Late Roman belt

[Caballo]

The long rivets are definately associated with the belt which seems to have been rolled up and placed in the bottom left corner of the grave cut. No evidence of an associated sword or scabbard apart form a chape which, judging by it's relation to the belt and the rest of the grave cut, was interred on it's own, rather than as part of a scabbard assembly. Other belts in the cemetery are either layed out lengthways next to the body or curled up. None seem to have been worn. There's at least one other example where there are multiple long rivets associated with a belt set.

Whilst I'm sure that the rivets were for fixing stiffeners, I doubt they were bone, given the excellent state of bone and antler preservation in other graves in the cemetery (including one immediately adjacent to it). Wood or thick leather would my guess. Next week I'll sit down with my Germam/English dictionary and see if the text gives any indication of material found adhering to the rivets.

Any more info from the article , Matt?