GOLD EARRINGS FROM THE FIRST COLLECTIONS OF THE “MUSEUM CAUCASICUM”

Abstract

The present paper is an introduction of the research on gold earrings from the first collections of the ,,Museum Caucasicum”. Earrings from five different places of the Caucasus region – Samtavro cemetery (Iberia), Digora, Stavropol, Divnoe and Prokhladny (North Caucasus) dated to the 2^nd-8^th centuries AD prevail in the total number of artifacts entering the first collections and taking into account the parallels found on other monuments allow drawing certain conclusions. As a result of the conducted studies, the following was determined: chronology; typology, cultural attribution, distribution area and chemical-technological details of items. Earrings typologically belong to two groups: 1. One-piece earrings, with rosettes, beads and pendants fixed or cast on the hoop of the earring, and 2. Two-piece earrings, which are represented with beads and pendants movably, hung on the hoop. Since all earrings were found by chance and their archaeological context is unknown, their dating was done according to similar, already dated material found in the cemeteries of Eastern Georgia and the North Caucasus. The metallographic analysis of gold earrings was carried out in the Institute of Restoration and Conservation of the Georgian National Museum using the non-destructive spectrometer (ElvaX ProSpector). According to received results exact composition of each earring was determined. Earrings are diverse both in terms of forms and artistic processing, but they repeat the general trends of goldsmithing prevalent in the Late Roman – Pre-feudal period, which can be observed, on the one hand, in various cemeteries of this period in Eastern Georgia and North Caucasus.

 Key words: Gold; Earring; Caucasus; Roman Period; Pre-feudal Period;