Shell Plaque

This decorated shell ornament is one of only twelve examples known. All are decorated with ring and dot motif and have a hole through the centre. On this example a bronze nail survives through the central hole. This suggests that the shells were attached to something but it is not known what; leather, horse trappings, shields and furniture have all been suggested. Presumably they had a purely decorative function. They are all made from the same species of marine shell, Lambis, which must have come from the Red Sea.