Abstract
The gold-plated iron pins from the Great Migration Period belong to the rare finds, not only in Bohemia. The loose find from Tehov, distr.
Prague-east, was therefore a surprise. Together with examples from Praha-Dejvice, Mochov and Chotěšice it belongs to the Thuringian-Bohemian group of pins, which can be dated to the turn of 5/6th c. until the 2nd third of 6th c.
Nevertheless, all of the datable Bohemian finds belong to the phase E1 of the Danubian periodisation. it reflects the specific relationship of Thuringia and Bohemia in this period, along with a number of fibulas and other artefacts. Gilded pins from Bohemia are good example of gold plating technique.
The results of X-ray fluorescence proved that the gold used for gilding is of very high purity (89-93.2%). This is characteristic for jewellery made in Barbaricum during the roman and the Great Migration Periods.
The sources of that gold are usually sought in imports from roman or Byzantine empires, especially in the solidi coinage. The gold-plated iron pins are mostly not preserved in their whole length, because the iron part (roughly a half) has deteriorated. it is proved that tapered, corded end is in fact the head part of the pin, not the lower end. the function of these pins as a hair decoration is supported by the gold plating, because the item is too fragile to use for ordinary cloth fastening. solitary hair pins were used exclusively by women in Frankish, Baiuvaric, Alemannic, Thuringian and Langobardic areas.
The gold or gilded examples belong to rare finds and in the majority of them was found in elite graves.