English: Treasure case 2005 T384, a partly gilded silver Carolingian mount or brooch.

Description: The object consists of a thick, rectangular plate with moulded edges, ribbed on the short sides and with triple, shallow arcs separated by points on the long sides. The front is divided into six fire-gilded, sunken fields, each decorated with a cast acanthus leaf, by a median rib and four raised, transverse chevrons with short bars across the apices. The rib is composed of a raised leaf motif at each end flanking a pair of Maltese crosses on pedestals separated by a double tooled collar. The crosses, chevrons and bars are all ungilded, and inlaid with black niello in central crosses and grooves.

Dimensions: Length, 35 mm; width, 30 mm. It weighs 17.63g.

Analysis: Surface metal analysis conducted at the British Museum indicated an approximate silver content of 87%. The laboratory report observes that the moulded surfaces in the gilded recesses have been noticeably damaged after discovery by cleaning off the soil with a sharp point.

Discussion: The object is possibly a belt mount that was adapted in antiquity for use as a brooch; on the back at each end is a semicircular patch of corrosion products, probably left by the fixing of attachment lugs or pin-fittings that are now missing.

The decoration of the find is typically Carolingian in style and the rectangular form may be compared with mounts, brooches and buckle-plates produced on the Continent in the 9th century, e.g. the belt-fittings from the Marsum hoard and enamelled, or chip-carved, plate brooches from Rozenburg, Netherlands, and Borken-Gemen and Hedeby, Germany (M. Lennartson, 1997-8, 'Karolingische Metallarbeiten mit Pflanzenornamentik', Offa, vol. 54-5, pp. 431-545, fig. 81: 26-7 and 86; H.-J. Frick, 1992-3, 'Karolingisch-ottonische Scheibenfibeln des nördlichen Formenkreises', Offa, vol. 49/50, pp. 243-463, pl. 8: 37; G. Haseloff, 1990, Email im frühen Mittelalter, Marburg, figs. 100-101). A few examples of Carolingian metalwork have been found in England and Ireland, including a square, silver-gilt mount from Wareham, Dorset (Webster and Backhouse 1991, 280, no. 256). This object has been published by Thomas (2012, 498; fig. 5.10)

The barred chevrons may be compared with a form of capital 'A' found in 10th-century manuscripts and may therefore represent Christ as the beginning of all things (Revelation I: 17): the A (Greek alpha) occurs alone on other Carolingian metalwork, though is most usually combined in religious art with omega (the last letter of the Greek alphabet) symbolising Christ as both the first and the last. It is conceivable that the fourfold repetition of the A's stands for the four gospels (or Evangelists?). The crosses may represent the cross on the hill of Golgotha and the six leaves in the recesses perhaps the six days of the Creation. Acanthus leaves were a common feature of Carolingian art and the whole design could have been regarded as protecting the wearer from harm.

Finds from northern England may reflect Viking activity, especially after the sharing out of land in Yorkshire to the Great Army in 876. The piece dates from a period when metalwork designs widely reflected a deliberate revival of Christian ideas and imagery under the influence of court schools.