Brooch, Carzield
This artefact was found during the excavations of Carzield Fort
in 1965. This brooch would have been used as a cloak fastener, and
was discovered discarded amongst an area of the fort which is
believed to have been a contemporary Roman rubbish spread.
Roman decorative pieces
Copper alloy objects were often tinned or silvered. Tinning
simply requires the object to be dipped in molten tin, while
silvering was achieved by beating out silver foil and attaching it
to the object with lead/tin solder.
Tinning was used for helmets, scabbard and belt fittings,
cavalry harness and even armour. Silvering was used on cavalry
equipment. Dagger sheaths were sometimes decorated with silver,
brass or gold inlays. From the second century AD onwards enamel
inlay became popular.