Iron Age gilded brooch found in Finland

A rare brooch dating to the late Migration Period (475-550 A.D.) has been discovered in Kemi, Lapland, northern Finland. The gilded bronze fibula is engraved with stylized zoomorphic figures. It is a unique find for Finland.

The brooch is 2.6 inches long with extensive surviving gilding in the front. The back may have originally been silvered, although that has worn off. Researchers have identified five animals in the complex line designs on the buckle: four bird heads and a cervid, perhaps a deer, reindeer or elk. The iron pin that would have fixed it to the garment has rusted away, but the two mounts for the pin are still attached to the back of the brooch.

Brooches like these were used in pairs by elite women to fasten the bodices of their garments to shoulder straps. Women wore them as signifiers of status and were often buried wearing them. Comparable buckles have been found in Sweden and Norway, but the only one with a similar decorative style known to have been found in Finland was discovered in 70 miles away in Rovaniemi.

The only relief buckle in Finland made with a similar decorative style was found in Rovaniemi. No similar relief buckles have been found in northern Sweden, as the closest are in the central Swedish region of Hälsingland. Similar buckles have also been found in Norway, mainly in southern Norway. “The discovery opens up completely new perspectives on the Iron Age in Lapland and the Tornio Valley,” says Raninen .

During the time of the creation of the object, during the Migration Period, different peoples moved around Europe, building their trade connections with each other. According to the research, the development and spread of relief buckles is particularly linked to the interaction between the inhabitants of the English and Norwegian regions. Objects, such as variously skillfully executed relief buckles, also moved with people.

It was found by metal detectorist Merja Talvensaari in an area of Kemi where Iron Age burials had previously been found. A professional excavation of the find site is planned and for now it has been designated a protected archaeological site making further metal detector searches illegal. (Metal detecting is only allowed in Sweden with advance permission from the County Administrative Board.)

The buckle was briefly on display at the Tornedalen Museum last month and has now been delivered to the Finnish National Board of Antiquities for conservation and research.

* This article was originally published here