Iron fibulae with bronze inlay from the Early Iron Age in Thrace

An exceptional typological variety of fibulae was established in Thrace in the Early Iron Age. They are made mainly of bronze, less often of iron, but there are also known examples of precious metals. A precise classification of the fibulae discovered in Bulgaria was created as early as the end of the 1970s. Since then, a significant database of Thracian fibulae has been accumulated, containing new types and variants. It is also very useful in outlining the distribution of the main classes of these artefacts. Among the Early Iron Age fibulae, a group of iron fibulae is noteworthy, whose bows are decorated with three spheres, often inlaid with bronze threads. The main area of distribution, and probably production, of this type of fibulae is South Thrace and more precisely the Rhodope Mountains. A series of such fibulae have been found in another relatively remote area in present-day northeast Bulgaria. Most of the finds come from necropolises – mainly from graves in tumuli, but also from dolmens and rock tombs. The aim of this article is to present this type of fibulae by specifying the chronological framework, to provide data on the technology of their manufacture and to trace their dispersion in the lands of the Thracians and their neighbours.