Bow fibula of the Urnfield culture
Price: on request
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Object number
AR2886
| Object: |
Rare bow fibula of the Urnfield culture
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| Material: |
Bronze.
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| Period: |
1100 BC to 800 BC. Urnfield period. Late Bronze Age in Central Europe. |
| Description: |
Fibula with flat rhomboid bow. The upper side is decorated by geometrical bands. The spirals at the long ends are made of square profile wire. This is a bow fibula of the so called Reisen type. Known from an Urnfield period hoard found in the small town of Reisen near Munich in Germany (cf. reference literature below). The type is highly specific and was found between the rivers Rhine and Tisza, but was especially popular in Bavaria. Artefacts of the Urnfield culture and especially fibulae are excessively rare to find in museums and art galleries. |
| Dimensions: |
166mm length, 60mm width which is comparatively large for a fibula. It was appearently a show-piece.
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| Condition: |
The spirals and the middle part of the rhomboid bow are originally preserved, the rim of the rhombus is replicated. Approximately 70% are the original substance. The restoration has been performed professionally without damaging the original parts of the fibula. The added areas do not disturb the overall impression, they are meant to be recognised as modern restorations without depriving the observer of the impression of the whole brooch. The pin is missing with its original loose mount still being present on one side. The piece is mounted on an acrylic plate. It can be easily handled despite its fragile body. This rare piece is ready to be shown in an exhibition.
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| Provenance: |
Acquired by us in 2019 from the German Rehorik family collection. The collection was built in the 1960ies and 1970ies by Hugo Rehorik. It consists entirely of archeological finds from the region around Regensburg in Germany. Hugo Rehorik (1905-1979) was working in the Regensburg area as an voluntary archeologist, mostly together with Hans-Jürgen Werner (1941-1997) and with the help of Gerhard and Robert Pleyer. The team supported the Landesamt für Denkmalschutz (state department of cultural heritage preservation) with the recovery of artefacts. This support was of great importance because the 1960ies saw the advent of deep plowing in Germany. Artefacts in the ground needed to be saved from destruction by the new agricultural machines quickly. The state archeologists praised this cooperation highly. It is a nice example of volunteers and professionals working together to preserve our cultural heritage. And also a role model urgently needed for today's situation in archeology. The finds were documented and examined according to scientific standards. Intricate restorations were performed by Heinz Rademacher (1929-1992) who worked for the städtische Museum Regensburg (city museum of Regensburg). Most pieces were then given to museums, namely the Historische Museum in Regensburg (Regensburg historical museum), the Naturkundemuseum Regensburg (Regensburg natural history museum) and the archäologische Staatssammlung in München (archeological state collection of Munich). Individual pieces have been split among the volunteers with the consent of the state archeologists. This way the Rehorik collection came into existence. |
| References: |
Cf. R. Heynowski, Fibeln, front cover right 4th from the top, and p. 41, no. 1.2.2.4.2 for a fibula of the exact same type. Heynowski refers to Betzler 1974, p. 55ff. Cf. H. Müller-Karpe, Ein urnenfelderzeitlicher Depotfund von Reisen, Ldkr. Erding, Oberbayern, from Germania, Anzeiger der Römisch-Germanischen Kommission des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, volume 29, no. 3/4 (1951), p. 193ff, fig. 1, no. 1 fig. 2a, no. 4. |
| Literature on the Rehorik collection: |
S. Kuchlmayr, Vom Tertiär zur Römerzeit: Hugo Rehorik u. seine Funde, in Regensburger illustriertes Stadtmagazin no. 3 / 5 (1979), pages 14f. A. Stroh, Bericht der vorgeschichtlichen Abteilung des Museums Regensburg (1965), mentions Hugo Rehorik's relation to numerous finds and research results; Stroh is praising Rehorik's contributions as an amateur archaeologist. F. D. Davis, Neue bandkeramische Gräber von Mangolding (1968), the book deals among other topics with an excavation in which Hugo Rehorik took part in. H. T. Fischer, Archäologische Ausgrabungen und Funde in der Oberpfalz (1982) mentions Hugo Rehorik and explains how thankful the local archaeologist are for their volunteers. T. Fischer, Im memoriam Hans-Jürgen Werner, in Acta Albertina Ratisbonesia 50/2, pages 231ff (1997), the memorandum includes a very good summary of the cooperation with Hugo Rehorik and the situation and working methods in the 1960ies and 1970ies. |
| Authenticity: |
We unconditionally guarantee the authenticity of every artefact, all items are subject to our lifetime return policy on authenticity.
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