Joachim Werner’s changing views on the so-called “Slavic” bow fibulae of his class II C have long influenced the views of archaeologists working on the early Middle Ages in East Central and Eastern Europe. A fresh look at the much enlarged corpus of evidence was therefore much needed. The near-neighbor clustering analysis of all whole specimens of Werner’s class II C reveals some interesting observations. First, very few II C fibulae found on neighboring sites are also alike, and that only in the Middle Dnieper region. More often than not, very similar specimens have been found at a long distance from each other, e.g., in Crimea, the Middle Dnieper region, or in the Carpathian Basin. Except the pair of fibulae from Dănceni, almost identical specimens are only known from assemblages in Left Bank Ukraine. A thorough examination of the archaeological context in which some of the II C fibulae have been found shows that the earliest specimens are those from Caričin Grad and Carevec, mainly because of their association with cast fibulae with bent stem, otherwise dated to the second half of, or the late sixth century. No fibulae are known which could be firmly dated later than the first half of the seventh century, which suggests that Werner’s class II C may have been in fashion shortly before and after AD 600. In Crimea, such fibulae often appear in combination with specimens of Werner’s class II D, a combination also attested in hoards of bronze and silver from the Middle Dnieper region. In burial assemblages from both that region and from Crimea, pairs of fibulae were sometimes connected with a necklace of glass beads and pendants, a fashion of north European, possibly Scandinavian origin. Trasological studies of fibulae found in the Middle Dnieper region showed that they were produced locally, even though to this date no mould is known from that region. In the Carpathian Basin, fibulae of Werner’s class II C were worn singly, but contrary to Werner’s own opinion, there is nothing “Slavic” about that fashion. The pair of fibulae from Dănceni represents a clear reference to the fashions sported by elites in the Middle Dnieper region, whom local elites in late sixth- or early seventh-century Moldova wanted to emulate.

List of illustrations:
Fig. 1. Grave 280 in Dănceni: bow fibulae, bracelet, handmade pottery, and glass beads (after Рафалович 1986).
Fig. 2. Werner’s class II C, brooch design parts: head-plates (1 A-G) and foot-plates (2 A-G).
Fig. 3. Werner’s class II C, brooch design parts: foot-plates (2 H-l), terminal lobes (3 A-T), bow (4 A-K), and knobs (5 A-C).
Fig. 4. Near-neighbor cluster analysis of 46 bow fibulae of Werner’s class II C.
Fig. 5. Fibulae of Werner’s class II C. Numbers refer to the list of finds in the appendix (drawn after Teodor 1992; Корзухина 1996).
Fig. 6. Fibulae of Werner’s class II C. Numbers refer to the list of finds in the appendix (drawn after Teodor 1992; Айбабин, Юрочкин 1995; Корзухина 1996; Nagy 1998).
Fig. 7. Fibulae of Werner’s class II C. Numbers refer to the list of finds in the appendix (drawn after Sós 1963; Teodor 1992; Haralambieva 1993; Корзухина 1996. Photos after Кропоткин 1965; Ерцеговић-Павловић, Костић 1988).
Fig. 8. Fibulae of Werner’s class II C. Numbers refer to the list of finds in the appendix (drawn by the author (14) and after Айбабин 1990; Корзухина 1996; Гавритухин, Приймак 2001-2002).
Fig. 9. Fibulae of Werner’s class II C. Numbers refer to the list of finds in the appendix (drawn after Корзухина 1996; Ппиходнюк 1998. Photos after Маленко 1985; Корзухина 1996).
Fig. 10. Fibulae of Werner’s class II C. Numbers refer to the list of finds in the appendix (drawings and photos after Корзухина 1996).
Fig. 11. Fibulae of Werner’s class II C. Numbers refer to the list of finds in the appendix (drawn after Айбабин 1993; Корзухина 1996; Аксенов, Бабенко 1998; Седин 2000; Aibabin, Khairedinova 2009).
Fig. 12. Fibulae of Werner’s class II C. Numbers refer to the list of finds in the appendix (drawn after Корзухина 1996; Седин 2000. Photo after Kühn 1981).
Fig. 13. Fibulae of Werner’s class II C. Numbers refer to the list of finds in the appendix (drawings after Корзухина 1996).
Fig. 14. Fibulae of Werner’s class II C. Numbers refer to the list of finds in the appendix (drawn by the author (40) and after Корзухина 1996).
Fig. 15. Fibulae of Werner’s class II C. Numbers refer to the list of finds in the appendix (drawn after Werner 1950; Корзухина 1996; Nagy 1998. Photo after Csallány 1961).
Fig. 16. Fibulae of Werner’s class II C. Numbers refer to the list of finds in the appendix (drawn after Калитинскйи 1928, Корзухина 1996; Воронцов 2003. Photos after Рыбаков 1953; Шаблавина 2004).
Fig. 17. Fibulae of Werner’s class II C. Numbers refer to the list of finds in the appendix (drawn by the author (11) and after Калитинский 1928; Корзухина 1996; Garam 2004).
Fig. 18. Plotting of the nearest-neighbor similarity of 46 fibulae of Werner’s class II C. Diminishing line thickness indicates the decreasing number of shared neighbors from 6 (thickest) to 3 (thinnest).
Fig. 19. The distribution of fibulae of Werner’s class II C in Eastern Europe. Numbers refer to the list of finds in the appendix.
Fig. 20. The Koloskovo hoard, selected artifacts: fibula with bent stem, belt mount, lance head, belt buckle, bow fibula, double-spiral eyeglass-shaped pendant, torc, and bracelet (after Корзухина 1996).
Fig. 21. The Kozievka hoard, selected artifacts: bow fibulae, belt mounts and buckle, strap ends, fragmentary fibula with bent stem, double-spiral eyeglass-shaped pendant, hat-shaped pendant (after Корзухина 1996).
Fig. 22. Luchistoe, burial chamber 38, grave goods associated with skeleton 9: bow fibulae, beads, pendants, buckle, and belt mounts (after Aibabin, Khairedinova 2009).
Fig. 23. Chufut Kale, burial chamber 98: fragment of bow fibula and belt mounts (after Кропоткин 1965).
Fig. 24. Suuk Su, grave 28 with associated bow fibulae (after Репников 1906; Корзухина 1996).
Fig. 25. Eski Kermen, burial chamber 257, grave goods associated with skeleton 6: bow fibulae, cross and eagle- headed buckle (after Айбабин 1982).
Fig. 26. Csákbéreny, grave 349: bow fibula, bone tube, glass beads, iron chain, circular mount, and iron ring (after Vida 1995).
Fig. 27. Budapest-Pannonhalmi Street 2, grave 2: bow fibula, belt buckle, earring, and glass beads (after Nagy 1998).
Fig. 28. Tiszabura, inhumation: earrings, knife, bow fibula, and beads (after Csallány 1961).
Fig. 29. Szigetszentmiklós-Haros, grave 14: earrings, lancet, mounts, knife, bow fibula, chain, beads, buckle, and bracelets (after Nagy 1998).
Fig. 30. Bakla, burial chamber 11, grave goods associated with the female skeleton: fibulae and buckle (after Айбабин, Юрочкин 1995).
Fig. 31. Balakliia, inhumation: bow fibulae and bracelet (after Корзухина 1996).
Fig. 32. The Nova Odessa hoard, selected artifacts: beads, bow fibula, lead mount, repoussé copper-alloy pendant, square pendant, bell-shaped pendant, chain (after Корзухина 1996).
Fig. 33. Mokhnach, inhumation: fibula with bent stem, repoussé copper-alloy pendant, bracelet, ear(or lock-)ring with twisted end, bow fibula, finger-ring, circular mount, bell-shaped pendant, and fragment of a diadem (after Аксенов, Бабенко 1998).
Fig. 34. Mena, stray find: bow fibula and bracelet (after Корзухина 1996).