It is some time since we last looked at metal detector finds. Today we are looking at a collection which came from Norman. He has found, in one location in Market Lavington, a little collection of buckles which date from between 1200 and 1400 which makes them 600 to 800 years old.
Medieval buckles all found in Market Lavington
These look to be utilitarian devices. They served a fastening purpose but were in base metal and have no ornamentation.
No doubt it was very irritating to our medieval ancestors when these items got lost or broke. Maybe shoes of some kind would no longer stay on, or bags would no longer stay closed. It’s possible that something more substantially valuable – a purse, for example – was lost at the same time. The breaking of these buckles, all those years ago could have spelt disaster or heartache for a former Market Lavington resident.
And what we can see is that the folks in those long ago times, were not so different from us. In recent years, Velcro and plastic fasteners have replaced many of the functions where buckles like this were once used, but even so, most people will still have things that fasten in this way.
Thanks, Norman, for further interesting finds.
Tags: buckles, Metal Detector
Market Lavington Museum 
March 21, 2022 at 6:26 am |
Hello, I am very interested in what you could tell me about the buckle at the bottom left of the photo. I have just found one like this in a field in Hovingham, North Yorks.(March 2022)
March 21, 2022 at 7:53 am |
I’m afraid our volunteer run museum does not have the expertise to answer your question, but maybe one of our readers can.