Roman or just old shears?

Hi everyone,
I hope you can help please. I recently had my garden landscaped and the builders unearthed a few things that look interesting - this being one of them. They measure approx 11 inches long and appear to be scissors or perhaps shears? They are still so easy to push together it's amazing considering they have obviously been buried for a very long time.
I do know there was a Celtic-Romano temple about 200 yards from my garden and I can't help but wonder ....
Can anyone help with an approximate date please?
Thanks for your help.
Jane

 

They do look like shears for sheep shearing, sorry don’t know how old.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/15377705...MI197E1fye8AIVjtrVCh0C_wG8EAQYBiABEgJdJvD_BwE

 

Hi,
I have the same pattern as yours only mine is from my grandmother who got them in the 1800s. They are grass cutters.
greg

 

Not sure how accurate Wikipedia is.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wolseley_Sheep_Shearing_Machine_Company

 

Hi again,
Thank you both for your replies. I hadn't thought of grass cutters but I can see they'd do the job. I live in a rural area surrounded by woods and fields so I guess they may have been used for sheep or grass, but sadly probably nothing more interesting. I just wanted to check with the experts as it's not an item you dig up every day!
Thanks again,
Jane.

 

Sheep Shears! They've been around for FOREVER!!!

 

i remember our gardener in the 60's using them to trim grass around flowerbeds.....

 

Loving the grass sheep - my shears would do the job perfectly! Maybe I'll clean them up and get grass cutting! Thank you all - I'm still very happy about digging up the past, worthless or not - I'll never lose that fascination of all things old and the wondering of who touched them last!

 

In the UK, those are hedger's shears. I've used them. Nineteenth century probably, although the design has been around for centuies.