Casgliadau Arlein

Wrought sheet copper alloy cauldron fragment including rim (width c.145mm, height c.275mm, rim length 83mm), although now flattened, originally hemispherical in form. The fragment is creased with folds; it is uncertain whether they are ancient or modern. The external surface is darker than the internal surface, presumably as a result of oxidisation through use. The rim is a smooth finished edge below which are pierced four unevenly spaced rivet holes (diameter c.2-2.75mm) one of which retains a copper alloy rivet. The rivet is hammered flush with the internal surface and protrudes c.1mm out of the external surface suggesting the rim was reinforced by a thin external band. There is a faint corrosion differential on the external surface of the rim running parallel to the edge c.11-15mm below it. The internal surface has been repaired, four patches survive and differential corrosion associated with a fifth is observable. The patches were fixed by small rivets and areas of dark blackening around the patch edges suggest that they were possibly brazed in part as well. The superimposition of two of the patches demonstrates that the technique was only partially successful. Part of the fragment's edge has been deliberately cut in antiquity. Weight 67.5 grammes.

WA_SC 11.1