Ca. 300-500 AD. Kiev culture. A well-preserved bronze open-work brooch with a cross-shaped head plate, two transverse ribbed bars, footplate with similar bar and pelta-shaped finial; catch and iron pin to the reverse. Scholars agree that the Kiev culture may be the earliest identifiable Slavic archaeological culture. It was contemporary with the Chernyachov culture, which is identified with the multi-ethnic Gothic kingdom (Oium) established in southwestern Ukraine between the 2nd century and the late 4th century AD. The culture of Kiev disappeared with the invasion of the Huns in the late 4th century AD and, after a period of political instability in Europe, their Slavic descendants re-established themselves there in the 6th century AD. To find out more about the Kiev culture and its art production, see Shchukin, M. (1989). Rome and the barbarians in central and eastern Europe, 1st century B.C. - 1st century A.D. Oxford, England: B.A.R. Good condition. Size: L:32mm / W:82mm ; 52g. Provenance: Property of an Oxfordshire art professional; previously in an old British collection, formed in the 1980s on the UK / International art markets.