File:Possible Medieval Sword Pommel (FindID 244523).jpg

English: A cast copper alloy terminal in the form of an eagle or griffin head, probably Medieval in date and possibly a pommel for a sword or similar item. It is hollow and has extensive moulded and incised decoration that defines the form of the creature, which has a slightly open hooked beak and prominent oval shaped ears. At the top the head is flattened and there is an irregularly cut sub-circular perforation, perhaps for either attachment to a tang of some form or evidence of a now missing integral part of the terminal. There are short incised strokes around the flattened top of the head that represent the feathers of the animal. At the back of the head are two prominent and projecting moulded ears. These are oval in shape with dished inner surfaces that taper towards rounded points at their base. The head surrounding the ear is demarcated by incised oval shaped borders containing short vertical strokes. In front of the ears are prominent brow ridges followed by deeply recessed eye sockets with raised triangular eyes that taper towards the back of the head. Above and below the eyes lashes are depicted through the use of numerous short vertical incisions and there are small circular indentations at the inner edge of the eyes that define the tear ducts.

Projecting forward from the eyes is the prominent hooked beak. This is outlined by a lozenge-shaped border of short horizontal strokes that runs from the top of the beak along the bottom edge of the eyes and down to the base of the terminal. The beak itself is sub-rectangular in profile and triangular in section tapering to a rounded point at the outer edge. In profile, the upper, and larger, half of the beak has a blunt, rounded exterior edge with a small pointed hook. On each side just above the hook are single circular incisions and on one side there are traces of an added white metal surface that suggests the beak may once have been covered in a similar coating. The open mouth is crescentic in form with a flattened inner edge. The lower half of the beak projects outwards to meet the hook of the upper beak and is sub-oval in profile. From the lower beak the head curves downwards to the base of the terminal.

The sides of the head between the beak and the back of the head are covered in moulded and incised decoration. This is contained by a border comprised of a raised moulded collar at the base of the terminal followed by a rounded ridge that runs from the top vertically down the back face of the terminal to meet the collar. This ridge is moulded to create a slightly wavy profile with six smooth ridges and grooves along its length. Inside the collar, to either side of the ridge, and around the base of the ears, eyes and beak is a single incised groove that forms a border for the moulded decoration. The decoration itself comprises a rectangular shaped motif with pointed lower edge and V-shaped upper edge with numerous incised vertidal lines. This motif is repeated over and over again in diagonal bands that run from the top and front of the terminal to the base and back, and which are designed to represent the feathers.

In profile the base of the terminal curves downwards to a point at the back of the head, the raised collar running around its circumference giving a slightly rolled finish. The base itself has been flattened and filed, with extensive tool marks visible along the rather thick (4.58mm) inner edge. The hollow opening is pointed oval in shape tapering towards the rear of the terminal and the interior has an uneven finish, probably as a result of the casting process.

The entire terminal measures 58.65mm in height, 25.79mm in width at the base, 24.66mm in width at the ears, 54.77mm in length from front of beak to back of terminal, 4.58mm in thickness, and weighs 163.85g.

Similar eagle shaped cast and hollow terminals are noted from the Roman period as cart fittings, however these are generally much smaller and of differing shape. The current example, given its almost oval shaped opening and size, would instead seem to indicate usage as a terminal to an object like a sword in much the same manner as Medieval pommels are attached to swords (see for example LMMC pp. 21-38). The decorative elements with neatly incised regular decoration and the form of the head itself are also more reminiscent of Medieval metalwork than that of the Roman period (S. Worrell, pers. comm.). Although no close parallel has yet been identified, it seems likely, therefore, that this terminal perhaps acted as a sword pommel and is of Medieval date, possibly from the 13th-15th centuries AD.