File:CAM-836BE7, Early Medieval small long brooch (FindID 273969).jpg

English: A cast copper alloy small-long brooch of early Anglo-Saxon date, with a rectangular headplate decorated with rows of punched stamps around the edge of both head and foot. The stamps appear to be single crescents around the headplate, but double crescents around the splayed terminal of the foot; they may originally have been the same, but have been more worn around the head.

One corner of the headplate is damaged or deliberately clipped. The break appears to be old. Finds Advisor Helen Geake examined this corner on the 25/11/09 and described it as follows: "The shape is unusual. One side of the square headplate has no stamps and its lower corner is incurved. It's not clear how this has been done; whether the metal has not filled the mould but the headplate was cleaned, finished and polished anyway, resulting in an unusual shape, or whether the corner has been removed and the cut then cleaned up. There is no apparent reason for the removal of this corner: a) the curve is not completely regular, so it doesn't look like a well-executed cut-out, b) a curved cut-out is normally not at the corner but on the lower edge, c) there's no embellishment (e.g. an eye) which would suggest that the shape of a bird's head was being aimed at".

The bow is a low arch with four worn facets and no surviving decoration. Below the bow is a flat panel. The terminal is sub-triangular and is bordered by stamps. Between the top of the terminal and the flat panel are two rectangular mouldings. The reverse is flat except behind the bow, which is hollowed. The catchplate is located behind the flat panel but most of the catchplate is missing. Scrapes revealing the original bright metal can been seen on the catchplate. There is the corroded remains of an iron pin behind the headplate. The patina is mid green. The majority of the reverse is covered in a light green corrosion product.

Small-long brooches appear in the early 5th century and survive well into the 6th century. They were normally worn in pairs (MacGregor and Bolick 1993, 124-125). The closest parallels found are in MacGregor and Bolick 1993, 129-132 nos.15.17,15.26 and 15.27. Weight 9.12g, length 58.29mm, width of headplate 22.14mm, thickness of terminal 1.5mm.