Brooch

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. A brooch also known in ancient times as a fibula; sometimes spelled broach, a homophone meaning both to open a cask and begin a new discussion, is a decorative jewelry item designed to be attached to garments. It is usually made of metal, often silver or gold but sometimes bronze or some other material. Brooches are frequently decorated with enamel or with gemstones and may be solely for ornament (as in the stomacher) or sometimes serve a practical function as a fastening, perhaps for a cloak. The earliest known brooches are from the Bronze Age. As fashions in brooches changed rather fast, they are important chronological indicators. The fibula or fibulae (plural) is an ornamental clasp used by Romans, Greeks Germanic peoples, and also by Celts and migratory tribes in Europe from the Early Bronze Age. They may have replaced fibulae made of more perishable Neolithic materials, such as bone to as late as 800 AD.