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BUCKLE
Unique ID: GLO-668C7F
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation 
A gilded silver buckle loop with niello inlay. The loop is D-shaped and has a bevelled form, concave underneath, and a narrowed tongue bar on one long side. The rest of the loop is decorated in three panels. The panel in the lower half is the longest and runs around the whole frame. It consists of two parallel lines with a series of evenly spaced perpendicular lines creating a band of squares; each square has a diagonal zigzag line of two steps running from top left to bottom right. All of this decoration is recessed and filled with niello. The top half consists of two panels; each contains a line of simple twist interlace of two strands with niello inlay in the centre. These two panels are divided in the centre by an undecorated square. Above this and running around the top of the buckle is a single thin line again inlayed with niello, there is a short break in the centre of this line, parallel with the square blank panel below. The buckle has a dull grey surface with patches of brought green corrosion which may be impurities in the metal leaching to the surface or result of contact with copper alloy in the ground.
Notes:
This buckle loop is similar to buckles in Marzinzik's Type II.23b-ii (2003, 50) and may originally have been attached to a buckle of this form. Compare for instance a buckle from Ash, Kent (British Museum, 1862,0701.10) which has a loop with comparable mock cloisonné decoration around the edge; and another from Doynton, South Gloucestershire (PAS database GLO-9A3D35, Treasure Case 2010T39) with similar twist interlace decoration around the loop. This type of buckle has been dated to the late sixth to early/mid seventh centuries.
This buckle was found within 55 metres of the remains of an early medieval sword (PAS database GLO-67083F, Treasure Case 2016T860), suggestive of an early Anglo-Saxon burial. If so, it is not certain that the buckle and the sword derived from the same burial so the sword remains will be treated as a separate Treasure case. The possibility that the buckle and sword were associated cannot be ruled out, however, as this type of buckle has been linked in particular to graves containing swords (Marzinzik 2003, 50 with references).
Find of note status
This is a find of note and has been designated: National importance
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Submitted for consideration as Treasure
Treasure details
Treasure case tracking number: 2016T897
Chronology
Broad period: EARLY MEDIEVAL
Subperiod from: Early
Period from: EARLY MEDIEVAL
Subperiod to: Early
Period to: EARLY MEDIEVAL
Ascribed Culture:
Anglo-Saxon style
Date from: Circa AD 575
Date to: Circa AD 650
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Length: 23 mm
Width: 41 mm
Thickness: 6 mm
Weight: 13.65 g
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Sunday 4th September 2016
Personal details
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Other reference numbers
Treasure case number: 2016T897
Materials and construction
Primary material: Silver
Manufacture method: Cast
Completeness: Complete
Surface Treatment: Inlaid with niello
Spatial metadata
Region: South West (European Region)County or Unitary authority: Gloucestershire (County)
District: Cotswold (District)
To be known as: Cotswolds
Spatial coordinates
Grid reference source: Generated from computer mapping software
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 1 metre square.
References cited
No references cited so far.
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Timeline of associated dates
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