Sutton Hoo great gold buckle
An Anglo-Saxon gold belt buckle with animal ornament so densely interlaced that the creatures are hard to find.
The buckle was found in 1939 in the ship burial at Sutton Hoo, probably that of King Rædwald of East Anglia. The burial changed the view of the early Middle Ages as a dark age. The treasure is in the British Museum.
Materials: Gold, niello
Manufacture: Cast and hollow, with a locking mechanism; the pattern incised and filled with black niello.
The animals – snakes and birds – interlacing and biting themselves.
The hollow back: the buckle opens by a secret mechanism.