Fibula Parts, Design and Construction

This page details the basic parts of a fibula, the design and construction of fibulae (bow, plate, spring, hinged, etc), and the materials used to make and decorate fibulae.

Parts of Fibulae|

Head

The head is the end of the fibula where the pin is articulated by either spring or hinge.

Foot

The foot is the opposite end from the head and is where the pin ends in a catch.

Catch

The catch, or pin-rest, is where the end of the pin is fixed when the fibula is closed. It is on the underside of the foot. It can be at the beginning, middle or end of the foot or extend along the entire foot. The shape of the catch is often used to identify fibula types and dates. The catch is often a flange extending along the bottom of the foot and is bent over at the bottom to create a channel for the pin to rest in. Different forms include a hollow channel in the side of a thick foot (as found on many late crossbow types) or a narrow hook set perpendicular to the bow.

Image: The catch on this knee fibula is perpendicular to the axis of the bow.

Image: This broken iron cross-bow fibula has a hollow-channel type catch in its foot.

The pin, whether part of the fibula body (one-piece) or separate (two-piece), is a pointed wire used to fasten the fibula to fabric. It starts at the head where it is articulated by a spring or hinge and ends at the catch where it is fixed when the fibula is closed. A few fibula types have two pins, running parallel on either side of the bow and ending in a tray-like catch.

Basic Fibula Forms

Fibulae can be divided into two broad groups based on construction - bow fibulae and plate fibulae. However, some post-Roman Germanic and Slavic fibulae consist of two flat plates connected by a short bow and are known in some languages as bow-plate or plate-bow fibulae.

Bow Fibulae

Bow fibulae have a body set apart from the pin, usually in some form of an arc. The body of the bow is generally long and narrow. While bow fibulae can be only decorative the gap between bow and pin means that many types can be used to fasten together a bulk of fabric.

Image: A selection of different bow fibula types.

Bow Fibulae with Spring

The pin extends from the end of a spring consisting of one or more loops. The tension of the spring helps keep the pin in place.

One Piece Bow Fibula

The bow and the spring are made of the same piece of metal. The head usually narrows to become the wire which is then wound into the spring. They can be found with unilateral and bilateral springs. They tend to be earlier than similar two-piece types but not always.

Image: A one-piece fibula. The head of this single knot kraftig profilierte type fibula narrows and continues into the spring. Though what remains looks like a unilateral spring this is in fact a broken bilateral spring. A hook which would have secured the external spring-chord is just visible in the middle of head.

Two Piece Bow Fibula

The pin is made from a separate piece of metal from the bow and is therefore attached to the bow at the head. Methods include inserting the end into a hole drilled in the head, soldering (?), or winding around a loop or hole. They tend to be later than similar one-piece types but not always.

Image: Two-piece fibula. This broken single knot kraftig profilierte type fibula shows two piece construction. The head ends in a single plaque. A separate spring was mounted to this plaque. The hinge-pin of the spring went through the hole in the centre of the plaque. A small piece of the spring-chord can be seen still in place passing through a nook in the plaque.

Unilateral Spring

The spring winds around to one side only of the pin. It does not cross over the bow, and pin, and continue winding on the other side. They may wind in one, two or more rarely three, four or more loops. They tend to be earlier than similar bi-lateral types.

Plain Bilateral Spring (starts 3rd c BC)

The spring winds in one or more loops on one side of the pin and then crosses over, or under, the bow and continues with more loops on the other side. The distinction between the spring-chord crossing over (external) versus under the bow head (internal) can help determine type and age. In some cases the spring-chord is fixed by a hook as it passes over, or under the bow. The spring can have one, two, three, four or even ten or more loops on each side of the bow. Very wide springs tend to have axis-pins inserted to help them retain their shape. In some cases the ends of the axis-pins are fitted with small knobs.

Image: This Dacian type bent-foot fibula has a short bilateral spring. It has three loops per side for six total. The spring-chord passes under the bow and is thus an internal chord.

Image: This fibula, likely a Germanic-variation of the Knee group, has a very wide bilateral spring. It has nine loops, or winds, on each side for a total of 18 and has small spherical knobs on the ends of the hinge pin. The spring-chord passes over the bow, where it is secured by a hook on the plaque on the end of the bow, and is thus an external chord.

Covered Bilateral Spring

The bilateral spring is partially, or mostly, covered with a cylindrical shaped housing.

Image: This knee fibula has a bilateral spring covered by a cylindrical housing.

Image: An underside view of the knee fibula shown in the image above. The bilateral spring, with 9 or 10 winds, is almost entirely contained in the cylindrical housing.

Bow Fibulae with Hinge

The fibula pin is a separate piece from the bow and turns around an axis-pin. The pin has no tension. The ends of the axis-pin may be held by simple bends, hammering the end flat (like a rivet), or with the addition of knobs, although sometimes it is only held in by a tight fit. The axis-pin may be made from copper-alloy or more commonly from iron.

Folded Hinge

The head of the bow is folded over (hand-forged by a smith). There is a small lateral channel in this fold for the axis-pin.

Hinge Folded Under

The bow head is folded under so that the end can not be seen while the fibula is worn.

Image: This image of the back of the head of a broken Wolf type fibula shows where the head has been folded under to create a lateral channel for the hinge-pin. Though it can't be seen in this photo the hinge-pin is still rusted in place. A small part of the copper-alloy fibula pin is still in place though it is broken off close to the hinge.

Hinge Folded Over

More rarely the bow head is folded forward and the end can be seen at the front of the fibula.

Image: The head of this Wolf type fibula was folded up over the front of the head to form a lateral channel for the axis-pin. The end is thus visible on the front of the head.

Moulded Hinge Channel

The head is cast with a moulded lateral channel for the axis-pin. This is more common than the folded type.

Image: This Hrusica fibula has a lateral channel for the axis-pin moulded into the design. The two ends of the axis-pin are secured by a pair of large knobs.

Hinge Plaque

A small, usually semi-circular, rib extends from the end of the bow, or the back of the plate. This has a hole for the axis-pin.

Single Hinge Plaque (starts mid 1st c AD)

The axis-pin is fixed through a hole in the flattened end of the pin and through one plaque. The pin thus lies parallel to the plaque on one side of it.

Double Hinge Plaque

The pin, which has a hole in its flattened end, is placed between two parallel plaques. The axis-pin is then fixed through one plaque, the hole in the pin, and the second plaque.

Hinge In Transverse Bar (starts 3rd c AD)

A wide transverse bar, making a T-form at the head of the fibula contains a notch. The flattened end of the pin, with a hole in it, is inserted into this notch. A long axis-pin runs through a hollow channel in the transverse bar and fixes the pin in place. The axis-pin may be held in by knobs at the ends of the transverse bar or not.

Screw Mechanism

In some very late crossbow fibulae (Keller/Pröttel type V and VI) the pin is held in place in the transverse bar by the end of a one of the knobs (usually the left knob with the fibulae head facing upwards). This knob extends into a long pin. The upper part is threaded and screws into female threads in the hollow channel in the transverse bar. The lower part of this pin is pointed and goes through the hole in the flattened end of the fibula pin.

Bow Fibula with Pivot

A few early Greek and later Phrygian fibula types use a pivot instead of a spring or hinge.

Plate Fibulae

Plate fibulae have a body that is generally flat and wide. The pin usually runs very close to the body. Plate fibulae are thus not useful for fastening fabric together and are usually only decorative. They come in a huge variety of forms and shapes.

Image: A selection of different plate fibula types.

Plate Fibulae with Spring

A spring is attached to the back of the plate, either fitted in a loop or soldered. Such springs are almost always bilateral and usually have three or four loops on each side.

Image: The reverse of this Celtic style Roman open work plate fibula has a spring instead of a hinge. It is a bilateral spring with 4 loops, or winds on each side for a total of 8 loops.

Plate Fibulae with Hinge

The pin is fixed to the reverse of the plate with a hinge fitted to either one or, more usually, two plaques. (See Bow Fibulae with Hinge, above, for more details.)

Image: The reverse of this Roman plate fibula clearly shows a double plaque arrangement for hinge. The hinge was iron and has mostly disappeared though some rust spots can be seen. Opposite the double plaque is the catch - in this case a simple flange folded over to retain the pin end.

Fibula Construction Material

Material of the Fibula Body

The body of the fibula was usually made of a copper-alloy such as bronze, brass/orichalcum, alloys like modern gun-metal or even pure copper. Iron fibulae are common among many Celtic and Germanic groups but are rare for the Greeks and Romans proper. Silver fibulae were used by most peoples though in very small numbers. Gold fibulae, generally limited to museum collections, were used in the late Roman era and by a few other cultures.

Image: This Almgren 101 type trumpet fibula is made entirely of silver. As is usual for silver fibula the fibula pin (and spring) and the axis-pin are in silver as well as the body.

Material of the Pin, Spring and/or Hinge Axis-pin

The pins were usually made of the same material as the fibula body though sometimes copper-alloy fibulae are found with iron pins.

Hinge axis-pins can be iron or copper-alloy.

Decoration

Copper-alloy fibulae bodies can be decorated with gold gilding, silvering or tinning. They may be inlaid with niello (a lustrous black paste made from silver sulphide) or enamel. They may have small pieces of glass-paste, glass, millifiore glass, bone, coral, semi-precious or even precious stones attached. Some Greek fibulae had bone, amber or stone discs fitted around a narrow bow.

Image: This early tied-foot fibula has a simple incised decoration on its bronze bow. It has three circles at each end and a rayed central design that might be a galley.

Image: This Roman plate fibula is decorated with enamel and with millefiori glass. Silver fibulae are occasionally gilded and can have neillo or, more rarely enamel inlay. Iron fibulae are usually not decorated but can have silvering. Some post-Roman East Germanic fibulae have gold, silver or copper wire inlay.