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Description: | Complete cast copper-alloy die stamp of 'matrix' type, for the production of bracteate pendants. The die is flat and circular. It is 27.32mm in diameter, 2,72mm thick and weighs 9.9g. There is some chipping of the surface at the edge, but the die is otherwise intact and complete. The obverse of the die has a negative design of an intertwined beast, though the design is somewhat garbled and the animal's head is not visible. The reverse of the die is undecorated. The object has a mostly even dark green patina, but is lighter green (on the original surface) around the design, perhaps due to use and/or abrasion. There is one small patch of lighter green to the reverse, again on the original surface. Dr Morten Axboe of the National Museum, Copenhagen kindly studied images of the die and compared it with known struck bracteates. Not only was he able to determine that the animal design makes this a die for a type D-bracteate, he confirmed that it was a previously unknown design. A bracteate is a very thin sheet-metal pendant, on which the reverse bears the negative impression of the face. The name comes from the Latin bractea: a thin metal plate. The decoration on this example dates it to the 7th century AD.
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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