ROMAN BROOCH

100

Copper alloy brooch in the form of a miniature axe, a type of artefact often associated with the god Mars. The top of the axehead is flat and angles upwards towards the top corner of the blade end. The blade itself is flat and angled inwards towards the shaft. The lower side of the axehead is concave and the butt end is aligned straight vertically to the upper left hand corner. The axehead and the shaft are recessed and filled with blue enamel. Most of the shaft is missing. On the reverse of the axehead is a double lug for the hinged pin, now missing.This type of brooch is generally thought to date to the second century although a similar example found at South Shields is thought that is maybe a 3rd century import (Allason-Jones & Miket, 1984, pp113-114).