File:Early-medieval buckle (probably) (FindID 185830).jpg

English: A corroded and incomplete cast copper-alloy buckle of probable early-medieval date. As a colleague writing about a parallel recorded on this database (<a href = "pas_obj.php?type=finds&id=00145B8DC18010BB" target = "_blank>" </a>BH-8DA095</a>) notes, the style of the artefact bears strong similarities to a series of 13th to 14th century spur buckles found during excavations in London (cf. Egan and Pritchard 1991, 106; fig. 68). However, a parallel attributed an early-medieval date can be found illustrated in Mills (2001, 19; ref. AS11), although the late 6th-century date given ought to be queried, and a later early-medieval date suggested, following the PAS record noted above (cf. also HAMP-91E451).

The frame and plate have been cast in one piece. The frame is sub-oval in plan. The pin would have been retained within a hole at the frame end of the plate; the pin is missing but orange staining suggests that it was iron. The plate is sub-triangular and tapers before expanding to a rounded terminal. On the flat lower surface there is a single copper-alloy rivet of circular cross-section (L.: c. 7.15mm) at the terminal; this would have gone through the belt. The metal of the integral plate and frame has corroded to a red-brown colour consistent with early-medieval metalwork. Traces of gilding survive on the upper surface, partcularly on the plate. The buckle has been damaged with one side of the frame bent upwards.

Despite the early-medieval parallels noted above (also see NLM946) the lack of any clear animal-head decoration and the presence of gilding point to this being part of the medieval spur-buckle series, with a date in the 13th or 14th century.