Among the numerous artefacts submitted to the Provincial Monument Protection Office in Kielce, there is a very interesting, enamelled disc brooch from Gnojno, Gnojno Commune, in Lesser Poland (Fig. 1). According to the report, it was found by chance during field work, alongside several other metal artefacts. It came from a multicultural archaeological site AZP 91-65/11 Gnojno-Moglice Małe 4, identified during earlier research conducted by Rev. Stanisław Skurczyński.

The find from Gnojno is a disc brooch—flat, circular, made of copper alloy (Table 1), with a hinged construction (the catchplate and hinge have been preserved). The surface is divided into three convex concentric rings. The central ring is filled with dark red enamel. The middle ring is divided into four parts by radially arranged inserts of black glass. Between them, there are fields of orange enamel with circular sockets of darker colour, of which depressions have remained. The outer ring is divided by six radially arranged inserts of light green glass, intersected by fields of red enamel (Table 2), of which two have been fragmentarily preserved. On the edge of the brooch, there are traces of corrugation. In the upper part, on the edge, there is a distinct thickening, probably a remnant of a suspension loop. The diameter of the disc is 2.5 cm (Figs. 2 & 3).

Enamelled disc brooches with circular discs are quite rare in Bar­ba­ricum. In contrast, they are found in large numbers in Roman provinces, primarily in Gaul and the Rhine provinces of the Empire, as well as the regions along the Middle Danube, Britain and the Black Sea coastal areas. According to K. Exner, the artefact from Gnojno corresponds to type III.26a, and according to A. Böhme, it corresponds to type 41y. It also resembles types “a”, 7.13 and 7.14, 45.3 and 27b, as classified by S. Thomas, E. Riha, E. Ettlinger and M. Feugère, respectively. In Roman provinces, enamelled disc brooches are dated to the second half of the 2nd century and the beginning of the 3rd century CE. Their enormous diversity indicates that the items discussed were probably manufactured in small, specialised workshops, perhaps also to individual orders. Their function was probably more decorative than practical, and they were most likely used to adorn women’s clothing. In the area occupied by the Przeworsk and Wielbark Cultures, such brooches are found in features dating from stage B2a to phase C1/C2. Similar artefacts appearing in the Bogaczewo Culture should be dated slightly later, from phase B2/C1 to phases C2–C3. The brooch from Gnojno is a stray find, without any context; however, the same site also yielded, among other things, brooches of O. Almgren’s group IV and 8 series of group V, indicating that it was used in the transition period between the early and late Roman Iron Age.