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Description: | Cast copper alloy strap union consisting of two conjoined and perforated sub-triangular loops which form a figure-of-eight shape and are flanked on each side by a vertical bar attached to each loop. The back of the casting is flat, although the bars are slightly rounded in cross-section presumably through wear. The reverse of the fitting is marked by several fine scratches. Although the surface of the casting is pitted, there are faint traces of simple curvilinear motifs extending form the top of each loop towards their junctions with the vertical bars (these decorative motifs are paralleled by those on the strap junction from Churchdown, Gloucestershire cf. Watkins 1985). A relatively simple example of Taylor and Brailsford's Type I (1985, 247-253). Dimensions 32.5mm x 30mm x 5mm, weight 16.8grams. The date range of the Type extends from the first century BC in to the second half of the first century AD. The strap accommodated by this fitting would have had a maximum width of 15mm and a maximum thickness of 2mm. Although normally assumed to be harness fittings it is possible that small strap unions, such as this example, were used as human dress accessories (Watkins 1985, 319). | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
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