‘Neat as a pin’: an Early Iron Age find from Harlow, Essex

Recent excavations by the CA field team ahead of a road scheme near Harlow, Essex, produced a wealth of finds, including an assemblage relating to what appears to have been a settlement site of Early Iron Age date (c. 700-400 BCE). The vast majority of artefacts were ceramic, such as pottery sherds and loom weights. However, one notable exception was a beautifully preserved copper-alloy pin excavated from a pit, which was probably utilised to secure elements of clothing in place.

Ring-headed pin

This pin is of the ‘ring-headed’ type. Several hundred examples of these are known, mostly from Britain and Ireland. Some have also been found in Scotland, with others scattered through northern France. Thought to date c. 600-400 BCE, they are often formed from a single, cast rod of metal – worked to a point at one end and bent round at the other to form an open, ring-shaped head (hence their name). While some are ornately decorated with bosses or open fittings intended for inlays of coral, glass or enamel, others are totally plain or decorated in a very minimalistic style with simple grooves or notches. The Harlow pin fits well with the latter group, featuring a small group of raised, moulded ridges at the point where its wound head meets the shank.

When found archaeologically, these objects usually originate from features on settlement sites, which hints that they were a widespread, perhaps everyday dress accessory. However, it does not seem that all were lost accidentally – many occur with other finds that appear to have been placed into pits or postholes intentionally. The reasons for this are uncertain, though this behaviour has often been explained in the context of religious beliefs – the ‘sacrifice’ of objects perhaps being undertaken to ensure good harvests, for example.

In recent years, the number of ring-headed pins known from England and Wales has been added to not only by archaeological excavation, but also through metal detectorists responsibly recording their finds via the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS). The analysis of these stray finds alongside those from excavations has helped to better understand these artefacts, their distribution clustering in Wessex and the upper Thames Valley as well as eastern England. In the longer term, further study could reveal the presence of regional fashions, and perhaps even demonstrate how those fashions might have changed over time.

Alex Bliss (Finds Officer)

The excavations were undertaken ahead of the Harlow M11 highway scheme, working for Graham Construction on behalf of Essex County Council.

The site during excavation