IRON AGE MINIATURE OBJECT

-400

Incomplete copper alloy miniature shield. The shield is flat, diamond shaped in plan with oval tips, and undecorated.The shield is in a good state of preservation. Part of the perimeter is damaged at the lower right hand side, and the lower right hand quarter of the shield is bent slightly forwards.The boss is a small raised circular pellet located in the centre of the shield. There is no evidence to suggest that there was once a grip on the reverse. There is a small circular hole in the centre at the top of the shield that may have once allowed it to be attached to a ring as part of a toilet set.Miniature shields are difficult to date although they are thought to range from circa 400BC to the mid-late 1st century AD.