SCOTTISH SWAN'S-NECK SUNFLOWER PINS1 . COLESM . bJ y , PH.D., F.S.A.SCOT. THE^discovery in recent years of a number of distinctive bronze decorative pins in Scotland has thrown new light on the relations between this country and the Continent in the late first millennium B.C. These pins are composed of two elements of differing origin, and their combination here and on the Continent provides relatively exact dating for the final phase of the Late Bronze Age.2 e essentiaTh l feature thesf o s swan's-nece eth pin e ar s ksunflowee stemth d san r heads. British swan's-neck pins (without sunflower heads) have been fully discussed by Dunning3 who considers that the iron pin from All Cannings Cross is typologically the earliest example. This has a long beaded head and is fairly common in Germany where it is dated to Hallstatt C in the south.4 The All Cannings Cross type, of Iron Ag Britaien i A,d bronz5le o n t e rendering devolvef so d simplified forms wit hplaia n head but retaining the characteristic S-curve of the neck as at Woodeaton, and even simple somewhae r b formy ma s t later, e.g. Jordanhil Portsladed an l . These have reduce exaggeratee dth d bendoriginae th f so l typsimpla o et e wids ei curvet i d an , this typ f curvo e e tha s reproducei t e Scottisth n o dh pins with sunflower heads. Other varietie swan's-nece th f o s k occu Continente r botth n Britain ho i t d bu ,nan these hav direco en t connection with ScotlanLate th e d Bronzdan e Age.6 On the Continent, the swan's-neck pin reached Northern Europe probably in the late sixth century, in the first Iron Age culture of north-west Germany, the Wessenstedt of East Hanover,7 appearing in Schleswig-Holstein as early evidence of Hallstat pressureC t dated an ,loca n di l seconterme th o st d phas Monteliuf eo I V s Initiathe or l Iron Age. thiAt 8s point, various divergent types bega appearnto and , in fifth-century Jastorf A the swan's-neck pin lost its horizontal head9; the develop- men alss i t o see typee Britain i th sd losnan e their similaritie Scottise th o st h pins. The emergence of the swan's-neck pin in a form recalling the Scottish pins can thus be dated reliably to the late sixth, or, more probably, to the fifth century B.C. Sunflower heads have recently been discusse Hodges,y db Raftery't 10bu s map1s 1i 1 Chalmers-Jervise Prize Essay, 1959. thanky M 2extende e sar r Denni M o t ds Britto Oxfordf no r RoberM , t Stevenso Edinburghf no r M d an , John Brailsfor Londof do valuablr nfo e Trusteee assistance th Britise o th t f d so h an ,Museu permissior mfo o nt publish the Rasharkin pin. 3 Dunning, G., 'The Swan's-Neck and Ring-Headed Pins'..., Arch. J., xci (1935), 269. 4 Ebert, Reallexicon der Vorgeschichle, xi (Berlin, 1928), 371. 6 HawkesBritise th , . C.Antiquity, .' f F . o h, . 'ThC IroC ,e enAB Ag xxxm (1959), 170. 6 Dunning, op. cit., 270. 7 Schwantes, dltestenG.e Di , Urnenfriedho/e i Ulzenbe und Lunenburg (1911); Jacob-Friesen, K., Einfuhnmg in Niedersachsens Urgeschichte (1934), Taf, Abb39 . 4 . 8 Hoffmann , 'DiH. ,e ausgehende Bronzezei Holsteinn i t . Festschrif , (Kiel.' . t , 1936). 93 , 9 Jacob-Friesen, op. cit., Taf. 40, Abb. 3; see also Auhv. Taf. 69, 1280, 1288, 1294; Prae. geitschrift, I (1909), 140, Abb. 1—2; Schwantes, op. cit.; N. Aberg, VorgeschichtlicheKulturkreise inEuropa(Copenhagen, 1936), Taf. xvm. 10 Hodges, H., 'Studies in the Late Bronze Age in Ireland', Ulster J. A., xix (1956), 29. 11 Raftery, J., 'Knocknalappa Crannog', JV. Munster Ant. J., in (i) (1942), 72. 2 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, 1958-59 more accurat r Irelandefo n additionI . Scottise th , h pins shoul omittee db d from Hodgesstraighte th f o r right-angled-stemmet 'o - lisno s thes a te ear d Irish types. Hodges divides the Irish sunflower pins into two classes, Class I with small hemi- spherical central boss and cast or incised concentric circle decoration, Class II with large conical boss and varying decor. This may take the form of concentric circles, but more commonly is a radial ornament, while some pins are entirely plain. The well-known parallels to Class I pins are Scandinavian and are dated mainly to Montelius V.1 The origin of the concentric-decorated sunflower pin lies, it has been suggested, in the attachment of the Scandinavian double button with concentric ornament (Montelius IV) to a bronze stem so that the head either turns forward or lies horizontally. sunfloweA n fropi rm Heltbor s dategi o Monteliut d y b V I s 2 Broholm data t e bu ,earl seemV n yi s equall feasible.s ya nortn I 3 h Germanye th , sunflower pin is also dated to Period V.4 radiae Th l ornamen somf o t e Clas I pinsI s appear havo st forerunneea e th n i r 'East German looped-pin type', dated to the Tumulus Bronze or Montelius II at Namslau.5 These pins have a loop on their curved shafts, set well below the head, d occuan n othei r r area f Centrao s l Europe n BohemiaI . , a somewhapin f o s t different type, with mor lesr eo s right-angled ben witd dan h loop immediately below the head, show similar although more evolved decoration. These pins, as at Busovice perioe e dateth ar , f overlao dt o p between n i Reineck r o , D e d Can a 6 Scandinavian term earlo st y Monteliu fron s IIIpi m A .Tschetzschno w near Frank- furt on the Oder shows even closer similarities to the Irish Class I sunflower pins, in its right-angled stem loopo rosettn d , an ,peripherad ean l zigzag pattern. This find is dated by most authorities to Montelius III, bu7 t the radial decoration occurs on other pins with different stems throughou Earle th t y BronzCentran i e eAg l Europe.8 This form of decoration is not known in Scandinavian contexts, and the lack of intermediate finds between Central Europ Ireland ean d suggests tha muse w t t look elsewher origie th Clasr f no efo I decorationsI . As described, the swan's-neck appeared on the North European Plain in Wessen- stedt times, aroun e ScandinaviaB.C0 Th d50 . n sunflower pins wer t thaea t timn ei the last stag f existenceo e , dated sometime aroun e transitiodth n from Ultimate Bronze Age to Initial Iron Age. The combination of the two ideas, resulting in a 9 sunflower pin with swan's-neck stem, appears in east and north-central Germany in the fifth century, and has been studied by Petersen. Some of these pins are entirely 0 of bronze t certaibu , n varieties have bronze heads attache iroo dt 1 n stems e disTh c. 1 Montelius , SwedishO. , Antiquities (Stockholm, 1922), figs. 1326-32; Broholm , DanskeH. , Oldsager, iv (Copenhagen, 1953), fig. 163; Danmarks Bronzealder, m (Copenhagen, 1946) . 1084No , . 2 Broholm, H., Danske Oldsager, iv (1953). 75 , Broholm3 , H., Danmarks Bronzealder, . 454(1946)m No . , 49 , Sprockhoff4 , &.,Jungbronzezeitliche Hortfunde . (1956), Abb. 61, 15, Taf. 19. Seger5 , H., 'Zur Chronologic der ostdeutschen Osennadeln', Prae. Zeitschrift, I (1909), 55-64. 6 Bohm , 'Spatbronzezeitlich,J. e Scheibenkopfnadeln Bohmen's au , Germania, (1936)x x . 9 , 7 Krumbein, C., 'Geometri vorgeschichtlichem ci n Kunsthandwerk', Mannus, xxix (1937), 413, Abb. i; A. Gotze Vor-e Di , and Fruhgeschichtlichen Denkmaler . (Berlin . , 1920). 69 , 8Aunjetitze BilligDi , ,G. Kultur Sachsenn i (Leipzig, 1958), Abb. 62; Auhv .i (iv) , Taf , 9.,4 10; Prae. %eit., xxx-xxxi (1939-40), 412; Germania, xix (1935), 206. 9 Broholm, H., Danske Oldsager, iv (1953), fig. 245. Petersen Friihgermanischee Di , E. , Kultur Ostdeutschlandn i und Polen (1929). 10 SCOTTISH SWAN'S-NECK SUNFLOWER PINS 3 heads of these swan's-neck sunflower pins are generally slightly concave, and an ornamental disc-plate of another metal, usually gold, may be attached.1 The head itself is of thin bronze, and the decoration consists mostly of embossed concentric ornamentae circleth n s(o l disc-plates casr o )inciser o t d decoratio dise th c n headno s themselves. A few examples have a small star pattern in the centre,2 and others are plain or with only a few circles near the centre. One from Eickstadtwalde has groups of concentric circles, suggestive of decoration on the Loch Broom pin from Scotland. exampleo tw r Whilo thesf e so eon e pin datee s ar Peterse y db Earlo nt Tene,a yL 3 maie th n bod Initia e yNorthe th lie th n periosf i e l o Iroth ,e contacf dno Ag t between the swan's-neck stems and the sunflower pins. In the succeeding phase in this area, devolvee th d swan's-nec rareln sunflowea kpi s yha r head attachede th life f eo th ; true swan's-neck sunflowe thus i n s restrictepi r late th e o dsixtt r fiftho h centur4 y B.C. fro n IrosettlemenAe e pi m th n Ag t Fengatea t , Peterborough, combine iron sa n ste bronzd man e head onle t thith ys bu ,s i Britis sucf o hn hcombinatiopi typed nan .