English: Early Early-Medieval copper alloy buckle frame of the 'shield on tongue' type, complete with damaged plate and tongue. The frame is oval in shape and D-shaped in section (being flat on the underside). It measures 12x22x3.6mm (internal 4.6x14mm). There is a slight narrowing for the plate and tongue. The plate curls around the frame to give a top and bottom plate. It is 13.1mm in length, 12.5mm wide and 0.6mm thick. The top plate is slightly damaged (recent-ish) and missing part of the curl around the frame and one corner of the plate, exposing one of the three rivets still in situ at the open end. The open end is 1.7mm 'open'. The height of the rivets is 3.9mm. The shield is 10.7mm wide with a curved end opposite the tongue. It is 9.8mm long and 2mm thick. Beneath the shield a 3mm wide, 1.2mm thick band curls around the buckle frame. The tongue itself is circular in section and 3mm in diameter where it extends from the shield (the top of the tongue being slightly higher than the shield becuse it is thicker). It is bent at circa 45° to what it should be. Complete length 21.1mm. Weighs 5.85g. Much of the patina has been lost and the metal is a grey/ green in colour. The 'Shield on Tongue' type has a Frankish origin and was very common elsewhere on the continent between 525 and 625 AD. In England they are more usually found in the South and East.