- Museum number
- 1811,1214.1
- Description
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Cast copper alloy cruciform brooch, with remains of iron pin on the reverse. The head-plate has three integral half-round knobs, each with one incised line around their bases and the left-hand knob with two incised lines on its dome. The head-plate is flanked by very flared wings. The central panel has a border comprising a double row of punched dots.
The bow of the brooch has faceted corners, a central incised line running vertically (now very worn) and horizontal incised lines at each end of the bow. The catch-plate has an incised horizontal line across its centre and is flanked by two quadrant-shaped lappets decorated with punched dots. Below this, three moulded ribs form the collar. The foot comprises a stylised animal's head with two circular nostrils. The terminal is a large, sub-rectangular plate with a border of punched dots.
On the reverse of the brooch, the pin-catch and lug are both in situ. The copper alloy pin is a modern, hinged reconstruction.
- Production date
- Late 5thC-early 6thC (c. 475-550 (Martin 2015 phase B))
- Dimensions
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Length: 125 millimetres (max)
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Width: 73 millimetres (max)
- Curator's comments
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Published:
Martin, T. F. 2015. The Cruciform Brooch and Anglo-Saxon England. Woodbridge: Boydell and Brewer
Martin, T. F. 2011. Identity and the Cruciform Brooch in Early Anglo-Saxon England: an Investigation of Style, Mortuary Context and Use. PhD thesis, University of Sheffield (available from http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/2369/ accessed 22/07/2014), corpus ID 'Asgarby 1'
Mortimer, C. 1990. Some Aspects of Early Medieval Copper-Alloy Technology, as Illustrated by the Anglian Cruciform Brooch. Unpublished D.Phil thesis, University of Oxford, corpus ID 'Asgarby 1'
White, A. J. 1988. 'Anglo-Saxon finds from three sites in Lincolnshire', Lincolnshire History and Archaeology 23, 87-88
Philips, C. W. 1934. 'The present state of archaeology in Lincolnshire', Archaeological Journal 91, 97-187
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From a report by Toby Martin (see object file):
Åberg type IV; Leeds and Pocock type IVa ; Mortimer type D2; Martin type 3.2.1
Similar lappets are found on brooches from Sleaford (grave 80) and Empingham II (grave 69) (Martin corpus nos. 714 and 664 respectively), both of which also have similarly large spatulate foot terminals and therefore constitute good parallels for this brooch. Similar lappets are also found on a brooch from Holywell Row (grave 37, no. 868) and on smaller examples from Wanlip (no. 1028), Londesborough (grave 7, no. 984) and Barrington A (Edix Hill, no. 1003). Similar feet are shared by brooches from Morning Thorpe (graves 96, 129A and 253, nos. 693, 694 and 696) and Little Wilbraham (grave 116, no. 688). The brooch is a typical member of the highly numerous type 3.2.1 and as such probably dates within the bracket AD 475-550 (Martin 2015 phase B). Most likely it was used to fasten a woman’s cloak and probably originally derived from a grave. The loss of the typical patina means it has probably been extensively conserved, hence perhaps some of the loss of its surface detail. The brooch has been illustrated elsewhere by White (1988, 88, figure 5.2) and Martin (2011, plate 105.1).
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A reference in the Lincolnshire Historical and Archaeological Journal 23 (1988), p. 87 (written by Andrew White) gives more information about the findspot, Asgarby near Horncastle. It is described as 'a now disused sandpit opposite the end of the land leading to Lusby...Asgarby itself is a small hamlet which has shrunken considerably since the medieval period.'
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
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Exhibited:
2003 15 May-30 Sep, London, The British Library, The Painted Labyrinth: The World of the Lindisfarne Gospels
- Condition
- Extensively conserved; pin mechanism is a modern and inaccurate reconstruction (Martin 2011)
- Acquisition date
- 1811
- Department
- Britain, Europe and Prehistory
- Registration number
- 1811,1214.1
- Additional IDs
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Miscellaneous number: MLI42257 (Lincolnshire Heritage Environment Record ID)
