Repurposed beauty – distribution and use of convex brooches in the 8th–14th-century northern Fennoscandia

Earlier research considered northern inland Fennoscandia a vast, empty place, where the southern men went to hunt and perhaps trade for furs with the nomadic locals. Most of the precious archaeological finds were interpreted as being either from a burial or a cache made by such a southern visitor. If these precious finds were interpreted to have belonged to the locals, they were thought to be made from inferior materials. A total of 71 convex brooches and their find contexts from northeastern inland Fennoscandia (northern Sweden, northern Finland, and northwestern Russia) are analysed in this paper to determine whether their use and materials differ from those found in southern Fennoscandia. Most of the brooches have been discovered in northern Sweden, with large hoard contexts dominating the assemblage. The number of brooches gradually decreases towards the east and they are distributed relatively evenly among burials, settlement sites, and stray finds. The analysis indicates that no lower-quality convex brooches appear to have been produced specifically for trade in the north, as the analysed brooches seem similar to their southern counterparts. Almost none of the brooches were found in pairs, which suggests a different manner of use and dress compared to the southwestern fashion. Although the brooches travelled to these northern areas, the associated fashion and intended way of use did not. The northern inland communities adopted these decorative elements but adapted them to their own purposes. These prestigious brooches served in the north both as decorative and practical components of dress and as offerings fit for the gods.