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Description: | An incomplete cast coper-alloy swivel strap fitting of Medieval date. One half of the swivel, with oval shaped socket, survives intact, the opposing half now missing due to old breaks. It has a dome-shaped attachment end that has flattened sides and ends to produce a rectangular form. This has a small collar with incised cross-hatched decoration around the base, as well as an oval shaped socket on teh underside. Extending from the top of the attachment end is a D-shaped frame that has an offset and narrowed cylindrical bar at its outer edge. The sides of the frame are formed from two opposing stylised animals with flattened and elongated snouts grasping the sides of the bar. The animals have projecting semi-circular ears with eyes and head delineated by short curving grooves. The inner edges of the frame are slightly faceted producing a slight central ridge. The entire object has a dark green patina and measures 25.66mm in length, 21.24mm in width, 11.80mm in thickness (at attachment end), and weighs 14.78g. Swivel mechnisms such as this were employed for a variety of functions during the Medieval period as strap fittings and as such a specific function cannot be attributed to them. The current example differs slightly from typical examples due to the soomorphic terminals grasping a distinct bar rather than forming terminals to the loop that grasp the attachment/swivel end, although similar parallels are noted from Lincolnshire and Norfolk (NLM4785, NLM726 and NMS-8C4AC5). The stylised animal heads are typical of this class of object, and the entire appearance and manufacture of the object indicates a date range in the 12th-15th centuries AD for the current example.
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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