Late Antique and Early Medieval Seminar Series

The supporting-arm brooch has traditionally been interpreted as a rare and early indicator of 'Germanic' or 'Anglo-Saxon' settlement in Britain. This paper discusses the typology and distribution of the supporting arm brooch and questions whether its seemingly implicit 'ethnic' connotations can be accepted. It questions why particular interpretations of similar material culture are favoured in one period over the approaches taken in another. Finally, the paper will explore the unsettling role of 'women as the bearers of tradition' in early medieval societies with the sexualised, commodification of the female form associated with 'national dress'.