Fibula with three buttons (Grottazzolina type)

3D Model

Made of bronze, with the scrapped wax casting and tamping technique, the fibula is an object that combines the practical function with the ornamental one. It was used to drape, fix and close part of the clothes and as such was embellished with decorations, workmanship and shapes dictated by the fashion trand of the moment. It was usually used to fasten leather and cloth garments on the shoulders and chest. In this case it is a 3-button fibula with an arch and a C-shaped base. The basic shape, as well as the most frequent and widespread, is represented by the fibula with three massive buttons on the arch and  the base is segmented with one raised terminal button. The fibula takes the name of “Grottazzolina type” because it is present in most of the tombs of this necropolis; the typology is however widely spread in other contexts for a wide chronological arc, in the Balkans it lasts until the 5th century BC and in some areas of Istria until the 4th centure BC.