A Mysterious Brooch from the Southern Outskirts of Masuria

The cemetery at Chochół (former Friedrichsfelde, Kr. Ortelsburg), located at the southern edge of Masuria, was discovered and excavated in the early 19th century. The results have not been published, and the material was lost during World War II. The only sources of information on the cemetery are archival records. On this basis, it can be established that the Chochół site yielded a unique crossbow tendril brooch with a double spring. Although various brooches with two or three springs appeared in the Late Roman Period throughout central European Barbaricum, tendril brooches of this design were very rare: they were represented only by isolated specimens from Przeworsk and Wielbark Cultures, and the West Balt Circle. The small number and wide dispersion of finds make the emergence of crossbow tendril- brooches with a double spring seem to be the result of experiments undertaken independently of each other by local craftsmen. This interpretation also seems correct in the case of the Chochół find.