ROMAN BROOCH

50

An enamelled copper alloy skeuomorphic plate brooch in the form of an axe dating to the period c. AD 50 - 250. The brooch consists of a rectangular haft with rounded corners featuring a recessed cell filled with blue enamel. The axehead is trapezoidal in shape with curved sides. It is divided into two recessed cells separated by metal reserves. The upper trapezoidal cell contains blue enamel and the the lower crescent shaped cell contains red enamel. The reverse is flat and features two perforated lugs housing the cylindrical axis bar with the remains of the spring wrapped around it. The pin is missing. The catchplate is situated at the bottom of the haft.The brooch measures 27.55mm in length, has a maximum width of 19.62mm, a minimum width of 3.32mm, is 1.94mm thick and weighs 2.49g.C.f Hattat, R, 2007, p. 358, no. 1629.A similar example on the database is HAMP-5DBCF0. The recorder comments that Miniature axeheads from Britain, perhaps worn as pendants, are thought to date from the Roman period and although of different form, is does suggest a particular significance of the object. Johns (Johns, C. 1996 'The Jewellery of Roman Britain': UCL Press p. 178) comments that axes are a type of object associated with different cults. The axe-shaped plate brooches may be used in the same way as Medieval pilgrim badges, and are therefore associated with a shrine; one was found at the shrine of Apollo at Nettleton, Wiltshire, for example (Wedlake 1982, 129-130; ref. 71).