|
Date: |
|
Description: | An incomplete cast copper-alloy artefact of early-medieval date: possibly a strap fitting. The object consists of a rectangular bar terminating in a broken loop in the same plane at one end, and a complete loop, not quite perpendicular to the bar, at the other. The bar is slightly curved upwards, with one of the terminal loops raised or depressed depending on how this incomplete object is interpreted. At the broken terminal the bar bifurcates into what may have been an open circle; just under half of this survives. The upright loop has an expanded oval head (17.0 x 13.15mm) which is almost parallel to the bar. This is decorated with four triangular grooves arranged in saltire, but not meeting at the centre.
The artefact is difficult to parallel, but has affinities with the group of late Anglo-Saxon or Anglo-Scandinavian 'socketed hooks' (see, for example, LIN-F29FC4 and BUC-1C1BB6). One has been published, a so-called 'hooked mount' illustrated in Read (2001, 8; ref. 39). Socketed hooks share with this object a similar upright loop, decorated in the same manner. On the socketed hooks, a thin diagonal strip connects the terminal loop to the bar; there is a scar on the upper surface on the bar suggesting a similar strip. It might be that these objects are strap junctions, with the broken loop on this example attached to the hook on the example documented by Read and elsewhere.
An incomplete parallel has been recorded on the PAS database at SUR-552D78, and a seemingly standalone loop bearing similar decoration has been found in the vicinity and recorded at HAMP-5D7A36.
The red-brown colour to which this object has corroded suggests a late early-medieval date for the object (c. 11th century AD). This would be consistent with objects found in the vicinity, and with the Ringerike-style engraving found on the similar socketed hooks. | Subjects: | Anglo-Scandinavian | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Creator: | Webley, Robert - Portable Antiquities Scheme | Identifier: | http://www.findsdatabase.org.uk/hms/pas_... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
|
|