Rights Holder: Hampshire Cultural Trust
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BOOK FITTING
Unique ID: HAMP-AB972B
Object type certainty: Probably
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation 
An early post-medieval (1500-1700) copper alloy book-clasp, incomplete in so far as it is missing two of three rivets. It is bent horizontally and folded back on itself. Decoration is only visible around the two empty rivet holes (the decorated face being that inside the fold). The patina is a reddy-purple in colour with light green patches and the surface is rough to touch.
The book-clasp has a 4.9mm wide hook, narrowing to a rounded end 4.4mm wide. Beyond is the body of the book-clasp, is 10.9mm wide and 0.9mm thick, flaring to 11.2mm wide at the opposite end just before the flared, expanded end (14.1mm wide). Its length now is 28.3mm but originally it would have been c.53mm.
The flared end is crenellated with a rivet hole (empty) just before it, 1.8mm in diameter and pierced from front to back. Traces of a circular groove surround it. Roughly at the centre is another pierced hole, only very tiny to the reverse of the object but again with traces of a groove (and perhaps rib) around it on the inside surface. The remaining rivet hole lies behind the hooked end and is set slightly off-centre. It contains the remains of a probably iron rivet (traces of orange corrosion surround it).
The object measures 28.3mm in length, 14.1mm in max.width (at the expanded end), 0.9mm thick and weighs 3.67g.
Notes:
Numerous similar clasps are recorded on the Portable Antiquities Scheme database. Illustrated examples of book clasps have been published in monographs and journals. For example, see: Crummy, N. 1988. 'The post-Roman small finds from excavations in Colchester 1971-85'. 68, fig. 67, refs. 2992-2995. Colchester Archaeological Report 5. Colchester Archaeological Trust. Margeson, S. 1993. 'Norwich Households. Medieval and Post-Medieval Finds from Norwich Survey Excavations 1971-78'. 74, fig. 40, refs. 452-456. East Anglian Archaeology 58. Ottaway, P and Rogers, N. 2002. 'Craft, Industry and Every Day Life: Finds From Medieval York'. 2936, fig. 1503, refs. 14489 and 15234. The Archaeology of York Vol. 17. An array of illustrated book clasps have been published in Treasure Hunting magazine. See: Bailey, D and Bailey, G. May 1991. 'Clasps and Fasteners'. Treasure Hunting. 36-42. Witham, Essex.
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
Period from: POST MEDIEVAL
Period to: POST MEDIEVAL
Date from: Circa AD 1500
Date to: Circa AD 1700
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Length: 28.3 mm
Width: 14.1 mm
Thickness: 0.9 mm
Weight: 3.67 g
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Tuesday 3rd March 2015 - Tuesday 5th May 2015
Personal details
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Other reference numbers
Other reference: Hampshire Cultural Trust Entry Form WINCM 81
Materials and construction
Spatial metadata
Region: South West (European Region)County or Unitary authority: Wiltshire (Unitary Authority)
District: Wiltshire (Unitary Authority)
Parish or ward: Stockton (Civil Parish)
Spatial coordinates
4 Figure: ST9838
Four figure Latitude: 51.14126347
Four figure longitude: -2.02996761
1:25K map: ST9838
1:10K map: ST93NE
Grid reference source: Generated from computer mapping software
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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