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Description: | Gilded copper alloy chain mail armour hook, broken into two pieces. When complete, this would have been an S-shaped object in plan, with circular terminals, one of a pair which together would have formed a hinged lyre-shaped fitting (see M.120). The smaller fragment consists of one terminal. The rest of the object is complete. The front surface appears to have been gilded, and shows moulded decoration. There is a raised moulded band running down the centre of the S-shape, with a hatched central line. On either side of this ridge is a line of punched circular motifs. On the circular terminals, the moulded decoration takes the form of a raised triangle contained within an outer circle. The reverse of the object is undecorated, but has a slight S-shaped indentation. Both terminals show evidence of iron corrosion, this is particularly apparent on the smaller fragment. Whilst the terminal still attached to the S-shaped fitting is smooth on the reverse, the smaller fragment shows traces of a copper alloy rivet running though the piece and emerging on the reverse. A small corroded fragment of iron remains affixed to this rivet. Parallels: An object with a similar function (M.120) is known from the related 1843 hoard, but the design of this fitting is slightly different with narrower, more round-sectioned S-shaped fittings, and gilded rosette studs at the terminals. More direct parallels of Late Iron Age or early Roman date are known from Longthorpe (Bishop and Coulston 1993, 86), and the Polden Hill hoard (Brailsford 1975; British Museum, 1846,0322.110-11). The style of the piece fits with other chain mail armour fittings from this group (find no.s 4-7). Measurements: Smaller fragment: Weight: 6g; diameter: 19.6mm; thickness 9.23mm. Larger fragment: Weight: 25.9g; length: 65.06mm; width: 38.15mm; thickness: 4.57mm.Metallurgy: Surface XRF revealed that this item is composed of gilded copper alloy. Several percent of zinc and tin was detectable on the chain mail clasp. Lead was also detected, and iron corrosion products were present, indicating contamination from neighbouring items during burial. No mercury could be detected by XRF in the gilding.
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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