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BUCKLE
Unique ID: KENT-C42C4A
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation 
An incomplete Early-Medieval (Anglo-Saxon) copper-alloy 'shield-on-pin' buckle pin, likely 7th century in date.
Description: The shield or plate is trapezoidal in plan, flat at the front and reverse. The front is decorated with nine punched 'dots' arranged in a triangular arrangement. aligned point up. There is an incised border around the outside. The down-turned shaft of the pin is 'D'-shaped in cross-section, flat on the reverse and narrows from the base to the point. As the pin drops towards the point there is a slight indent on its reverse. The reverse has the corroded iron remains of the attachment loop which held the pin to the buckle. The pin has a mid-green patination.
Measurements: 29.76mm long, 18.03mm wide at the shield end (pin 3.14mm wide at narrowest), 8.83mm thick and 11.02g in weight.
Discussion: This buckle pin fits a group of roughly grouped buckles listed by Marzinzik (2003) as type 1.3 and shares 'shield' shape affinities with the stepped buckles form Grave 63 Mill Hill, Deal, Grave Polhill grave 28 and a more even trapezoidal example from Dover Buckland grave D. A date of late 6th to 7th century is thus suggested based on these examples.
Class: Pin
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: EARLY MEDIEVAL
Period from: EARLY MEDIEVAL
Period to: EARLY MEDIEVAL
Date from: Circa AD 575
Date to: Circa AD 700
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Length: 29.76 mm
Width: 18.03 mm
Thickness: 8.83 mm
Weight: 11.02 g
Personal details
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Materials and construction
Primary material: Copper alloy
Manufacture method: Cast
Completeness: Incomplete
Surface Treatment: Incised or engraved or chased
Spatial metadata
Region: South East (European Region)County or Unitary authority: Kent (County)
District: Swale (District)
Parish or ward: Selling (Civil Parish)
Spatial coordinates
4 Figure: TR0357
Four figure Latitude: 51.27597124
Four figure longitude: 0.9090905
1:25K map: TR0357
1:10K map: TR05NW
Grid reference source: GPS (from the finder)
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 1 metre square.
References cited
| Author | Publication Year | Title | Publication Place | Publisher | Pages | Reference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marzinzik, S. | 2003 | Early Anglo-Saxon Belt Buckles (Late 5th to Early 8th Centuries A.D.): Their classification and context | Oxford | British Archaeological Reports |
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Timeline of associated dates
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