Copper Plate Brooch
In shape, this brooch resembles a collection of Anglo-Saxon brooches known as the East Anglian Series in that is it flat rather than convex, unlike many other Anglo-Saxon brooches that imitated Scandinavian styles.[2] However, the East Anglian Series was of English manufacture but Scandinavian art design, and this brooch resembles the Series in shape only, and takes on its own decoration that catches the eye with its color and possible Christian imagery. East Anglian Series brooches, as well as many other kinds of round brooches, were mass-produced.[3] Someone clearly paid money to have this one made in a distinct style and wanted to show off that they’d been able to pay enough money to have it made specifically for them. If the cross, in this case, does symbolize the owner’s Christian faith, they wanted to make it apparent with this visible item of decoration.
Due to the brooch’s proximity to the Danelaw and its date which puts it there after the Danelaw had been established, it is possible that the brooch belonged to a Danish person or other viking who had settled there or whose family had settled there. Though it is not clear if the pattern in the center is definitely Christian imagery, the possibility coupled with the idea that it had belonged to a former viking or descendant of a viking suggests that the vikings of the Danelaw had begun to convert to Christianity.
