BUCKLE

A substantial late Roman buckle frame with well-rendered human head between dolphins' jaws. This buckle is a variant of the Hawkes and Dunning Type IIA (1961, 50ff.) which consists of a pair of confronted dolphins whose tails make involuted terminals. Protruding at right angles from below each curved terminal is a perforated circular lug (W.: 7.75mm). Both of the lugs retain some of the corroded iron axis bar; the pin (tongue) is missing. The central human head, uppermost, is very well rendered. The hairline is moulded above the face. The hairstyle is a typically 'Celtic' tonsure, with incised lines showing the hair converging in a 'V' shape at the back, before splaying out below. The eyes are punches and the mouth a simple transverse incision; most of the nose has been lost as a result of corrosion. Deep, continuous incisions below the head in a 'V' shape on both sides make this a bust rather than simply a head. The dolphin heads are equally well moulded, with open snouts adjoining the human head, but arguably not integral with it as with most similar buckles. This openwork approach continues in gaps below the dolphins and the bust, and with drilled holes in the lower parts of both jaws. As with the human heads, the dolphins are decorated on both sides of the buckle frame; this is highly unusual as the reverse of most such buckles is flat and undecorated. Punched ring-and-dot motifs form the eyes on both faces. Central to each dolphin's head is a longitudinal incision with diagonals emerging from it, perhaps indicating scales? Below the eyes and snout are zones of diagonal, slightly curved incisions. These zones terminate above a rounded protrusion on the dolphins' backs, perhaps representing a dorsal fin. Below these are zones at the level of the outer edge consisting of punched crescent and dots, in line with the base of the bust. These zones are limited to the upper surface of the buckle (the face with the human head facing). It has been suggested that these 'scales' relate to the bust - that they represent scale armour on the shoulders of a soldier - rather than to elements of the dolphins (Stuart Laycock pers. comm. 16 April 2008). Below are further zones of diagonal incisions demarcated by transverse incisions, again just on the upper surface. Below these the sides of the buckle are relatively corroded making decoration difficult to discern. There is a possible linear incision half way down the sides, with possible diagonals below this. The curved, tapering tails of the dolphins are plain. As well as the superficial damage caused by corrosion, the buckle is also bent slightly in profile. However, this does not detract from the beauty of the craftsmanship displayed on this buckle frame. Indeed, none of the examples illustrated in a recent compilation (Appels and Laycock 2007, 191ff.) match this artefact in terms of either the moulding of the human and animal heads, or their decoration.