Metal Detector Find

Event ID 964922

Category Recording

Type Metal Detector Find

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/964922

NO 0987 2690 Illegal metal detecting within the scheduled area of Bertha Roman fort recovered mostly non-descript, modern detritus along with a Romano-British copper alloy brooch and a 19th-century dress fitting. The brooch is an enamelled umbonate disc brooch with a catch-pin fastening. It measures 40 x 39.4mm; max thickness 17.4mm; and weighs 19.12g (with some adhering soil, including charcoal flecks). It is comparable, though not identical to a disc brooch from Newstead. It presumably falls within a 2nd 3rd-century date bracket. Although the majority of the blue and red chevron enamel cells are intact the central, round cell, is empty and the brooch is generally abraded, with damage to the projections and the pin (the tip of which is missing).

The enamelled copper alloy dress fitting is in a style, colouring and condition which suggest a medieval inspired, 19th-century date. It measures 18.2mm in diameter, with a closed length of 16.1mm and a fully open length of 47.9mm. It weighs 5.33g. On one side is a crescent moon and star (the moon infilled with scrolls against white enamel; the star surrounded by pellets against a blue enamel ground). The other side shows a bird that looks rather like a flamingo, but may be intended as a pelican in her piety image. Two pairs of closing rings are hinged by small floral studs. Two further single rings may have lost their matching opposites.

Claimed as Treasure Trove (TT 85/10), allocated to Perth Museum and Art Gallery, with no finder reward being paid

Perth Museum and Art Gallery/ National Museums Scotland