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ROUND CONVEX BROOCHES (TYA 283: 1)
Type: Round convex brooches, bronze.
Use: Typical women's jewels in the Viking Age.
Site: Raisio, Ihala, Siiri cremation cemetery I.
Period: Viking Age
Dating: 800-1025 A.D.
Size: Diameter 48-67 mm.
Photographer: Arto Korhonen.
Most of the jewelry of the Viking Age jewelry was of native production. In the early Viking period, the so called round convex brooches became quite common. With them, women´s shirts were fastened on the shoulders. This type of brooches is Finnish, but the design of the ornaments is Scandinavian.
In the beginning, round convex brooches were decorated with wriggling snake-like figures, or so-called ribbon animals. An example of this kind of brooch is shown on the top left. It represents the so-called type B, that has been dated to the 9th century. In later types, the ribbon animals have been transformed into geometric, swastika-like patterns and ornamental pegs have been introduced.
The female dress often had a third brooch that was used to fasten either the woman´s shawl , or the under-shirt neck opening. The brooches on the right are examples of this type of artifact. The brooch on the top right side is a so-called C-type brooch dated to 875/900 - 925/950 A.D. On the right, and below,
is a narrow-brimed variant of a D-type brooch dated to ca. 950 - 1000 A.D. On the left, below, there is a small brooch that looks mostly like a B-type brooch.
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