gems, archaeology, archaeogemology, garnet, jewelry

Knowledge of Migration Period small finds from the Mediterranean region must still be regarded as inadequate. Although individual objects continue to appear beyond the borders of the Roman Empire that one would like to attribute to a Mediterranean origin, current research is hardly in a position to distinguish originals from imitations, let alone describe regional characteristics within the Mediterranean itself. The most reliable indication of a Mediterranean object remains its discovery within the Mediterranean region. A corpus of such finds would certainly be valuable for research, but is hardly manageable by individuals given the vast expanse of the area. In the recently completed analysis of two women’s graves from Hippo Regius (Annaba/Bône) in Algeria, it became apparent that a relatively large number of large cloisonné disc brooches are known from areas around the Mediterranean. These are, however, widely scattered (fig. 1) and often published in obscure places. They reflect a different artisanal tradition from, for example, the metal costume elements among the peoples north of the (former) imperial border. This group of brooches will be typologically and chronologically analyzed below in order to better assess the influences on the northern periphery of the Mediterranean. The brooches in this group are defined by their shape (round), size (diameter >4 cm), and decorative technique (cloisonné). Only Migration Period examples from the Mediterranean region are included; later imports into the row grave culture from the last third of the 6th and the 7th century are not considered. They are further to be distinguished from smaller disc brooches and from approximately equally sized cloisonné “discs” with other functions, such as phalerae, belt fittings, or the bases of wooden and gold bowls like those from Szeged-Nagyszöksös (Csongrád County, Hungary). The typological subdivision of the brooches presented here is based on cross-section: into (flat) disc brooches, brooches with a central boss, brooches with a stepped or conical profile, and uniformly domed examples (fig. 2). Further typological features, such as technical details of the cellwork, could not be pursued in this brief study due to the need for intensive examination of the originals.