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II. The Pre-Flavian Military Belt: the Evidence from Britain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 April 2011

Francis Grew  and
Nick Griffiths
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Abstract

The fittings from the military belt—heavy semicircular buckles with inturned scrolls and rectangular mounts with relief or niello decoration—are common finds at Colchester, Hod Hill, Richborough and other early Roman sites in Britain. Identical pieces have been recovered in even greater numbers from the contemporary forts and fortresses along the Rhine and Danube frontiers. Although well known (Ritterling 1913, 148–55; Webster 1969, 122–3), they have yet to be studied and published as a group, a process which would yield valuable information about their spatial distribution, the relative popularity of different decorative schemes and, possibly, about the centres of manufacture. The following is a synthesis and discussion of the British finds only (fig. 1); it is based on a thorough search both of the published literature and of museum collections, particularly those in the south of England and the Midlands.

Type
Research Article
Information
Archaeologia , Volume 109 , 1991 , pp. 47 - 84
Copyright
Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 1991

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