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Description: | Cast copper alloy button and loop fastener of late Iron Age or early Roman date (50 BC - 200 AD). The head of the button and loop fastener is broadly oval in plan with a cast oval hole through the centre. In cross section the fastener is oval or D shaped. The edges of the button head are slightly bevelled. The integral cast shank (loop) is attached to one edge of the rear of the button (head) and offset at approximately 75 degrees to the plain of the head. The loop then flattens out to the same plain as that of the head. The loop is complete and is triangular in plan - being sub-rectangular in cross section. The hole through the centre of the loop is also triangular. The front head of the button is decorated with a series of cast motifs. These consist of two raised longitudinal ribs (or swellings) positioned at the front and rear (narrowest points) of the oval head. Much of the detail has been lost though abrasion and corrosion and any detailed cast design has been lost. It is possible that the overall design is that of a stylised representation of an eye. The reverse of the head is flat, plain and undecorated as are the remains of the loop. The whole of the button and loop fastener is a mid green colour with a heavily pitted patina. There are, however, a number of areas where this patina has been lost through abrasion. These are mostly located on the external edges of the fastener and are likely to be caused by abrasion in the buried environment. In the areas where abrasion has caused the most damage a light green copper corrosion has developed. One side of the central hole through the fastener is heavily worn and irregular - this may be a product of wear but is more likely a result of asymmetrical abrasion in the ground.This example would probably fit best into Class II of J.P. Wild's classification of button and loop fasteners in the Roman Provinces (1970). This class (II) consists of ring-headed fasteners but this example bares some resemblance in overall shape rather than style of the teardrop or petal-headed fasteners (of Class III). This example may therefore be described as a Class II hybrid. Wild dates these class II fasteners to the period post 50 AD and states that they may represent a British Iron Age tradition which persists into the Roman period into the 2nd century AD. However, due to the age of the classification this date range may need to be refined or extended. Thus a larger date bracket of the later Iron Age to Early Roman period (50BC - 200 AD) has been suggested here. Good parallels of similar finds recorded by the PAS can be seen from Suffolk (SF-1C36B7), Cheshire (LVPL-DCC183), Lincolnshire (LIN-87AF57), and Leicestershire (LEIC-365333). Good local parallels can also be seen in HESH-61B3C2 Telford, Shropshire and HESH-52E156 Leominster, Herefordshire.The button and loop fastener measures 39.1mm in length, 16.2mm wide across the head 10.9mm wide across the loop. It is 9.4mm thick, being 3.8mm thick across the head and 9.8mm thick across the loop. The fastener weighs 4.21 grams.
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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