Fibula (brooch) in the context of "Antelopes"

A brooch (/ˈbroʊtʃ/, also US: /ˈbruːtʃ/) is a decorative jewellery item designed to be attached to garments, often to fasten them together. It is usually made of metal, often silver or gold or some other material. Brooches are frequently decorated with enamel or with gemstones and may be solely for ornament or serve a practical function as a clothes fastener. The earliest known brooches are from the Bronze Age. As fashions in brooches changed rather quickly, they are important chronological indicators. In archaeology, ancient European brooches are usually referred to by the Latin term fibula. One example is the Tara Brooch.

The Thuringii, or Thuringians were a Germanic people who lived in their own kingdom in what is now central Germany. They are first mentioned in written records starting in the fifth century, during a period when the Huns were the most influential force in central Europe and the Western Roman Empire lost control of this region. The kingdom was not mentioned during the time of Attila himself, or during the conflicts between the small kingdoms which formed immediately after his death, so it's early history and boundaries are uncertain. However, the medieval kingdom, and the modern German federal state which is still called Thuringia, lies between the Harz in the north, and the Thuringian forest in the south.

The medieval Thuringian kingdom came into conflict with the Merovingian Franks, and it later became a stem duchy within the Frankish realm.

A runic inscription is an inscription made in one of the various runic alphabets. They generally contained practical information or memorials instead of magic or mythic stories. The body of runic inscriptions falls into the three categories of Elder Futhark (some 350 items, dating to between the 2nd and 8th centuries AD), Anglo-Frisian Futhorc (some 100 items, 5th to 11th centuries) and Younger Futhark (close to 6,000 items, 8th to 12th centuries).

The total 350 known inscriptions in the Elder Futhark script fall into two main geographical categories, North Germanic (Scandinavian, c. 267 items) and Continental or South Germanic ("German" and Gothic, c. 81 items). These inscriptions are on many types of loose objects, but the North Germanic tradition shows a preference for bracteates, while the South Germanic one has a preference for fibulae. The precise figures are debatable because some inscriptions are very short and/or illegible so that it is uncertain whether they qualify as inscriptions at all.

The Thuringi, or Thuringians were a Germanic people who lived in their own kingdom in what is now Central Germany. They are first mentioned in written records starting in the fifth century, during a period when the Huns were the most influential force in Central Europe and the Western Roman Empire lost control of this region. The kingdom was not mentioned during the reign of Attila (reigned 434–453), or during the conflicts between the small kingdoms which formed immediately after his death. The kingdom's early history and boundaries are uncertain. However, the medieval kingdom, and the modern German federal state which is still called Thuringia, lies between the Harz in the north, and the Thuringian forest in the south.

The medieval Thuringian kingdom came into conflict with the Merovingian Franks, and it later became a stem duchy within the Frankish realm.

The Braganza Brooch is a gold ornamental fibula that was made in the third century BC by a Greek craftsman for a Celtic Iberian client. Since its discovery in unknown circumstances in the nineteenth century in Portugal, it has belonged to a variety of owners, including various members of the House of Braganza, for which it is named, before being purchased by the British Museum in 2001.

Luristan bronzes (rarely "Lorestān", "Lorestāni" etc. in sources in English) are small cast objects decorated with bronze sculpture from the Early Iron Age which have been found in large numbers in Lorestān Province and Kermanshah in western Iran. They include a great number of ornaments, tools, weapons, horse-fittings and a smaller number of vessels including situlae, and those found in recorded excavations are generally found in burials. The ethnicity of the people who created them remains unclear, though they may well have been Iranian, possibly related to the modern Lur people who have given their name to the area. They probably date to between about 1000 and 650 BC.

The bronzes tend to be flat and use openwork, like the related metalwork of Scythian art. They represent the art of a nomadic or transhumant people, for whom all possessions needed to be light and portable, and necessary objects such as weapons, finials (perhaps for tent-poles), horse-harness fittings, pins, cups and small fittings are highly decorated over their small surface area. Representations of animals are common, especially goats or sheep with large horns, and the forms and styles are distinctive and inventive. The "Master of Animals" motif, showing a human positioned between and grasping two confronted animals is common but typically highly stylized. Some female "mistress of animals" are seen.