Thistle Brooch Xanten, Bronze

Roman Thistle Brooch

Replica of a thistle brooch after a find from Xanten. The thistle brooch has an attached decorative wreath and a functional, authentic needle construction. The beautiful provincial Roman brooch is made of genuine, solid bronze and comes with a certificate in a jewellery case.

Size approx. 70 x 45 mm.

Roman Thistle Brooch

The modern name thistle brooch refers to the round or square decorative ornament in the centre of the brooch. The attached and curved plate is reminiscent of the petals of a thistle. In French archaeology, these ornaments are similarly referred to figuratively as "peacock tail brooches". What the robe brooches were called in Roman times is unknown.

Technically, they are sleeve spiral brooches in which the needle consists of a coiled spring spiral inserted into a long, hollow sleeve at the base of the brooch. The origin of these provincial Roman brooches lies in the Celtic period, where simple bow brooches were also decorated with an attached disc of pressed sheet metal. They were either worn in pairs or used to fasten the upper garment centrally in front of the chest. The main area of distribution was in the west of the Imperium Romanum, especially in the Rhine region and in Gaul. They date to the 1st half of the 1st century AD, but individual pieces may date to the 2nd half of the 1st century AD.

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