1st century AD. A hair pin made of glass, with cylindrical twisted shaft tapering to a sharp pointed tip for easy insertion into the hair. See Tyrrell, R., 'Bone hairpins', in Atkinson M. and Preston Heybridge S.J., A Late Iron Age and Roman Settlement, Excavations at Elms Farm 1993-5, Internet Archaeology 40, 2015. 1.74 grams, 16cm (6 1/4"). From a Surrey, UK, collection; originally from a London, UK, gallery. Examples of hair pins have been found in a wide array of materials, such as bone, bronze, glass, and stone, abundantly within the various settlements of the Roman Empire. Hairstyles requiring the use of hairpins were a Roman fashion, and evidently quickly became popular in all the provinces after the Roman conquest. Roman pins were employed to facilitate the elaborate female hairstyles of the Roman matronae. The hair would have to be twisted and coiled, to prevent the smooth pin from falling out. [No Reserve]