‘Productive’ Sites in the Polders? ‘Griffin brooches’ and Other Early Medieval Metalwork from the Belgian Coastal Plain
Pieterjan Deckers
The present paper demonstrates how metal detectorists’ collections potentially form an important addition to the extant corpus of early medieval non-ferrous metalwork. Several sites in Belgian coastal plain featuring rich metalwork assemblages dated this period are presented. questions raised by these artefacts regarding chronology, nature and socio-cultural affiliations settlement discussed. In addition, a previously unrecognised, distinct type openwork disc brooch is described, framed within technical, typological artistic developments late tenth- twelfth-century north-western Europe, particular North Sea area.
Medieval and Modern Matters