Image: Anglo-Saxon silver-plated copper alloy buckle with triangular plate and incised zoomorphic decoration-front. (FindID 71555)

Description: A Frankish copper alloy buckle loop and plate with nine domed bosses. Both the buckle loop and plate are hollow backed, and are silvered on the front. The buckle loop is an elongated oval, 71.11mm long by 39.89mm wide, by 5.64mm thick. Internal width of the strap would be 56.39mm. It has two projecting perforated lugs for attachment to the buckle plate, via an iron pin (now corroded). Two transverse raised ridges on the outer frame form a pin rest. The buckle loop weighs 19.42g. The triangular buckle plate has a worn transverse break across its body. The larger section has two pairs of opposing semi-circular lugs projecting from its upper and lower edges. These contain dome-headed rivets, although one rivet is missing from one of the smaller lugs, which is broken. Four perforated lugs project from the front edge of the buckle plate, for attachment to the buckle loop via an iron pin. The front of the buckle plate is silvered and decorated with three bands of incised intertwined serpents running lengthwise along the plate. A semi-circular band of the silvering is missing, presumably as a result of wear, at the edge of the plate that attaches to the buckle loop. There are three projecting perforated lugs on the reverse of the plate to allow attachment to the leather belt strap. The larger part of the buckle plate measures 65.55 mm long (minimum) by 72.74mm wide by 17.78mm thick (maximum including dome headed rivets and projecting lugs on reverse). This section weighs 55.06g. The other extant section of buckle plate was examined at the British Museum in December 2001. This comprises the greater part of the terminal of the plate, with 4 further bosses extant. This buckle is an Aquitanian type IC 2, which has been dated by Aufleger to the 7th or early 8th century AD (Aufleger 1997). The main distribution of this type of buckle is France, particularly in the south-west in the Garonne region.
Title: Anglo-Saxon silver-plated copper alloy buckle with triangular plate and incised zoomorphic decoration-front.
Credit: https://finds.org.uk/database/ajax/download/id/32258 Catalog: https://finds.org.uk/database/images/image/id/32258 Artefact: https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/71555
Author: The Portable Antiquities Scheme, Andrew Richardson, 2004-08-03 09:50:24
Permission: Attribution-ShareAlike License
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0
License: CC BY-SA 2.0
License Link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Attribution Required?: Yes