12-21-2008, 01:36 PM
Tim. There are many points you raise that appear to try to rule out the Chichester beltplate ie no parallels, there are indeed others that have been found. Then you say likely to be second or third century, is that a definate or a maybe time period. The context of the find may well be civilian, however all the other plates and the beltfrogs in particular would suggest military. Then there is the question of size and weight it would be able to carry, if I remember correctly the late Douglas Arnold who was leader of the II Avg did wear at one time a belt that I copied from the one I found and put into the British Museum. That one was in the region of almost 20mm wide and I have yet another original Ist century one that is even smaller. When we look at the fixings both Cesar and Miks have put forward they are clothes or cloak fasteners, and the gaps between the discs or studs and the curved shanks are in the region of 5mm how many belts are that thick??. Then there is the matter of weight where the rings on these fixing shanks are only around 2 or 3 mm thick, with the swinging and banging around of a 2.5 kilo sword I would doubt if they could last any time at all.
Brian Stobbs
