Casgliadau Arlein

This fragment of a polished stone pin is probably a jet made hairpin of Roman date.

The pin is broken at both ends and has an oval to circular cross-section. The end is wide but thinner and the object gradually narrows while becoming broader towards the opposite end. It seems to have been decorated as there are signs of a shallow perforation on one broken end. The round perforation doesn't cut all the way through the pin, indicating it would have been a decorative indented circle. The opposite side has striations running across the shaft.

The missing head makes identification uncertain. Jet hairpins have been recovered from Roman Britain, often from 3rd to 4th century burials but are far less common than their bone or metal equivalents. Pins with decorated indentations like this one are also rarely found and difficult to parallel.