Bow Fibula with One-Piece Construction, Spring| Tendon Below the Bow

c. 450 B.C. - Mid 1st Century A.D.

Early bow fibula were made from one piece of bronze. The entire fibula from the catch, to the bow, to the spring|, to the tip of the pin was created by shaping and bending a single piece of bronze with great expertise and skill. The pin extends from the end of a spring| consisting of one or more loops, usually four. The spring| tendon (the wire connecting the two ends of the spring| wraps under the bow. The tension of the spring| helps keep the pin in place. The wire foot (a-b below) is the most common pin catch/holder. The solid foot is a late development.



Spring with four turns and tendon below (1), wire foot (a-b), a sample of bow group B1 fibula (Riha group 1) from Riha, E. Die römischen Fibeln aus Augst und Kaiseraugst. (1979). PDF

Types

La Tène Fibula (Late Iron Age Celtic fibula)
  Early La Tène Fibula
  Middle La Tène Fibula
  Jezerine Fibula
  Gorica Fibula
  Nauheim Fibula
      Lauteracher Fibula (Nauheimer Fibula variety)
      Augst Fibula (Nauheimer Fibula variety)
  La Tène Knot Fibula
Roman Era Fibula
  Nauheimer Fibula (derived from Nauheim fibula)
  Roman Knot Fibula
  Soldiers Fibula
  Cap Fibula
    Nijmegen Cap Fibula
    Bentumersiel Cap Fibula
    Bozum Cap Fibula
  Almgren Fibula
  Fibulae similar to Ramersdorfer fibula
  Eingliederige Fibula (One-piece fibula with a wide foot)
  Early Bent-Foot Fibula (One-piece fibula with a folded foot)

References

Almgren, Oscar. Studien über nordeuropäische Fibelformen. (Liepzig, 1923). PDF
Bechert, T. Römische Fibeln des 1. und 2. Jahrhunderts N. Chr. (Duisburg and Rheinhausen, 1973).
Binding, U. Band 16: Studien zu den figürlichen Fibeln der Frühlatenzeit. (Bonn, 1993).
Boelicke, U. Die Fibeln aus dem Areal der Colonia Ulpia Traiana. (Mainz, 2002). PDF
Bohme, A. "Die Fibeln der Kastelle Saalburg und Zugmantel" in Saalburg Jahrbuch, XXIX. (1973).
Bojovic, D. Rimske Fibule Singidunuma. Muzej Grada Beograda Serija - Zbirke i Legati Katalog XII. (Belgrade, 1983).
Ettlinger, E. Die römischen Fibeln in der Schweiz. (Bern|, 1973).
Fauduet, I. Fibules preromaines, romaines, et merovingiennes du musee du Louvre. (Paris, 1999).
Feugere, M. Les fibules en Gaule meridionale de la conquite a la fin du Ve sicle apres J.-C. (Paris, 1985). Available Online
Fischer F. "Frühe Fibeln aus Aquileia" in Aquileia Nostra (1966), pp. 8 - 26.
Genceva, E. Les Fibules Romaines de Bulgarie de la fin du 1er s. av. J.-C. à la fin du VIe s. ap. J.-C. (Veliko Trnovo, 2004). PDF
Haalebos, J. Fibulae uit Maurik. (Leiden, 1986).
Jobst, W. Die römischen Fibeln aus Lauriacum. (Linz, 1975).
Kostrzewski, J. Die ostgermanische Kultur der Spätlatenezeit. (Leipzig, 1919).
Metzler, J. Das treverische Oppidum auf dem Titelberg. (Luxembourg, 1995).
Mills, N. Celtic and Roman Artefacts. (Derbyshire, 2000).
Orlic, L. "Iron Age fibulae from the site of St. Theodore's Quarter at Pula" in Histria Archaeologica 42 (Nov 1912), pp. 185 - 215. PDF
Popovic, P. "Fibule tipa 'Orlea-Maglavit'" in Zbornik Narodnog Muzeja u Beogradu 14-1, archéologie (1992), pp. 319 - 326.
Riha, E. Die römischen Fibeln aus Augst und Kaiseraugst. (1979). PDF
Van der Roest, J. "Die Römischen Fibeln von 'De Horden'" in R.O.B. 38 (1988), pp. 142 - 202. Available online
Van Buchem, H. De Fibulae| Van Nijmegen. (Nijmegen, 1941). PDF