EARLY MEDIEVAL HOOKED TAG

700

A copper-alloy early-medieval hooked tag with sub-triangular (shield-shaped with rounded corners) plate and truncated integral recurving hook at the base of the plate, broken before at the start of the return (B2.a.ii* (lobed?)). The top of the plate is cusped with rounded lobes at each corner, and a low raised triangle between formed by cut-outs. The is a crude perforation for attachment in each of the lobes. The front of the plate is decorated in its entirety with engraved concentric circles around a central punched dot (which has pierced the surface of the plate). Around the dot there are four circles, the outermost of which is interrupted by the perforations, showing that the engraving was done prior in the sequence of creation to the holes. There is a wide transverse collar at the base of the plate, at its junction with the hook. The object has an even mid-green patina over red-brown metal which shows through at one of the lobes.