Description of Object

A Roman silver buckle. The buckle consists of a D-shaped loop with the remains of two hinge loops attached to the hinge bar; height, 19.2 mm; weight, 4.08 g. The base of the tongue has a raised square which is notched at the sides into an hour-glass shape. The plate for attachment to a belt is missing.

Discussion

The form of the loop and the lateral notches in the base of the tongue are typical of buckles of the very end of the Roman period in Britain, though continuing later on the Continent, e.g. a buckle with a circular plate from a grave at Kingsholm, Gloucester and another with a triangular plate, presumably also from a British findspot (C. Hills and H. Hurst, 1989, 69, 154-158, fig. 1, bottom left; A. Appels and S. Laycock, 2007, 226, fig. SL10.20). This type of buckle can be dated to the end of the 4th, or early 5th century in Britain and it is possible that it reflects the presence of soldiers from eastern Europe serving in the Roman army here.

This buckle would therefore qualify as Treasure under two of the stipulated criteria of the Treasure Act: it is more than 300 years old and the precious metal content exceeds 10%.