BUCKLE

An incomplete copper alloy buckle. The buckle has two loops and a central integral plate. The pin is missing. At one end is the buckle loop which is oval with a pointed outer edge, notched as a pin rest. From the back of the loop projects the rectangular integral plate which has three irregularly spaced circular holes of varying size. The plate has a shallow D-shaped cross section.The first and largest hole is nearest the buckle loop and functioned as the attachment point for the missing pin It is very slightly off centre. The next is the smaller and is off-centre in regard to both the longitudinal and transverse axes of the plate. The last is of similar size to the previous hole and is set more centrally and close to the other loop. In this position it could also have held a pin. The second loop is also oval but without the pointed outer edge. There are traces of gilding on the frontof the plate.The reverse is flat and undecorated.
Date: Medieval - c. 1250 - 1400
Dimensions: 40.44mm x 17.48mm x 2.35mm
Weight: 4.93g
Several similar buckles are recorded in Egan, G, & Pritchard, F, 1991, Dress Accessories, p. 108 -110. Egan notes that the exact function of these buckles "has not so far been identified" but that they are likely to have been used to join two straps that were off-set from each other.(ibid p. 109).