Colchester Archaeological Report 2: The Roman small finds

Fig 21 Bone hairpins: Type 5 (1:1)
of the pins have a swollen shaft, the amount of swell
varying from 0.25 to 1.5 mm and just over half the
pins have a shaft that is faceted in section. The
faceted section may be a reason for the loss of only
the extreme tip on a high proportion of those that are
broken. The heads of Type 5 pins are divisible into two
main groups. In the first the reels have been formed
by cutting grooves into a stilted conical head (Fig 21,
400, 404, 406, 409, 411). On some examples the
resulting conical head appears to have been trimmed
after the grooves have been cut (Fig 21, 397), placing
these pins between this group and the next. In the
second group the head and reels have been treated as
two separate motifs: most have had the head and
reels shaped together, but the head has been given a
more positive treatment by cutting the lower part at a
slope into the groove separating it from the first reel,
24
thus producing an ovoid or flame-shaped head (Fig
21, 395). On two examples the ring has a narrower
diameter than the head (Fig 21, 402).
Half of the 22 Type 5 pins derive from a cellar and
associated features on the Cups Hotel site that
contained a series of late 4th-century occupation
layers and a probable dispersed coin hoard with a
closing date of c 360. A date range within the 4th
century seems therefore to be acceptable for Type 5.
The few examples from Roman contexts on other
sites also suggest a 4th-century floruit for this type.
395 Fig 21 SF LWC 503, A104. Unstratified. 68.5 mm long. Tip
broken off. One ring. Ovoid head. Round section. Swollen
shaft.
397 Fig 21 SF BKC 908(C), D301. Tile scatter in town ditch.
Anglo-Saxon. 94.0mm long. Complete. Three rings. Conical
head. Faceted section. Swollen shaft.
400 Fig 21 SF BKC 1274(C), E360 L433. Town ditch (F138/317)
fill. Post-Roman. 75.0mm long. Complete, possibly
repointed. Two rings. Perhaps three were originally
intended, as there is a fairly broad rough area below the
bottom ring. Conical head. Faceted section, ring and head.
Swollen shaft.
402 Fig 21 SF BKC 1302(C), E406 L437. Town ditch (F138) fill.
Late Period 6 or Anglo-Saxon. 74.0 mm long. Complete. One
ring. Ovoid head. Round section. Swollen shaft. The ring has
?worn down on one side.
403 Fig 21 SF BKC 3691(C), J435 F276. Pit complex. Period 5?
66.5 mm long. Tip broken off. Five rings. The head is missing.
The lower ring runs gently into the shaft. The round shaft is
thick and thickens even more towards the broken end.
404 Fig 21 SF BKC 4152(C), N118 L3. Topsoil. Period 6.50.5 mm
long. Repointed. One ring. Conical head. Faceted section,
ring and head. Swollen shaft.
406 Fig 21 SF CPS 219, 420 F100. Occupation. Period 4.
73.0 mm long. Very tip broken off. One ring. Conical, slightly
ovoid, head. Faceted section, ring and head. Swollen shaft.
409 Fig 21 SF CPS 327(C), 560 F116. Robber trench material.
Period 5. 81.0mm long. Complete. The head is crude, and
clearly demonstrates how a groove was cut into a
previously-formed head to produce the ring. Slightly faceted
section. Swollen shaft.
411 Fig 21 SF CPS 479(C), 576 F115. Occupation. Period 4.
91.5 mm long. Very tip broken off. Three rings. Conical head.
Round/faceted section. Slightly swollen shaft.
Type 6. Pins with a reel- or bead-and-reel-shaped
head (Fig 22; 417-431). Type 6 is composed of a
small group of fifteen pins whose heads are
decorated with reel and/or bead motifs. The
commonest head is the solitary reel, which can in
some cases be so roughly made as to resemble as
much a bead as a reel. Three examples of
reel/bead/reel have been found, and one of
reel/bead/reel/bead, the lower bead of which is
almost sufficiently elongated to qualify as balustershaped.
Three pins are complete, giving lengths of
83.0, 66.5 and 65.0mm. There appear to be no
repointed pins. The shafts of twelve of the group are
swollen, the amount of swell varying from 0.25 to
2.0mm. The remaining three have plain tapering
shafts of which one (Fig 195, 430) is an unfinished
pin associated with the bone-working industry on
Butt Road (pp 152-60; Crummy 1981).
All the examples of Type 6 pins at Colchester which
derive from Roman contexts are present in levels of
the late 3rd to 4th centuries. However, though the