File:Roman T shaped brooch (FindID 715377).jpg

An almost complete (the pin is missing) Roman (AD 50-150) copper alloy and enamel Developed T-shape brooch with hinge mechanism. The brooch measures 32.6mm in length and weighs 6.17g.

The wings span 23.2mm and are tubular. A fragment of the pin and axis bar are still in place. There is a black substance visible at both ends of the tubular area. To the front the wings are decorated with a pair of transverse grooves at either end located next to the tip of both wings.

The bow curves outwards from the top of the wings (10.3mm wide) before slowly tapering to the foot, it is broadly D shaped in cross section. The bow is decorated with multiple motifs, Two raised verital ridges are visible adjacent to the recess for the pin which are decorated with transverse grooves. The ridges terminate in a horizontal incision. The central section of the bow is raised, two incisions, one on either side is visible running along the edge of the bow. The central section of the bow is decorated with three raised lozengeform sections which are flanked on either side by two incised lines which form four triangles. The raised lozenegeforms have lozengeform recesses which are filled with enamel, red enamel survives in the central recess. Below the third raised lozengeform the bow has a slight raised pointed central vertical ridge which gently shallows towards the foot. The foot into a broadly circular knop which is decorated with four vertical grooves.

The catchplate runs along around a third of the reverse of the bow, it broadly triangular in plan, the tip of the catchplate has been bent inwards to hold the pin which is missing. The reverse of the bow is flat and undecorated.

The Developed T-shaped brooch has a south-western spread (centred on Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire and Hampshire)and dates from the second half of the first century to the first half of the second century. The south-western T-shaped group further developed to incorporate elements from the Polden Hill, Trumpet and Headstud brooches. The integrally cast tab on the headloop was not always pierced, where it occurs, and therefore was not essentially functional (Bayley and Butcher, 2004, p.167).