A late-mediaeval "overlong" burgher belt from Kołobrzeg (Kolberg)

Abstract

The article discusses leather burgher belts in connection with a find of a complete belt (fig. 1–4), a narrow belt with a dagger (fig. 5) and eleven unfinished knife sheaths. The artefacts were discovered in Kołobrzeg (Kolberg), in the strata from the second half of the 14th c. The belt mentioned in the title, 160-cm-long and 3-cm-wide, was made of two layers of deer leather. It has a buckle made of deer’s antlers with a copper-alloy prong, and a D-shaped ornament made of the same material. On the other end there is a pseudo-case ferrule, decorated with engraved lines. On the strap there are eight ferrules (originally there were eleven of them) shaped like six-leaf rosettes, made of bronzed iron plate, decorated with slanted lines and
a check pattern. In terms of construction, the find from Kołobrzeg should be classified as a so-called “overlong” belt (fig. 4); importantly, it is the first complete example of this type, since earlier finds consisted only of metal ferrules. It is also remarkable due to its antler buckle and to ferrules placed only in the further part of the strap. Among very few analogous finds are ones from Elbląg (Elbing) (fig. 6) and Greifswald. In all those three cases it should be noted that the number and placement of ferrules is different from knight’s belts. Last wills of patricians from Hanseatic towns note belts with silver or even gold ferrules. The belt from Kołobrzeg must also have been a symbol of status, but its owner was probably a moderately rich burgher.