Rights Holder: St. Albans District Council
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Unique ID: BH-9ABFBD
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation
A copper-alloy knife end-cap from a scale-tang knife, dating from the early post-Medieval period.
The object has a sub-cuboidal central block, with a deeply concave upper side and a vertical slot in the base, in which is contained a remnant of the iron tang. At the top of the right- and left-hand sides, there is a right-angled projection. These projections are of sub-oval cross section, with angular lower faces and rounded, projecting terminals. The two wider faces of the block each have a pair of incised columns, located one at either end of the face. In each column a band of angled, parallel grooves is bordered on its inner side by a plain vertical groove. A further groove extends around the base of the block, running parallel to the horizontal bottom side.
Height: 20.1mm; width: 23.4mm; thickness: 8.2mm. Weight: 12.8g.
Thought to have been produced in the 16th century, knife end-caps take a wide variety of forms, with several typical examples illustrated by Brian Read (2001: Fig. 56). Close parallels for this particular cap include PAS records YORYM-A65069 and HAMP-6BE973. The design of these caps has been interpreted as being zoomorphic in nature, with the right-angled projections representing the heads of two back-to-back animals (cf. IOW-5C1ABF). Alternatively, it could be seen to depict a shirt or other upper body garment, and this theory is supported by WMID-573705, in which the T-shaped block represents the torso of a bear-like creature.
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
Subperiod from: Early
Period from: POST MEDIEVAL
Period to: POST MEDIEVAL
Date from: Circa AD 1500
Date to: Circa AD 1600
Quantity: 1
Height: 20.1 mm
Width: 23.4 mm
Thickness: 8.2 mm
Weight: 12.8 g
Date(s) of discovery: Saturday 30th August 2014
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Other reference: Ver 15/61 - 17
Primary material: Copper alloy
Secondary material: Iron
Completeness: Complete
Grid reference source: From finder
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 10 metre square.
Author | Publication Year | Title | Publication Place | Publisher | Pages | Reference | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Read, B. | 2001 | Metal artefacts of antiquity: A catalogue of small finds from specific areas of the United Kingdom | Langport | Portcullis Publishing |