Chemical Composition: XRF data from Artax 1
Alloy: Brass
Alloying Elements: copper, zinc
Other Elements: tin, lead, iron
K. Eremin, January 2014
Technical Observations: There is green corrosion over the entire surface, which was probably waxed during restoration. The surface of the object was cleaned after excavation, which probably caused some of the scratches and file marks on the back. Some of the surface is pitted by corrosion. The punched areas are surprisingly unaffected, but perhaps this can be attributed to the tighter grain structure of the cold-worked metal. The edges are worn, and some of the detail has been lost as a result of corrosion. There are some burial accretions and some peculiar small round organic white accretions trapped in the interstices.
This relatively flat strap end appears to have been formed by folding a sheet of metal. If this is the case, the rivet holes were probably punched into the sheet metal. The undulating vine-shaped decoration on the upper side of the object was created in the metal as well. A fine straight-edged punch was used to create the outline of the stem with a continuous sequence of short strokes. The leaves were formed using a rounded punch with flat sides. The edges near the bottom end of the piece preserve parallel chisel marks and were also cut out at the metal stage. The bifurcated end that attached to the strap was created by bending the top ends of the metal sheet.
Francesca G. Bewer (submitted 2012)
