=Fibulae.=--Although the straight pin (cf. p. 137) was used for fastening the dress, fibulae--that is, brooches on the safety-pin principle--were most commonly worn. This method of fastening was of early origin, and its use can be traced in all parts of Europe, but, curiously enough, it seems to have been unknown in Egypt and the East. The fibula experienced in the first centuries of its existence and in the hands of different peoples so many variations and developments of form, that these can be classified in distinct types, and their presence in tombs and other deposits affords valuable evidence of the date and origin of the objects with which they occur. The reader who wishes to pursue the study of the fibula with more detail is referred to drawers 1-8 in Case D of the Bronze Room, and to the collections in the Iron Age Room. In this case of toilet accessories only a few of the typical forms are shown. [Illustration: FIG. 143.--FIBULA OF THE MYCENAEAN PERIOD (NO. 356). 1:4.] [Illustration: FIG. 144.--GREEK FIBULA WITH GEOMETRIC DECORATION (NO. 357). 1:2.] [Illustration: FIG. 145.--EARLY GREEK FIBULA (NO. 358). 1:2.] The simplest form of fibula is represented here by examples excavated at Enkomi in Cyprus, which belong to the end of the Bronze Age, before 1000 B.C. (No. =356=; fig. 143). Starting from this primitive form, the history of the fibula is one of progressive development and elaboration. It must be observed in the first place that the whole class of fibulae may be divided into two great groups--viz., an older group, in which the coiled spring is unilateral, that is, a plain spiral, between the bow and the pin; and a younger group, in which the spring is bilateral, that is a symmetrically disposed double coil, on each side of the pin. We deal first with the =Unilateral group=. In Greek regions the development of the form, fig. 143, was mainly a development of the catchplate in a vertical plane--that is in the plane of the bow of the fibula. This plate, often with incised patterns (Fig. 144; No. =357=) was a characteristic of the period of geometric art in Greece. Two very large examples are shown above Case D in the Bronze Room. The plainly curved bows may have some further ornament, such as beads strung on them (No. =358=; fig. 145) or imitation bead patterns, or a figure of a standing bird (No. =359=; fig. 146). All these examples come from the island of Rhodes. [Illustration: FIG. 146.--EARLY GREEK FIBULA (NO. 359). 1:2.] [Illustration: FIG. 147.--FIBULA FROM CYPRUS (NO. 360). 1:2.] [Illustration: FIG. 148.--ITALIAN FIBULA (NO. 361). 1:2.] Some from Cyprus are quite distinct, and seem to have no connection with the others (No. =360=; fig. 147). In the classical period the fibula was little used in Greece, in consequence of modifications in dress which rendered such fastenings unnecessary.