![]() ![]() Changes also affected the wooden board: it became larger, thicker and, therefore, heavier. ![]() By contrast, it is not clear what the grip typology reflects, but it is noteworthy that long iron grips, and flanged grips (short or long) in general, were just an episode which was limited mainly to the sixth century. The changes in boss types may reflect changes in fighting practices, but they certainly reflect an advance in iron-working skills which is particularly obvious in the sixth-century transition from heavy to light bosses. ![]() In the typological series of Early Saxon bosses, stylistic change, functional requirements and technical improvements are interlinked. The types of Early Saxon iron bosses and grips were also rooted in Roman Iron Age types, and the main constructions of wooden handles (particularly ones using a lap-joint) were already used on third/fourth-century shields in Jutland. The Early Saxon shield has the same basic form as the shields in Danish and North German bog deposits: a flat circular board of small to medium size, made up of several planks set side by side, and fitted with an iron boss and grip. The origins of the Anglo-Saxon shield are to be found in the Roman Iron Age on the Continent.
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