Casgliadau Arlein

Roman copper alloy mount or brooch of Dragonesque type and of mid 1st to late 2nd century AD date The probable Dragonesque brooch is incomplete and slightly distorted, missing both terminals (with a surviving length of 35.5mm, a surviving width of 173mm and a weight of 7.2g). The brooch has the characteristic cast S-shaped form and is of flat section (4.6mm thick). The face is decorated with four curvilinear cells containing alternating red and (currently) green enamel arranged each side of a central transverse border. The surface is heavily corroded and any other decorative details have now been lost. The rear of the brooch is undecorated and slightly concave. The surface is heavily-corroded and pitted with a dark-green patina.

It seems likely that the item is an incomplete Dragonesque brooch, but may also have been a decorative enamelled S-shaped mount, or decorative element from a larger object. Dragonesque brooches are a British native type with few recorded examples from Wales or the west of Britain, with many being recovered from frontier areas in Northern Britain.