File:Buckle plate (FindID 80972).jpg

English: A rectangular buckle-plate, wrought in copper alloy. The frame of the buckle is missing. The plate itself consists of a single sheet of copper alloy that was bent back on itself around the pin-bar of the buckle frame. There is a squared notch for the pin to fit. There are squared notches at the ends of the fold, for the ends of the buckle frame to fit, showing that the pin bar would have been recessed and was narrower than the main frame. There are three copper alloy rivets through the plate, all still in situ. The corners of the plate are bent in; the reverse of the plate is more roughly made, with an irregular shape to the end of the plate. The obverse of the plate retains most of its decoration, which rather than being incised or punched, appears to be formed of a white paste that has become stained greenish by the degradation of the copper alloy. There are a few tiny flecks of gilding. The decoration is formed of a series of borders within borders, formed of straight or indented lines of paste. The metal behind is pale reddish-brown with green patches. The fact that the plate is intact suggests that the buckle frame broke and came away. This artefact is likely to date to between 1300 and 1600.