The Weingarten type is characterized by straight decorative strips separated by

grooves,
which are usually attached in the longitudinal direction of the plates. With the
exception of
a bronze buckle from Altenerding Grave 14, which also differs due to the
rectangular shape of
the plates, the buckles are made of silver and in most cases have niello inlays and
gilding.
Triangles and zigzag lines that are opposite to one another, nested one inside the
other,
as well as with their points facing each other are common for decorative motifs.
In several cases of this type, the buckle includes a strap end, sometimes also a
separate
rectangular plate. The latter seem so far only to occur in male burials.

Shield buckles with rectangular plates and an end row of rivets are widespread.
So far, they have only been handed down to us where they were buried in the graves.
The rectangular buckle plate, which is also characteristic of the better-known D
plates and
reliquary buckles - both typical Romanesque costume elements - indicates a
corresponding origin.
Only riveting the buckle to the belt at the rear end of the plate is typical for
our buckle shape
and can also be found on many reliquary buckles and individual D-plates.
Indications of a Romanesque
origin of our buckle group can also be found in certain types of decoration. The
egg-stick-like
decor on the sheet metal plate of the buckle from Freilaubersheim is still very
much in the tradition
of late antiquity.

A buckle mandrel with a symmetrically stepped base and straight rear end from
Castel d'Ario
(Prov. Mantua) could indicate that the buckle shape discussed here was also worn in
Italy.
The men's costume, to which the buckles belong in most cases, can hardly be grasped
in Italy
not only in the Romans, but also in the Ostrogoths; the Ostrogothic grave finds
belong mainly
to the female costume. Only with the establishment of Lombard burial grounds after
568 are a large
number of elements of traditional costume handed down; thus essentially later, when
the buckle group
is occupied on the European mainland. A closely related buckle is only known to me
from Nocera Umbra
(Prov. Perugia). This and the thorn from Castel d'Ario indicate that the lack of
discovery in Italy
is due to the lack of a custom.

Two or maybe three of the five Concevreux buckles come from the area between the
Seine and the Rhine.
The types Ennery and Jouy-le-Comte are also best recorded there. In contrast, the
Weingarten type
occurs only in one find on the left bank of the Rhine.

Filigree ornamentation, especially in flat design, was not common in the middle 6th
century.
It occurs only sporadically in the area on the right bank of the Rhine, but more
often in northern
France and Belgium, but only rarely south of the Seine due to the limited or lack
of customary
additions. From the time after 568 a large number of filigree disc brooches and
other filigree work
are documented from Italy. Our buckle type is characterized by an axially
symmetrical structure of
the decoration and a sequence of individual motifs. With the buckles from Elgg and
Concevreux, the
decorative field is divided into long rectangular areas. What they have in common
is the layer of
twisted, herringbone-like strips of sheet silver. In the filigree motifs as well as
in their axially
symmetrical arrangement, the buckles of the Concevreux type are comparable to a
buckle made of Vichy.
As a connecting element, pearl rods are used on the cast buckle parts. A bronze
buckle decorated
with silver filigree from Lorraine, the exact location of which is not known,
corresponds to our
buckle type in its thorn shape and filigree decoration with a pearled frame. Due to
the division of
the decorative area into long rectangular fields and the herringbone-like twisted
silver sheet strips,
it is particularly closely related to the buckles from Elgg and Concevreux.

тип консевре
Geometric filigree décor shows apart from the set of Elgg buckles from Concevreux
(Dép.Aisne), Kirchheim unter Teck (Kr.Esslingen), a buckle in the Germanic National
Museum in Nuremberg, probably from the Rhineland, and a find from Orp-le-Grand
Prov.Babançonne), of which apparently only the decorative fittings are left. With
the exception of the buckle from Concevreux and the thorn base of the buckle from
Kirchheim unter Teck, the decorative fields are bordered with a pearled frame. With
the exception of Elgg, twisted, herringbone-like strips of sheet silver can only be
found in the buckle from Concevreux, which also comes particularly close to our
piece due to the division of the decorative field into long rectangular areas. In
addition to the Pelten, the lyre pattern and the eight-shaped editions in Elgg,
two-strand braided ribbon and circular editions are documented on filigree motifs.
In the case of the buckle in the Germanic National Museum in Nuremberg, a press
plate with braided tape decoration was probably inserted into the base of the
mandrel. Only our find from Elgg has an additional rectangular fitting. The
rectangular fittings from men's grave 481 in Schleitheim SH-Hebsack were combined
with a non-fittings bronze belt buckle and a shield-shaped clip.
As far as a grave context is known, the buckles of the Concevreux type come from
men's graves. Due to the findings, the belt set from Elgg can hardly be dated to
the middle of the 6th century. Grave 481 in Schleitheim will be a little older. The
buckle bow found there, which probably once belonged to a thyme, is 3.6 cm wide and
its fine, not very massive design comparable to thyme buckles, which can be dated
to around the 2nd quarter of the 6th century. The other buckles cannot be specified
in more detail within the given framework. Related to the buckles of the Concevreux
type is a silver buckle from a man's grave in Langenenslingen (Kr. Sigmaringen). In
contrast to those, however, it shows gold filigree and niell decor as well as other
filigree motifs. The grave inventory can probably be dated to the middle of the 6th
century.

тип жуи л'комт

The simplest type has an undecorated fitting; the five pieces I know are made of
bronze. No dating finds are available for any. The buckle from Ennery (Dép.
Moselle) grave 75 belongs to a male burial.

тип енери
Grooves or double rows of dots on the buckle from Dieue-sur-Meuse (Dép. Meuse) in
the longitudinal direction of the fitting characterize the Ennery type, which is
covered in silver, bronze and iron. As far as can be determined, the evidence has
so far only come from men's graves. The strap of the buckle from Dieue-sur-Meuse
has a notched band on the outside. This decoration can also be found on some of the
non-fogging buckles that appear in the middle and third quarter of the 6th century,
perhaps even a little later.

тип мастрихт
Recessed, rectangular fields on the fitting and a recessed mandrel base
characterize the buckles of the Maastricht type. Of the only three copies so far,
two are hallmarked. In the case of the buckle from Chieming (Kr. Traunstein) the
end row of rivets is apparently missing, the specimens from Bifrons (Kent) and
Altenerding still have a long rectangular, deepened surface with a wavy finish as a
relic. No dating finds are known for any of these buckles. The fittings of the
related buckles from Alfriston (Sussex) and Bifron's grave 22 show only a
hallmarked field. In the separate rectangular fittings of the set made of
Alfriston, a pressed sheet with braided tape decoration is inserted. Two buckles
from St Peter's, Broadstairs (Kent) are decorated in the same way.