A Nyíregyházi Jósa András Múzeum évkönyve 44. (Nyíregyháza, 2002)

Régészet - Igor Gavritukhin: On the study of double-plate fibulas of the first subgroup

On the study of double-plate fibulas of the first subgroup massive cored bow, are dated to the beginning of the Migration Period (about the end of the 4

th - beginning of the 5

th a). Typologically not very "advanced" specimens may represent a transition from the fibulas of Malaesti variant to the finds of large size, and are probably partially synchronous with the former (one of the standard objects is shown in fig. 2: 17); this conclusion defines the middle of the 4

th c. as the lower chronological border of existence of fibulas with a length of about 6-7 cm. The upper chronological border of the existence of such objects is dated to the Migration Period, since the typological development of the Hun Age did not tend to generate sharp phase-outs, and certainly not the "exclusion" of more archaic objects. This fact is confirmed by the aforementioned assemblage of grave 46 from Marosszentanna/Sintana de Mures (fig. 2: 15-16). Interestingly, if the area of variant Petresti covers the Dniester region and the Lower Danube zone, the "transitory" variations of the Marosszentanna/Sintana de Mures series are encountered on territories from the Danube up to the Maros/Mures, the latest ones of this series extending into the Upper Tisza Region and across the limes (map 2: 1 and 3:1,2 + 4). Further research should determine the validity, in this situation, of the resultant conclusion regarding migrations; the material for this cannot solely be based on fibulas. Most evidently, the line of evolution of "archaic" double-spring fibulas (specimens from Kobillia and Odobescu variations) of the Dniester-Danube zone is represented by larger variants of Izvoare series, the specimens of which are characterised frequently by a rather massive post for two springs and a lower string (cf. the specimens of Gälänesti type and those of Tirgsor - fig. 1: 29-30; fig. 5: 37). It is not uncommon to encounter among the mentioned fibulas variations with an "extended" head-plate, and East Carpathian finds have a "boat-shaped" catch-plate (fig. 5: 2-3, 19, 23, 30, 32-33). The ornamental border "cymation" on the headplate of these fibulas does not appear on any other fibulas; we can only note the rough imitation of it on some specimens (fig. 5: 32-33). The tendencies of evolution of this series are close to the ones from the Marosszentanna/Sintana de Mures series: the fibulas with a length of more than 7 cm, with a deliberately massive cored bow, and the ones with a "lengthened" foot (more than half the length of the fibula), are dated to the Hun (postValentinian) Age (fig. 5: 1-6, 21-23), based on the composition of glass vessels (and their imitations in clay) and on other objects in assemblages found with these fibulas (GAVRITUKHIN 1999., GAVRITUKHIN 2001.). Like the Marosszentanna/Sintana de Mures series, these objects are known in Transylvania, but, in contrast to the former, they do not vanish to the east from the Carpathians in the Hun Age and they have not yet been found in the provinces of the Roman Empire (map 3: 1 + 5). Judging from the general characteristics and the tendencies of evolution, the variations with a B-shaped post for the spring are close to the fibulas described above (fig. 5: 7, 10, 26, map 3: 1 +9). Large specimens among such finds are also dated to the Hun Age by the buckles found together with them, specimens with a massive tongue bending on the ring, and by the composition of the Valea Strimba coin hoard (the latest coins in which were made during the reign of Emperor Gratianus (367-387) (fig. 5: 8-18, 25-26). The appearance of a B-shaped post for springs is explained, most likely, by eastern influences (from the Dnieper or Crimea see examples below). The find from grave 87 in Bräviceni allows us to suppose the possibility of the appearance of the examined constructive element in the Dniester-Danube zone in the "pre-Hun" period, although other specimens with this type of post for spring are dated to the Hun Age and have analogies in South Crimea while simultaneously remaining obviously close to local traditions. The edge on the bow of one of the double-spring fibulas of the Dniester121