File:Late Bronze Age copper alloy cup-headed pin (FindID 449315).jpg

The pin is complete (with a distorted length of 237mm, a straightened length of approximately 270mm and a weight of 32.7g). The head has a slightly oval mouth (13.4mm - 14.3mm external diameter, 12mm internal diameter and 3mm deep). The sides of the cup-head are straight and parallel before curving sharply to the shaft. The interior of the cup-head contains no discernible decoration and is filled with corrosion. The pin shaft is of circular section and has a prominent swelling beneath the head (positioned 20mm beneath the head and producing a maximum diameter of 7.8mm). Beneath the swelling, there appears to be a slight rounded lug on one side of the shaft (8mm long, 2mm thick and 2mm high). The shaft gradually thins to the comparatively wide tip. No applied decoration is evident on the pin. The surface is mostly encrusted with sand and shell, and elsewhere has a grey brown surface.

The pin has been problematic to date due to the lack of cultural affinities, however, Eogan (1974, p 98-101) has stated that Cup-headed pins are characteristic of Late Bronze Age Ireland. The size of the head of this example, may be seen as comparatively small, where Irish examples vary from 16-27mm (ibid) but the length of the shaft is comparatively massive. Cup-headed pins have a sparse distribution in Britain with only three recorded examples by O'Connor (1980, p 560) , with the Swansea pin representing the furthest west example recovered in mainland Britain. An example of a cup-headed in the Heathery Burn Cave hoard provides a Ewart Park association for the artefact type in Britain, dated by Needham (1996) to Period 7, c. 950-750BC.