Colchester Archaeological Report 2: The Roman small finds

Unclassified (Fig 14; 88-92)
88 Fig 14 SF LWC 3175(C), J947. Make-up or dump. Period 4.
Length 42.0mm. A 'racquet'-shaped brooch with five
circular lugs round the head and a sixth on the handle. Three
of the lugs contain traces of white enamel. The pit in the
centre of each lug may have contained a dot of contrasting
enamel or copper-alloy. One of the lugs on a similar, though
more heavily enamelled, brooch from Cramond, Lothian
contained white enamel with 'a central brownish dot'
(Maxwell 1974, 193). The date of the Cramond brooch is
probably Antonine, which compares well with the context of
this example. Another slightly similar brooch from
Woodyates, Dorset is undated (Corp 4348).
89 Fig 14 SF BKC 2473(C), G428 Surface cleaning. Period 5c.
Length 37.5mm. A lozenge-shaped brooch with mosaic
enamelling, possibly related to Type 226 (see 78 above).
Within the copper-alloy rim there is a frame of red enamel
around a design of nine rectangles of millefiori. The four
blocks at each corner show a dark blue and white
chessboard surrounded by a pale blue frame; the four
between these, set in the manner of a St Andrew's cross, are
of white enamel with two dark blue streaks running towards
the centre. Enough of the middle block survives to show a
yellow rectangle with black radiating spokes around a
central red spot. The pin is missing. This brooch probably
belongs to the 2nd-century floruit of enamelled brooches.
90 Fig 14 SF BKC 2983(C), J36 L4. Dump. Period 5b. Length
28.0mm. Two fragments of a small brooch. The head, with
the pin-fitting, is missing. The body consists of a rectangle
framed by a single marginal moulding on a narrow foot
tapering to a foot-knob with three small transverse
mouldings. The rectangle on the bow probably held enamel.
Similar, but more elaborate, brooches come from Nor'nour,
Isles of Scilly (Hull 1968, Type 33) and date to the 2nd
century.
PENANNULAR BROOCHES
Fowler Type A (1960, 150-2). Penannular
brooches with rounded bulbous terminals (Fig 15;
93-96).
95 Fig 15 SF BKC 3476(C), K386 L40. Town ditch (F125) fill.
Period 4a. Internal diameter 21.0mm. The pin and part of the
ring of a Type A3 brooch. The pin has a strong hump. There is
a single moulding at the knobbed terminal.
96 Fig 15 SF LWC 1873(C), H97. Topsoil. Roman?/Anglo-
Saxon?/post-medieval? Internal diameter 19.5 mm. A
complete Type A4 brooch in five fragments. The pin has a
slight dip. There is a single moulding at the milled knobbed
terminal.
Fig 15 Penannular brooches: Fowler Type A (1:1)
Fowler Type C (ibid. 152). Penannular brooches
with the terminals coiled and twisted so that the
coil is at right angles to the plane of the ring (Fig 16,
97-103). The first three pieces (97-99) clearly
belong to this type and date probably to the 1st
century AD (or possibly earlier). Elizabeth Fowler has
kindly contributed a note on the next four brooches
(100-103) which represent a development of the
earlier type.
97 Fig 16 SF BKC 4893(C), T615. Unstratified. Internal
18
Fig 16 Penannular brooches: Fowler Type C (1:1)
diameter 29.0mm. A distorted brooch with plain ring of
circular section. The flattened terminals are rolled tightly
into a spiral. There is a slight hump in the centre of the pin.
99 Fig 16 SF BUC 1718, H1066 G687. Grave fill. Period 1.
Internal diameter 24.0mm. The ring is of circular section.
The terminals have been flattened and rolled tightly into a
spiral. The pin is straight.
100 Fig 16 SF LWC 1889(C), H79 F10+F15+F32+F55. Medieval?
Internal diameter 15.0mm. The flat section ring has
terminals of a single coil. There is slight notching on the
outer edge of the upper face of the ring.
101 Fig 16SFLW.C2100(C), H159. Machine clearance. Modern.
Internal diameter 14.0mm. The ring is of circular section
with a slightly flattened upper face. The terminals are of a
single coil. The upper face is decorated with incised zig-zags.
102 Fig 16 SF LWC 3980(C), R unstratified. Internal diameter
13.5 mm. The ring is of flat section and is decorated on the
upper face with deep chip-carved zig-zags and crosses. Each
terminal is of one coil which has been slightly flattened and
marked longitudinally by a clinching tool. The pin dips
slightly in the centre.
103 Fig 16 SF BUC 1689(C), H891 G647: Grave good or item of
dress; on right shoulder. Period 2. Internal diameter oval,
11.5 by 1 3.5 mm. Silver. The ring is of circular section and
segmented. Each terminal is of one coil and is marked
longitudinally by a clinching tool applied before the coil was
formed. The mark runs from close to the segments of the
ring all the way round the coil. The pin dips in the centre and
is also marked along its midline by a clinching tool.
Of the last four brooches only one (103) was found in
a Roman context. However the discovery of this
brooch, either an item of dress or deposited as a grave
good, in an east-west oriented grave which can be
dated to later than 367 on the evidence of a coin of
Valens (367-75, CK 528) in the fill does not imply that
all four brooches could be given such a late date. The
other three, however, do exhibit a style of decoration
which suggests a late Roman date. The segmented
ribbing of 103 (plus the fact that it is silver) links it to
two curious Type Aa penannular brooches found in
hoards of probable 4th-century date (Fowler 1964,
110, note 6).
Elizabeth Fowler writes: These brooches are
particularly interesting in view of some new work on