A woman from Dănceni, or bow fibulae of Werner's class II C

Joachim Werner's changing views on the so-called “Slavic” bow fibulae of his class II C have long influenced the views of archaeologists working on the early Middle Ages in East Central and Eastern Europe. A fresh look at the much enlarged corpus of evidence was therefore much needed. The near-neighbor clustering analysis of all whole specimens of Werner's class II C reveals some interesting observations. First, very few II C fibulae found on neighboring sites are also alike, and that only in the Middle Dnieper region. More often than not, very similar specimens have been found at a long distance from each other, e.g., in Crimea, the Middle Dnieper region, or in the Carpathian Basin. Except the pair of fibulae from Dănceni, almost identical specimens are only known from assemblages in Left Bank Ukraine. A thorough examination of the archaeological context in which some of the II C fibulae have been found shows that the earliest specimens are those from Caričin Grad and Carevec, mainly because of their association with cast fibulae with bent stem, otherwise dated to the second half of, or the late sixth century. No fibulae are known which could be firmly dated later than the first half of the seventh century, which suggests that Werner's class II C may have been in fashion shortly before and after AD 600. In Crimea, such fibulae often appear in combination with specimens of Werner's class II D, a combination also attested in hoards of bronze and silver from the Middle Dnieper region. In burial assemblages from both that region and from Crimea, pairs of fibulae were sometimes connected with a necklace of glass beads and pendants, a fashion of north European, possibly Scandinavian origin. Trasological studies of fibulae found in the Middle Dnieper region showed that they were produced locally, even though to this date no mould is known from that region. In the Carpathian Basin, fibulae of Werner's class II C were worn singly, but contrary to Werner's own opinion, there is nothing “Slavic” about that fashion. The pair of fibulae from Dănceni represents a clear reference to the fashions sported by elites in the Middle Dnieper region, whom local elites in late sixth- or early seventh-century Moldova wanted to emulate.