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BUCKLE
Unique ID: PAS-227D90
Object type certainty: Possibly
Workflow
status: Published 
Early-medieval gilded silver fitting or hinge of uncertain function, perhaps a buckle plate. It is oblong, at one end narrowing before then flaring out to a perforated, gracefully rounded tip, whilst the opposite wider end, with a small rectangular slot cut out of the centre, is folded over itself and secured by two small domed rivets (material not recorded, but from the photograph they look silver). The plate is decorated with a pattern contained in a frame, which shows a shallow chip-carved two-strand interlace ending in a triquetra framing the perforation at the narrow end. It measures 58mm long and 15mm wide.
The piece may perhaps have functioned as the plate for a small buckle, allowing for a tongue and a loop to be hinged to it through the opening so created. The style of the decoration suggests a ninth-century date.
Notes:
In terms of age and as the object contains a minimum of 10% precious metal it qualifies as Treasure under the stipulations of theTreasure Act 1996.
Update: This object was found in the same field as an almost identical artefact which passed through the Treasure process in 2015 (2015T667; DOR-95468C). The objects were approximately 55 m apart; it is possible that they may originally have formed a pair, and were separated by ploughing.
Subsequent actions
Current location of find: British Museum
Subsequent action after recording: Acquired by museum after being declared Treasure
Treasure details
Treasure case tracking number: 2006T262
Chronology
Broad period: EARLY MEDIEVAL
Subperiod from: Middle
Period from: EARLY MEDIEVAL
Subperiod to: Late
Period to: EARLY MEDIEVAL
Ascribed Culture:
Anglo-Saxon style
Date from: Circa AD 800
Date to: Circa AD 900
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Length: 58 mm
Width: 15 mm
Thickness: 2 mm
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Saturday 7th January 2006
Personal details
This information is restricted for your access level.
Other reference numbers
Treasure case number: 2006T262
Museum accession number: 2008,8021.1
Materials and construction
Primary material: Silver
Completeness: Complete
Surface Treatment: Gilded
Spatial metadata
Region: South West (European Region)County or Unitary authority: Dorset (County)
District: North Dorset (District)
To be known as: Tarrant Hinton
Spatial coordinates
Grid reference source: From finder
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 10 metre square.
References cited
No references cited so far.
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Timeline of associated dates
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