Journal Analele Banatului N.S. Archaeology-History

Alexandru Flutur

Daniela Tănase

Cercei de aur de epocă romană din colecţia Pongrácz / Gold Earrings Belonging to the Pongrácz Collection Stemming from the Roman Era

Jan. 1, 2016

Abstract

During recent preparation of analytical records of evidence our attention was drawn by some Roman gold ornaments of the collection of the National Museum of Banat in Timișoara. These ornaments come from the collection of Imre Pongrácz, who was commander of the Honvéd garrison in Orşova port. The collection was included in the Heritage of the Museum in Timisoara in 1903, being purchased from his heirs. The gold earrings, decorated in the filigree and granulation technique, can be traced back to the 2nd and 3rd centuries p. Chr., and they were discovered south of the Danube, in Serbia and in Bulgaria. The pendant earring, registered under inv. No. 85 (Pongrácz – Exhibit XV 1 / 2.58; Pl. II 1 Pl. III.1), can be most likely dated the 2nd century p. Chr. The “knot of Hercules” type earrings occur mostly in the Roman provinces Moesia Superior and Moesia Inferior, Thrace, Pannonia and Dacia, their role being not only to enhance beauty, but also to avert evil – thus having an apotripaic designation. The earring registered under inv. No. 88 (Pongrácz – Exhibit XV 1 / 2.11; Pl. II.5-b, Pl. III.5) is of type II, set by Ivana Popovič, and can be traced back to the 2nd and 3rd centuries p. Chr. The pair of earrings registered under the inv. No. 89 (Pongrácz – Exhibit XV 1 / 2.9; Pl. II.3.ab; Pl. III.4) and inv. No. 92 (Pongrácz – Exhibit XV 1 / 2.10; Pl. II.4 ab, Pl. III.3) belong to the type II c, established by Ivana Popovič and was traced back to the second half of the 3rd century p. Chr. The disc-shaped filigree earring, inv. No. 91 (Pongrácz – Exhibit XV 1 / 2.14; Pl. II. 2a-b, Pl. III.2), which was preserved without its handle grip, dates from the 3rd century p. Chr. The gold earrings of the collection of the National Museum of Banat enrich the panel regarding gold earrings’ discoveries, being processed based on the filigree and granulation technique in the Roman provinces located south of the Lower Danube. These could have been discovered in funerary contexts by antiquities’ “hunters”, which they then sold to the antiquary Imre Pongrácz, because such pieces have so far been found mostly in graves. The earrings were ornaments favored especially by the Roman women and certainly these specimens were the property of prominent members of the communities to which they belonged, based on the fact that gold earrings, often adorned with gems (in our case pearls and chalcedony), were the privilege of rich women in the Roman society.