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Description: | Incomplete cast copper alloy button and loop fastener of Wild's Class III which dates from 50-150 AD. The head of the button and loop fastener is sub-oval (tear-drop or petal shaped) in plan and elliptical in cross-section. The edges of the button head are slightly beveled. It measures 19.8mm in length, 13.1mm wide and is 3.6mm thick. The broken 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. It is sub-triangular in plan and sub-rectangular in section. The shank is broken approximately three quarters along its length. The shank is 15.3mm long, 2.4mm wide and 3.4mm thick. The button and loop fastener weighs 4.14 grams. The head of the button is decorated with a cast central circular raised boss. This boss is enclosed by a cast circular groove. This decoration emphasizes the height of the central boss. On the rear of the head is a small circular recess or hollow. The sides of the head of the button are plain. The shank of the button and loop fastener flares or expands towards the loop. It has been damaged approximately 3/4 along its length. The shank originally would either have been curved back upon itself to form a loop or where it flares would have expanded into an integral cast loop. However, the shank has broken before the loop and so a definitive answer cannot be reached. The break on the shank is old and suggests that the loop may have been snapped. This theory is based on the damaged and slight bending present. The whole of the button and loop fastener is a mid-light green - brown colour with an uneven abraded patina which covers all surfaces. There are also a number of areas of light green active powdery corrosion present. Some of this corrosion has affected the definition of the design on the head of the button. Also the fastener has been abraded in the plough soil and therefore is slightly asymmetrical. This example would probably fit best into Class III of J.P. Wild's classification of button and loop fasteners in the Roman Provinces (1970). This class consists of fasteners with a central boss surrounded by a raised cordon which is drawn out into a point. A closer parallel for this example is from Wroxeter and is illustrated in R. Hattatt's 'Ancient Brooches and other Artefacts' pp 414-417, Fig. 7; example 23. Wild dates these fasteners to the last years of the first century and the second century AD (70-200 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 (150 BC - 200 AD) has been suggested.
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
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