File:Late Roman buckle (probably) (FindID 267254).jpg

English: A small cast copper-alloy strap-fitting, probably a buckle of late Roman date, although a slightly later date cannot be ruled out. The object is unconventional in as much as it appears to have an integral plate with no provision for rivets. The plate is openwork, formed of a rear bar with knopped terminals connected to a similar bar by two circular elements. These latter are decorated with a deeply punched central dot (blind hole) surrounded by smaller dots on their upper surface; the lower surface of the plate is flat. The aperture between is rectangular with concave sides; presumably a strap was looped through this. Beyond the 'pin bar' with its terminal knops the frame is D-shaped. It is bevelled externally on its upper surface; bevelling that is echoed internally on the lower. The upper surface is decorated with grooves creating fields each of which decorated with a pair of incisions. The terminals of the frame curve upwards into the frame creating a kidney-shaped aperture. Although reminiscent of the opposing dragon heads on late Roman buckles it is perhaps going too far to call them zoomorphic. The axis bar between is covered with orange brown corrosion product, as is the junction area on its lower surface. The iron pin is otherwise missing. The object has corroded to a mid-green colour with some pitting. No obvious parallel has been found in the literature by the recorder.