MEDIEVAL STRAP FITTING

1300

Composite strap-end made from two sheets of copper alloy, held together by a copper-alloy rivet at each end. The open end is very slightly incurved and is 12 mm wide. The strap-end then tapers gently to 9 mm wide just before curved 'shoulders' and a flat trefoil terminal. One sheet has faint traces of a saltire of rocker-arm engraving. The metal is a curious bronze colour, as if from a waterlogged context, with patches of bronze disease. This can be arrested by keeping the strap-end as dry as possible. The weight was measured together with soil encrustations between the two plates.