Fibula with tall sheath

The barrow burial ground in Gronów (German. Groß Grünow) near Drawsko Pomorskie is one of the most important sites of the Wielbark culture in Pomerania. It was discovered in 1881. The first researcher of the necropolis was Pastor Plato from Zlocieniec, who carried out amateur surveys in 1881, 1887 and 1890. Another discovery took place in 1926 during the construction of the road to Zlocieniec. It was a skeletal tomb furnished with Roman imports. Between 1939 and 1940, several pit graves were encountered during the construction of the Berlin-Szczecin-Gdańsk motorway. They were excavated by the Drawsko-based social conservationists Heinz Hinz and Dr Faust. Subsequently, the area of the burial ground was reforested as the construction of the aforementioned motorway was abandoned between 1940 and 1941. The methodical excavations from which the presented fibula comes took place between 1973 and 1977 under the direction of Ryszard Wolłągiewicz (1933-1994) of the National Museum in Szczecin. A total of 56 cremated and inhumation burials were discovered in the burial ground, 49 of which were covered by barrow mounds. A silver clasp with a high sheath of simple design was found in grave number 2, covered, together with four other graves, by barrow mound 22. In addition to the fibula, a pair of spurs, a belt buckle and two needles – made of bronze, an antler comb and a miniature clay vessel – were placed in the grave. Unlike the other clasps found under barrow 22, the piece presented dates to the 1st half of the 3rd century, is not decorated with appliqués or filigree, with a bail in the form of a massive wire. Bartłomiej Rogalski