Shield bosses are a metal bowl that is in the center of the shield used to protect the wielder’s hand and also allowing them to have a close fist while holding the shield. Shield bosses changed in form through time, but were also subject to strong regional preferences. There design ranges from being short and wide to long and skinner. They could be just rounded or rounded and have a sharp projection on top or a flat projection on top. Shield bosses could have been made out of a single piece of iron or two pieces. (Dickinson pg.24).
Anglo-Saxon Shields 