank terminates in an old break. The linch pin measures 63.05mm in total length, 33.20mm in maximum diameter, and weighs 98.58g.Iron Age linch pins have been recorded from a number of locations within Britain and appear to have a relatively long life span. Unfortunately, they are not easily datable, with the vase-headed type apparent in middle and late Iron Age contexts spanning the third century BC to the first century AD (see Hutcheson, 2004: pp. 31-32; Macgregor, 1976: pp. 49-50; Stead, 1991: pp. 44-47). Parallels for this example in Norfolk can be noted in terms of shape with a first century BC/AD example from Beachamwell (Hutcheson, 2004: pp. 109, no. 46), and through the employment of raised ring and dot motifs in two first century AD examples from Attleborough (Hutcheson, 2004: pp. 110, nos. 48-49). It is likely that this example dates to a similar period of the first centuries BC/AD, although a slightly earlier or later date cannot be ruled out.