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Description: | A corroded and incomplete late early-medieval cast copper-alloy harness link (11th century AD). The object consists of a central plate, semicircular in cross-section, with a flat reverse. Central on this is a moulded boss extending either side of the plate. The boss is 14.85m in length. It represents a face, although whether it was intended to be anthropomorphic or zoomorphic is difficult to tell due to the wear and corrosion suffered by the artefact. Just protruding above the plate are a pair of pointed ears. Below the plate is the nose and the V-shaped mouth. The nose is moulded, as are the eyes. The boss is recessed on the reverse surface. The plate terminates at one end in a loop of which only around a quarter survives; at the other end slightly more of the loop remains. The loops would have featured three knops, of which only one survives on each. The object is a red-brown colour and covered in a light corrosion product. A similar harness link can be found illustrated in Williams (2007, 5; fig. 6b); cf. also SOMDOR-E14156, HAMP-375C33, NMS-64E513, SUSS-833EF3 on this database. The face on the published example is seemingly anthropomorphic, while this object is perhaps closest to IOW-CC6667 on this database, deemed to be zoomorphic.
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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