Two Ring Fibula from Cyprus. Information on them would be appreciated.

[coldavo]

Hi all,

I am getting these two bronze fibulae (?) which were excavated in Cyprus. The person from whom I obtained them is a coin collector and has no real knowledge of the items. His first guess was that they were Celtic. His second guess was that they were 300 or so years old.

Although they seem to be a bit more crudely made than the 1800+ year old ones usually seen, I would have guessed them to be closer to that age than the more recent dating. I have also never heard of such a tiny one as the smaller of the two - 14mm diameter and less than a gram in weight.

Can anyone give me information on the two items.

All the best,
Col

[SC]

Col,

Good luck trying to get an ID on these.  I have been collecting fibulae for 10 years now and have around 300 as well as a good two dozen reference books on them and I still throw my hands up in frustration over these "ring fibulae".

How to separate ring fibulae from ring buckles (including those used on shoes, belts and horse harness)?

How to date Celtic, from Roman, from Byzantine, from medieval, from early modern??

I wish there was a good site or book that helped explain this or an expert to come to our rescue.....  but so far I have searched in vain.

Your information may well be correct it is just so hard to verify.

Shawn

[coldavo]

Hi Shawn,

Thanks for the note.

The only thing that I am sure about re the two "ring Fibulae" is that they were excavated in Cyprus. As to exactly what they are and their age - I have no idea. I am presuming them to be fibulae but (?).

I do have another one that was excavated in Spain - that is the definate information. It is said to be Celtic 5th - 1st Century BC - I'm not sure of that bit of information - what do you think?

All the best,
Col

[SC]

Col,

Though no expert on these I have been led to believe that this design with the two "feet" - yours is missing one - are definitely fibulae and not buckles.  They are usually known as "omega" fibulae from the shape that a complete one has.  Again dating is cmpicated as they existed in Viking times too. - bviously not a lot of Vikings in Spain but nevertheless it shows the huge age span.

Shawn