European Bronze Age Electrum Coil

$442.04

A finely modelled Bronze Age European solid electrum coiled single ring, featuring a tubular body, moving in a tight spiral, with both ends expanding and the tips tapering into a dull point. Gold rings of this type would have probably been used in antiquity as hair ornaments, earrings or as part of bracelets or bangles. Such rings, known as lock-rings, have been recovered across Bronze Age Europe, with Ireland being a centre of production in the British Isles.

Date: European Bronze Age, 1500-600 BC
Provenance: Ex Abelita family collection, 1980-2015
Condition: Excellent condition, some earthly encrustation to the surface.

SOLD

SKU: LD-227 Category: Tag:

Spirals, especially in gold, were commonly associated with the Sun in ancient European cultures, with a loose spiral representing the long days of summer and a tight spiral, the shorter days of winter. Such rings would have been placed amongst burial goods. From the early Bronze Age in Europe, burials became more individual, with the deceased laid to rest in individual, rather than communal, barrows. As a result, grave goods became more varied and personalised, including the jewellery worn by the deceased during his or her life.

Weight 2.61 g
Dimensions W 1.1 x H 0.7 cm
Culture

Metal

Region

Reference: The British Museum, Registration number 1996,0902.18

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