Gold buckle from the Thetford treasure

Roman Britain, 4th century AD
From Thetford, Norfolk

A dancing satyr

This gold belt buckle is part of a remarkable hoard of late-Roman gold jewellery and silver tableware found near Thetford, Norfolk, in 1979.

The figure on the plate is a dancing satyr holding a bunch of grapes. Two horses' heads form the loop or bow. The buckle is one of a number of explicitly pagan items in the treasure, which was buried around AD 390, by which time the Roman Empire was officially Christian.

C.M. Johns and T. Potter, The Thetford Treasure: Roman j (London, The British Museum Press, 1983)