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Description: | An incomplete "boss and petal" style copper alloy fitting of Roman date, about AD 43 - 200. It is incomplete, but is probably part of a double bossed button and loop fastener, a type not classified by Wild.The surviving part is a pointed oval plate with a large domed boss in the centre surrounded by a circular groove and a moulded rim. One pointed end is complete and the pointed area is thicker than the rest of the edge. The opposite end is damaged and it is suspected that the object continue here into the shaft of a button and loop fastener.The reverse is hollow and there is the remains of a rounded loop joining one side to the other. The orientation of this loop, from side to side rather than from end to end is noteworthy. Incised lines decorate the sides of the object. On each side, a line runs from the base of the pointed end, obliquely along the side towards the top at the opposite end where it is lost due to the old, patinated damage. The object is 20mm long, 16.7mm wide and 10.8mm thick. 5.49g. It has a smooth dark brown patina. Similar objects with loops on the reverse running from end to end are known as strap loops, for example, SWYOR-2AAB62. However, the side to side loop and the possible extension where it is broken at one end makes it unlikely that this object is a strap loop or strap slide. Instead, it seems more likely to be a double headed button and loop fastener similar to SWYOR-42F1E5. Compare also other double looped fasteners such as SWYOR-D861B7 and YORYM-AC7061 which cites "an example found in Traprain Law (East Lothian), see MacGregor, 1976, p132-3, 3". These are an unusal type with a concentration in Yorkshire.
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/ | Go to resource |
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