Decorative fibulae with runic inscriptions in the Late Roman Period

This paper discusses the Late Roman Period fibulae with runic inscriptions. All the known artefacts of this type come from Jutland, Zealand and Scania, where they are elements of female dress. I have tried to focus on the following questions: what does the present-day development of such archaeological tools as artefacts classification and chronology allow us to say about the discussed fibulae with runic inscriptions, and has any progress been made in the issue of interpreting their social context? Consequently, the first part of the text discusses the forms and chronology of fibulae with runic inscriptions, while in the second part I attempt to comment in more detail on the views concerning the social context of their appearance expressed in the literature. I have tried to put emphasis on the differences in scale and manner of status manifestation in burial rites between Zealand, Jutland and Scania, and on the differences in “wealth” of male and female grave inventories. These studies are an attempt to shed more light on the question of the function of runic inscriptions known from female dress elements and of their manufacturers