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DISCOVERIES
A Mazurian Variant Fibula from an Island on Lake Legińskie, Distr. Kętrzyn
 
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Instytut Archeologii Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, ul. Krakowskie Przedmieście 26/28, 00-927 Warszawa
 
 
Publication date: 2012-12-31
 
 
Wiadomości Archeologiczne 2012;LXIII(63):232-234
 
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ABSTRACT
The triple-crest fibula, Mazurian variant, surfaced in spring of 2012 during a surface survey made on the island on Lake Legińskie in the Mazury region. The artefact rested directly on the surface of the ground within a layer of plant litter. The surface reconnaissance was carried out at the time to complement an archaeological excavation started at this location in 2011. According to already held archaeological there was stable settlement on the island during the Early Iron Age (Leginy IX). The place of discovery of the fibula was investigated by excavation in July 2012 but did not reveal the presence of a culture deposit or archaeological features making the fibula a stray find devoid of stratigraphic and chronological context. In the classification system of T. Hauptmann the fibula belongs to variant 2, series 3, of triple-crest fibulae. Finds of Mazurian variant fibulae are widespread on the territory of Bogaczewo Culture and relatively numerous in Sambia, in Dollkeim-Kovrovo Culture, where they have been recorded in assemblages dated to phase B2/C1–C1a. The fibula from Leginy has a length of 10 cm, is made of bronze and retains a fragment of an iron pin attached hinge-like to the axle. The fibula bow is solid and recessed, the foot is turned upwards and extends beyond the catchplate. The crests on the head and bow are richly ornamented with a design of parallel lines and triangles. The third crest, reduced to a tongue-shaped terminal of the foot, is decorated with lines arranged at centre and on its perimeter. The fibula is unique in being decorated on its head plate with a zigzag line and having two polygonal loops. Finds of Mazurian variant fibulae with a loop at the upper edge of their head plate are relatively rare and are known from e.g., Stare Kiejkuty and Mojtyny. The specimen from Leginy is the only fibula recorded so far to have two loops. Loops or openings on Mazurian variant fibulae are interpreted as attachments for other elements, e.g., a strap or a string of beads. The hypothesis that two fibulae were worn symmetrically at shoulder level and used for attaching additional ornaments is supported by finds of “paired” fibulae from Kosewo, Mojtyny and Kamień. The presence of the Mazurian variant fibula on the island on Lake Legińskie may not be completely random. Let us note that an iron axe with a Bogaczewo Culture attribution was recovered from the bottom of the same lake and the record found in archival documentation on a Bogaczewo Culture grave-field on the eastern shore of the lake.
 
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