Gallo-Roman fibulae are key historical witnesses holding information on chronology and ancient socio-economic practices. Historians and archaeologists have often called for the contribution of analytical techniques to unveil the composition or the degradation compounds of archaeological records, which can allow establishing their classification, origin, or manufacturing techniques. The enamelled fibulae are particularly interesting since they are characteristic of a small area of the Roman Empire (i.e. Gaul-Belgium, Germania and Roman Brittany) and their production (starting in 1st century AD) seems to have quickly fully replaced the unglazed fibulae (2nd century AD). This project aims to carry out highly complementary and sensitive analytical surface techniques to reveal the secrets of a selection of the enamelled fibulae found in the necropolis of Villées, close to Namur. Combining Ion Beam Analysis (IBA), Raman micro-spectroscopy and Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS), we aim to identify the origin of the raw materials along with the methods used for manufacturing the enamelled fibulae (i.e. the alloys and the coloured enamels).
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