Disc fibula

In Scotland, where the need for a fastening at the shoulder lasted into the Renaissance and beyond, a type of silver "turreted" brooch for men was still being made in the 16th century and later.

Well-known fibulae of this type date to the Migration Period and the centuries either side of it, for example the disc fibulae from Soest or the Lower Saxon village of Holle in Germany.

Disc fibulae up to over 5 centimetres in diameter were usually part of women's attire in continental Europe in the Early Middle Ages; much smaller examples were also worn by men, however, from the Carolingian era.

The early mediaeval Maschen disc brooch portrays a figure with a saintly aureole.

The quoit brooch is an early type, using motifs from Late Roman art in base metal.