File:Early medieval strap end (FindID 195484).jpg

English: Early medieval strap end; Cast copper alloy strap end with three-dimensional zoomorphic terminal and remains of leather in the split end. The strap end is probably of later 10th or 11th century date, due to the development of the three-dimensional cast animal head at the terminal. The strap end is made of a single strip of copper alloy, split at the back end and held to the strap with a single rivet, the head of which can be seen on the back of the strap end. The artefact has straight sides which taper towards the terminal end. The terminal is shaped in the form of a snout and has little cast knops to represent ears and eyes. The strap end is quite worn and corroded so the decoration is not clear but there is an indication of incised cross hatching in the panel behind the animal head. Most of the original surface of the metal is missing and there is now a fairly uniform covering of orange-brown copper oxide corrosion. There are also tiny spots of pale green powdery copper chloride corrosion (the so-called ‘bronze disease’). The split at the back end of the artefact can be seen to contain the leather from the original strap. Length 47.6mm, width 11.6mm, thickness 6.0mm, weight 11.86g