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Strap-ends from belts and other attachments are common finds from the early medieval period. This example was found by Cotswold Archaeology during an excavation in the market town of Halesworth in Suffolk in 2024, with recent conservation revealing its lovely ornamentation. Cast in copper alloy, the top of the strap-fitting is decorated with a rectangular panel filled with black niello paste and inlaid with silver wires shaped into ‘S’ scrolls. Below this, the fitting is shaped like a stylised animal head, perhaps a horse, with rounded ears, an elongated snout with incised nostrils, and two holes for eyes. On its forehead is another smaller diamond-shaped panel, also filled with niello and containing a single curl of silver wire.
This type of strap-end is believed to date to the 9th century, with similar examples found throughout East Anglia, and as far away as Hamwic (early medieval Southampton). A cluster around Ipswich possibly indicates that they came from a workshop there.
The strap-end was discovered among the remains of an early medieval settlement, including several post-hole buildings – one of which is shown (above) – together with ovens or hearths and finds suggestive of industrial or craft activity. Alongside this centre of occupation was a small cemetery.
Text: Kathryn Krakowka / Images: Cotswold Archaeology
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