The Anglo-Saxon button brooch is a small disc brooch, about 2cm in diameter and decorated with a single human face mask, found mainly in southern England and occasionally in France; although many examples survive, its origins and development are not fully understood. This book offers a comprehensive study of its typology, genealogy and chronology. It investigates formal and structural design features, proposes a prototype- and statistics-based typology, and examines the physical, conceptual and geographical dimensions of the classification. Through an in-depth description of class-internal distinctions and class-external similarities, the author also explores the development of button brooches and reconstructs their genealogy or derivational history. He then situates the evolutionary trajectory of button brooches in a temporal framework, by linking them to other brooch types such as Jutlandic relief brooches and Saxon cast saucer brooches, and by taking account of associated grave goods as appropriate. A catalogue of the entire corpus of 209 button brooches and that of related objects is provided in the appendices; there are also over 200 plates and other illustrations, enabling the details to be carefully studied.
SEIICHI SUZUKI is Professor of Old Germanic Studies, Kansai Gaidai University, Japan.
Reviews
An extremely detailed analysis. MEDIEVAL ARCHAEOLGY
Details
First Published: 15 Nov 2007
13 Digit ISBN: 9781843833628
Pages: 490
Size: 24.4 x 17.2
Binding: Hardback
Imprint: Boydell Press
Series:
Anglo-Saxon StudiesSubject:
Medieval HistoryBIC Class: HBLC1
Details updated on 07 Feb 2012
Contents
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Typology I: Constructing a typology and classifying the old corpus
- 3 Typology II: Classifying new finds, investigating physical attributes and exploring conceptual and geographical implications
- 4 Genealogy: The network of family resemblances
- 5 Chronology: The interface with other brooch types
- 6 Conclusion
- 7 Bibliography
- 8 Index
