Global Characteristics

Title:

Discoid fibula in copper alloy

Place of discovery:

Loon-Plage, Hauts-de-France, France

Date:

Early Middle Ages (9th-10th century)

Dimensions:

3cm of diameter

Materials:

Copper alloy

Description

Both everyday objects and items of personal adornment, fibulas, brooches used to fasten garnments, could also serve to express the identity or social affiliation of their wearer.

This enamelled discoid fibula, dating to the ninth century, is decorated with a canid representation. Although Christian imagery more commonly appears on objects of this type, depictions of animals from the fantastical bestiary may attest to other religious or cultural influences that coexisted in the North Sea region during the early Middle Ages.

The few identical examples known to date, discovered in the Netherlands and north-western Germany, bear witness to the cultural connections and exchanges that linked northern Europe during the Early Middle Ages.

© Mathieu Lançon, Inrap