Bronze

Greek Culture

Bronze Strigil

In the Greek world, olive oil was basic for skin care. After oil was applied to the body, a strigil was used to scrape the surface of the skin clean. Numerous representations on vases indicate that athletes followed this procedure after exercising. While most examples are of bronze, strigils also exist in silver and glass.

5th century BCE
EC.53.120

Culture Unknown

Bronze razor
Semi-circle cut out of one side with ring handle.

Iron Age of Europe (possibly Bronze Age)
EC.53.148

Illyrian Culture

Bronze bull
The Illyrians were Indo-European tribesmen who appeared in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula about 1000 BCE, a period coinciding with the end of the Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age. May have been part of a bronze fibula.

Iron Age of Europe
EC.53.149

Culture Unknown

Bronze key
Five prongs with curved end and loop handle.

Iron Age of Europe
EC.53.151

Villanovan Culture of Central Italy, Geometric Period

Bronze Fibula
Cold-worked, incised geometric patterns. Boat shaped.

Fibulae were used to fasten clothing. The Villanovan culture in Italy produced a series of variations of the bow fibula in the 8th and 7th centuries BCE. In these fibulae, the bow begins at the head, with a semi-circular form, but bends at its apex to angle straight down to a foot that was often lengthened and extended. Fibulae are among the most familiar and extensively studied artifacts from the Italian Iron Age. They are also among the most common finds in graves. Consequently, fibulae serve as a logical point of interest for the study of dress and identity within a society.

Bronze
Late 8th century – early 7th century BCE
EC.53.167