A 2nd century Roman enameled bronze brooch disc fibula found at a distillery in South Ayrshire, Scotland. The plate brooch is of a type usually found in eastern Gaul, Switzerland or the Rhineland and is a very rare find for Scotland. They were popular with Roman soldiers in the 2nd century, so it likely hitched a ride to Scotland with a soldier garrisoning the northernmost frontiers of the Roman Empire at Hadrian’s Wall.

The brooch is decorated with an intricate enameling pattern of two concentric circles cast into the disc. The outer circle has roundels of alternating colors against a blue background. The inner circle is white enamel with slices of millefiori enamel over the top of it. In the center is a raised knob riveted in place that originally had an enamel center which is now decayed.

It was found in a 2020 excavation at William Grant & Sons Girvan Distillery where archaeologists discovered the remains of an Iron Age settlement with a large roundhouse surrounded by a timber palisade with a gated entrance. The roundhouse was built on a rocky plateau that is naturally defensible. The strong wooden palisade and plateau-top location confirms that the owners, likely a prosperous farming family, prioritized their security.

The brooch was found at the bottom of the foundation trench of the timber palisade. It was not lost or discarded, not attached to a burial garment or included with other a grave furnishings, but rather deliberately placed as a foundation offering. There are several comparable examples of Roman brooches being used as boundary deposits in Scotland, so the brooches that made their way up north were held in high regard and used in ritual contexts.

‘It’s difficult to say exactly why the brooch was deposited within the palisade trench, but we know that ritualised foundation offerings are observed across many cultures, typically enacted to grant protection to a household, and this is certainly a possibility here,’ said Jordan Barbour. ‘As to how it ended up here, there are a few plausible scenarios. It’s the only Roman artefact recovered from the site. If the inhabitants had established regular trade with Roman Britain, we might expect to find a greater variety of Roman objects, but this is a solidly native context. Rather, the brooch is more likely to have been obtained through ad hoc exchange with Roman troops operating north of Hadrian’s Wall, perhaps even taken in battle as a trophy.’

The excavation have uncovered evidence of a much earlier roundhouse from the 7th century B.C., and pottery and pit alignments from a large timber monument going back to the Neolithic, between 3,700 and 3,500 BC.