Frankish - Bow Fibula - Walters 542445 - Back

Bow fibulas are also called "digitated" fibulae due to the radiating knobs that resemble fingers or digits emerging from the headplate. The knobs of early (4th-century) fibulae were functional and held the springs of the pin, but in the 6th century became purely decorative, and on late 6th-century examples like this one, the knobs merged to become an undulating border. This fibula is decorated with fields of interlace, bands of zigzag patterned neillo, and has at its foot a stylized animal head. It is a type found in graves dated to the later 6th-early 7th century from burials near the Rhine.