|
Date: |
|
Description: | Complete, cast copper alloy, Late Iron Age strap fitting c.100BC-50AD. This strap fitting has a D shaped frame, which is semicircular in section, in that it has a flat reverse. To the front is an integral, raised moulding or stud that is semicircular in plan, with its flat edge parallel to the main flat edge of the object, and extending slightly into the open area within the D shaped frame. The flat edge of the moulding is fairly wide and has within it a semicircular slot. The moulding is decorated with two circular depressions. When viewed head on, with the straight edge to the top, the right depression contains traces of green enamel (coloured glass), and the left depression contains traces of red enamel (coloured glass). Between and below the circular depressions is an incised line of two opposing curves that flare out and down and then join with a curved line, as if to form a subtriangular nose between the ?eyes? of the enamel. The reverse of the object is plain except for one, small circular depression, approximately 2mm in diameter that appears to hold the remains of red enamel (coloured glass). It is possible to see a casting seam to the inner, bottom edge on the curve of the frame. The object survives in good condition with an even dark green patina. It is 17.5g long, 22mm wide and weighs 8.16g. This strap fitting is similar to a number of fittings from Late Iron Age and Roman sites in Suffolk that have recently been discussed by Faye Minter in Lucerna 28, 2004, The Roman Finds Group Newsletter, page 12. The distinct difference between those fittings and this object is that the Suffolk examples have a stud on a short neck, set at 90 degrees to the frame, that allows them to be potentially used as a button and loop fastener. (It has also been suggested that they may form part of a sword belt fitting in the manner of a baldrick ring). One example cited by Minter, figure 1, E, is the most similar to the object recorded here, in that the ?neck? is minimal and has a semicircular slot. However, the object recorded here has the ?stud? completely flush with the frame, which would make its use as a button and loop fastener almost impossible. The stud also extends well within the frame, making the passing of a strap through this opening difficult.The semicircular slot in the side of the stud must have a specific function, though at this time that function is unknown. It may be that this object represents an earlier Iron Age fitting that evolved in the Early Roman period | Format: | text/html | License: | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ | Publisher: | The Portable Antiquities Scheme | Rights holder: | The Portable Antiquities Scheme | Subjects: | archaeology | Temporal: | -100
50 | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Creator: | Caroline McDonald | Identifier: | http://www.finds.org.uk/database/artefac... | Language: | en-GB | Format: | text/html | Go to resource |
|
More Like this...
-
-
mount
A copper-alloy fragment of a…
-
-
-
brooch
An incomplete late Anglo-Saxon or…
-
-
knife
A copper-alloy object which is…
-
-
-
box
An unusual cast copper-alloy object,…
|