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Description: | A complete cast copper alloy Early Medieval zoomorphic strap end, probably c. 8th-9th century AD. Thomas Class B, Type 4: Multi-headed. It consists of an undecorated forked end with a central circular rivet, followed by the majority of the strap end which is moulded with the zoomorphic decoration, ending in an animal head terminal. The strap end is flat and forked at the rivet-end, sub-rectangular in cross-section at the beginning of the zoomorphic segment, narrowing to a D-shaped cross-section at the end. The zoomorphic decoration is distinctive in that it represents a single animal head at the terminal, which then has multiple animal heads above which are all modelled in relief and feature rounded ears, muzzles and drilled nostrils. The animal heads at the centre are reduced to facial features suggested by punched dots and arcs. The strap end measures 42.13mm long, 8.70mm wide, 4.07mm thick and it weighs 4.6 grams.Cf. Thomas, Datasheet 32, Fig. 2, No. 17. Thomas mentions that 'The distinctive muzzled animal head, replicated at the terminal, reappears on a selection of metalwork of Scandinavian and Anglo-Scandinavian origin...' (Ibid, p5).
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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