IRON AGE MINIATURE OBJECT

-400

Incomplete copper alloy miniature shield. The shield is flat, hexagonal with curved sides in plan, and has a small raised circular boss in the centre. There is no sign of a grip on the reverse of the boss.The surface of the shield has been decorated with a series of linear incised lines, and although the general state of preservation is poor, some detail can still be clearly seen. The top of the shield has been folded over however the decoration visible consists of a thick rib with two incised lines dividing it, all set diagonally running from top left to bottom right. Another similar rib is also seen further across the shield, and probably once formed a triangular cell with the apex pointing down towards the boss. This decoration is set behind a series of transverse lines evenly spaced apart covering the whole of the folded over part. On the main body of the shield the diagonal line decoration is lost. A series of incised diagonal lines set from bottom left to top right is visible on the upper left hand part of the shield, however it is lost the beyond the line of the boss. On the bottom right hand side there is a tapering and slightly curved band containing transversely incised lines.The shield is in a poor state of preservation and approximatly one quarter of the shield is missing.Miniature shields are difficult to date however they are thought to range from circa 400BC to the mid-late 1st century AD.