Treasure Annual Report 1998-1999 - Portable Antiquities Scheme

uckle, which is also silver, has identical mouldings
on the top of the tongue but no zoomorphic
decoration on the end. It was complete with its oval
buckle plate. A similar example, although of copperalloy,
has been found in a late-4th century grave at
Lankhills, Winchester (G Clarke, The Roman
Cemetery at Lankhills (Pre-Roman and Roman
Winchester, Part II, 1979), p. 270, grave 283, no.
481). In the Lankhills example the oval buckle plate
also survived. Another copper-alloy parallel was
found in 1851 in an Anglo-Saxon grave at Fairford,
Gloucestershire and is now in the Ashmolean
Museum, Oxford (A MacGregor and E Bolick, A
Summary Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Collections,
Ashmolean Museum (Oxford, 1993), p. 305, no. 34.56
(1961.32)). However, the execution of these pieces is
far cruder than the present buckle.
Disposition: Corinium Museum hopes to acquire.
Valuation: £1,250
P GENTIL
39 Knaresborough, North Yorkshire: Roman silver
ring-key fragment
(Fig. 39)
Date: 1st–3rd centuries AD
Finders: Mr M Smith, Ms H Smith
Date of discovery: 2 December 1999
Circumstances of discovery: While searching with
metal-detectors.
Description: The object is a damaged, incomplete keybit,
lacking its ring-handle. There are lines of dotted
decoration on the teeth, several of which are broken.
The treatment of the back and the slight interior
curve indicate that the ring handle was not in the
same plane as the bit but at 90 degrees to it, making it
one of the keys designed to be worn as a finger ring.
Dimensions: Length of ‘bezel’ area: 16 mm; width
(projection of bit): 14 mm; weight: 2.4g.
Note: Approximately 90 per cent for silver.
Disposition: Awaiting inquest.
C M JOHNS
Treasure Annual Report 1998 - 1999 23
(fig. 39) Knaresborough (fig. 40) Cantley
Roman Artefacts
40 Cantley, South Yorkshire: Roman silver ring-key
(Fig. 40)
Date: 1st–3rd centuries AD
Finder: Mr P Jones
Date of discovery: 2 November 1999
Circumstances of discovery: While searching with a
metal-detector.
Description: This is a very small silver ring with a
narrow elongated bezel from which a lateral extension
develops. The extension is of rounded form, pierced by
two small circular holes, and has a narrowed base where
it joins the bezel. There is a little damage to the rounded
projection, part of which has broken away. Keys designed
to be worn as rings were a common Roman type.
Dimensions: Internal diameter: 13 mm; width at
bezel: 10 mm. Weight: 2.1g.
Note: Approximately 93 per cent for silver.
Disposition: Awaiting inquest.
41 Gastard, Wiltshire: Possibly Roman gold bar
fragment
(Fig. 41)
C M JOHNS
Date: Possibly Roman
Finder: Mr D Carrier
Date of discovery: November 1998
Circumstances of discovery: While searching with a
metal-detector
Description: The object is an oval-sectioned tapering
bar, the pointed end of which is bent at an angle of
about 115 degrees. The thick end has been neatly cut