Re-evaluating the Quoit Brooch Style: Economic and Cultural Transformations in the 5th Century ad, with an Updated Catalogue of Known Quoit Brooch Style Artefacts

Abstract

Quoit Brooch Style material, produced from the early 5th century onwards, has previously been considered mostly from a stylistic point of view, leaving much scope for further investigation. In addition, the known corpus of material has been much expanded through newly excavated and metal-detected finds. In this article, I bring together the known extant material for the first time, and document important evidence relating to contextual dating, gender associations, manufacture (including new compositional analysis of c 75 objects), repair, and reuse. The article questions previous interpretations of Quoit Brooch Style material relating to Germanic mercenaries and/or post-Romano-British political entities. It interprets the earliest material as part of wider trends elsewhere, in Britain and in Continental northwestern Europe, for the production of material imitating late Roman symbols of power. It presents new evidence for connectivity with Continental Europe via the western Channel route in the 5th century. A detailed investigation of individual artefacts shows that many Quoit Brooch Style objects were reused, sometimes being subjected to extensive repair and modification. This provides new insights into the 5th century metal economy, for instance, acute problems in the availability of new metal objects in southeastern Britain in the middle years of the 5th century. Compositional analysis contributes further to our understanding of metal supply in the 5th century and relationships with the post-Roman West. Insights are provided into wider cultural transformations in the 5th century and the gradual loss of value that occurred for Roman-style objects