Nägel, Stifte, Niete

This research takes a new look, including metallurgical analyses, at the small metal finds from earlier digs at the Temple of Hera on the Greek island of Samos, which are housed in the Archaeological Museum in Vathy (Samos town). The finds include nails, rivets, pins, washers, a link of a chain, wall rings and hooks, which form the basis of a systematic classification of ancient fastening elements. They can be arranged into main groups, under which they can be sub-divided further by type. The broad spectrum of applications of ancient fastening elements hardly differs from today, but their usage in ancient constructions is, however, less easy to verify, due to the dismantling and re-using of joining and securing components. Nails in particular were highlyvalued as a temple offering and magical instrument. Fastening elements were produced using the casting process, by forging or through a combination of both these methods.