That which I have shown in Fig. 428 is now in the British Museum, and has already been figured in the Archæologia[1327], and described by Mr. Gage. It was dredged up from what appears to have been the ancient bed of the river Isis, near Little Wittenham, Berks, not far from the Dyke Hills, near Dorchester, Oxon. It is about 13½ inches diameter, not quite circular in form, though probably intended so to be. The raised bosses have all been wrought in the metal with the exception of four, two of which form the rivets for the handle across the umbo, and two others serve as the rivets or pivots for two small straps or buttons of bronze on the inner side of the buckler. Such buttons occur on several other examples, but it is difficult to determine the exact purpose which they served. From the pains taken in this instance to conceal the heads of these pivots on the outside, by making them take the form and place of bosses, it would appear that they were necessary adjuncts of the shield, and possibly in some way connected with a lining for it.
Fig. 428.—Little Wittenham.
Such a lining can hardly have been of wood, or many rivet or pin holes would have been necessary for securing the metal to it. It may be that a lining of hide was moulded while wet to the form of the shield, and that these buttons served to keep it in place when dry. In one case[1328] it is said that some fibrous particles resembling leather still remain attached to the inside of the shield. In general the metal is so thin that without some lining these bucklers would have afforded but a poor defence against the stroke of a sword, spear, or arrow. In this Little Wittenham example, and possibly in some others, it is probable that the shield itself was larger than the bronze plate. Another view is that these buttons fastened a strap for carrying the shield when either in or out of use.
Another buckler, in Lord Londesborough’s collection, 14 inches in diameter, with two circles of small bosses divided by a raised band, is stated to have been found with a large bronze spear-head at Athenry,[1329] Co. Galway. Two of the bosses of the inner circle are the heads of rivets for securing the handle. A much smaller buckler, or centre of a buckler, only 9¼ inches in diameter (also with two rings of bosses), presumably found in the Isis,[1330] near Eynsham Bridge, is in the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries. It has a slightly conical boss, surrounded by a circle of smaller bosses between two raised ribs. There is also a raised rib round the margin formed by turning over the metal towards the outer face. In the outer ring of bosses two are missing at the places where, no doubt, were formerly the rivets of the buttons or loops.
Fig. 429.—Harlech.]
A shield in the British Museum (21 inches), found in the Thames, has four rows of bosses, about an inch in diameter, and the same number of raised rings. The inner set of bosses abuts on the umbo. There is a marginal rim about an inch beyond the outer ring. This shield appears to have had two buttons, which as usual are nearly in a line with one of the rivets which fasten the handle. One of these loops remains secured by a large-headed rivet matching the bosses. There is at least one hole through the shield which may have resulted from a spear thrust.
The rivets which secure the handle have heads made in imitation of bosses.