Oscar Almgren type 7 fibula

Oscar Almgren type 7 fibulae appear in grave assemblages from the late 2nd to early 3rd centuries AD. An example of such jewellery is, similarly dated to the mid-2nd to mid-3rd century, a silver fibula with a high catch-plate decorated with a knob at the end of the bow, found in inhumation grave no. 1, in barrow no. 18 in the village of Gronowo, Drawsko district (German name: Groß Grünow, Kr. Dramburg). In barrow 18, there were three burials explored with poor grave goods. The presented clasp is currently the only object known from grave no. 1 as the bronze belt buckle mentioned in the documentation has been lost. The other two burials featured single grave goods: a clasp of the same design and a belt buckle. The state of preservation of the human remains in the burial did not permit an anthropological analysis. The barrow cemetery in Gronów near Drawsko Pomorskie is one of the archaeological sites contributing the largest amount of information on the Wielbark culture in Pomerania. The first discoveries took place in 1881. In the years 1881, 1887 and 1890, Pastor Plato from Złocieniec conducted the first archaeological excavations of the site. Another grave assemblage was discovered in 1926 during the construction of a road to Złocieniec. It was an inhumation burial provided with Roman imports. Between 1939 and 1940, several pit graves were encountered during the construction of the Berlin-Szczecin-Gdańsk motorway. These were excavated by local archaeologists Heinz Hinz and Dr. Faust. Shortly afterward, the area of the cemetery was reforested, as the construction of the aforementioned motorway was abandoned between 1940 and 1941. Methodical excavations during which the fibula was discovered did not take place until between 1973 and 1977 under the supervision of Ryszard Wołągiewicz from the museum in Szczecin. In total, 56 urned cremations and inhumations including 49 covered by barrow mounds were discovered in Gronów. Bartłomiej Rogalski