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DRESS HOOK
Unique ID: NMS-71B712Z
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Published 
Very unusual double-hooked dress fastener, collared hook at both ends of a flat oval plate. It is decorated with a circular panel with S-shaped Trewhiddle style profile reguardant animal reserved on what now appears to be a silvered field, but is probably decomposed niello (a silver sulphide inlay). The deep-bellied body is decorated with tiny pecked or dotted decoration, the head (looking back over the body) has the characteristic squared-off snout, open jaw and large ear. The forelimb is rudimentary but the hind leg ends in a large three-toed foot. There is a frame around the animal consisting of two concentric lines of drilled dots. Each of the D-section hooks has a double collar, first a rectangular panel with another single dot and then a transverse ridge. One hook is missing its tip. Measures 36.5 mm x 16 mm.
The form conforms to the description of Read's (2008) early post-medieval class R, "a central decorated plate with a recurving tapering sharp-hook either end", but the ornament clearly dates this example to the 9th century. Only one other early-medieval hooked clasp of this form is known, SUSS-711936.
Notes:
Formerly known as NMS-71B712, which was a duplicate ID caused by system error.
Find of note status
This has been noted as an interesting find by the recorder.
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
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: 36.5 mm
Width: 16 mm
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Tuesday 1st March 2011 - Thursday 26th April 2001
Personal details
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Other reference numbers
SMR reference number: 52539
Materials and construction
Primary material: Copper alloy
Completeness: Incomplete
Surface Treatment: Inlaid with niello
Spatial metadata
Region: Eastern (European Region)County or Unitary authority: Norfolk (County)
District: King's Lynn and West Norfolk (District)
To be known as: Flitcham with Appleton
Spatial coordinates
Grid reference source: Centred on field
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 10 metre square.
References cited
| Author | Publication Year | Title | Publication Place | Publisher | Pages | Reference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Read, B. | 2008 | Hooked-Clasps and Eyes | Langport | Portcullis Publishing |
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Timeline of associated dates
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