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Artist
Name	Unknown
Basic Info
Period	Roman Imperial period, Late, to Early Byzantine
Created in	Ancient & Byzantine World, Asia, Antioch (Syria)
Century	1st millennium CE
Culture	Roman
Dimensions	14.1 cm, 0.3 cm, 0.2 cm (5 9/16 in., 1/8 in., 1/16 in.)
Harvard Museum
Department	Department of Ancient and Byzantine Art & Numismatics
Division	Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact	am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Context

The long, thin shaft of this plain pin is circular in section with a square, ridged finger-grip near the midpoint. The shaft is slightly bent. Both ends of the pin have been broken and are now blunt. Similar objects, classified as probes, are known from Olynthus (1).
 
NOTES:
 
1. See D. M. Robinson, Metal and Minor Miscellaneous Finds, an Original Contribution to Greek Life, Excavations at Olynthus 10 (Baltimore, 1941) nos. 1673-74.
 
David Smart

TechnicalDetails

Technical Observations

The pin is intact. The patina is a rough black surface with some burial accretions. The surface is corroded and rough. One small area of smooth surface has survived. The pin was made by casting and hot working to form the shaft. The tapered shape was hammered from a rod. A 2-cm area at the center with diagonal grooves and a square section are the result of cold working.
 
Carol Snow and Henry Lie (submitted 2002, updated 2010)

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of the Committee for the Excavation of Antioch and its Vicinity

Pin

TechnicalDetails