Die römerzeitlichen Fibeln in den baltischen Staaten

ENIn the region of the Baltic states grave forms dating to the Roman Empire Period allow a distinction between several cultural areas under the control of different Finno- Ugrian and Baltic tribes. Both, fibulae and other small finds show that the tribes were involved in a vigorous exchange over the entirety of that period. This is among others exemplified by fibula types they had in common, such as the eye-, crossbow- and disc fibulae. Local variants like the Estonian sub-series of the eye fibula, being a Finno-Ugrian specimen from the Early Roman Empire Period, also reveal autonomous developments. Eye fibulae of the Prussian series (A 57-63) on the other hand prevail in region of actual Latvia. The “strongly profiled” fibulae (A IV) of which the oldest representatives (A 67) appear from phase B1 onwards are next to the aforementioned the predominant types in phase B. The local variants culminate during the Late Empire Period, for which a particularly large diversity is perceptible in regions of Lithuania and Latvia. Next to the prevailing crossbar fibulae known in a wide variety of variants, the crossbow fibula with inverted foot (A 161,162,167) and the disc fibula are the chief forms of this phase.