Bossed Penannular Brooches: a Review of Recent Research

Abstract

A GROUP of 9th and 10th-century insular brooches is discussed here in the light of a recent paper by 0. S. Johansen, entitled ‘Bossed Penannular Brooches’.1 The corpus of brooches catalogued by Johansen is reviewed and the removal of three of his forty-three examples is suggested. Two additions are made, including one hitherto unpublished fragment, which prompts a revision of Johansen's classification of the material into subgroups. Problems relating to the manufacture and distribution of the bossed brooches are considered, leading to the conclusions that the brooches were cast and not hammered, and that they are unlikely to have been produced in NW. England, as well as in Ireland, as claimed by Johansen. It is also argued that the suggestion that the group is the product of a Norse milieu is unacceptable, with the exception of one subgroup. A discussion of the cultural affinities of the bossed brooches shows that the group is firmly rooted in the native Irish brooch tradition, although displaying influen...