MEDIEVAL BUCKLE

1066

Gilded copper-alloy buckle plate. Rectangular, it measures 37 x 28 mm, and has a pin slot and frame recesses. The plate folds under at the hinge loops to form a short underplate. There is a rivet hole at each corner; the two nearest the hinge loops are matched by two in the underplate, and one of these retains a copper-alloy knob-headed rivet. The plate is very corroded, and the only decoration surviving is an engraved line (made either by linking punchmarks, or by rocking the engraving tool) which divides the hinge loops from the rest of the plate.