Snake brooch

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Drago brooch from Mels canceled, needle and part of the needle holder

The snake fibula is usually a bronze clasp to hold clothes together and dates from the earlier Iron Age . The name of the fibula results from the serpentine turns of the wire that forms the bracket. A very similar type of fibula is the Dragofibula , which, however, is not bent from wire but cast. In some publications, the Dragofibula is also referred to as the Dragon Primer, which, however, can lead to confusion with a Viking Age piece of jewelry of the same name, cf. on this Urnesfibel .

description

As a rule, all components (bracket, needle, needle holder ...) of the snake brooch consist of a single piece of wire, although the bracket can sometimes be ribbon-shaped. The fibula therefore has no spring, its closing effect results solely from the tension in the material. The wire is guided in several loops and turns along the bracket. In the Dragofibula, the bracket is typically decorated with one or more pairs of small knobs or croissants (see picture on the right). A washer was often attached to the end of the hanger to hold back the wad of fabric. The fibula foot with the needle holder is elongated and often ends in a decorative button.

The snake and drago fibula are typical elements of traditional costumes from the 8th to 6th centuries BC. BC, i.e. the older Iron Age or the Hallstatt Age . Its distribution area extends over northern Italy, Slovenia, Austria and southern Germany, and in the case of the snake primer as far as Switzerland and eastern France.

literature

  • Oscar Almgren: Studies on Northern European fibula forms of the first centuries AD . Leipzig 1923.
  • Bettina Glunz: Studies on the fibulae from the Hallstatt burial ground (= Linzer Archäologische Forschungen 25). City Museum Linz. Linz 1997.
  • Ronald Heynowski: Primers. recognize · determine · describe. (= Determination Book Archeology 1 ), 2nd edition, Deutscher Kunstverlag, Berlin / Munich 2016, ISBN 978-3-422-07119-3 , p. 48 f.
  • Rosemarie Müller, Heiko Steuer :  fibula and fibula costume. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 8, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1994, ISBN 3-11-013188-9 , pp. 541-545.