BUCKLE

A cast copper-alloy buckle with integral plate of late early-medieval date (c. 10th-11th century). The frame is a slightly asymmetrical, elongated D shape with a possibly zoomorphic protrusion at the outer edge. The plate is slightly narrowed as it meets the frame, but widens slightly and gradually towards the attachment end, by which point it is approximately the same width as the frame. Adjacent to the frame is a perforation around which the pin would have been looped; the pin is now missing. Towards the terminal is a rivet hole in which the corroded remains of the iron rivet are still in place. The upper surface of the plate is decorated with an engraved cross in saltire, now quite worn. The frame thickens slightly and gradually towards the outer edge, the protrusion at which is sub-triangular. It is possibly intended to represent an animal head rendered en-face, with possible ridges representing ears where the protrusion meets the frame.

The buckle has corroded to a red-brown colour with small patches of off-white and light-green corrosion product.

A similar buckle with integral plate can be found recorded on this database as HAMP-348BE5, though its protruding lip is simpler. Both, in turn, can be compared with examples from 10th- to 11th-century contexts in Winchester illustrated by Hinton (in Biddle 1990, 512-514; nos 1098 and 1106). When the zoomorphic heads on similar buckles cannot be attributed to a particular Late Viking Age art style a wide date range is offered, as here.