Roman Thistle brooch (fibula) from a collection gathered in the Celtiberian region

A standard and well known Roman era brooch (also called fibula), known as the Thistle brooch, from a collection of Celtiberian region items (see more info below).

This brooch is a wonderful example of Roman brooches; although common, it is a must-have for any collection. It is commonly cited and studied. In 2021 Cambridge University Press printed an article Women in Roman Military Bases, where this style, labelled HF26b, was identified (through the graves, context, etc) as being specific to women. The style has been found throughout the Roman Empire, and was discovered early in archaeology efforts. You can see this brooch discussed and pictured on page 299 of the Catalogue of the Bronzes..., British Museum, printed in 1899.

A cool facet of this brooch, it still has a part of its pin; the pin is broken from the spring and moving around a little, but it is there!

This brooch is from a Celtiberian collection of bronze artifacts, it is made of bronze and it measures approximately 55 x 30 x 15 mm.

Provenance -
Someone wrote "Ibero" on the brooch; this is likely the Ibero in the province of Navarra.

We bought a collection of artifacts at auction in Switzerland (La Galerie Numismatique, September 28th, 2024); we are researching each object and offering them for sale individually. You can see the collection in the pictures we posted.

In the course of our investigation, we found that the artifacts had names of places in the Celtiberian region written on them, for example "Salienca". Also, the larger brooch design was unique to the Celtiberians (Google search "Celtiberian Fibula" to see similar examples). We've come to the conclusion that the collection is specific to the Celtiberian era/region.

Wikipedia tells us the Celtiberians "were a group of Celts and Celticized peoples inhabiting an area in the central-northeastern Iberian Peninsula during the final centuries of the BC. They were explicitly mentioned as being Celts by several classic authors (e.g. Strabo)."

Condition -
See pictures. Missing some of the pin and all of the catch system. Tarnished to green. Some edge wear. . Some traces of glue where it was glued into the collection. Someone wrote on the bottom.