Tangendorf disc brooch

The disc fibula from Tangendorf is a disc brooch from the 3rd century, which was found in 1930 with the removal of a Bronze Age grave mounds near the village Tange, community Toppenstedt district of Harburg, in Lower Saxony. The elaborately crafted cloak pin ( fibula ) bears on its face side, a back -sighted four-legged animal, probably a dog or deer. It is one of the most important finds of the Roman imperial period in the district of Harburg, and is shown in the permanent archaeological exhibition of the Archaeological Museum Hamburg in Hamburg- Harburg.

Fund history

The site is located on the parcel in black thorn on the northwest corner of the orbital Dorferfeld Mark where the farmer Heinrich Wille 1930, the disc fibula found in the removal of standing in his field Bronze Age grave mound along with a hair knot brooch and a spearhead. The hair knot brooch and the lance tip were handed over to the Helms- Museum, however, the disc fibula remained with a Tange villages teacher who held it for a modern object.

In the summer of 1938, museum director Willi Wegewitz was asked by the teacher, pick up a stone ax. When handing over the stone ax, the disc fibula located between Turn equipment was rediscovered in the lowest part of the school cabinet. Actually, the teacher already wanted to throw them away earlier because he thought she was worthless.

Wegewitz initiated a re-excavation of one of the original 16 meters in diameter measured grave hill whose footprint was still clearly visible on the plowed field. It further remains of a topknot fibula could be recovered. Surveys of farmers will revealed that he had the fibula found at the edge of the grave mound in the amount of the grown soil in the sand, or the remains of a burial urn Erdverfärbungen are not noticed him. Location: 53 ° 18 ' 7 " N, 10 ° 4' 35" O53.302019910.0762558Koordinaten: 53 ° 18 ' 7 " N, 10 ° 4' 35" E

Findings

The disc fibula has a multilayer structure. It consists on the face side of a fire-gilded silver very thin pressed steel with a diameter of 58 mm, which is riveted with three silver rivet pins on an identical 3 mm thick copper plate and with that on another, stronger silver plate. At said rear plate with a diameter of 78 mm is significantly greater than the two plates of the display side, was mounted on the back of the needle apparatus. The press plate the face side is lined with a whitish green now filling compound of tin, lead and traces of copper on the copper plate to stabilize the sensitive friction work and to prevent the impressions of the driven ornaments. The Zinneinlage, however, has been blown during soil storage parts of the press plate ornaments, after the tin allotrope at low temperatures in the soil reacted ( tin pest ). The pressed decoration consists of a rightward four-footed animal that looks with his head far back. The animal illustrated with two ears stretched out his tongue far out of the long mouth. Around the neck it wears a collar -like ornament. The legs are positioned in correspondence with the body of the round shape of the image surface. The background is decorated by irregular distributed impressions that mimic a granulation. The scene is Included are enclosed by two ribbed bands, which in turn rosette shaped by a wreath ornaments and another ribbed band. To the body of the animal, the three heads of the rivets are rosette-shaped spread. The body of the animal, has a greater departure from the degenerate Zinnfüllung. From the overhanging edge of the rear support plate some places have erupted. Below the copper plate small residues of organic material were obtained, which were interpreted as ivory. The fibula was dated due to typological comparisons of the ornaments in the period around 300 AD.

Interpretation

The improper recovery without precise documentation of the Fund contexts complicates precise statements about each of finds of Bronze Age burial main and the Iron Age Nachbestattung. It is also no longer be ascertained how many grave goods were lost. Compared with similar finds these burials would normally have to contain other jewelry and utensils. Based on the statements Willes is a fire or body grave as Nachbestattung suspected in the grave with the disc fibula in an older grave mound, which is well documented from other Iron Age grave finds. In the disc fibula from Tangendorf is a high quality, most likely Germanic goldsmith work, which was inspired by Roman models. The animal pictured is interpreted as a dog or a deer antler loose. The background for the display back -looking animals in the Germanic art may be sought in mythological ideas, but can also be due to the fact that the animal body in a circle thus is larger representable. The protruding edge of the rear silver disc, and the remains suspect let the organic material below the copper washer that the exposed surface of the fibula by an also decorated about 10 mm wide ring of ivory was embraced.

Comparison finds

From a body from grave Häven (Mecklenburg- Vorpommern ) is a similar disc brooch comes with a diameter of 55 mm, at which the animal but look forward. The similarities in processing and garnish with the orbital villages fibula were so striking that Wegewitz suspected their production in the same workshop. Parallels to the represented animal from archaeological finds there on a silver cup from Nordrup, Zealand (Denmark), a belt fitting from the Swedish Skedemosse, a drawing on a Quadi fragments of pottery of the 2nd century from Prikas, Olomouc, Moravia, and on the gold bracteates of Ponsdorf, District Mistelbach, Lower Austria. The disc fibula from Tange village is one of the most magnificent fibulae of the Roman Empire from northern Germany and Scandinavia.

Replica

After detailed analysis of the structure of the disc fibula from Tangendorf Hans Drescher made ​​in 1953 two faithful reconstruction of material tests, a copy remained with the Helms- Museum and the second went to the Lower Saxony State Museum Hanover. According to the investigation results Drescher related to the organic ring ivory sets by its white color a decorative contrast with the gold of the metal face side. The findings from his reconstruction work put Drescher before 1955 in an article.

Reception

Since 2002, the community Toppenstedt leads the stylized disc fibula from Tangendorf in their coat of arms.