File:Early-Medieval , Buckle Plate (FindID 573068).jpg

English: An incomplete and modified late Visigothic copper-alloy buckle plate of Earl-Medieval date (circa AD 600/40 - 710/20). The buckle plate is of the 'lyre-shaped' type, though the rounded terminal is all that remains, with three integral knops set radially around the surviving edge. The rim of the plate is slightly raised, with an internal circumferential groove serving as the border for the central decorative motif. This motif features Style II ornamentation, consisting of a lozenge-shaped arrangement of double mouldings with curved ends extending towards the rim. The resulting fields are filled with a typical foliage design with zoomorphic motifs in the form of curved beaked bird heads - possibly griffins. A raised central knop is present within the lozenge field and is decorated with radiating curved incised lines.

The reverse bears an integral semi-circular attachment loop, and a rectangular sheet of copper alloy has been soldered into place with two rivet holes present at the exposed end. This may have served as a contemporary mend to the object following an accidental break, but the period at which this modification was made cannot be securely identified.

The metal has a dark brownish-green patina and survives in fair condition. The object is 52.7mm long, 43.6mm wide, 5.7mm thick and weighs 26.5g.

Lyre-shaped buckles developed in the 7th century, copying Byzantine types, and were more common in cast copper alloy than precious metals.

Barry Ager, Curator of Continental Early Medieval Collections, Early Medieval European archaeology (Continent and Scandinavia) at The British Museum comments that "the tab of metal soldered or riveted across the break is possibly an antique repair to the broken plate, which often seem to have broken around this point. There is an interesting parallel for the repair or reuse of another terminal in a similar way from La Gleva, prov. Barcelona, Spain, but with only a narrow, pierced tab of the original plate projecting from the centre of the broken (or cut-down) side (H. Zeiss, 1934, Die Grabfunde aus dem spanischen Westgotenreich, Germanische Denkmäler der Völkerwanderungszeit, Bd. 2, Berlin/Leipzig, Taf. 17: 16)".

A similar buckle plate can be seen on the British Museum on-line collections database:
<a href="http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details/collection_image_gallery.aspx?assetId=464046&objectId=63731&partId=1">http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details/collection_image_gallery.aspx?assetId=464046&objectId=63731&partId=1</a>