Description

Summary: A La Tene I bronze brooch with wound coils, externals cords and incised decoration on the bow, from Cold Kitchen Hill, Brixton Deverill, Wiltshire.

Research results

An Iron Age brooch loaned to the Museum by collector Richard Hattatt, reportedly found on Cold Kitchen Hill, Brixton Deverill. Cold Kitchen Hill is known to be the site of an Iron Age settlement and probable Romano-British temple. The brooch is of an Early Iron Age form, although dating evidence is poor. The form was probably mainly in use between the third and fourth centuries BC, although it may have circulated for a much broader date range.

This brooch was examined by Adams (2013) as part of her PhD with the University of Leicester. This PhD examined an updated corpus of Iron Age Brooches across Britain in order to re-evaluate existing typologies and widely accepted chronology, as well as to investigate potential regional patterns and production. In particular the study highlights that direct dating evidence for most brooches is in fact quite poor, despite them often being used as chronological markers in the period. Reviewing all published radiocarbon dates associated with Iron Age brooches, Adams suggests that brooches were first introduced c. 450 BC, as well as refining the chronology of a number of specific types, although they note that the evidence is scarce.