You could write a book about the Fibula from Wijnaldum (a village in north-west Friesland) and it would read like an exciting thriller. This exquisite and world-famous clothing pin or brooch dating from 625 AD is an icon of Frisian archaeology. The unknown history of this ornament is still being further unravelled today. Ever since the first piece of the brooch was discovered in 1953, it has been the subject of much speculation.
In 1953, while digging a drainage ditch on the Tjitsma ‘terp’ (an artificial dwelling mound), a farm labourer unearthed a large piece of gold inlaid with red garnets. It was taken to the Fries Museum, which sent it to The British Museum in London for restoration. Experts see similarities to objects found in the Early Mediaeval Sutton Hoo royal tomb in England. It was assumed that the Wijnaldum brooch belonged to a Frisian king. Excavations and the use of detection devices in the 1990s led to the discovery of some more missing pieces, and the fibula was painstakingly re-assembled. With the 30 newly recovered fragments, the head plate could be reconstructed to the extent that researchers identified an ornamental mask on it.
The discovery of this ornamental mask, along with the knowledge that it were mostly women who wore such ornaments, led researchers to the conclusion that the fibula was not worn by a Frisian king, but by the queen, or a priestess, or both.