Head of a pin: seated figure with cap

This is a cast pin in the form of a male figure, as suggested by the slight bulge at the front of his thick neck. The figure has a very large head, with a prominent nose, puffy cheeks, pointed chin, and thick brow. He wears a beret over his wavy hair. He has a tiny, squatting body, and his feet rest on either side of the top of the pin’s shaft, much of which no longer survives. The figure itself is made of copper, while the shaft of the pin is bronze.

This pinhead was excavated at Surkh Dum, a settlement site in Luristan in the Zagros Mountains of western Iran. It was part of a hoard of objects buried beneath the floor of a structure interpreted as a sanctuary; thus the objects were probably offerings made for a god. Such pins were probably used to fasten clothing and as objects of adornment in their own right.

The style and imagery of this figure are unparalleled. Although many stylized human figures made of bronze have been attributed to Luristan, this is one of the only excavated examples. That it looks nothing like a canonical Luristan bronze suggests either that it was made elsewhere and imported, or that Luristan bronzes themselves come from somewhere else.