File:Early Medieval Buckle (FindID 600001).jpg

English: An incomplete cast copper-alloy oval buckle frame with integrally-cast rectangular buckle plate, probably dating from the late Early Medieval to early Medieval periods (c. 11th-12th centuries AD). The buckle frame is narrow and oval, with three incised lines decorated either side of where the pin-end would have rested. The plate has been integrally cast as the inner edge of the buckle frame and has a central oval notch at this position with recessed edge to accommodate the pin, now missing. The rest of the remaining buckle frame consists of a rectangular plate with two circular rivet holes positioned opposite each other on the perimeter edges; the rivets are now missing. The outer surface of the plate is decorated with incised lines running parallel to its perimeter edges, with ring-and-dot decoration covering the surface of the plate. The remaining ring-and-dot motif seems to be surrounding the pin hole, with one further decorating the plate closer to the outer edge. It is of an even dark green patina. The buckle frame measures 29.7 mm long, 11.3 mm wide (from outer frame edge to pin rest), 3.1 mm thick; the plate measures 21.4 mm long, 10.6 mm wide (remaining plate), 1.6 mm thick (plate). The whole object weighs 4 grams.

An exact parallel for this buckle has not been found and as its style and decoration are used prevalently throughout the later Roman, Early Medieval and Medieval periods, the dating of this example is based upon similarities in function to those of the 11th-12th centuries.