File:A copper-alloy ox knob of Post-Medieval to Modern date. (FindID 976277).jpg

English: A copper-alloy ox knob of Post-Medieval to Modern date. The knob weighs 46.79g and has a height of 27.1mm. It has a circular cross-section. The rim at the base is flat and has a diameter of 18.1mm. The lower part of the object is cylindrical but starts to flare outwards towards the top of the knob to merge into the lower half of a sub-bi-convexly shaped top. The top of the knob has a maximum diameter of 30.9mm. At the centre of the convexly domed top there is a sub-circular aperture of 11.1mm diameter. The walls at the edge of the aperture are vertical (at a 90 degree angle to the artefact's internal and external surface) although crudely made so that they do not form a smoothly circular edge but have a few angled nicks in the edge.

The artefact has a thickness of 2.3mm at the rim. On the internal surface, from the rim to a height of 8.8mm, there is a screw thread. The use of screw threading in this country was developed in the mid-18th century AD and as such this suggests the earliest possible date for this artefact - see <a href="https://www.boltscience.com/pages/screw2.htm">https://www.boltscience.com/pages/screw2.htm</a> . The rest of the internal surface is plain, rough textured and undecorated. The external surface is smooth. 2.2mm above the rim there is a thin moulded or incised circumferential groove. Another of these grooves is present at the inter-change of the concave to convex curve of artefact's profile, at a height of c.13.7mm above the rim. The third of these grooves is present at the approximate middle of the domed top of the knob, c. 6.6mm out from the edge of the aperture. Between the two grooves on the bi-convexly shaped upper part of the object there are two indented, probably, mouldings. These are on the height axis (at 90 degrees from the grooved rings) and one is positioned on the opposite side of the knob from the other. These seem to be decorative, though a functional use cannot be ruled out. They have a length of c.6.9mm, stopping c.2.0mm before the upper groove and c.3.1mm above the lower. They have a maximum width of c.2.8mm and depth of c.1.3mm.

Ox knobs are used in animal husbandry. They are placed on the ends of the horns of animals with horns (normally cattle) to prevent the risk of goring. Some examples have one or two small holes at the side just above the rim for a nail or screw to pass through allowing the knob to be secured in place. Other examples, such as that described here, are screwed on with the presence of a screw thread inside the initial part of the cylinder. The PAS database/Historic Environment thesaurus of terms does not seem to have any terms suitable to adequately describe this artefact. Thus it has been recorded as an unidentified object for the time being.