William Joyner

During the Bronze age jewellery and personal ornaments were made from metal, both bronze and gold. This is a bronze pin-head of the sunflower type. It is a bronze disc with a central boss and a projection on the underside where the pin has broken off. It is decorated with two sets of incised concentric circles and the rim is upturned. This pin-head is part of a collection of bronzes donated to Marischal Museum, Aberdeen in July 1984. The donation included the donor�s great-grandfather William Joyner�s original collection of the Dingwall hoard of bronzes taken by him to Natal, South Africa in 1851 and two other bronzes. The hoard comprises this pin-head, two socketed axes and a rare neck-ring, all dating from the later Bronze Age, 1100-700BC and found together near Dingwall in the early 19th century. The two other bronzes became associated with the collection while in Africa and are probably of African origin. During the prehistoric period collections of metal or stone items, often of value to the community or individuals, were buried or deposited in wet places. Axeheads, swords, halberds and ornaments are often found in these hoards. The type of artefact found in a hoard is probably not typical of everyday objects. However, the associations of different objects can help to establish the dates of artefact types.