In some the decoration consists of a series of concentric ribs or beads, as in that found in a peat moss near Harlech,[1331] which is shown in Fig. 429. Its diameter is 22 inches. The heads of the four rivets for holding the handle and the two buttons are in this case visible in the spaces between the ribs.
Another of the same pattern was discovered in company with that shown in Fig. 430, in Coveney Fen,[1332] near Ely, and is now in the Museum of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society. The metal of which it is formed has been found on analysis to contain—
| Copper | 87·55 |
| Tin | 11·72 |
| Nickel | 0·40 |
| ——— | |
| 99·67 |
The presence of the nickel is probably due to impurities in the ore from which the copper was extracted.
Fig. 430—Coveney. 1/6
Fig. 431.—Coveney. 1/1
The second Coveney shield is shown in Fig. 430.[1333] The ornament in this instance is of a very peculiar character, and appears to represent two snakes, one long and the other short, twisted about into a symmetrical pattern. They are of the amphisbæna kind, with a head at each end. The two outermost ribs, one of them at the margin, are continuous. The rivets for holding the handle are visible, as are also three on either side connected with the inner buttons, that in this case have been regarded as loops by which the shield was suspended.
The buttons have a small hole through them, as will be seen by Fig. 431. In front of each is a pair of small conical studs, of which the purpose can now hardly be determined. Mr. Goodwin thought that they might be intended to prevent a thong which passed beneath the buttons from slipping away from them.