Finds Tray – Spherical knop

This artefact was discovered by a metal-detectorist near Corringham, Lincolnshire, earlier this year. It has been identified as one of the spherical knops from an Iron Age openwork toggle or possibly a fragment from a horse harness, and is believed to date to c.200 BC-AD 42.

It measures 22.8mm in length and 20.7mm in diameter with two stems, likely remnants of the toggle’s frame, extending outward from the base of the knop. The rest of the bars have broken off. The knop is decorated with a layer of inlaid red enamel and a central raised copper-alloy La Tène ‘S’ spiral, formed from two keeled roundels. The toggle can be stylistically dated to the late Iron Age by comparing other ‘S’ spirals found on terrets and other horse-harness fittings – its presence on this kind of object, however, lacks a direct parallel.

Although similar decorative elements appear on other late Iron Age artefacts in Britain, this is the first known example from Lincolnshire. Additionally, while similarly shaped toggles have previously been recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS), they were either undecorated or had only minimal adornment. Therefore, the toggle has been identified as a find of local importance.