On the chronology of the Late Pre-Roman Iron Age in eastern Germania in the light of selected types of brooches

Abstract

On the basis of selected types of supra-regional brooches (A.65, Nauheim, Schüsselfibeln, A.18), an attempt was made to check whether they appeared in the eastern part of Germania in the same chronological rhythm as in their home zones. The service life of A.65 brooch and post-oppidial forms A.18 north of the Carpathians corresponds to the chronology in the primary distribution zone, no significant differences can be seen. Another picture – obtained, however, from a small number of finds – is drawn for Nauheim type brooches, which seem to remain in use a little longer in the zone between the Carpathian Mountains and the Baltic coast, until the younger stage of the LT D2 phase. Similarly, bowl-shaped brooches (Schüsselfibeln), probably made mostly in local workshops, were worn in the north for several decades longer than in the zone south of the Carpathian Mountains. In Pomerania they came into use probably slightly earlier than in the area of Przeworsk culture and probably went out of fashion a little faster. This indicates a slightly different rhythm of stylistic and fashion changes between southern and central Poland (Przeworsk culture) and the north – the region of the lower Vistula and the Gulf of Gdańsk.