POST MEDIEVAL PIN

1600

Silver head-dress pin. The section is thick and flat with the edges bevelled to form a flat hexagon which smoothly tapers to a sharp point. About halfway up, both faces are decorated with identical engraving; a long triangle, point downwards, then above this a ?double-strand zigzag and then a four-petalled flower with transverse lines above and below. Then comes a rectangular perforation, 11 x 1.5 mm, with a border of dots around; then another quatrefoil and an upwards-pointing V shape. The top of the pin tapers sharply to a low point; this has a small projection coming up out of the centre which may once have developed into a scoop-like terminal (see Margeson 1993, 8-10), but if so the break is very old. The lower part of the pin appears to have been bent and then straightened out; many of these pins are found bent into three, perhaps to keep them securely in the head-dress. The pins are a Dutch fashion, and are found in East Anglia and in London.