ROMANO-BRITISH BERKSHIRE 



the Continent ; in any case, they take us back to a time when trade or intercourse with Italy 

 must at present remain a mere matter of speculation. 



With the exception of three found at Reading (figs, i, 6, 8), the series here illustrated 

 was bequeathed to the Museum by Mr. Davies of Wallingford, who for many years was known 

 to be a collector of local antiquities, and often secured specimens from labourers and others 

 in his neighbourhood. It is conceivable that some were obtained from the Continent ; but 



the absence of any note to that effect, 

 combined with the discovery of still 

 earlier specimens in the county, may be 

 held to justify their inclusion in a his- 

 tory of Berkshire. 



To an Italian type well represented 

 in Central Europe belongs the boat- 

 shaped brooch (fig. i) now without its 

 pin, which was really a continuation of 

 the bow in the form of wire, with one 

 or two coils on one side of the head. 

 The evolution of this type from the 

 primitive form, which was most like a 

 modern safety-pin, has been worked 

 out, 1 and about midway in the series 

 comes the ' leech ' type, which had an 

 arched but solid bow and a shorter 



FIG. i. EARLY ITALIAN BROOCH OF BRONZE, 

 BATTLE FARM, READING (f). 



catch-plate than the specimen here figured. Subsequent developments included some ungainly 

 specimens which were reduced in weight by hollowing the bow, much like a canoe. Speci- 

 mens are plentiful from Hallstatt, and it is supposed that all are previous to the introduction 

 of the Bolognese brooch known as the Certosa type in the fifth century B.C. 



The next specimen (fig. 2) has all the appearance of being a degenerate descendant of 

 what is known as the ' serpentine ' brooch of the Hallstatt period. One almost identical 

 in the British Museum comes from Italy ; and it is interesting to find that one of about the 

 same stage of development, or rather decadence, has been excavated from Hampshire 

 soil. It would require a long series of illustrations to show the stages connecting these 

 with the earliest examples having double loops in the bow ; but from the typological 

 point of view the series is complete, and has been illustrated by Prof. Montelius, though the 

 latest stages are given in another work. 2 It must suffice to mention here that the projections 

 from the undulating bow represent horns which were added to the thickened bends that 

 supplanted the two original loops of the bow. This explanation also accounts for the zig-zag 

 form of the bow when seen from the side (fig. 2). The forked spring at the head is not an 

 uncommon feature of early Italian brooches, though the single or double coil on one side of 

 the head is characteristic ; and it should be observed that the pin is merely an extension of 

 the bow, the whole brooch being in one piece. 



Fie. 2. EARLY ITALIAN BROOCH OF BRONZE. 

 (Reading Museum) J. 



Somewhat firmer ground is reached with the specimens here illustrated of the type known 

 as Early La Tne (La Tne I). The name is derived from the well-known site on the shore 

 of Lake Neuchitel (Marin), where a population of Celtic origin was settled during the last 



1 Montelius, Die typologische Metbode, pp. 43-51 ; a summary is given in Guide to Early Iron Age 

 Antiquities (British Museum), pp. 31-33. 



Spanntn frdn Sronsdldern, figs. 100 (Suessola, near Naples) and 88 (Bologna), in Antiquarisk Tid- 

 skrift for Sverige, vi. pp. 77, 68. 



223 



