English: A silver hooked tag with etched zoomorphic ornament dating to the 9th or early 10th century AD..

The hooked tag comprises a teardrop-shaped plate with two rounded, pierced projections at the broad end and a thin rectangular projection at the narrow end, originally forming the hook whose tip is now broken off. The junction between the hook and the plate is marked with three transverse incised lines. The upper side of the plate is decorated with Trewhiddle style ornament divided into three fields. The upper left field (with the pierced projections oriented at the top) contains a crouched bird-like creature with a flat wing, bifurcated tail and plumed head with drilled eye and closed jaw. The upper right field contains a quadruped with a nicked body, its head bent sharply backwards to rest on its back. The central lower field contains a four-part knot. The fields are divided by a nicked, inverted Y-shaped border. The outer border is plain. The back of the object is heavily scratched but undecorated.

Measurements: 25mm long, 15mm wide and 2.09g in weight.

Discussion and Conclusion (with thanks to Sue Brunning):

This hooked tag belongs to Read's (2008) Class D, Type 1 with a circular or sub-circular plate and two projecting attachment knobs. The Trewhiddle style decoration provides a date of the ninth to early tenth centuries for this object.

It is likely that this object falls under the aegis of the Treasure Act (1996) as it is more than 300 years old and has a precious metal content exceeding 10%.