Colchester Archaeological Report 2: The Roman small finds

again into side-wings. The external chord of the eight-turn
spring is secured by a forward hook. The foot, which leans to
one side, has a strong reverse curve and a large terminal
button and knob. The catchplate has two small circular
perforations.
Type 90. Colchester brooch. A one-piece brooch
with simple curved bow, flat side-wings, and a
forward hook to secure the external chord. Date
range. Tiberius-Nero,
b) undecorated bow
38 Fig 6 SF LWC 3807(C), K472 F249. Slot. Period 3. Length
83.0mm. A large brooch of which the spring and pin are
missing and the catchplate damaged. The bow is almost
round in section except for a slight flattening at the back
which becomes more marked towards the head. The short
side-wings are grooved and part of one is missing. The
catchplate has a pattern of stepped perforations.
40 Fig 6 SF BKC 2081(C), E1212 L361. Levelling. Period 1b.
Length 43.0mm. A small broooch, complete except for the
tip of the pin and most of the open catchplate. The sidewings
are plain, and the spring, one side of which is
corroded, has six turns.
Type 92. A two-piece brooch, Colchester B. The
spring is secured by passing the external chord and
the axial bar through a lug with two perforations
behind the head. The side-wings are semicylindrical.
The forward hook of Type 90 can still be seen in the
crest which runs on a flat ridge down the head to the
bow. The ridge continues down the bow, flanked by
cavetto mouldings, and may be decorated in various
ways. Date range: 50-70.
48 Fig 6 SF BKC 3769(C), K575. Top of Claudian ditch.
Beginning of Period 2. Length 53.0 mm. A corroded brooch:
the outer surface of the bottom of the bow has been eaten
away and the end of one wing is missing, as are the spring
and pin. The bow is plain, with the cavetto mouldings
characteristic of the type. The side-wings have decorative
mouldings. The catchplate is pierced in two places (the hole
towards the bottom is a result of corrosion). The thick edge of
the catchplate has a semicircular groove for the pin.
50 Fig 6 SF BKC 4788(C), T581 F211. Pit. Period 1. Length
34.5 mm. A small brooch, the spring and pin of which are
missing, but fragments of the axial bar and the external
chord remain in their respective holes in the lug. The sidewings
have single grooves at the ends. The bow has faint
marginal grooves. The catchplate has a single triangular
perforation and is grooved for the pin.
52 Fig 6 SF IRB 97(C), F89. Probably in the backfill of a 3rd- to
4th-century grave rather than associated with the
inhumation. Length 44.0mm. The spring and pin of this
brooch are missing, but a fragment of the chord remains in
the perforation of the lug. The central ridge of the bow below
the crest is decorated with a zig-zag line. The side-wings are
plain. The catchplate is solid and grooved for the pin.
Type 93. Colchester BB brooch. Similar to Type 92,
but lacking cavetto mouldings on the bow. Date
range: c 65-80, but may go out of use earlier,
a) with deep groove on the upper part of the bow, the
edges of the groove are incised with oblique strokes.
53 Fig 6 SF BKC 5268(C), V364 L39. Street metalling. Period 5.
Length 36.0 mm. A badly-made brooch, the crest of which is
off-axis. Part of the external chord remains in the upper hole
of the lug: the lower hole has worn through. The side-wings
are plain. The central groove on the bow is crossed by
oblique strokes. The catchplate is grooved for the pin and
has a circular perforation and a rectangular notch on the
bottom edge.
Type 94. A two-piece dolphin brooch. The bow is
comma-shaped, with a thick and rounded head, and
often tapering to a point. The semicylindrical side-
12
wings tend to be long and may be plain or decorated.
The spring is attached by a rearward-facing hook over
the external chord. The catchplate is generally solid.
The bow varies in section from round to square, Dshaped
to V-shaped. The pin of hinged dolphin
brooches is usually held in the centre of a thick,
possibly round, cross-bar. The distribution for sprung
and hinged dolphins is similar, covering the south and
midlands, but petering out in the north of England.
Hull's suggested date range is Claudian, though the
absence of hinged dolphin brooches from the
Sheepen site, Colchester suggests that these at least
were current in the late Neronian or Flavian period.
a) sprung
56 Fig 6 SF BKC 3696(C), J442 L44. Collapsed wattle-and-daub
wall. Period 2 destruction. Length 43.0mm. The spring and
pin of this brooch are missing. The side-wings are grooved
and moulded. The bow is V-shaped in section with flat
margins and the central ridge is knurled. Most of the
catchplate has been broken off.
57 Fig 6 SF BKC 5500(C), V909 L65. Sandy clay floor. Period 2.
Length 70.0mm. A corroded brooch, the spring and pin of
which are missing and the catchplate damaged. There is a
slight groove visible at the end of each side-wing. The bow is
of D-section, the upright of the D being the outer face of the
bow, with shallow marginal grooves. There is a small
transverse moulding near the foot.
b) hinged
58 Fig 6 SF BKC 5011(C), V121 F18. ?Sand pit. Period 5 or 6?
Length 38.0 mm. The pin of this brooch is missing below the
hinge and the lower part of the bow has been broken off. The
solid cross-bar is round, and may have a groove atthe end of
each wing. The bow is of D-section and has two grooves
running along it which form a crest.
60 Fig 5 SF MID 780, G3330 F642. Coursed rubble foundation.
Period 3 construction. Length 44.0mm. A complete hinged
dolphin brooch, encrusted with mortar. The D-section bow
has three grooves. The cross-bar is of D-section and the
wings are moulded. The thin catchplate is solid.
Unclassified
61 Fig 7 86 Lexden Road, X206(C). Pit dated 50-65. (This object
was loaned to the Trust for identification and recording
along with the other contents of the pit from which it was
recovered and subsequently donated to the Colchester and
Essex Museum by the owner, Mrs J Berry.) Length 37.0 mm.
A two-piece brooch, the spring secured by the same method
used for Type 92. The lower part of the lug holding the axial
bar is missing, though part of the external chord remains in
the upper perforation. The spring and the pin are missing.
The damaged side-wings are semicylindrical and probably
plain. Most of the catchplate is missing, but it appears to
have been solid. The bow is shaped like a dove's tail, with the
curved sides flaring out from just below the head and the
bottom edge curving outwards slightly. Running from the
head to the bottom edge and the same width as the lug for
attaching the spring is a ridge, rectangular in section on the
head and very top of the bow, but softening to semicircular
on the body of the bow. A narrow cavetto moulding flanks
each side of the ridge at the upper end of the brooch,
widening out as the sides flare until the outer edge of each
flattens out and disappears, while the inner concave
segments continue downwards parallel to the ridge which
gradually sinks below the line of the upper surface of the
bow and is consequently invisible from the side.
The brooch has several affinities with Type 92, ie in the
method of attaching the spring, the general profile and the
central ridge flanked by cavetto mouldings. The distinctive
crest running down the ridge of Type 92 is absent, but since
the brooch is severely diseased it is possible that a small
crest has been removed by corrosion.
From its association with both pottery dated 50-65 and a
Type 92 brooch, and from its general affinities with Type 92,
a date of 50-70 seems likely for this brooch. A distinct
parallel cannot be found in Hull's Corpus, though a slightly