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Description: | A cast copper alloy strap or harness fitting. The fitting is composed of two circular cells which are positioned in a column. The interior of the cells are concave and are decorated on the exterior with a moulded 'V'. Integral to either side of the cells is a triangular frame, which is semi-circular in section. On the reverse of the fitting the cells appear to be seated on top of the two integral triangular frames. The surface of the fitting has a well developed brown/green patina. The reverse has a recent scuff which has a shiny grey coloured surface. The fitting measures 33.51mm long, 18.34mm wide along a triangular edge and 7.28mm thick across the cells. It weighs 10.3g. The style and condition of the object suggests that it dates to the late Iron Age or early Roman periods. An exact comparison cannot be found, but it is similar, stylistically, to button-loop fasteners. Stead and Rigby (Stead, I. And Rigby, V. 1999 Iron Age Antiquities From Champagne in the British Museum: The Morrel Collection British Museum Press) illustrate a similar double-looped object (No. 2288) and describe it as a belt chain link. This example is composed of oval frames rather than triangular frames and shows signs of wear on the interior edge, which the recorded example does not. The Stead and Rigby examples link copper alloy loops together, the nature of the triangular loops on the recorded example suggests it more likely joined straps together instead, and therefore could be described as a strap junction. Whether these were straps for personal wear, for example as belts, or straps on harnesses is uncertain. The Stead and Rigby example was found in a context dating to La Tène Ic.
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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