CONNECTION, NOT AN IBERIAN PIECE · CONNECTION · LATE IMPERIAL HISPANIA

Simancas-type belt buckle

Late Roman history along a livestock route

This late Roman belt buckle was found in the Sierra de Sobia, possibly lost beside a livestock route.

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

Image of Brooch from Simancas — **DECLARED VISUAL RECONSTRUCTION · AI-GENERATED IMAGE · TRACEKEEPERS**
Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis
Declared visual reconstruction, created for museographic contextualisation; not a photograph of the original nor does it constitute documentary evidence.

History and context

The brooch appeared without associated structures in the Sierra de Sobia, perhaps lost in a livestock pass. Its openwork ornamentation and construction belong to the world of late Roman belts, where imperial models and regional variants mingled.

It is not Iberian and is separated by centuries from the main collection. It functions as proof against easy continuity: the same landscape accumulated objects from distinct communities, and an isolated find needs context before becoming history.

Evidence and interpretation

Documented fact: late Roman typology, decoration, proposed chronology and find in the Sierra de Sobia are published. Interpretation and caution: owner, strictly military function and circumstance of loss cannot be demonstrated; it is not an Iberian piece.

Catalogue facts

Narrative date: Second half of the IV century–V century CE
Location: Sobrevilla, Sierra de Sobia, Teverga (Asturias)
Material: Copper alloy · openwork ornamentation
Context: Isolated late Roman brooch · later connection
Classification: Comparative connection · must not be presented as an Iberian piece
Visual reference: Archaeological publication of the Sobia specimen · Sautuola XXIX

A SHARED TOPIC, DIFFERENT MOMENTS

Objects connected through time

Follow a topic across the collections. A shared tag is a way to compare objects, not proof that one culture influenced another.

The order uses the midpoint of each approximate date range; ranges can overlap. Spacing does not represent elapsed time. Swipe, scroll or use the arrows. With the sequence focused, use ← / →, Home or End.

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Second half of the IV century–V century CE

Simancas-type belt buckle

Iberians

The full 4th–5th centuries CE provide broad limits for chronological ordering; the record specifies the second half of the 4th century and the 5th.

Current record

Copper and its alloys8 dated objects

6 / 8In the centre: Simancas-type belt buckle

Also connected, without a comparable date (3)

These objects are not placed after the others: an unknown date does not mean a more recent object.

Copper and stoneAncient Egypt · ca. 3100–2700 BCE
Early metallurgyAncient China · c. 1900–1500 BCE
Translating faithBantu-speaking worlds · 16th–18th centuries

You can scroll the first group without JavaScript. The other topics are also available below.

Jewellery and adornment

Hohle Fels · ≈40,000 years · Aurignacian · Prehistory
'Jamila's' necklace · ≈7250–7000 BCE · Prehistory
The Gold of Varna · Towards 4600–4200 BCE · Thracians
Puabi headdress · ca. 2600–2450 BCE · Sumer
Cemetery R-37 · ca. 2550–2030 BCE · Indus civilisation
Carnelian beads · ca. 2600–1900 BCE · Indus civilisation
Grave Circle A and Chrysolakkos · 18th–16th centuries BCE · Greek worlds
Burial at K IV · circa 1750–1550 BCE · Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Tutankhamun's grave goods · death towards 1323 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Fu Hao’s burial goods · ca. 1200 BCE · Ancient China
Before the Iberias · Final Bronze, c. 1000 BCE · Iberians
Tomb 1 at Kuntur Wasi · c. 800 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Beads from Cerro de los Vientos · 8th–7th centuries BCE · orientalizing · Iberians
Gold at Kuntur Wasi · c. 800–550 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Regolini-Galassi tomb · ca. 675–650 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
Condomina Earring · 6th century BCE · Iberians
Steppe kurgans · 7th–4th centuries BCE · Scythians and Saka
Vix Tomb · c. 500 BCE · Celtic worlds
La Venta grave goods · ca. 600–400 BCE · Maya worlds
Ezerovo Ring · 5th century BCE · chronology discussed in the bibliography · Thracians
Grave goods of Baza and Toya · First half of the 4th century BCE · Iberians
Treasure of Jávea · 4th century BCE · Iberians
Susa grave goods · c. 350 BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Punic head pendant · Mid 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Phoenicians
Treasure of Cheste · Jewellery from the 4th–3rd centuries BCE; concealment at the end of the 3rd century BCE. · Iberians
Marina Alta Hoard · Jewellery: 5th–2nd centuries BCE; concealment probably around 80–73 BCE. · Iberians
Golyamata Kosmatka · End of the 4th century – beginning of the 3rd century BCE; ritual burial at the beginning of the III according to Iskra. · Thracians
Mairena Hoard · 3rd century BCE · Iberians
Chão de Lamas pectoral · 3rd–2nd centuries BCE · concealed in the early 1st century BCE · Iberians
Fibula from Lancia · ≈300–100 BCE · Iberians
Northern mound · 2nd–1st centuries BCE · Yayoi Japan
Horse fibula · 2nd century BCE · disputed chronology · Iberians
Simancas-type belt buckle · Second half of the IV century–V century CE · Iberians — You are viewing
Pakal’s grave goods · sealed on 28 August 683 CE · Maya worlds
Missing grave goods · 13th–15th centuries according to the heritage overview · Bantu-speaking worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Dressing to be seen · 6th–1st centuries BCE · Iberians

Clothing

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Bone needle · No individual dating published on this record · Prehistory
Dressing to be seen · 6th–1st centuries BCE · Iberians

Metalworking

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

A closer look

About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: September 5, 2026.

A terminal that departs from usual models

The singularity of Sobia is appreciated in the triangular terminal, which protrudes above the plane of the plate. Aurrecoechea-Fernández and Fanjul did not find this prominence in the other Hispanic brooches they compared. They also highlight the cold-struck added punched circles and a buckle resembling a small curved-outline shield, decorated with bundles of incisions. Other Simancas-type specimens present undulating stems, but not this exact combination. The authors propose a particular commission as explanation of its peculiarities; no contract nor identification of the commissioner is preserved.

Research · Joaquín Aurrecoechea-Fernández and Alfonso Fanjul Peraza · The late Roman belt brooches of «Simancas» type: on the occasion of a new specimen found in the Sierra de SobiaAccess recorded: September 5, 2026.

Sources and references

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Simancas-type belt buckle

History and context

Evidence and interpretation

Catalogue facts

Objects connected through time

Simancas-type belt buckle

The Gold of Varna

Nippur Cubit

Akkadian sovereign head

Bassetki Statue

The lute-shaped dagger

Simancas-type belt buckle

Kilwa coin

Kongo crucifix

A closer look

A terminal that departs from usual models

Sources and references

Did you enjoy this exhibit?