Granatscheibenfibel - Eine geheime Botschaft aus dem Frühem Mittelalter

Archäologische Staatssammlung München

Description

A burial site in Unterhaching, discovered in 2004, consisted of ten tombs; nonetheless, these contained extraordinarily rich as well as culturally and historically relevant discoveries. A 25-year-old woman was buried dressed in garments made of silk and fine linen; the sleeves or gloves were furred with ermine. Delicate shoe buckles make one expect equally dainty shoes. Unique are two similar, very large disc fibulae. They held the garment together around the waist. As far as size and décor are concerned, the two fibulae from Haching were very different from other such fibulae made by artisans north of the Alps around this time. The depiction of four birds of prey is based on a design, for which the inlays of red garnet and of originally bright emerald green – today greenish-grey weatherworn – malachite needed to be particularly cut. In this case, no standard sizes or forms were used and the stones belong to the largest that are known in the early Middle Ages. The two disc fibulae give clear evidence of the close relationship between the Bavarian pre-alpine lands and the Italic Eastern Gothic Empire towards the end of the fifth and at the beginning of the sixth centuries. Technical as well as ornamental details let one conclude that the fibulae were crafted in Italy, in one of the political centres of the times, such as Ravenna or Rome.

Author

Archäologische Staatssammlung München

Rights Statement Description

CC BY-NC-SA 4.0