IRON AGE LINCH PIN

-100

Late Iron Age to early Roman iron and copper alloy composite linch pin with square-sectioned shank, barrel-shaped head and hoof-shaped foot. The circular head and the foot are both cast with a chord missing. All inlaid enamel has been lost apart from on the face of the hoof. The top of the head is decorated with four crescentic cells and two curving engraved lines, and is partly obscured by corroded iron. Of three round cells on the side, one is entirely iron-filled. On the lower part there are two round cells within ribbed surrounds and two others joined by very fine curvilinear engraving. A single round cell adorns the collar of the terminal and in the centre of the face of the hoof a round cell within a reserved field of reversed S-shape lies within two concentric circles in which some red enamel remains. A very good parallel can be found in a complete linch pin recovered during carrot hoeing at Beachamwell, Norfolk in 1957 (Gregory 1980). Length 125.5mm. Diameter of head 36.2mm. Weight 247g. 1st century BC - 1st century AD.BR field