Notes on an Aspect of Barbarian 'Pictorial' Art in the Roman Iron Age and the Ongoing Destruction of European Cultural Heritage

The so-called bulls-head brooches are one of the most remarkable results of Roman Period barbarian art. Until now they were known mostly from the regions of the Western Baits and the neighbouring Wielbark culture in the North-Eastern part of Central Europe. The interesting question where those brooches were created was discussed broadly throughout many years. New finds - unfortunately all gathered by illegal metal detecting raids and offered for sale - shed a new light on the issue. Found at the Ukraine they show that the appearance of bulls-head brooches has to be seen in a broader, supra-cultural context. All specimen can be dated in a relatively short period of 60-70 years in the time before and after 200 AD. The same applies to so-called duck brooches that were known from a few sites only. All new-found brooches were offered for sale at East European web sites. In the second part of the paper I discussed the problem, how archaeology should treat such finds.