Prethodno priopćenje
Fibulae from the Migration Period in the Vinkovci Area
Anita Rapan Papeša
orcid.org/0000-0002-0041-1892
; Gradski muzej Vinkovci HR, 32 100 Vinkovci
Sažetak
This work focuses on four new acquisitions in the
mediaeval archaeological collection of the City Museum
Vinkovci. It also reinterprets three already
known fibulae from the Migration Period that were
discovered in the surroundings of Vinkovci. All seven
exemplars are surface finds discovered by chance and
without an archaeological context, but originating
from Roman sites.
1. Cast bronze bow fibula, whole, missing the pin.
At the semi-circular somewhat triangular head it has
two preserved decorative knobs, while the third one is
missing. The arc is short and slightly raised. The foot is
elongated, rhomboid and has a bud-shaped profile at
the end. The fibula is smooth with no ornamentation.
At the back, the holder of the axle and the axle of a
spiral fastening mechanism are preserved. The catchplate
is also preserved. East Germanic fibula from the
5th to 6th century. Surroundings of Nuštar (T. 1.3.)
2. Head and part of the arch of a cast silver bow
fibula, with partially preserved gilding. A single, but
entirely preserved knob is preserved at the semi-circular
head, while the central part is slightly damaged
above the base. Only the beginning (short) of the arch
with a rib in the middle is preserved. The head is decorated
in the notching technique with two oppositely
placed spiral tendrils and a triangle between them.
Part of the holder of the spiral fastening mechanism is
preserved on the flat and smooth back. Gepidic fibula,
late 5th and early 6th century. Surroundings of Mrzović.
(T. 1.1.)
3. Head and part of the arch of a cast silver bow fibula.
There are five decorative knobs at the semi-circular
head. Only the beginning (short) of the arch with
a rib in the middle is preserved. The rib is decorated
with triangles that are placed opposite to each other
and made in the niello technique. The head is decorated
with notched semi-circles. At the beginning of
the arch is a bezel setting for the (lost) almandine. On
the flat and smooth back are preserved the axle holder,
part of the axle, three coils and part of the chord. Gepidic
fibula, 6th century. Surroundings of Tordinci. (T.1.2.)
4. Part of a cast bow fibula, made of bronze and silver
alloy. The straight foot ends in a curved shape with
a schematized image of a face. Further, there is a semicircular
expansion in shape of a lyre on both sides, on
the plate of the foot are two pairs of symmetrical bird
protomes. The decoration is straight-lined. The fibula
belongs to type Werner I-C. Slavic fibula, 6th -7th century
Surroundings of Ostrovo. (T. 1.4.)
The first fibula is a simple undecorated bronze
fibula with a rhomboid foot, a type worn by Eastern
Germanic people. These fibulae represent, so to speak,
a transitional form between bow fibulae, made of embossed
sheet, and cast bow fibulae that are decorated
in the notching technique. Such fibulae from other
sites are mostly dated to the 5th century. Our exemplar
could be associated with the battle between Gepids
and Ostrogoths on their way to Italy in the Vuka
swampland in 489 AD. It is therefore dated to time at
the turn of the 6th century.
Fragments of the gilded silver fibula (nose cat. no.
2) on most sites date to the 6th century. Gilded fibulae
decorated with spiral decorations in the notching
technique with three or five knobs are common finds
in the areas stretching from the Crimea, the Dnieper
and Danube river basins to Italy. In this regard, we
speak of a type of fibula that is present in an extensive
area and spans over a relatively long period of time.
As this fibula has no foot which would allow a more
precise dating, we must tentatively date it into the first
half of the 6th century for now. There were no direct
analogies for the third fibula in available literature.
However, it is certainly a Germanic fibula from the
first half of the 6th century. The fourth fibula belongs to
Slavic heritage and its type of foot is dated to the turn
of the 7th century. The review of earlier published finds
starts with the S-shaped fibula from the Archaeological
Museum in Zagreb. J. Werner named this type
Varpalota 34/ Vinkovci (Pannonian-Lombardic type)
and dated it to the first half of the 6th century. According
to recent and more precise research it belongs to
the north-Danubian-Pannonian transition phase that
covered the period from 540 to 560 AD. The current stage of research reveals that Lombards did not remain
in Cibalae for a longer period of time. If we accept the
thesis that the development of S-fibulae took place independently
of the Lombards, respectively that they
took over this type of fibula as their favourite one, than
we can say that so far there is no evidence of Lombard
domination in the Vinkovci area. Further, we have the
fibula (T. 1.5.) that Z. Vinski published first and was
later published several times. It is a cast bronze fibula.
On the semi-circular head are three double-profiled
knobs. The arch is short and slightly raised and has a
thin rib in the middle. The foot is elongated, deltoid
and has a profile without decoration at the end of the
foot. It is decorated with simple notched ornamentation
in shape of one semi-circle at the head and three
lines at the foot. Part of the axle holder of the spiral
fastening mechanism as well as the catch-plate are
preserved on the smooth back. Vinski already stated
that this fibula does not have an analogy- the reason
for this is its pretty bad and partially false drawing
that was also later reproduced. Namely, such silver
fibulae were discovered at site Magyartés and dated to
the time between 530 and 568 AD. A similar one was
found in Bökeny – Mindszent. Although this type of
fibula is not common, it can be linked to the presence
of Gepids in Vinkovci and fits, along with other simpler
forms of Gepidic jewellery and functional parts of
clothes, into the known picture of Cibalae in the first
half of the 6th century. The last publication refers to
the cicada-shaped appliqué that in fact is not a fibula,
but can be associated with this time horizon. It is 30
mm long and 5 mm thick, its maximum width is 15, 3
mm. The body of the cicada is emphasized by shallow cuts, whereas the head is divided from the body by a
deeper line. The wings are small and slightly spread,
the head features many details. On the back is a preserved
bulge by which the appliqué was attached to
the material. It is a chance find and in private property.
Without archaeological context, i.e. the circumstances
of the discovery, it is more difficult to attribute
it. Nevertheless, based on the analysis of style and
type, it can be dated to the late 4th or early 5th century.
The person wearing it, either a Roman or, more likely,
a barbarian- mercenary in the Roman Army, was certainly
familiar with its meaning and used it as an amulet
in these uncertain times. While writing this work,
we became aware of another fibula from the Migration
Period. It is a silver cicada-shaped fibula from the
surroundings of Nuštar, which is provided here only
with a picture. A series of new finds of fibulae from
the Migration Period in the Vinkovci area speaks for
the continuity of life in the area of the Cibalae ager
even after the collapse of the organized Roman rule.
The recently discovered fibulae are related to the area
north of Vinkovci, precisely to the area along the Vuka
River, i.e. the branch of the Roman road leading from
Mursa (Osijek) through Bobota, Pačetin and Nuštar
to Cibalae (Vinkovci). The area along the Vuka River
(Ulca) is noted in ancient sources as the setting of the
battle between the Gepids and Ostrogoths in February
489 AD, despite the fact that the location of this battle
could not be exactly located so far. In any case, these
new finds indicate to a continuity of life in this region
at the end of the 5th and in the first half of the 6th century,
and, complemented with earlier finds, open new
opportunities for research.
Ključne riječi
fibule, Gepidi; vinkovačko područje; seoba naroda
Hrčak ID:
92558
URI
Datum izdavanja:
17.12.2012.
Posjeta: 3.298 *