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Description: | An incomplete copper-alloy swivel. This swivel would have originally have consisted of two D-shaped loops, one with an integral bolt which would have fitted inside a hole in the straight bar of the other D-shaped loop.
Only the D-shaped loop with an integral bolt now survives. It measures 25.75mm in height and 23.87mm in width. The straight bar of the D-shape is oval in plan and decorated along both edges with a horizontal border groove and above this small vertical grooves. The integral bolt is cylindrical with a flaring terminal. The bar is held at either end with worn animal heads. These heads have small crescent shaped ears, heavy brows and short square ended snouts. They are undoubtedly examples of romanesque art, but this style of decoration, with animal heads, was used throughout the medieval period. The loop itself narrows above the animal heads and has a worn hexagonal cross-section.
Swivels are multi-use items and it is therefore impossible to assign a specific function to them. A similar swivel, again with animal heads holding the straight bar of the larger D-shaped loop has been discovered at Twinstead, Essex (see SF-082EA0) and Stow Cum Quy, Cambridgeshire (see SF-50A562). | 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: | 1066
1500 | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://www.finds.org.uk/database/artefac... | Language: | en-GB | Format: | text/html | Go to resource |
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