Dorothea Bruns

Germanic Equal Arm Brooches of the Migration Period: a Study of Their Style, Chronology and Distribution, Including a Full Catalogue of Finds and Their Contexts - British Archaeological Reports (Bar) International S. Dorothea Bruns 1st edition

Equal arm brooches were a brief fashion fad of the 5th century, found only in north-western Germany, the Lowlands and England, and, as such, are rarely discovered. Based on an illustrated catalogue of 66 examples, this thesis examines the origins of the brooch, arguing that it was influenced by 4th-century Roman military fittings, and looks for similarities with later Merovingian brooches. Bruns also discusses motifs, chronology and the socio-cultural context of the brooches and considers why German and English equal arm brooches were so different from one another.