Iron-cased cloisonné brooches from the early medieval cemetery of Harmignies (Prov. Hainaut, Belgium)
Some aspects of production
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31265/zq4efz68Keywords:
Early Medieval, ; Cloisonné jewellery, Cross-craft interaction, Production, Mero-Jewel, HarmigniesAbstract
In this article, the Mero-Jewel project (BRAIN-be 2.0) presents its first production-focused research results regarding iron-cased cloisonné brooches from the Merovingian cemetery of Harmignies. The aim is to elucidate technical aspects of production to possible differentiate artisanal tendencies or shared knowledge, which would help identify the network of production and exchange in which these objects circulated. To this effect, the composition of these brooches is discussed, and key observations are made regarding techniques, material composition and decoration. While specific workshops remain undefined, the article discusses future avenues of research while considering the large amount of data retrieved from this relatively small, yet representative sample.
References
Adams, Noël. 2006. "Back to Front: Observations on the development and production of decorated backing foils for garnet cloisonné." Journal of the Historical Metallurgy Society 40: 12-26.
Arrhenius, Birgit. 1985. Merovingian garnet jewellery: emergence and social implications. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell.
Avent, Richard and David Leigh. 1977. "A study of crosshatched gold foils in Anglo-Saxon jewellery." Medieval archaeology 21: 1-46. https://doi.org/10.1080/00766097.1977.11735397
Calligaro, Tomas, Sylvie Colinart, Jean-Paul Poirot and Christel Sudres. 2002. "Combined external-beam PIXE and μ-Raman characterisation of garnets used in Merovingian jewellery." Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms 189.1: l320-27. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0168-583X(01)01078-3
Calligaro, Tomas, Patrick Périn, Françoise Vallet and Jean-Paul Poirot. 2007. "Contribution à l'étude des grenats mérovingiens (Basilique de Saint-Demis et autres collections de musée d'Archéologie nationale, diverses collections publiques et objets de fouilles récentes). Nouvelles analyses gemmologiques et géochimiques efectuées au Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musées de France." Antiquités nationales 38: 111-44.
Claes, Britt, Femke Lippok, Line Van Wersch, Grégoire Chêne, Elke Otten and Helena Wouters. 2025. "Le projet Mero-Jewel, une étape vers une meilleure connaissance de la bijouterie mérovingienne". In L'objet mérovingien. De sa fabrication à sa (re-)découverte, edited by Gaëlle Dumont, 125-136. Namur: AFAM.
Claes, Britt and Olivier Vrielynck. 2025. "Le cimetière mérovingien d'Harmignies (Mons, Belgique)." In L'objet mérovingien. De sa fabrication à sa (re-)découverte, edited by Gaëlle Dumont, 369-380. Namur: AFAM.
Drauschke, Jörg. 2011. Zwischen Handel und Geschenk: Studien zur Distribution von Waren aus dem Orient, aus Byzanz und Mitteleuropa im östlichen Merowingerreich. Rahden: Marie Leidorf Verlag.
Efros, Bonnie. 2004. "Dressing conservatively: Women's brooches as markers of ethnic identity?" In Gender in the Early Medieval World. East and West, 300-900, edited by Leslie Brubaker and Julia M.H Smith, 165-84. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gilg, Hans Albert, Norbert Gast and Tomas Galligaro. 2010. "Vom Karfunkelstein." In Karfunkelstein und Seide. Neue Schätze aus Bayerns Frühzeit, edited by Ludwig Wamser, 87-100. München: Pustet.
Graenert, Gabrielle. 2007. Merowingerzeitliche Filigranscheibenfbeln westlich des Rheins. Montagnac: Mergoil.
Hakenbeck, Susanne. 2011. "Roman or barbarian? Shifting identities in early medieval cemeteries in Bavaria." Post classical archaeologies 1: 37-66.
Horváth, Eszter. 2012. "Cloisonné jewellery from the Langobardic Pannonia: Technological evidence of workshop practice." In Te Pontic-Danubian Realm in the Period of the Great Migration, edited by Vujadin Ivanišević and Michel Kazanski, 207-42. Beograd: Association des amis du Centre d'histoire et civilization de Byzance (ACHCByz) Arheološki Institut.
Horváth, Eszter. 2013. "Gemstone and glass inlaid fne metalwork from the Carpathian Basin: the Hunnic and Early Merovingan Periods." PhD diss., Instituto Archaeomogico Universitatis de Rolando Eötvös nominatae. https://doi.org/10.17204/dissarch.2013.275
Kars, Mirjam. 2011. "A cultural perspective on Merovingian burial chronology and the grave goods from the Vrijthof and Pandhof cemeteries in Maastricht." Phd diss., Universiteit Amsterdam.
Koch, Alexander. 1998. Bügelfbeln der Merowingerzeit im westlichen Frankenreich. Bonn: Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum.
Legoux, René, Patrick Périn and Françoise Vallet. 2004. Chronologie normalisée du mobilier funéraire mérovingien entre Manche et Lorraine. Chelles: Association française d'archéologie mérovingienne.
Martin, Max. 1997. "Kleider machen Leute: Tracht und Bewafnung in fränkischer Zeit." In Die Alamannen, edited by Karlheinz Fuchs und Martin Kempa, 349-58. Stuttgart: Teiss.
Martin, Toby. 2020. "Casting the Net Wider: Network Approaches to Artefact Variation in Post-Roman Europe." Journal of archaeological method and theory 27: 861-86. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-019-09441-x
Mathis, François, Olivier Vrielynck, Kilian Laclavetine, Grégoire Chêne and David Strivay. 2008. "Study of the Provenance of Belgian Merovingian Garnets by PIXE at IPNAS Cyclotron." Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms, Accelerators in Applied Research and Technology, 266.10: 2348-52.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nimb.2008.03.055
Meier, Tomas. 2021. "Methodenprobleme einer Chronologie der Merowingerzeit in Süddeutschland: eine Diskussion anhand von Matthias Friedrich 'Archäologische Chronologie und historische Interpretation: Die Merowingerzeit in Süddeutschland' (2016)". Germania 98: 237-90.
Müller, Rosemarie and Heiko Steuer. 2011 [1994]. Fibel und Fibeltracht. Mit einem Vorwort von Rosemarie Müller und Heiko Steuer. Studienausgabe. Berlin: De Gruyter.
Müssemeier, Ulrike, Elke Nieveler, Ruth Plum and Heike Pöppelmann. 2003. Chronologie der merowingerzeitlichen Grabfunde vom linken Niederrhein bis zur nördlichen Eifel. Köln: Rheinland-Verlag.
Pleiner, Radomír. 2006. Iron in Archaeology. Early European Blacksmiths. Praha: Archeologický ústav.
Quast, Dieter, Alexandra Hilgner and Susanne Greif. 2017. "Introduction: Mines and Trade." Gemstones in the frst Millennium AD. Mines, Trade, Workshops and Symbolism. Mainz: RGZM.
Scott, David and Gerhard Eggert. 2009. Iron and Steel in Art: Corrosion, Colorants, Conservation. London: Archetype Publications.
Siegmund, Frank. 2000. Alemannen und Franken. Berlin: De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110809435
Sorg, Marion. 2022. Fibelausstattung und Lebensalter in der Merowingerzeit: Studien zu Abnutzung und Gebrauch frühmittelalterlicher Fibeln. Berlin: De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110754810
Teuws, Frans. 2024. Rural Riches and the development of post-Roman Northern Gaul. Zesenveertigste Kroonvoordracht gehouden voor de stichting Nederlands Museum voor Anthropologie en Praehistorie te Amsterdam op 5 april 2024. Amsterdam: SNMAP.
Vielitz, Kathrin. 2003. Die Granatscheibenfbeln der Merowingerzeit. Montagnac: Mergoil.
van Wersch, Line, Martine van Haperen and Gaspard Pagès. 2022. "A cross-craft approach to ceramic, and iron in the Early Middle Ages. Te resources of workshops from southern Belgium." In Shaping cultural Landscapes. Connecting Agriculture, Crafts, Construction, Transport, and Resilience Strategies, edited by Ann Brysbaert, Irene Vikatou and Jari Pakkanen, 275-84. Leiden: Sidestone Press.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Britt Claes, Femke Lippok, Elke Otten, Helena Wouters
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.