This thesis aims to examine the modes of production and the sources of metal supply for Migration period bow brooches, concentrating on a single form, the Anglian cruciform brooch. The thesis is in two volumes; text and bibliography (volume 1), catalogues, tables, illustrations (volume 2). The text is in six chapters. Attitudes to artefact studies are briefly discussed in Chapter 1 and the techniques employed in this study are outlined. Chapter 2 places the cruciform brooch forms into a simple hierarchical typology by formal similarity. A relative chronology is gained by contextual evidence, with absolute dates given by associations with other artefact types. Similarities between early English and continental forms are shown to be adequate to suggest importation, during the first half of the fifth century. Frisian and north German brooches have a special place in this system. Parallel stylistic development persisted during the second half of the fifth century but sixth-century English brooches are well distinguished from their continental contemporaries. Simple brooch types are thought to have had a long period of production and use. By examining methods of casting and assembling cruciform brooches, Chapter 3 establishes the types and ranges of technical variation observable. Some of these technical attributes provide links between England, Frisia, northern Germany and Denmark. English brooch manufacture is diverse throughout the period under study. Norwegian metalworkers developped a very different style and the technical evidence suggests a movement towards standardisation and mass production. In Chapter 4 we discover the types of alloy used and discuss the likely sources. Initially the alloys used were leaded brasses or bronzes. By the sixth century, copper alloys were commonly very impure. It is suggested that recycling provided a major part of the raw materials for cast copper alloys. Imports of copper alloys from France or the Celtic regions of Britain are relegated to a position of minor importance. The chemical compositions of Norwegian, Frisian, north German and Dutch cruciform brooches demonstrates access to high-tin, high-purity bronzes prevailed throughout the period. Brasses and mixed alloys were also available, probably originating from scrap. With the exception of Frisia, which appears to be more similar to Kent, alloy supplies were similar throughout the Scandinavian and continental cruciform brooch production. Chapter 5 provides a synthesis for these findings. Plans are given for a project extension into other regions (Chapter 6).

This dissertation evaluates Germanic fibulae of the Early Roman Period found in the area of Bohemia. The catalogue mainly consists of ca. 740 already published brooches. For the purpose of this dissertation, many of them have been newly documented as well as some so far unpublished finds which are introduced in the appendix of the dissertation. The dissertation sums up our present knowledge of particular types and variations of fibulae and makes their chronology more accurate - based on various combinations of brooches occurring in graves. Alternatively it deals with their connection to certain sex, age and social status. The most common type of brooches is by far the group of the eye-brooches (ca. 300pcs). Regarding the dating, the author managed to cast doubt upon information about some of the brooches found in the literature. The analysis has proven a long survival of some types of fibulae. Key words: brooches - fibulae - Early Roman Period - Germans - Chronology

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The focus of this study is to detect any similarities – or lack thereof – between the alloys of different types of oval brooches from the later Iron Age in Scandinavia. The study is furthermore concerned with how the alloys and the typologies can be mutually complimentary to one another in regards to dating or determining the age of specific oval brooches. For this purpose X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) was used on five different items deriving from Birka, Vendel and one of unknown context. The results indicate continuity with earlier studies regarding copper alloys with contents of zinc, and that this study’s brass brooches may have been produced in this alloy for its gold-like appearance. A higher level of lead can be found in the younger brooches, therefore indicating that tortoise brooches of a later date may contain more lead than their earlier counterparts. Furthermore, the study shows that brass may be mistaken for gold, and it raises questions about the use of metal originating from native copper sources. This study is a part of the Birka Black Earth Harbour project. / The Birka Black Earth Harbour project

This paper looks at how I as a jeweller can use my craft knowledge to raise awareness of environmental issues. In our society we are informed on a daily basis how elevated average temperatures, melting glaciers and forest fires affect and will affect our future, but also future generations’ living conditions on earth. Despite this, most of us just try to live our lives as usual. But all this information worries me, mostly for the future of my children, and I don’t know how to relate to it. I think about what inheritance I will leave behind. In this paper, I explore how I, in my role as a jewellry artist, can contribute to the discussion about the climate. To investigate this, I use theories of semiotics and visual communication as a frame for my work and I have chosen to dig where I stand and use work methods that I can find at home, but which I can also link to my profession as a jeweller. I have collected plastic  packaging that is the result of my family’s consumption. With this as a starting point, I have created plastic stones that leads my thoughts to future fossils and the Anthropocene era. My main tool has been the iron, with which I have achieved heat and a certain pressure to mimic the conditions under which minerals in nature are created. The plastic stones were made into brooches and the work has finally resulted in pictures where my children wear the brooches I have made of our common waste. Both the brooches and the images are linked to the theoretical framework of the paper.

1 Abstract (in English): This dissertation compares depictions of Roman jewellery and brooches on monuments with archaeological finds. These monuments are mainly of funerary character and they come primarily from Noricum, Pannonia, Germania, in lesser amount also from Gallia and some other areas. Jewellery is also related to local variants of provincial clothing. A typology of Roman jewellery is given and subsequently I try to find analogies to these jewellery types among the depictions. The typology mentioned here doesn't represent a complete list of jewellery types and variants. It focuses on the most common variants and variants which are relevant to the depictions of jewellery. By comparison of the archaeological finds to the depictions it is possible to obtain more accurate image of the appearance of clothing in different provincial areas and also of some specific traditions related to jewellery. The majority of depicted jewellery was identified with archeaological finds of jewellery, yet some cases stay unclear.

När vikingatiden kommer på tal, leds tankarna ofta osökt till Birka. För även om Birka låg på en ö i Mälaren, så var det allt annat än isolerat. Istället ingick Birka i ett komplext nätverk som täckte såväl nära bygder som fjärran stränder. Därav följer att nyckeln till vår förståelse av Mälardalens vikingatid ofta finns i Birka. Men även det motsatta gäller, och ibland behöver arkeologer titta åt andra håll för att uppnå en bättre förståelse av Birka. Detta ömsesidiga förhållande ska illustreras med hjälp av ett båtgravsfynd från Turinge i Södermanland. / <p>Övriga forskningsfinansiärer:</p><p>Berit Wallenbergs stiftelse ("Transformationer inom vikingatidens djurornamentik"), Helge Ax:son Jonsons stiftelse ("3D-laserskanning som verktyg vid vikingatidsstudier")</p> / En förlorad värld? - Turinge re-visited / 3D-laserskanning som verktyg vid vikingatidsstudier / Transformationer inom vikingatidens djurornamentik

In the town of Grobiņa in Latvia several cemeteries with grave goods and burial traditions that could be linked to Gotland have been excavated, as well as cemeteries of local type. The town itself has been interpreted as the site of a Vendel age settlement, possibly beginning around 650 AD. The aim of this thesis is to study the characteristics of the settlement and in particular its relation to Gotland. A study of the age of circular disc brooches discovered in and around Grobiņa has also been carried out as a part of the analysis. This type of brooches is very typical for Gotland during Vendel and Viking age. / I Grobiņa i västra Lettland har ett flertal vendeltida gravfält med gravgåvor och begravningstraditioner som kan kopplas till Gotland påträffats. Även gravfält av lokal typ har påträffats. Grobiņa har tolkats som platsen för en vendeltida bosättning, möjligen grundad cirka 650 e. Kr. Syftet med uppsatsen är att studera bosättningens karaktär, och i synnerhet dess förhållande till Gotland. En studie av de dosformade spännen som påträffats i och omkring Grobiņa har också genomförts som en del av analysen. Denna typ av spännen är typisk för Gotland under vendel- och vikingatid.

Animal art is one of the more mystical aspects of Scandinavian Iron Age culture. It has foremost been regarded in the light of art and style history. Interpretation has also – mainly from the 1990s and onwards – been made through iconographic analysis. But the problem here is that iconography requires textual analogy, something that the Scandinavian Iron Age lacks. The purpose of this paper is to lift some of the ”mystical fog” that engulfs the scandinavian animal art, by developing a method for interpretation of pre-historic images that evades the flaws in the iconographic method. This by doing an interpretation of the gripping beast motif on Gotlandic Viking Age animal-head brooches. The study is divided into three parts. Part one focuses on reception within research history and how the use of language and methodological approaches shapes the perception of animal art within it's own time, it also discusses animal art in the light of style, motif and communication. Part two aims to outline a method for pre-historic image interpretation, a structuralistic iconology with addition of contextualization and anthropological theories of agency. The chapter also discusses the cosmological order through means of ”structuralistic iconology”. Finally part three contextualizes the gripping beast to the object – the animal head-brooch – through notions of use, combination and age. Concluding that the gripping beast should be understood as a hybrid creature closely linked to ancestry, odal and the fatalistic worldview of Iron Age Scandinavia.

Three-dimensional (3D) laser scanners are becoming increasingly more affordable and user-friendly, making 3D-modeling tools more widely available to researchers in various countries and disciplines. In archaeology, 3D-modeling has the particular advantages of facilitating the documentation and analysis of objects that are fragile, rare, and often difficult to access. We have previously shown that 3D-modeling is a highly useful tool for shape analysis of archaeological bone material, due to the high measurement accuracy inherent in the latest generation of 3D laser scanners (Sholts et al. 2010; 2011). In this work, we explore the utility of 3D-modeling as a tool for Viking Age artefact analysis. To test the usefulness of 3D-modeling when analyzing artefacts with a very complex morphology, we chose highly ornate Viking Age baroque shaped brooches as study objects. These baroque shaped brooches constitute a group of dress ornaments mainly encountered in eastern Viking Age Scandinavia. Due to their large cast and/or attached bosses they obtain an almost baroque appearance, hence their name (cf. Jansson 1984: p. 81). They appear in two major versions, i.e. circular or equal armed, and in two kinds of material, i.e. silver- and copper-based alloys. Because of the position of bronze brooches in burial contexts, it appears they were used to fasten the cape or shawl in the female dress (cf. Jansson 1984: p. 75ff., Aagård 1984: p. 96ff.; Neiß 2006, figs. 3, 4; Capelle 1962: p. 106). For the present work a recently excavated brooch from Denmark was analyzed, together with three Russian brooches with nearly iconic status in the field of Viking Age studies. In the three case studies, we investigated possible uses of 3D-modeling for artefact analysis, artefact reconstruction, and tool mark and motif analysis. Exploring the usefulness of 3D-modeling for these purposes allowed us to draw conclusions regarding how 3D-analysis can be best incorporated into future artefact analysis. In addition, the case studies allowed us to gain new insights about the baroque shaped brooches and their uses. / <p>Forskningsfinansiärer: Helge Ax:son Johnsons stiftelse, Svenska institutet (Visby-programmet), Kungliga vitterhets historie och antikvitets akademin (Montelius minnesfond); Svenska fornminnesforeningen</p> / 3D-laserskanning som verktyg vid vikingatidsstudier