BUCKLES
Buckles are possibly one of the largest groups of finds from England and give us a fascinating snippet into society and life at the time. This is simply because they are such an integral object that have been used practically since humans first started tying cloth to themselves and required a way of fastening it.
However it wasn’t until the 13th Century that buckles became accessible to the more common civilian due to the mass manufacturing of simple cast buckles. Prior to this the craftsmanship that went into producing such an item was reserved as a way of displaying your social status and wealth, or reserved for the military.
(Not that this didn't continue with elaborate and more decorated buckles being an important means of showing your wealth!)
This is the Roman Buckle Collection, so far!
1250 - 1400 Engraved Medieval Buckle Fragment
Advances in tailoring during the Medieval times led to closer fitting clothing to the body than previously worn, all of which required fastening… more buckles! Belts were the most common dress accessory used throughout all levels of society and the decoration on your belt buckle was an important means of expressing identity and status.
This particular example is a beautiful fragment of a 1250 - 1400 Medieval Belt Buckle which features delicate engraved decoration on its face.
1250 - 1400 Medieval Buckles
1550 - 1650 Tudor Spectacle Buckle and 1620 - 1680 Tinned Trapezoidal Buckle
During the 15th / 16th Century Spectacle Buckles became the preferred choice of dress.
Roman Found’s first ever buckle find, possibly one of the deepest targets we’ve had to dig, and a very special moment for us is this 1550 - 1650 Copper Alloy Tudor Spectacle Buckle. This stunning example features moulded acorn knops at each terminal of its loops, and from its large size, most likely a belt buckle or a large strap fitting probably found on a horse harness. Interestingly, this was uncovered on a well trodden bridle path…
As the years progressed this type evolved into a more trapezoidal shape becoming more and more elaborately decorated like the example above which features scrolled moulded decoration over its entire body and is even tinned for added drama! These types are found in a variety of sizes suggesting that they were available as matching sets for all of your buckle needs.
1660 - 1720 Copper Alloy and Tinned Shoe Buckles
In Stuart Times shoe buckles have really moved on from being utilitarian fasteners and are instead a highly fashionable part of society featuring elaborate decoration and designed to be interchanged from shoe to shoe allowing them to be traded for the trendier or latest design.
Now accessible for almost all of the social classes apart from the women and the very poor, as shoes were not sold with the buckles already attached, it was all the rage and the personal choice of buckle accessory was incredibly important if you wanted to impress!
We would love for our next buckle find to be of the rarer and more historical type: Absolutely dying over here for a Roman Buckle to pop up! It is believed that the Romans brought the buckle to Britain where it appeared mostly on Military Equipment and Dress (used to fasten armour and belts) but became popular with civilians from the later Roman period onwards. They even got a lot more decorative in the later period with some beautifully moulded zoomorphic designs.
Needless to say some good scouring of our Roman Fields needs to happen to uncover some buckle artefacts … watch this space!