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Description: | Complete but worn copper alloy zoomorphic strap end of later Early Medieval date (Anglo-Scandinavian). The strap end is made in one-piece and consists of an elongated split attachment arm with an animal head at the unsplit end grasping, in its mouth, a flat lozenge-shaped disc which is decorated with an incised interlace design.The strap end has the less common form of attachment split in that it is set at 90 degrees to the terminal so that the split is visible from the front rather than hidden at the sides. The attachment arm is formed of two elongated tongue-shape plates with a split between them and with a single circular-sectioned rivet (5.3mm long with a 2mm diameter) attaching the two plates together with a 2mm gap between them at the upper rounded end. The two arms come together at the base to form the animal head terminal. This is very worn but consists of the typical Anglo-Scandinavian desgin of a beast's head with an elongated snout with rounded head and ears above.The flat lozenge-shaped disc which the beast is grasping in its mouth is asymmetrical in outline but is now heavily worn. The sides of the lozenge are not straight but are curvilinear. The interlacing design is heavily worn but traces of the winding incised lines are still visible. The plate is decorated on one face only and the entire reverse of the fitting is flat indicating that the item was designed to only be viewed from one direction.There are a number of similar strap ends already recorded on the PAS database, for examples see: SWYOR-0EB4C7, SF-E825A7 and NLM-32F5DD.These strap ends most closely resemble ones classified in the typology used for these strap ends as Thomas Class G (see: Finds Research Group Datasheet 33) but the examples described and shown in the datasheet do not have the attachment split set at 90 degrees to the main plain of the fitting.Due to the similiarity of overall design these strap ends are dated in line with Thomas Class G strap ends as 11th century, c.1000-1100 but most probably tending towards the latter half of this century due to their similarities to Urnes style Viking decorative motifs.
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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