opinion that it came to both countries from the East, and that its introduction into our own islands dates from the time when the traffic in silver bullion from the East commenced.[1] This traffic, which passed through Russia to the Baltic Islands and to Scandinavia in the ninth and tenth centuries, has certainly left its traces on our own shores. But the penannular fibula was in use in Western Europe at a much earlier period. It occurs in the Lake village at Glastonbury, also in several of the Limes forts, and here at Newstead it appears in the second century, under Celtic influence and already exhibiting something of the form which was to reach its highest development in ornaments like the Hunterston and Tara brooches.
The fibulae just described are not the only objects on which enamel decoration was employed. We have it on a number of circular brooches and studs as well as on buckles, harness and other articles. No doubt it was an art in which the Celtic peoples attained a high degree of skill, and which they developed, to a large extent, independently. The horse-trappings from Polden Hill, and the bridle-bits from Rise and from Birrenswark, for instance, probably owe nothing to Roman models. Again, in dealing with the fibulae we have noted certain types which may be classed as British, and which show in their peculiar treatment the influence of the Celtic art of this country. On the other hand, in regard to the finds now to be dealt with, we must recognise that, while many of the specimens included have doubtless been made in Britain, we are dealing with a group, representatives of which are common on the Rhine and in the forts of the German Limes. Not infrequently the resemblance is so close that one might well believe all to have been supplied from the same source.
The early British enamel was of the type known as 'champlevé.' To produce it, the outline of the design was first traced upon the surface of the metal, and then the space to be filled with enamel was cut out, small partitions of metal being left to divide the different colours and so provide a framework. Into these spaces the enamel was inserted in the form of a paste, and subsequently vitrified in a furnace, after which it was polished. Champlevé enamel was employed in the decoration of many of the trinkets found at Newstead. There is, however, another method generally known as 'millefiori' enamel which, as applied to the decoration of metal ornaments, probably came into use in the second century. Here the procedure was to arrange rods of different coloured glass together so as to form a design—
1 Celtic Art, p. 226.
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