Belt fitting

In the Middle Ages, clothing emphasised the social and material status of the wearer. Only the wealthiest burghers, e.g., those sitting on the town council, deciding on finances and external policy, could afford the richest costume ornaments. Often such ornaments were family valuables passed down from generation to generation. A treasure of gilded ornaments and Pomeranian coins of various types, hidden in a three-legged metal cauldron with a ceramic lid, was discovered in 1999 during archaeological research in Szczecin, under the floor of a tenement house at the historical Fish Market. The jewellery was preserved in good condition, although some bore traces of alteration. Buckles and belt fittings, including one decorated with an acanthus leaf and a rectangular cap, made by engraving technique, turned out to be the best-preserved elements, almost unused, with well visible gilding. It is one of the oldest techniques of decorating artistic products, including jewellery and costume ornaments. The engraving was done with a sharp stylus set in wooden handles.

Małgorzata Peszko