Square-Headed Brooch
This specific brooch was uncovered at the West Stow archeological site, alongside other forms of brooches. Multiple brooches were found in sunken-featured buildings, where it is theorized that the SFBs were used as workshops- suggesting their high demand in the community.
The common materials to use in brooches were copper alloy and silver. The brooch’s symbolic meaning, aside from its practical purpose of fastening garments, was that it was an indicator of social status. Square-headed brooches were of varying qualities in design and material. A square-headed brooch may have an exquisite design that took months to craft, while others could be more crude and simple. This characteristic is reflected in burials and supported by the archeological record at West Stow. In addition, these brooches hint at Roman origins, where they displayed religious, cultural, and symbolic aspects.
I digitally reconstructed the square-headed brooch using photos taken from the museum using Recap Pro and Recap Photo. Then, I uploaded the 80+ pictures to it into a 3D model, but ran into issues with software glitches and non-updated computers.
Having technology to remake the brooch made me appreciative of what past historians did to reconstruct and study artifacts. Not only did I obtain a better idea of how the object looked and its dimensions, but it has also made me realize how fortunate modern students are with their unlimited access to past academia and the need to provide these valuable resources to more students.
