EARLY MEDIEVAL BROOCH

An incomplete cast copper-alloy lozenge-shaped brooch with remains of gilding and iron corrosion on the back, dating to the late 8th/ early 9th century AD (length: 90.7mm; width: 66mm; thickness of plate: 1.6mm; weight: 30.23g). At the top of this flat plate brooch, there is a large slightly extending area of iron corrosion, where the iron spring was situated. The slightly uneven-sided lozenge plate has a plain border around the outside, with an outer ridge separating the border from the finely detailed chip-carved design. Separating the decoration into quarters, a flat cross (that would have originally have had five bosses) has four outer rounded terminals, with a rounded central platform in the centre. The three rounded platforms that run down the length of the artefact still have the remains of iron rivets intact, which still hold the remains of the strip at the back. The other two platforms to the left and right have small holes in the centre, where there may have also originally been rivets. Additionally, there may have been another rivet and the very bottom angle of the artefact. Each of the four chip-carved segments are slightly different with a geometric Greek key-type