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Description: | Copper alloy zoomorphic harness hook, probably dating to the 13th or 14th century. This hook is 53.28mm long and weighs 20.69 grammes and is moulded in one piece. The top portion of the hook is shaped to resemble the body and head of an animal, possibly a dragon. The head is 12.46mm long and 8.2mm wide. It is rectangular in plan and square in section. It has two small indentations to represent eyes, two incised lines down the back of its head, between which is a small incised ??v?? with the point facing upwards, and two indentations representing nostrils on the end of the snout. The mouth is formed from a horizontal line incised across the front of the snout and small triangular wedges have been carved in to give the impression of triangular, pointy teeth. The body of the animal is limbless and plain, and is slightly pear shaped, being subrectangular in plan and subcircular in section, swelling out towards its lower half. It extends for 20.52mm from the base of the head and is 10.01mm at its widest point.
Beneath the body of the animal, the object continues into a narrower shaft that is 9.1mm long and 6.3mm thick. From there the hook begins, wider than the shaft, giving the shaft a waisted appearance. It curves forward in the same direction as the animal??s head. The hook part itself is rather crude, being 4.6mm thick, curving round to a blunt end. The object is fairly worn and pitted, but has a very even mid green patina with some brown patches. The thick, crude nature of this hook makes it unlikely to be a clothes fastener, and though its true purpose remains unknown, it seems likely to be some form of horse furniture. See Griffiths 1989; also Read, 1988, History Beneath Our Feet, page 61. | Subjects: | Zoomorphic | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://www.findsdatabase.org.uk/hms/pas_... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
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