Casgliadau Arlein

A copper alloy pin with a separate ring in the head, from the Roman era.

This pin is both unique and unusual as Roman pins are quite rare. It's far longer and wider than most Roman pins (this pin is 170mm while others are rarely longer than 130mm) The separate ring is also fairly uncommon and was most probably added later.

The length and width of the pin would have probably made it impractical as a hairpin or to pin fine clothing. Perhaps it was intended to hold cruder coarse fabrics.

It's difficult to find comparable examples to this pin. Cool's (1991) study doesn't include any comparable items. A few examples in the Portable Antiquities Scheme show Roman pins with perforations that could fit a ring, but the rings themselves don't survive. Previous excavations on the Whitton Roman Villa site discovered much smaller copper alloy pins without rings. Pins with rings through the head are actually more common to Hiberno-Norse traditions, but the decorations on the head are more typically Roman.

The pin was deposited in a context alongside 3rd to 4th century material suggesting it's from this date.

Description; The pin is 170mm long with a diameter of 7mm. The top of the pin is highly decorated and also perforated with a separate ring. The decorations are basically a series of five round and square shapes (sections or reels) getting smaller until they join the body of the pin with is undecorated. The top, first, shape is flattened dome shape. It has a ring of incised lines around its edge. The second was originally circular but has been hammered flat on either side and perforated to make space for the additional metal ring. The metal ring itself is quite crude with overlapping ends and an inconsistent diameter. The fact that it is so much simpler, and that the second shape was hammered flat to accomodate it suggests that the ring was added later. The third shape is round in shape with two knops (a knop is a decorative knob) in the front and back. The fourth and fifth shapes are then square in shape. The long shaft of the pin is decorated at the very top with a grooved border. The shaft is circular and gradually narrows to the tip.

The pin is complete but distorted (slightly bent) at the top of the shaft. The very end of the tip is also slightly damaged.