In the 9th century BC the bronze fibula first appears north of the Alps. This revolutionary style of brooch coming from Italy changed the fashion of North Alpine lakeside settlers dramatically, since pins were the only known instruments for the fastening of cloaks at the time.
Under what circumstances could this foreign object have found its way over the dividing mountain range? The following paintings illustrate three possible scenarios.
Was it a migrant form Italy who made the fibula popular far from her home?
Did traders from the south use it as a method of payment?
Or was it not the fibula itself, but only the knowledge of how it is crafted, that crossed the Alps?
This is my Bachelor thesis project, with which I completed my studies at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste. Archaeologist Sabine Bolliger Schreyer of the Berne Historical Museum supported the project with her broad scientific knowledge.
