IJCC, Vol. 8, No. 2, 71 〜84(2005) 11 A Study on the Ancient Fibulae Moon-Ja Kim 十 Dept, of Clothing & Textiles, Suwon University (Received May 9, 2005 : Accepted October 10, 2005) Abstract Fibulae have been used as clothing fasteners throughout history. They were especially popular with the Celts, but were also used by the Greeks, Romans, Saxons, and Vikings, to name a few. The earliest examples are found in the Mediterranean and Middle East, and date from 800 B. C. and earlier. Their use continues today, in the form of the modern safety pin. The first fibulae of the Bronze Age were very simple, much like modern safety pins. The form of this small junctional object varies from simple to extravagant since it is also seen as a piece of jewelry, and is thus subject to the evolution of style. Its size depends on the thickness of the clothing to be attached. Its fabrication demonstrates a great mastery of metal work. Fibulae would vary with the taste and wealth of the wearer. The Fibulae were divided into 10 styles according to the shape, Fibulae with Safety pin shaped style, Penannular shaped style, Animal shaped style, Diamond shaped style, Radiated head shaped style, Horsefly shaped style, Arched bow shaped style, Fan-shaped style, Trumpet shaped style, Arched-fan shaped style. Key words : fibulae, safety pin shaped style, penannular shaped style, radiated head shaped style, horsefly shaped style. wise (to our modem view of their shape), and I ・ Introduction not necessarily singly (a matter as dependent on the wearer's wealth as upon any dictates of fa­ Fibular brooches have been in use from deep shion; 'restrained and tasteful' were not serious in the Bronze Age, and they remain in use considerations). today in the form of the safety pin. This par­ There have been so many variants of fibular ticular design, a type known as a "radiate" or brooches that it would be risky to go beyond "radiated fibula" brooch, bears primarily Anglo- saying they have a head (behind which the pin Saxon and Scandinavian design features typical is mounted) and a foot (behind which the catch­ of the 6th century. plate is mounted) linked by an arch of varying Equipped with quite sturdy pins by modem characteristics, and with a pin which is sprung standards, fibular brooches could be used as fas­ (as opposed to hinged). Like many ancient pie­ tenings fbr clothing as well as fbr pure decora­ ces which were entirely decorated with abstract tion. The 'head' was not necessarily worn at the scroll designs, the decoration of the particular top, as burial evidence indicates. Again based piece is largely abstract, but rather than decorate on burial finds, some wore their brooches side­ the entire piece in scrolls, includes an animal fi­ E-mail : [email protected] 71 12 A Study on the Ancient Fibulae IJCC nial on the foot in a rather Anglo-Saxon style. and bracelets, and the eighth century Greeks must The purpose of this study is researching and have provided the wide arc-shaped Fibulae used classifying the types of the style of the Fibulae for fastening one comer of the shawl on the left from the burial mounds of ancient chiefs. shoulder -as Indian women still fasten their saris The method of this research is through the in place; this use of large pins was in fact known antique records and the plate of the tombs be­ in Mycenae as early as in the seventeenth cen­ quests hereby deals with the characteristics of tury BC.5) Fibulae is divided into the types according to The Fibulae were used by the Romans to fa­ the shapes in ancient period, from 800 B. C. sten their garments including their togas. Fibulae and earlier to 7〜8 C AD, in Celts, Greeks, Ro­ were made in gold, silver and bronze with va­ mans, Saxons, and Vikings, to name a few. rious designs. The wide variety of designs often invented by Celtic artisans, make and interesting II. Buried Treasures of Ancient and intriguing collection found at ancient Etrus­ can sites feature decorative granulation as well Fibulae as a sharp Fibulae pin to do the actual work of In 1400-1200 B.C. man's costume from Muld- piercing fabric. bjerg includes a cloak, cap, wraparound body After the fall of Rome, Roman jewelry forms costume and a foot cloths. The cloak had the and techniques remained in general use. Barba­ fold for the roll collar is parallel to the selvage. rian tribes from eastern Europe, who were skilled A pair of two piece Fibulae(an early but orna­ at metalwork, combined such elements of the ment form of safety pin) was inserted at center Roman artistic tradition as gold filigree and the back in the fold forming the collar.1* fibula form with the Byzantine cloisonne tradi­ The use of the Fibulae was common to the tion. They also introduced their own regional early peoples of Central Europe, from which re­ variations. For example, the fibular, pinlike brooch gion it must have been introduced by the style became a circular one; these revised-style Achaean invaders into Greece.* 2) brooches have been found in Gaul (France) and In the Greek period, Chiton was a rectangular Scandinavia. Penannular brooches, in the form piece of woolen or linen fabric sewn partway up of a ring with a pin held in place by the weight the sides and fastened on each shoulder by a of the cloth it pierced, were common in Ireland Fibular. and Scotland. A famous example is the Tara Fibulae were the sort of clasps or buckles brooch (National Museum, Dublin). The princi­ resembling our safety pin and was introduced by pal motifs were stylized anim시 s and intricate the Dorians about 1100 B.C.3) A Fibula-a form interlacing. of clasp or brooch-was essential for fastening An important technique in medieval jewelry the chlamys and some forms of the chiton. Fi­ was the use of garnet slices set, like enamel, bulae would vary with the taste and wealth of into metal cells. Examples are garnet-inlaid bu­ the wearer.4) ckles and clasps from the 7th-century Sutton Hoo The Hittites and Persians must have taken from ship burial in Suffolk (British Museum) and a crown inlaid with garnets and cabochon (round­ the Assyrians the style of their wide necklaces 미 anche Payne, History of costume (New York: Harper & Row Pub., 1965), 56. 2 Ethel, B., and Abrahams, M. A., Greek dress (London: John Murray, Albemarle Street, W, 1908), 5. 3 R. Tuner Wilcox, The mode in costume (New York: Charles Scribbler's Sons, 1958), 11. 4 Blanche Payne, Op. cit., 76. 5 Francois Boucher, 20000 years of fashion (London: Thames & Hudson, 1967), 64. 72 Vol. 8, No. 2 The International Journal of Costume Culture 13 ed) gems (Real Ameria, Madrid), which be­ came to be known as the peculiar "Scythian ani- longed to the Visigothic king Recceswinth. The mal" style. Techniques, which had once been ra­ famous Alfred jewel (9th century, Ashmolean ther primitive, improved considerably during the Museum, Oxford) is an example of cloisonne. prosperous times of the Scythian State. Styliza­ Quite different are Celtic gold torques, rigid bands tion of images developed into a realistic method that encircled the neck or arm of the wearer. of interpreting complicated zoomorphic compo­ Some of the most interesting traces were the sitions. ornaments of the People of the ancient Stone We can do no more than observe from ob­ Age. At the beginning they consisted simply of jects discovered in excavation, a distant Myce­ magic parts of the Cosmos: flowers, feather, wood, naean influence, arrested in Italy by the presen­ bone, stone, and body drawings. ce of bronze fibulae which indicate the use of Those ancient peoples, whom we call Try- draped costume. The costume, Eastern-influenced pillians, sometimes found metal under their feet like the head-dress is composed of a long tunic and worked at it. Having learnt to extract the and cloak fastened on the right shoulder by a metal from ore, they began to fbrge it in the square fibula.7) fire and cast it into forms. Artisans of the Bron­ The Sarmathians conquered the Scythian king­ ze Age made armlets, hairpins, pendants, and dom and thus occupied their giving area. This Fibulae. Lost-wax casting and forging became culture brought along new traditions. Polychrome common techniques6) style, the most characteristic of which, is a Those who called themselves Cimmerians were process by which an animal's body is covered the first foreigners on this terrain. They brought with inserts of blue paste or turquoise in sol­ with them many new ideas. Their vision of the dered mountings. environment was reflected in their floristic or Greek art of the Black Sea region made some animalistic compositions, made of bronze or some­ changes to the Sarmathian style. Most notably it times iron. increased the color range. Interestingly, together Fertile soils and generous nature along the with precious metals and gems glass is found in Black Sea coast and the Dnipro riverside attrac­ the jewelry of this time. Often made in this ted Hellenes as long ago as in the Iron Age. At style were Greek brooch-Fibulae. the same time, Scythians, who had come from Besides Sarmathian, Celtic art began to penet­ Asia and replaced Cimmerians, appeared on the rate into southern regions of Ukrainian territory. territory, which lay farther to the North. They In Roman provinces the so-called Renaissance resided here for a long time and appeared to be of Celtic handicraft took place, in particular, it suitable trade partners and rich customers for was manifested in the form of jewelry.