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Description: | An almost complete early-medieval strap-end of 8th/9th-century date and probable Continental origin (Kevin Leahy pers. comm. 6th July 2011), broken and bent slightly at its tip. The attachment end of this tongue-shaped strap-end is wedge shaped. It is recessed on the upper surface; within the thinned section (Th.: 1.8mm) are four perforations, the two at the corners slightly larger than those between them.The sides of the strap-end are broadly symmetrical. On the plain lower surface they can be seen to taper from the attachment end (W.: 15.3mm) to a waist 12.1mm wide after c. 12mm. Below this waist are rounded expansions (W.: 14.1mm) above a comparable waist (W.: 11.95mm). Below this the sides curve outwards very gradually to c. 13.85mm, before adopting a constant width of c. 11.6mm, up to c. 10.5mm above the break at the tip.These expansions and narrowings relate to an interlace border on the upper surface that hugs the edges, crossing at the uppermost expansion, and again at the tip. Within each strand is a deep central groove flanked on each side an incised line. The border is formed, very basically, of an 'S' shape that curls round on itself at the straight attachment end, the inverted 'S' travelling over and below it. A spur travelling off it at the uppermost expansion that curves back on itself accounts for the expansion, with infill at the tip seeming to be an extension of this spur. Two small, internal fields are created within the border and decorated with reticulate interlace. That at the attachment end is broadly trapezoidal and contains knotwork in low relief with five internal gaps. The field in the main body of the strap-end is pointed oval in shape and contains a pair of trefoil knots, each with four gaps, one above the other.This artefact has corroded to a matt dark-brown colour, with some mid-green corrosion product within the uppermost internal field, and some at a similar point on the lower surface. The break at the tip is ragged and old; it is assumed that the strap-end would not have been much longer when complete.
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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