File:Medieval Spur Buckle (FindID 220191).jpg

English: A complete but misshapen cast copper alloy and gilded buckle frame of Medieval date c. AD 1250 – c. AD 1400). Length: 32.2mm; width: 15.6mm and 5.1mm thick. Weight: 3.92g. Originally, the length would have been about 51.0mm.

The single loop is sub-circular in plan and has an integral plate terminating with an integral hook at the attachment end and was probably used to attach a strap to a spur.

The upper and lower faces of the loop are slightly convex. Although the outer profile of the loop is sub-circular, the inner edges form a circle. Between the loop and the plate, on the upper face, there is a flat transverse rib. Close to the rib, on the centre-line there is a circular perforation that accommodates the pin loop. Just beyond this perforation there is another smaller perforation in the same plane that, presumably, would have contained a rivet. From the flat transverse rib, the plate narrows in width towards the hook at the attachment end. However, close to the hook, the plate widens quite abruptly to form a square feature. At the centre of this feature there is a single rivet with a circular shank. The rivet is dome-headed at the front and burred over at the rear. Prior to being misshapen, the hook would have turned downwards and the back through about 180°. The copper alloy pin is D-shaped in cross-section, flat on the underside. It has a length of 15.8mm and tapers throughout its length to a sharp tip.

The buckle has lost most of its patina and the surface of the metal is a dull purple/brown colour. However, where the patina has survived it is a buff colour. Trace of gilding can be seen on the front but not on the rear.

Whitehead (1996 ‘Buckles 1250-1800’. 32-35) describes and illustrates spur buckles of a similar design (for comparison, see in particular, no. 177). Buckles such as these are illustrated in Egan and Pritchard 1991, 78, fig. 48 and are thought to have come from spurs although their relative weakness seems difficult for this interpretation. They are generally dated from the 13th - mid 14th centuries.