Victrix Posted March 2 · Member Author Share Posted March 2 On 2/29/2024 at 4:33 PM, Tejas said: Very interesting thread. I have those two buckles. Not sure if they are Roman military or not. Both were found in western Ukraine, i.e. far beyond the Roman borders. If they are Roman, they could have belonged to Goths, serving in the Roman army. They may also be Germanic imitations of Roman miliary buckles. The top one is silver with engraved ornaments running around the edges. It measures 5 X 5 cm. The bottom one is bronze. It measures 5.5 X 4.6 cm When reattached to a belt, both would be fully functional. I've checked some references and style-wise they're very close to byzantine buckles and even some examples found in Germany. Your attribution might be right and I'd guess these are from 4th-6th century.. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tejas Posted March 3 · Member Share Posted March 3 (edited) Thanks a lot for the information. Here is something cool from my "collection". A massive Gothic belt buckle dating to the 6th century. This is a so-called "eagle-headed buckle", which was part of the Gothic female dress. It measures about 18 cm X 7 cm. The material is mostly slver, with glass or stone inlays. Edited March 3 by Tejas 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rand Posted March 3 · Supporter Share Posted March 3 Wow! This is a real treasure. This belt buckle would not be worn by an ordinary woman, it must have belonged to royalty or high nobility. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tejas Posted March 3 · Member Share Posted March 3 (edited) This type of eagle-head buckle, is strongly associated with the Crimean Goths, who didn't have royalty for all we know. I think these buckles - and quite a few of this type are known - would have been worn by a wealthy woman, perhaps the wife of a chieftain or landowner. These buckles were worn together with two large fibulae on a so-called peblos dress, together with silver Kolbenarmrings. Such assemblages were probably worn for church or other festivities. I don't want to hijack this thread, but below is a male buckle from my "collection". This buckle is in gilded silver with almandin stones, all in the shape of an eagle head. There is gold foil under the almandin stone to reflect the light. This must have looked absolutely awsome when the light fell onto the beak and eye of the eagle. The buckle has a length of about 7 cm. It is much earlier than the Crimean Gothic piece above. It probably dates to around AD 400 (+/- 50 years). This was no doubt a high status piece, fit for a high ranking noble warrior or even a king . I have not seen a comparable piece. Edited March 3 by Tejas 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rand Posted March 3 · Supporter Share Posted March 3 Amazing! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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