Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.52064/vamz.54.1.5
Gold pendants from Kranj and Koper (Slovenia)
Gojko Tica
orcid.org/0000-0003-1331-0342
Abstract
In this paper I discuss two gold pendants, from the Late Antique
or Early Mediaeval Period, which are somewhat unique finds for
Slovenian territory. The first pendant is from the Late Antique site
of Kranj-Lajh (Carnium); it is leaf-shaped, and the chronologically
older pendant of the two. The child grave in which this pendant
was found is interpreted as belonging to an individual of the local
Late Antique elite. The grave is notable also because some of
the grave goods were made in the middle of the 5th century AD,
even though the burial presumably dates to the first half of the
6th century AD. On the basis of a single-sided comb with low handle,
I assume that the individual did not belong to the Gothic cultural
milieu. The second pendant, a tear-shaped specimen, was
found in one of the oldest settlement layers of Early Mediaeval
Koper (Iustinopolis), at the site of Kapucinski vrt. I argue that it
was worn not as a pendant on a necklace or earring, but rather
as an integral part of an earring. This interpretation is based on
earrings from another time (the second half of the 3rd century AD
and the 4th century AD) and place (south-western Crimea), with
which the pendant from Koper shares many features.
Keywords
Kranj, Koper, Pannonian basin, Crimea, Late Antiquity, Early Mediaeval Period, pendants, earrings
Hrčak ID:
266417
URI
Publication date:
6.12.2021.
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