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Description: | An incomplete cast copper-alloy object, probably a harness fitting or terret of Iron Age date. Only the lower half of the sides and bar survive, the remainder now missing due to old breaks. Both arms are flat, crescentic, curving and tapering towards the incomplete top of the loop where they terminate in old breaks. They suggest the original loop may have been D-shaped in form, but this is uncertain due to the preservation of the object. Both arms have identical moulded decoration. This comprises central flutes to both faces of each arm, expanding towards the bar where they have curved ends and are almost teardrop shaped in form. The inner edges of both arms are thickened and expanded, with flaring terminal ends that project slightly inwards where they meet the bar. Narrow moulded or incised grooves separate the flutes from the inner and outer edges of each arm. The outer edges of each arm are slightly thickened and curve downwards before forming the flattened base of the bar. The bar itself comprises two main components. A lower rectangular bar is separated from a flattened oval upper bar or plate by a narrow transverse rectangular slot or aperture. This would have presumably enabled attachment to a strap or belt. All surfaces have a dark brown patina, with damage to one arm at the bar, where there is relatively extensive and active copper-alloy corrosion. The entire object measures 35.29mm in width, 18.61mm in height, 8.19mm in thickness (at bar/plate; 5.84mm at arms) and 6.10g in weight.This is an incomplete cast copper-alloy object of probable Iron Age date. No close parallel has as yet been identified for this object. Its form and the transverse slot and bar at the base are suggestive that is may have served as a strap fitting or terret, albeit a highly decorative one that appears almost too fine to be hugely functional. It is likely to be of later Iron Age rather than Roman date, pehaps c.3rd-1st centuries BC.
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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