File:Post Medieval bodkin or pin - close up of makers mark. (FindID 815156).jpg

English: Description: The artefact is a complete silver bodkin which has been broken into two portions recently. The pin is rectangular in section and tapers to a blunt point. The upper terminal has a scoop portion which is a wide drop shape and is concave on the outer face and convex on the reverse. Below the scoop the decoration is moulded to form an interlace figure of eight. The decoration is then formed by two transverse collars with a square block between. The block is decorated on both faces with fine parallel grooves forming a triangle. The bodkin then has a rectangular slot and it is here the bodkin is broken into two pieces. Below the slot, on both faces there is a low-relief elongated triangle, filled with a column of leaf motifs. Below these motifs, one face of the bodkin has the initials MT, which are probably the initials of the owner. On the other face there is a worn makers mark which reads EP.

The surface of the bodkin is abraded and tarnished in the low-relief elements of the design.

Dimensions:

Length: 96.04mm / 32.79mm

Width: 4.5mm / 5.87mm

Thickness: 4.57mm / 2.41mm

Weight: 6.8g / 2.05g

Discussion: This type of item is generally termed bodkin, which is a term related to needlework and lacemaking pins, but in reality the item may have been used as a type of hat or dress pin.

Examples have been excavated in Norwich (Margeson 1993, Nos. 21-23) and are dated to the late 16^th to 17^th centuries. A very similar example to this is in the Norfolk Museums Collection (see Margeson, 1993 Palte III). Other such pins or bodkins have been reported as treasure and are similar to this example in their decoration, in particular 2015 T979, 2016 T524 and 2013 T549.