File:Iron Age copper alloy bow brooch (FindID 449202).jpg

English: Iron Age copper alloy bow brooch, of La Tène III (Nauheim Derivative) type and of 1st century BC to 1st century AD date

The brooch is incomplete, missing the pin and with some peripheral damage (with a length of 42.3mm, a surviving depth of 12.0mm and a weight of 2.6g). The brooch is of one-piece construction with a bilateral spring, coiling twice each side of the bow and with an internal chord (The spring has a width of 9.4mm and is of 1.7mm diameter). The bow is of oval section (with a width at the head of 3.6mm and a thickness of 1.8mm) with straight sides, converging to a point at the foot. The mid-part of the bow is decorated with a column of horizontal grooves and an incised border is discernible running parallel to each side. The solid catch-plate projects linearly from the rear of the leg and is as wide as the leg, thinning to the catch. There is the suggestion of an incised line border on the outside face of the catch-plate, echoing the catch on the opposite face. The surface has a dark green patina and with areas of golden bronze surface exposed.

La Tène III brooches have a distribution concentrated in the southern part of England, with only a few outliers to the north and in South Wales