Fibulae or brooches were originally purposed as garment fasteners in the Roman Empire. Roman soldiers especially, wore fibulae as decorative piece to keep their cloaks together. These brooches replaced straight pins that were used to fasten clothing in the Neolithic period and the Bronze Age. Fibulae are the most common artefact-type in burials and settlements throughout much of the continental Europe. Their modern day equivalent are the trustworthy safety pin.
There were a multitude of fibula designs in Roman culture, the wing-and-fanbow brooch is a native British type, developed around the mid-1st century AD. Sober in shape, only few examples of the the wing-and-fanbow brooch are known, which seem to be a direct simplification of the Aesica brooch type found in the Eastern Countries.
