Facing Faces: The Head Motif in Migration-Period Archaeology

TIME AND AGAIN WE SEE STRANGE FACES on archaeological objects from early migration-period contexts in northern and western Europe. They are depicted on fibulas, belt buckles, button brooches and some other types of objects. With their bulgy eyes, open mouths and chubby cheeks they appear as though they were ‘shadowing’ and pursuing human-kind. Who are they, whose image might be represented here, what meaning did these images convey and what were they meant to achieve? Through an analysis of new and old archaeological finds, the appearances, spatial distribution and duration of use of these faces are discussed, and an interpretation for their meaning is suggested. Contacts between the various Germanic-speaking groups of northern Europe and their blended culture, signalled by motifs derived from Celtic, Roman and later Christian societies, created a new world of idiosyncratic images and thoughts which are interrogated here.