6th-9th century AD. A very large slightly dished silvered bronze disc brooch with a circular central perforation, surrounded by a ring of punched dots; to the outside a series of quadrants delineated with punched dots, each containing a ring-and-dot motif; a slightly eccentric outer border of punched dots; pin-lug and catchplate to the reverse. Cf. Middle Saxon examples in West. S. A Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Finds From Suffolk, East Anglian Archaeology 84, Ipswich, 1998, p.253, figs.7-9. 32 grams, 59mm (2 1/4"). From an old English collection; found UK. Disc brooches are a long-lived Anglo-Saxon fashion, with little variation in the design; early examples were worn by females in pairs at the shoulders but the present brooch is much larger than the 5th-6th century examples (typically 3-3.5cm) and is large enough to have fastened a cloak or shawl in the manner of those shown on the shepherds in the 'Romulus and Remus' scene on the Franks Casket.