Buckle, belt buckle

Copper-alloy buckle with a narrow D-shaped bow and two simple inward-projecting horns. The shank is splayed with a T-shaped slot to take the flat pin and the fold of the belt plate. The belt plate has been made from a strip of copper alloy cut so that the front forms a wide rectangle but the hinge is narrower and continues as a straight strip along the back. The front terminates in a fan shape with a frilled edge. The two halves of the plate are secured by a small disc-headed rivet through the terminal. All the components are made of different copper alloys and some may be replacement parts.

Although the buckle is of a common second to third-century type, the belt plate is more unusual. The fanned terminal is more often seen in conjunction with a simple buckle on lorica segmentata fittings and can be considered a degenerate form of the lobate plate, which may possibly of Danubian origin. A similar buckle and plate combination, but without the fanned terminal, has been found at Niederbieber, while peltate terminals, which may be comparable, can be seen on openwork belt plates from Pocking, Pfünz, and Weissenburg.