Colchester Archaeological Report 2: The Roman small finds

the size of the piece of jet used to make the pin. By
comparison with both Type 4 bone pins and with the
general currency of the faceted-cuboid motif on
jewellery, this type can be assigned to the period from
the late 3rd to the 4th century.
450 Fig 24 SF BKC 572(C), A4 L1. Topsoil and town ditch (F30)
fill. Post-Roman. 29.0 mm long. Most of the shaft has been
broken off. The head is very thin along one axis. Not latheturned.
452 Fig 24 SF BKC 4261(C), N239 F2? Period 5b2 or 6. 61.0 mm
long. Complete. Very regular in shape. Not lathe-turned.
Shaft fragments A catalogue of shaft fragments
(454-460) has been included on f iche because, since
few pins with head intact are found, the dating
evidence from such a list is of value. All the shaft
fragments recovered are plain, and presumably
therefore do not belong to the 1st-century type with
grooved shaft, but to the later Types 1 and 2.
GLASS PINS (Fig 25; 461 -465)
Four glass pins were found close to a woman's skull in
an east-west oriented grave (G537) at Butt Road. The
grave is later than c 320. All the pins are of translucent
pale green glass. Three (461,462 and 463) are of the
same type, with a globular head and a barley-sugartwist
shaft. The twisted shaft of the fourth (Fig 25,464)
separates to form a ring-shaped head.
462 Fig 25 SF BUC 1539, H363 G537. Grave deposit. Period 2.
76.0 mm long.The very tip of the shaft is missing. Translucent
pale green glass, with a globular head and twisted shaft.
464 Fig 25 SF BUC 1543, H368 G537. Grave deposit. Period 2.
51.5 mm long. Complete. A comparatively short pin, with a
twisted shaft and ring-shaped head in translucent pale green
glass.
Fig 25 Glass hairpins (1:1 )
METAL PINS
All are of copper alloy unless otherwise stated. Metal
pins were generally cast. Some may have been
decorated cold, such as the pin with an incised lattice
pattern on the conical top element, Fig 31, 504. If the
head-types of metal pins were copied in bone (p 20)
then the date ranges of comparable types in the two
28
media would probably be similar. However, metal pins
are not found in large numbers and the dating
available from stratigraphic evidence alone is slight
and, therefore, unsatisfactory.
Type 1. Pin with a plain conical head (Fig 26; 466).
Only one pin of this type was found. 15
It is very slight
and may not be a hairpin. The pin is paralleled by Type
1 bone pins, which are dated c 50-200, and should
perhaps be assigned a 2nd-century date.
466 Fig 26 SF BUC 321, B537 G109. Grave fill. Period 2. Length
75.0 mm.
Fig 26 Metal hairpins: Type 1 (1:1 J
4
Type 2. Pins with heads of bead, reel and spool
motifs surmounted by a flattened sphere (Fig 27;
467-474). No close parallels exist between any two
pins of this group. In section the heads may be
circular, or circular and rectangular. Pins with heads
combining several motifs are quite common 16
though
none are exactly similar to this type. There is no
equivalent in bone. Bead-and-reel-headed bone pins,
Type 6, which date from c 200, appear to be
uninfluenced by Type 2 metal pins which seem to
have been introduced early in the 2nd century, and
perhaps to have gone out of production in the 3rd
century. The elements used on each head are listed
from the shaft end up.
467 Fig 27 SF LWC 582(C), B220 F23. Road ditch. Period 4. Very
tip missing, bent. 107.0 mm long. Circular-section
reel/bead/spool/flattened sphere.
469 Fig 27 SF LWC 1003(C), C308. Make-up. ?Period 4.
Fragment 49.0 mm long. Rectangular-section reel/bead;
rectangular- to circular-section spool/flattened sphere.
470 Fig 27 SF LWC 3056(C), J810. Make-up. Period 4a. Two
fragments, tip missing, bent, 70.0 mm long. Circular-section
bead/spool/flattened sphere.
471 Fig 27 SF LWC 3173(C), P2. Surface clearing. Unstratified.
Very tip missing, bent, 91.0 mm long. Circular-section
bead/reel/bead/spool/flattened sphere.
472 Fig 27 SF BKC 521(C), A112 F31. ?Sand pit. Period 6?
Fragment, 58.5 mm long. CircuIar-section
reel/bead/spool/flattened sphere.
473 Fig 27 SF BKC 3386(C), J186 F13. Large pit. Period 5b.
Fragment, 26.0 mm long. CircuIar-section
bead/bead/bead/spool/flattened sphere.