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BUCKLE
Unique ID: NMGW-6030C2
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation 
Medieval copper alloy buckle of oval frame and integral rigid plate type, of mid-13th or 14th century date
The buckle is probably near-complete, perhaps missing the attachment end (with a length of 41.4mm and a weight of 4.0g). The outside edge is embellished with an integral bilobed openwork device, probably a crown. The frame is oval (giving the buckle a maximum width of 13.2mm) and is of sub-rectangular section (with a width of 1.7mm - 2.7mm and a thickness of 2.2mm). There is a circular perforation behind the frame to accommodate the copper alloy pin (with a length of 13.5mm). The integral plate is of D-shaped section (8.3mm wide and 2.0mm - 3.0mm thick). The plate is decorated with transverse ribbing flanking enlarged rounded mouldings. The plate has two separate attachment rivets, probably of iron with one positioned behind the pin and the other on a rounded lobe near the attachment end. The rear of the buckle is irregular, less finished and slightly dished. The end of the plate appears to have a break where it narrows and may have had an integral hook, now lost. The surface has a dark green patina with areas of brown corrosion, probably ferrous.
Notes:
The buckle is best paralleled with two examples excavated in London and with an example in the Ashmolean Museum, published by Egan and Pritchard (1991, nos. 320-1, p78) , possibly spur buckles (ibid.) and one of which came from a mid-13th century context. The examples published by Egan and Pritchard do not have any decoration on the outside edge of the frame and the crown may be seen as similar to folding strap clasps with an integral crowned head on the outside of the frame, generally dated to the mid-14th century (Egan & Pritchard; 1991, nos. 568, p120).
Class: Integral rigid plate
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: MEDIEVAL
Period from: MEDIEVAL
Period to: MEDIEVAL
Date from: Exactly AD 1200
Date to: Circa AD 1400
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Length: 41.4 mm
Width: 13.2 mm
Thickness: 2.2 mm
Weight: 4 g
Personal details
This information is restricted for your access level.
Other reference numbers
Other reference: NMWPA 2016.11.1
Materials and construction
Primary material: Copper alloy
Manufacture method: Cast
Completeness: Complete
Spatial metadata
Region: Wales (European Region)County or Unitary authority: the Vale of Glamorgan (Unitary Authority)
District: the Vale of Glamorgan (Unitary Authority)
Parish or ward: Llancarfan (Community)
Spatial coordinates
4 Figure: ST0271
Four figure Latitude: 51.42950075
Four figure longitude: -3.41105051
1:25K map: ST0271
1:10K map: ST07SW
Grid reference source: From a paper map
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 100 metre square.
References cited
No references cited so far.
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Timeline of associated dates
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