File:Roman zoomorphic plate brooch (incomplete) (FindID 577028).jpg

English: An incomplete copper-alloy plate brooch, dating from the Roman period.

The remaining portion of the brooch takes the form of a stylised eagle, who stands to the right, the body curving downwards, terminating in a pointed tail. The folded wing is represented by a band of parallel grooves on the upper half of the bird, which are incised into the convex surface of the brooch. On the head, a single ring-and-dot punchmark represents the eye. The upper half of the open beak is largely missing, as are the lower legs, which angle forwards from the knee. The pin attachment consists of a single right-angled lug, located at the tail end of the concave reverse, its perforation and the surrounding area covered with iron corrosion from the otherwise missing pin.

Length: 31.2mm; height: 21.3mm; thickness: 3.6mm; weight: 4.28g.

This brooch is part of an 'Eagle and hare' type. The now-missing hare would originally have been at the front of the brooch, held within the talons and beak of the bird. A parallel for this piece, found in Norfolk, is illustrated by Hattatt (1987: 228/ fig. 71, no. 1161), who suggests such brooches are of British manufacture and probably date from the late 2nd to early 3rd centuries AD. Similar brooches on the PAS database include NLM-EB0006 (Old Winteringham, Lincs) and SF-BAD294 (Worlington, Suffolk).