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Description: | Cast copper alloy button and loop fastener of 2nd century date. The head of the button and loop fastener is circular in plan and cylindrical in profile (section). It has a diameter of 16.1mm, and a thickness of 4.6mm. The integral cast shank (loop) is attached approximately in the centre of the rear of the button (head) and offset at approximately 90 degrees to the plain of the head. The shank is sub-oval in plan, with a central cast sub-circular hole. The profile of the shank is sub-oval or D shaped. The shank is 19.7mm long, 17.5mm wide and 4.8mm thick. The button and loop fastener weighs 14.34 grams.
The front head of the button is decorated with a complicated series of incised curvi-linear lines and dots. There are two specific design motifs apparent. The first is created by the incised dots, which seem to have been created by drilling as each one is circular and has the same diameter (approximately 0.1mm). These dots are placed in a number of evenly spaced concentric rows and are contained within curvi-linear incised lines. The second design motif is created by enclosing undecorated areas (areas with no dots) within incised curvi-linear lines. This creates a striking pattern which is defined specifically by differences in texture. These two design motifs create an interlocking pattern of three areas of incised dots and two plain areas in a roughly sub-triangular pattern. Some of the definition of this pattern has been lost due to corrosion.
The side of the head also has a limited amount of decoration with two parallel incised lines. The two lines are 0.5mm wide and are set 3mm apart and 0.3mm from the edge.
The rear of the head of the button is plain.
The loop or shank is also relatively plain with only one element of decoration. This is located close to where the shank joins the rear of the button, on the upper surface of the loop. The decoration consists of a single moulded linear indentation. This decoration separates the ring of the loop into two elements which re-enforce the idea of a loop rather than an all-in-one moulded ring fastening. This might suggest that the original mode of fastening for similar objects was with a loop (possibly of cord) created separately to the head of the button and attached to the rear.
The whole of the button and loop fastener is covered in a dark green-brown patina. There are, however, a number of small patches of light green, active, corrosion. Some of this corrosion has affected the intricate pattern on the face of the button and has resulted in a loss of definition through loss of surface.
This example would probably fit best into Class V (c) of J.P. Wild??s classification of button and loop fasteners in the Roman Provinces (1970). This class (V c) consists of fasteners with flat disc heads, however, Wild does not mention whether these examples have incised decoration. Also Wild dates these fasteners to the second century AD (100-200 AD) but due to the age of the classification this date range may well have been refined or extended. Thus a larger date bracket of the later Iron Age to Early Roman period (150BC ?? 200 AD) has been suggested. | Subjects: | Class Vc | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Creator: | Reavill, Peter - Portable Antiquities Scheme | Identifier: | http://www.findsdatabase.org.uk/hms/pas_... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
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