File:Early-Medieval mount (FindID 487975).jpg

The head of the mount is sub-circular and of flat section. The upper surface is decorated with a 'chip carved' design which retains much of its original gilding. At the centre of this design there is a triple-stranded, interlaced quatrefoil. This quatrefoil is entwined with a single-stranded rectangle, on each of the four corners of which there is an angled loop whose outer limit projects beyond the edges of the otherwise circular head. The final element of the design is a ropework border which extends around the circumference, passing through the aforementioned loops. The reverse of the mount is undecorated and there is a rectangular arrangement of four integral circular-sectioned rivets, all of which have been bent in the same direction. The artefact measures 17.7mm in diameter, 1.1mm thick (head), 5.6mm deep (including rivets) and weighs 2.36g.

Dr. Helen Geake (pers. comm.) suggests a late 6th to early 7th century date for this mount, based on the nature of the interlace design, which she sees as probably representing a transition between Style I and Style II. The shape of this mount is slightly unusual: most horse harness decorations of this period are circular (see, for example, PUBLIC-E3FDF3, SF-9CA772, DENO-28C1C3, BERK-18B795). PAS record BUC-B9B352, an Irish piece, is of similar form, albeit it is approximately 150 years later than this example.