Ave!

Ostrogoths, Buckle Connector, Dragons, 5th-6th Cent, Very Rare!

Copper alloy; 31mm/7.9gm

Con/ As Cast; original connector ring; stunning and scarce dark ox-blood patina

Description/ S-shaped buckle-connector with dragon heads; hexagonal ornament in the center. The deep bend on one end, as seen in the photo, is not from plow damage, but rather purposely created by the smith to ensure that the buckle connector ring remained attached.

Ref/ Aleksander Stanev, Elementi na germanskija fibule kostjum na jug ot dunav (Elements of Germanic Fibulae and Costume from South of the Danube), page 229-236.

Seller's Note/ This is part of a very weird belt system. Two buckles, one attached to each end of a leather belt, were attached by an S-shaped piece, often with animal or dragon-head ends.They link to plain round rings, or buckle plates (as seen in the link here), either D-shaped or square with perforated decorations and a loop on one side. They are found in the Balkans, eastern Romania and the Crimea and are generally dated to the second half of the 5th century (but were used into the 6th) and are associated with the Ostrogoths who migrated into the lower Danube at that time from the Crimea region.