@primitivemethod.bsky.social
Traditional goldsmith with a research interest in Early Medieval archaeology. In particular, complex gold hinges from the 6th and 7th centuries.
Buckle. Thetford Treasure. 4th/5thC.
Complex gold buckles are rare finds. This one was discovered in a hoard of jewellery. Intriguing, as it was found about 40 miles from Sutton Hoo.
It has interesting features, but no real connection to Anglo-Saxon buckles.
www.britishmuseum.org/collection/o...
Complex gold buckles are rare finds. This one was discovered in a hoard of jewellery. Intriguing, as it was found about 40 miles from Sutton Hoo.
It has interesting features, but no real connection to Anglo-Saxon buckles.
www.britishmuseum.org/collection/o...
August 2, 2025 at 7:25 AM
Buckle. Thetford Treasure. 4th/5thC.
Complex gold buckles are rare finds. This one was discovered in a hoard of jewellery. Intriguing, as it was found about 40 miles from Sutton Hoo.
It has interesting features, but no real connection to Anglo-Saxon buckles.
www.britishmuseum.org/collection/o...
Complex gold buckles are rare finds. This one was discovered in a hoard of jewellery. Intriguing, as it was found about 40 miles from Sutton Hoo.
It has interesting features, but no real connection to Anglo-Saxon buckles.
www.britishmuseum.org/collection/o...
...so it doesn't seem a stretch to suggest that objects, received as gifts or loot, might be enjoyed by their owners, tracing their fingers over the interlaced patterns, looking for hidden animals, marveling at the reflector panels sitting behind the garnets.
Layers of detail, in one object.
Layers of detail, in one object.
July 28, 2025 at 7:02 AM
...so it doesn't seem a stretch to suggest that objects, received as gifts or loot, might be enjoyed by their owners, tracing their fingers over the interlaced patterns, looking for hidden animals, marveling at the reflector panels sitting behind the garnets.
Layers of detail, in one object.
Layers of detail, in one object.
...but there was also a group of low status buckles, in a bag fastened with a tiny buckle, and a couple of them are quite odd, including the copper alloy double buckle (pictured). The rest are copper alloy or silver.
Why are there so many buckles + other hinges in Mound 1? It is richly furnished...
Why are there so many buckles + other hinges in Mound 1? It is richly furnished...
July 27, 2025 at 12:57 PM
...but there was also a group of low status buckles, in a bag fastened with a tiny buckle, and a couple of them are quite odd, including the copper alloy double buckle (pictured). The rest are copper alloy or silver.
Why are there so many buckles + other hinges in Mound 1? It is richly furnished...
Why are there so many buckles + other hinges in Mound 1? It is richly furnished...
Mound 1 had even more - 26 hinges across 19 objects, plus buckets, hanging bowels, imported vessels. Some of the hinges - the purse lid (pictured), the shoulder clasps, and the strap distributor - are not buckles. Non-buckle hinges seem to be rare.
They are mostly high status, precious objects...
They are mostly high status, precious objects...
July 27, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Mound 1 had even more - 26 hinges across 19 objects, plus buckets, hanging bowels, imported vessels. Some of the hinges - the purse lid (pictured), the shoulder clasps, and the strap distributor - are not buckles. Non-buckle hinges seem to be rare.
They are mostly high status, precious objects...
They are mostly high status, precious objects...
Sutton Hoo is interesting because it contains 2 burials with a lot of hinges. Mound 17 was a horse and rider burial, accounting for some of the 15 buckles (plus a bucket and a cauldron), but not all of them.
The buckles include a lot of iron and copper alloys, with garnets and gilding too...
The buckles include a lot of iron and copper alloys, with garnets and gilding too...
July 27, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Sutton Hoo is interesting because it contains 2 burials with a lot of hinges. Mound 17 was a horse and rider burial, accounting for some of the 15 buckles (plus a bucket and a cauldron), but not all of them.
The buckles include a lot of iron and copper alloys, with garnets and gilding too...
The buckles include a lot of iron and copper alloys, with garnets and gilding too...
Early Medieval hinges. I wrote a paper about the hinges from Sutton Hoo: digital.kenyon.edu/perejournal/...
The Great Gold Buckle (picture) was the inspiration for that paper and is still at the centre of my research, as it combines several unusual features.
#earlymedieval #archaeology
The Great Gold Buckle (picture) was the inspiration for that paper and is still at the centre of my research, as it combines several unusual features.
#earlymedieval #archaeology
July 27, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Early Medieval hinges. I wrote a paper about the hinges from Sutton Hoo: digital.kenyon.edu/perejournal/...
The Great Gold Buckle (picture) was the inspiration for that paper and is still at the centre of my research, as it combines several unusual features.
#earlymedieval #archaeology
The Great Gold Buckle (picture) was the inspiration for that paper and is still at the centre of my research, as it combines several unusual features.
#earlymedieval #archaeology
Interesting hinge here - a hinged backplate. I was aware that some buckles had a recess (purportedly for a relic), like the Great Gold Buckle from Sutton Hoo, but I hadn't realised that there were others with a hinged cover.
www.academia.edu/114647063/Th...
www.academia.edu/114647063/Th...
July 24, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Interesting hinge here - a hinged backplate. I was aware that some buckles had a recess (purportedly for a relic), like the Great Gold Buckle from Sutton Hoo, but I hadn't realised that there were others with a hinged cover.
www.academia.edu/114647063/Th...
www.academia.edu/114647063/Th...
I made a copy of this ring in silver - forged, engraved and then finished with abrasive minerals, spit, and a flat tile.
July 2, 2025 at 7:10 AM
I made a copy of this ring in silver - forged, engraved and then finished with abrasive minerals, spit, and a flat tile.