Die frühmittelalterliche Schlangenkette von Isenbüttel (Lkr. Gifhorn) und ihre angelsächsischen Vergleichsfunde

Abstract

Scholars have long debated the function and dating of a gold chain found in Isenbüttel, an old finding from the collection of the Niedersächsisches Landesmuseum Hanover. Until now no parallels to this loop-in-loop chain with animal head-terminals decorated with garnet cloisonné were known. Recent excavations of Anglo-Saxon cemeteries dating to the 7^th century have, however, added new finds to the small corpus of objects known as »pin suites«. These pairs of pins linked by a chain are the best parallels to the gold chain from Isenbüttel and demonstrate long-reaching relations between early medieval elites.