Gold Belt Buckle Sutton Hoo

Unearthed suffolk treasures swept away misconceptions and.

Gold belt buckle sutton hoo.

Made using over 400 grams of gold its intricate decoration shows 13 intertwining creatures inlaid with niello a black metal alloy. Gold belt buckle the metal and decoration on saxon s buckle reflected the wealth and status of their owner. Gold hollow with cast ornament. Sutton hoo ship burial sutton hoo ship burial video the sutton hoo purse lid.

This spectacular gold buckle from the sutton hoo ship burial shows that the person commemorated there was of great importance. The presence of the coin shaped blanks suggests that the number of coins was deliberately. I created a linocut illustration of the gold belt buckle discovered at sutton hoo s ship burial mound in 1939. It provides remarkable insights into early anglo saxon england.

Constructed from several separate pieces its body forms a hinged box with an ingenious triple lock mechanism. Gold belt buckle hollow with cast ornament. The suttton hoo buckle is a superlative example of of this type of animal ornament which was popular with many germanic people at that time. Belt buckles go back at least to the iron age and a gold great buckle was among the items interred at sutton hoo primarily decorative shield on tongue buckles were common anglo saxon grave goods at this time elaborately decorated on the shield portion and associated only with men.

This type of animal ornament was popular with many germanic speaking peoples at the time. The sutton hoo ship burial is one of the most significant archeological discoveries ever made. The trustees of the british museum. The mourners at sutton hoo chose and arranged the.

Weighing more than 400 grams the buckle is actually a hollow box that opens at the back on a hinge beneath the loop. There was a purse among the burial goods which contained 37 gold coins 3 coin shaped blanks and 2 small gold ingots. One such buckle found in a 7th century grave at finglesham kent in 1965 bears the image of a naked. This gold belt buckle is a masterpiece of early medieval craftsmanship made using over 400g of gold with an intricate decoration of intertwining creatures inlaid with niello a black metal alloy.

The upper surface is covered entirely with zoomorphic interlace the design picked out in tiny punched circles and inlaid except on the loop in niello. Situated on either side of the boss at the tip of the buckle two animals grip a. From the sutton hoo ship burial mound 1 england uk. The sutton hoo belt buckle.

Belt buckle sutton hoo early 7th century gold. The intricate decoration comprises a web of 13 snakes predatory birds and long limbed.