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Description: | Copper-alloy girdle-hanger, complete but with its shank bent almost at right angles a little way below the 'neck'. The bend appears to have caused a little stress to the metal; there appears to be some wrinkling and cracking on the reverse (the convex face of the curve). The shank has a flat cross-section for most of its length, 9.8 x 2.8mm at the junction with the wards but tapering to 7.0 x 2.5mm at its upper end where it joins a thicker area of shank, the 'neck' in Felder's terminology (Felder 2009). This thicker area is 29.7mm long and is 5.0-5.5mm thick. It begins with a short length which is D-shaped in cross-section and decorated with two crudely engraved short transverse lines. The middle part is 'keeled' or faceted along its length to give a pentagonal cross-section. Above this is another area D-shaped in cross-section and decorated with two similar lines, which then narrows and thickens further and is pierced sideways to form a circular suspension loop.At the other end of the girdle-hanger carries a square terminal, the tops of the two lateral wards being linked to the shaft by narrow, downwards-angled connecting bars. The edges of both the shank and the bit are marked by rows of impressions made by an annulet stamp 1.6mm in diameter, which was often presented at an angle giving C shaped marks. Both faces of the girdle hanger bear traces of iron corrosion products showing that it was buried in contact with iron objects, probably a knife and iron latch lifters; other corrosion products are also present, obscuring many of the stamp marks. The reverse is undecorated.Length 157.0mm (estimated); Width 41.7mm; Mass 36.11g.These objects are found in the graves of sixth-century Anglian women and appear to be imitation keys or latch-lifters; they may have emphasised the woman's status as mistress of the household. It dates broadly to the sixth century AD.
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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