Migration Period
between Odra and Vistula

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Disc brooch

Disc brooch (Scheibenfibel), personal ornament typical for the late →Migration Period  and the Merovingian period in Scandinavia, western and central Europe, on the Danube (fig. 1-2.); also, on Balt territory (→Olsztyn Group  - fig. 3., →Elbląg Group , Sambia). A round, ornamented disc, the fastening as a rule in cross-bow design, fixed to the underside of the brooch; some specimens in a hinged design. A group of ornaments greatly varied in their morphology; in some brooches the disc is provided with half-round projections on its rim. Usually there is also a central knob, sometimes, inlaid with silver repoussé foil, decorated with almandines, filigree or by studding. Other frequent techniques - stamping and embossing. The designs are arranged into complex compositions covering the entire surface of the brooch.

AB-W

Literature: K. Høilund Nielsen, Zur Chronologie der jüngeren germanischen Eisenzeit auf Bornholm. Untersuchungen zu Schmuckgarnituren, “Acta Archaeologica” 1987, p. 63-63, 72-73; U. Koch, Das alamanisch-fränkische Gräberfeld bei Pleidelsheim, Stuttgart 2001, p. 164-166; K. Vielitz, Granatscheibenfibeln der Merowingerzeit, Montagnac 2003; G. Graenert, Merowingerzeitliche Filigranscheibenfibeln westlich des Rheins, Europe médiévale 7, Montagnac 2007.

  • Fig. 1. Disc brooches from Sweden (Lappland, Gotland) (B. Salin, Die Altgermanische Thierornamentik, Stockholm 1904, Fig. 211, 212). full resolution

    Fig. 1. Disc brooches from Sweden (Lappland, Gotland) (B. Salin, Die Altgermanische Thierornamentik, Stockholm 1904, Fig. 211, 212).

  • Fig. 2. Tumiany (former Daumen), grave 97 (F. Jakobson, Die Brandgräberfelder von Daumen und Kellaren im Kreise Allenstein, Ostpr., Daumen und Kellaren – Tumiany i Kielary 2. Schriften des Archäologischen Landesmuseums 9. Neumünster 2009, Plate 59). full resolution

    Fig. 2. Tumiany (former Daumen), grave 97 (F. Jakobson, Die Brandgräberfelder von Daumen und Kellaren im Kreise Allenstein, Ostpr., Daumen und Kellaren – Tumiany i Kielary 2. Schriften des Archäologischen Landesmuseums 9. Neumünster 2009, Plate 59).

  • Fig. 3. Gold disc brooch decorated in cloisonné technique. Schwerin-Mueß (Die Langobarden. Das Ende der Völkerwanderung, Katalog zur Ausstellung im Rheinischen LandesMuseum Bonn 22.8.2008 – 11.1.2009, p. 231). full resolution

    Fig. 3. Gold disc brooch decorated in cloisonné technique. Schwerin-Mueß (Die Langobarden. Das Ende der Völkerwanderung, Katalog zur Ausstellung im Rheinischen LandesMuseum Bonn 22.8.2008 – 11.1.2009, p. 231).