Casgliadau Arlein

Fragment of a small sprung brooch. It is related to the Developed Polden Hill type. The brooch had a pierced lug at the crest to secure the external chord but this lug is now broken off. To either side of the head are moulded appendages, extending in this case only as far as the bottom of the side wings. An elongated V-shaped tongue of bronze extends down the bow from the chord lug and terminates in a raised triangle of bronze, the whole being the skeuomorph of the chord hook. A short distance below the end of the vestigial chord hook is a panel of ornament consisting of two rows of conjoined triangular recesses which leave a row of upstanding lozenges of bronze running down the centre of the bow. Unfortunately the brooch is broken across this decoration so the extent of the decorative panel cannot be determined. There is no evidence to suggest that the triangles were originally infilled.