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SADDLE
Unique ID: SWYOR-C8517E
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation 
An incomplete copper alloy saddle pommel dating from the late Medieval or Post Medieval period, about AD 1450 - 1700.
Both halves of the hollow domed pommel survive, soldered together to form a conical object. It has a knob at the apex and is decorated with five pairs of oblique grooves, curving round the pommel in a gentle spiral. The open end is an oblique angle with a projecting perforated attachment plate at the lowest point. There is a border groove round the rim. Length 58.65mm. Diameter 32.46mm. Weight 47.90g.
The pommel would have been riveted onto a wooden protrusion on the front of the frame of the saddle, to which the reins could then be secured. Saddles were wooden framed and leather clad at this time in order to support a man in full armour.
Compare IOW-384692 which notes that: Saddle pommels are dated by Read from the later Middle Ages to the seventeenth century (Read 1995, 127-128, refs. 808 and 809). These examples are shown with the perforated wings attached. See also, Portable Antiquities Scheme finds: CORN-73A050, HAMP-59FE42, HAMP-59F311 and NMS-1F39E5.
Class: pommel
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
Period from: MEDIEVAL
Period to: POST MEDIEVAL
Date from: Circa AD 1450
Date to: Circa AD 1700
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Length: 58.65 mm
Weight: 47.9 g
Diameter: 32.46 mm
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Wednesday 3rd October 2018 - Thursday 3rd October 2019
Personal details
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Other reference numbers
Other reference: PAS Form No 003507
Materials and construction
Primary material: Copper alloy
Manufacture method: Cast
Completeness: Complete
Spatial metadata
Region: Yorkshire and the Humber (European Region)County or Unitary authority: Barnsley (Metropolitan District)
District: Barnsley (Metropolitan District)
Parish or ward: Hunshelf (Civil Parish)
Spatial coordinates
4 Figure: SE2600
Four figure Latitude: 53.49606494
Four figure longitude: -1.60955115
1:25K map: SE2600
1:10K map: SE20SE
Grid reference source: Centred on field
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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