A unique Roman brooch decorated with enamel in a zig-zag pattern has been acquired by the National Museums Scotland and will be going on display for the first time in a new exhibition. What makes it so extraordinary is that it fuses local Celtic artistic traditions with Roman design, creating a one-of-a-kind piece on the archaeological record of Roman Britain.

Created around 100-160 A.D., the brooch is made of bronze with the graceful curves of Celtic metalwork and is decorated on the surface with alternating squares of red and yellow enamel in the vibrant colors and miniaturized precision of Roman technique. It is 6cm (2.4 inches) long. Scientific analysis of the surface found that it was originally coated with a thin layer of tin. This would have made the enamel shimmer and complimented the bright colors.

It was discovered in 2022 by a metal detectorist in field near Pathhead, Midlothian. Archaeologists believe it was made in northern England by skilled craftsmen who used the Roman brooches brought in with the invading legions as the base for a new hybrid that integrated local and imported styles.

Dr Fraser Hunter, principal curator of prehistory and Roman archaeology at National Museums Scotland, said: “The Pathhead brooch is a miniature masterpiece of craftworking and the details are exquisite.

“Fancy Roman pieces like this were unusual even at the time and were used to show off in local society.”

The exhibition, Roman Scotland: Life on the Edge of Empire runs from November 14, 2026, through April 28, 2027. It will focus on life at the frontier of the Empire, the soldiers in the legions, the locals who lived around its forts and depended on the occupation forces, and the ones who were threatened by the arrival of the invaders. The extraordinary altar to Mithras with the cut-out solar rays will also go on display in the new exhibition.

Dr Hunter said: “We’re really excited to be able to present new finds like this, things that have never been seen before, because they’re some of the things that really help drive the story and this, in particular, because it tells that story of interaction, because it’s a style of brooch that mixes the local and the Roman.”

The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery in Stoke-on-Trent has secured a rare Bronze Age solid gold dress fastener. The 3,000-year-old jewel with trumpet terminals is one of only seven found in England and Wales, and it’s the first to be found in Britain in over 30 years. It is the first to be found in Staffordshire ever, and is one of the finest examples ever discovered anywhere.

The fastener consists of a solid cast bow that ends in two trumpet-shaped terminal cones. The terminals were shaped by hammering and tiny hammer marks are visible on the terminals. There are also some light scratches on the bow that are likely from wear and tear. It weighs 109 grams.

The type of fastener has been found most frequently in hoard contexts in Ireland. During the Late Bronze Age, Irish goldsmiths produced some of the finest jewelry in Europe, and these trumpet terminal fasteners are believed to be among them.

It was found by a metal detectorist near Ellastone, Staffordshire, in 2023. The museum launched an appeal to raise the £150,000 ($200,000) necessary to keep this precious artifact in the county where it was discovered, and thanks to public and private donations and grants.

Curator of local history Joe Perry said the fastener would have been worn as a visible display of wealth and status, and it was likely the person who wore it was among the highest levels of Bronze Age society.

“To find such a rare artefact in the county changes our understanding of the region during the Bronze Age,” he said.

“We are incredibly pleased that this nationally important object will remain in a publicly accessible collection following a successful fundraising campaign.”

The museum is currently closed for a major refurbishment and is scheduled to open in the spring of 2027. The dress fastener will go on permanent display when the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery reopens.

An exceptional Roman gold ring with an intaglio stone depicting a winged Victory driving a two-horse chariot has been acquired by the South West Heritage Trust and will become part of the permanent collection at The Museum of Somerset.

The ring is heavy at 48 grams and is decorated with abstract openwork patterns, niello enamel and an ovoid intaglio nicolo. The gold openwork hoop that has two sharp angles at the bottom known as keels with flat sides leading up to rounded shoulders. The openwork designs are peltas (crescent shapes). Each shoulder has a triangular panel infilled with an abstract motif in niello.

The intaglio is set in an oval bezel with indented edges that make it look like a decorative frame. The nicolo intaglio is a grey-blue color against a black background. A two-horse chariot (a biga) is driven by a winged Victory wearing a helmet. She wields a whip in her left hand and holds the reins in her right. The horses are captured rearing up on their hind legs as they spring forward. The horses are finely detailed, with delicately carved reins, harnesses and manes. Compare the detail on the horses and their driver to the much rougher carving on the ancient intaglio in the medieval seal found in Essex last year.

The ring was discovered by a metal detectorist near Ilminster, South Somerset, in 2018. The Trust was able to acquire the Ilminster Ring and a hoard of 297 Roman coins also found at the site for the assessed value of £78,010 thanks to grants and donations from the public. It’s going on a community engagement tour this summer, visiting primary schools and the Ilminster Arts Centre for Ilminster Ring Discovery Day.

“The Ilminster Ring is both large and heavy, with elaborate goldwork and a beautifully executed intaglio. While other examples are known, these elements combine to create a spectacular ring that is only paralleled by continental discoveries.

“Its discovery sheds light on how South Somerset’s Roman inhabitants navigated a period of unrest from 286–296. It is likely the ring was buried shortly after, in 297, as part of a hoard including coins, lead and pottery objects,” [said] Amal Khreisheh, Senior Curator at South West Heritage Trust.

A larger than life-sized statue of Agrippina the Elder, niece of Emperor Augustus. discovered at the ancient city of Veleia in Emilia Romagna, northern Italy centuries ago, has been restored and is back on display with 11 members of her family at the Archaeological Museum of Parma.

Conservators from the Complesso Monumentale della Pilotta in Parma had to clean the surface of years of grime and carefully remove thick layers of wax and varnish used in previous interventions. The layers had oxidized, darkening the statue and obscuring the details of the fine sculpture. The restoration illuminated Agrippina’s face, and archaeologists were able to see for the first time that the head was made of a block of pure white marble, unlike the rest of the statue which was made from veined marble.

The statue was one of a group of 12 portraits of members of the Julio-Claudian dynasty placed on a long podium next to a wall in the basilica of Veleia. They were discovered when the site was excavated by order of Duke Philip of Bourbon starting in 1760. The statues were one of the earliest discoveries in the initial Bourbonic excavation of Veleia. They underscore the city’s close ties to the imperial family, doubtless tightened by its patron, Lucius Calpurnius Piso who had been Julius Caesar’s brother-in-law. Piso’s portrait is one of the 12 Julio-Claudian sculptures and he is believed to have commissioned the group.

The statues were created in three stages. The first group made during the reign of Tiberius included the portraits of Augustus, his wife Livia, her son and his heir Tiberius and Tiberius’ brother Drusus the Elder and nephew Drusus the Younger. The statue of Piso was also in this first group. The second consisted of a portrait of Caligula, his sister Drusilla and mother Agrippina the Elder. After Caligula’s assassination and damnatio memoriae, the head of his portrait would be replaced with a portrait of Claudius, a substitution seen frequently in imperial statuary. That head of Claudius was created in the third phase, along with the portrait of Agrippina the Younger, Claudius’ wife, and her son Nero, then still a child.