Fibulae, or brooches, are the most common ornament of the Italian Iron Age, and exhibit a great deal of variability. The enormous variety of fibula types represented throughout all phases means that most are not numerous enough to reveal a meaningful distribution. There are, however, some types that display clear connections to family groups.
Figure 14: Osteria dell'Osa cemetery, northern section, distribution of Phase II burials with type 38s fibula (plan excludes burials with no surviving clothing or ornament in their grave goods) (L. Cougle, digitised in ArcMap after Bietti Sestieri 1992b, Fig. 7.1a)
Type 38s (a disc-plate arch bow fibula) is relatively restricted within the cemetery, with only six identified examples. All but one (infant burial 544) belong to female adults. Four of the adult burials have textile-working equipment in addition to the standard spindle whorl to suggest they may have had a specialist role, as proposed by Gleba (2006). Such items include distaffs, spindles and spoked metal objects connected with spinning or weaving (Bietti Sestieri, pers. comm.). The distribution of this fibula type is limited to four clusters in the eastern part of the main group, and two clusters each have two examples (Figure 14). However, given the contemporaneity of all these burials, and the textile manufacturing connection with all of them except the sole infant, it is possible that this style of fibula was popular among a group of women who worked together at their craft and sourced their fibulae from the same workshop. Such patterning reveals the complexity of distribution and reminds us that stylistic similarity is determined by more than familial connection. It is, of course, possible that there is a family connection between these women if, as Bietti Sestieri (1992b, 146) claims, the society was patrilocal. These women conceivably married into different families and continued to identify with their parental line through wearing a particular style of fibula.
Figure 15: Osteria dell'Osa cemetery, northern section, distribution of Phase II burials with type 39b fibula (plan excludes burials with no surviving clothing or ornament in their grave goods) (L. Cougle, digitised in ArcMap after Bietti Sestieri 1992b, Fig. 7.1a)
In the main part of the cemetery, covered bow fibula type 39b has an almost exclusive connection with cluster 503-578, with four of the five examples (Figure 15). There is a single example in the neighbouring cluster 340-579, and six appear in the isolated cluster 1-60 to the south. Interestingly, all but one of the females with a type 39b fibula have more than one fibula in their corredi. This probably reflects the fact that this fibula type is likely to have been a more expensive style (through the addition of amber and bone, and the additional skill required in assembly): the females with whom this type is associated are likely to have been among the more privileged members of the community. This is supported by the wealth of other ornaments in their corredi.
Figure 16: Osteria dell'Osa cemetery, northern section, distribution of Phase II female burials with multiple fibulae (plan excludes burials with no surviving clothing or ornament in their grave goods) (L. Cougle, digitised in ArcMap after Bietti Sestieri 1992b, Fig. 7.1a)
Despite the obvious increase in wealth throughout the community towards the final stage of Phase II, it is clear that multiple fibulae are not an exclusive phenomenon of this time only. Figure 16 illustrates that the occurrence of two fibulae in a burial is common throughout the cemetery, and no more prevalent in the newer, eastern section of the main group. In fact, the only burial with five fibulae is burial 163, which is one of the earliest burials of the cemetery and situated to the far west in the North cluster.
Table 10: Number of fibulae per burial
| Phase IIA | Phase IIB | Phase II (Unspecified) | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Min | Max | Mean | Mode | Min | Max | Mean | Mode | Min | Max | Mean | Mode | |
| Mature Female | 0 | 5 | 1.33 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1.19 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0.77 | 1 |
| Mature Male | 0 | 1 | 0.72 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0.56 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.13 | 0 |
| Subadult | 0 | 2 | 0.58 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.62 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.25 | 0 |
Fibulae are far less common in male than female burials. Where females have up to five fibulae in their corredi in Phase II, males usually only have one (see Table 10). Only three male burials (46, 214 and 297) have more than one fibula, and these are all of the arch bow type that is typical of female burials (see Tables 6 and 7). Fibulae are present in fewer male than female burials: in Phase II 53.7 per cent of males have a single serpentine fibula, and 80 per cent of female burials contain one or more arch bow fibulae (see Tables 5 and 6). Although the association is not exclusive, the relationship between males and serpentine fibulae and females and arch bow fibulae is sufficiently strong throughout central Italy to permit cautious characterisation of these as gendered artefacts (see Toms 1998). Vida Navarro (1992, 75), however, reminds us that such assumptions need to be made with great caution, as the gender association of fibula types varies between different cultural groups in Italy. At Osteria dell'Osa the association of arch bow fibulae with known females and serpentine bow fibulae with known males is strong enough to justify cautious acceptance of the rule.
Despite having lower numbers of fibulae overall, males have a surprising diversity of types. The limited numbers of each make it impossible to identify meaningful spatial patterning. Bietti Sestieri (1992a, 372-8) has identified 21 discrete styles of serpentine fibulae, most of which have parallels at other central and southern Italian sites.
Figure 17: Osteria dell'Osa cemetery, northern section, distribution of Phase II burials with type 42a fibula (plan excludes burials with no surviving clothing or ornament in their grave goods) (L. Cougle, digitised in ArcMap after Bietti Sestieri 1992b, Fig. 7.1a)
One style that has an interesting distribution is the double-eye serpentine type 42a (see Figure 17). In Phase IIA it is restricted to the South cluster, where the six examples represent the largest concentration of any serpentine fibula type of the Phase II cemetery. Four of these are cremations, and have rich ceramic corredi, supporting the notion that cremation was reserved for high-status men. All have miniature weapons, and other metal objects, or unusual items (such as the statuette in cremation 126). There is nothing obviously prestigious or unusual in the corredi of the two inhumations (burials 102 and 105), but they are noted as being disturbed or poorly preserved, so their grave goods are possibly incomplete (Bietti Sestieri 1992a, 563-4).
In Phase IIB, however, there are four additional examples, each in a different cluster. Only one of these, burial 142, is a cremation. This burial has a corredo in keeping with the nature and richness of the earlier examples. The corredi of the inhumations are also unexceptional. The wider distribution of this fibula type in Phase IIB suggests that perhaps it was originally associated with the South cluster but was later appropriated by others. If the theory of patrilineality and patrilocality is correct, it is reasonable to assume that these males were not part of the family occupying the South cluster. The style may have lost its kinship association and been assumed by others to symbolise other social identities, or perhaps was appropriated for purely aesthetic reasons.
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Last updated: Mon Jun 30 2008