BUCKLE

An unusual medieval copper-alloy buckle frame. The frame is oval, with a central bar running along the long axis to form a double loop. The loops are the same shape, both flattish, widening in the centre to a maximum of 5mm and angled sharply, so that their upper surfaces point outwards. One loop is decorated with a slightly raised outward-pointing triangle in the centre, with a little notch on the upper internal edge forming a pin rest in the centre of the triangle's base. Other decoration may have now vanished, as the buckle has a corroded, bright green powdery surface.

There is a slight thickening of the frame at the junction with the circular-section bar, and the frame is angled around the bar so that it appears to be recessed. When viewed from the reverse the bar appears to be separately made and fixed, perhaps using solder, into a slot on the reverse of the frame. The pin is missing. The buckle measures 31.7mm in length, has a width of 26.6mm, and weighs 4.5g.

This buckle is very different to the normal double-loop buckle with oval loops that curve at top and bottom to a shorter bar. The whole frame is oval, with each loop D-shaped. The flat angled outside edges are reminiscent of buckles with Limoges-style decoration of the late 12th or 13th centuries (e.g. BH-BEA11B) and the separate bar is reminiscent of disc-on-pin buckles, which are difficult to date at present more closely than to the medieval period.