TN Pollio

Throughout Europe and areas adjacent to the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas, a recurring motif in the visual arts is one or more anthropomorphic figures with one or both arms upraised in varying gestures of incantation, invocation, supplication, benediction or mourning. Although the significance of the expression varies in both style and context, the depictions always appear related to specific cultic/religious practices within the societies in which they appear. The commonality of this body language is not surprising, as some indeterminate location 'above us in the sky' has traditionally been considered the 'realm of the gods'; and as such it is towards this other-worldly direction most people direct their prayers and invocations. Amongst the earliest depictions of Christians at worship – surviving on 2 nd to 4 th century frescos in Roman catacombs – is the " Orant " (alternately orante/orans: from the Latin 'orare " , meaning to plead or pray), standing figures who gesticulate with upraised arms. This ancient gesture is still common in modern liturgies of the Latin and Orthodox Church. In the historical period, the depiction of an anthropomorph with upraised arms is likely the continuation of Neolithic and earlier cultic practices which, unfortunately, have left scant evidence in the archaeological record. In the Bronze Age, these figures appear frequently and in various contexts; most notably the terracotta " goddess " figurines uncovered at cultic sites in Crete, Cyprus and elsewhere. They also appear in various media within Bronze Age cultures in Italy, Sicily, Egypt and Greece. In the Iron Age, the gesture is encountered in art and artifacts at widely dispersed locations in Europe, the Mediterranean and Aegean areas, including the Hallstatt and La Tène cultures of Central Europe and beyond. In this later period, the " goddess " figurines so prevalent in the Bronze Age no longer appear to predominate; and both male and female depictions are encountered. This transition is perhaps most notable in the " warrior culture " images of the various Celtic tribes dispersed across Europe during the La Tène period, circa 5 th through 1 st centuries BCE. The Celts were an Indo-European cultural complex originating in Central Europe during the Hallstat culture of the 9 th to 6 th centuries BCE. In succeeding centuries these tribes migrated across the continent and the UK; and southeastward along the Danube River into Italy, the Balkans, Greece and Anatolia. Their distinctive designs were incorporated into artwork of the various Hellenistic kingdoms; as well as areas which later constituted the Roman provinces of Illyria, Thrace, Dacia and Pannonia. At times it is difficult to sort out imported Celtic from native designs on artifacts in their areas of settlement. In the Migration and later Medieval Periods, the influence of Iron Age " warrior " motifs is evident on many rings from sites within modern Hungary, Romania, Albania, Bulgaria and the Balkan States. Although a linear progression from Iron Age to Medieval iconography is unlikely, a continuation of earlier artistic traditions is certainly a possibility. Byzantine influences are also evident on pieces dateable from the beginning of the Christian era until approximately the 13 th century. For example, the " warrior saint " depictions which proliferated in the Migration Period were predicated upon late classical imagery of the Emperor Constantine aside his mother, Saint Helena. 1 The mixed-ethnic populations responsible for medieval jewelry in these areas drew upon a number of pre-existing traditions, including Celtic, Illyrian, Thracian/Dacian, Byzantine, Slavic, Bulgar, Magyar, Germanic and Byzantine designs. The resulting iconography on anthropomorphic rings is also reflective of efforts by various religious and socio-political entities to convert these largely pagan populations to Christianity. Repeated attempts at conversion were made between the 6 th and 13 th centuries, involving both ecclesiastical persuasion and military inveiglement. 2 These efforts met with only mixed results; and the ambivalence of many Slavic and other tribes towards their new faith is evidenced by the survival of pagan artifacts and burial customs in ostensibly " Christian " cemeteries as late as the early 14 th century. 3, 4 As previously cited, these anthropomorphic rings have been uncovered at widely dispersed medieval sites from Central Europe to northern Greece. Although the engraved bezels contain a mixture of late pagan and early Christian traditions, the development of this imagery and its dispersal across space and time is not well

In Slavic societies of medieval Europe, there evolved distinctive types of finger rings which shared similarities in style, design and manufacture; and which are deserving of greater notice in English speaking countries. These rings display influences from a number of decorative traditions derived from cultures on the continent and in Byzantium; and were to remain popular amongst all levels of Slavic society until the end of the Ottoman Period in the early 20 th century. This broadly related category of jewelry includes the ring types characterized as stolovat, architectural, and crown-shaped bezels. Stolovat Rings The expressive and mass produced type of bodily adornment referred to as the " stolovat " type is often categorized as " folk " jewelry, to distinguish it from the more costly raiment of the nobility, landed gentry and ecclesiastical hierarchy. Stolovat pieces ultimately derive from jewelry popular in Byzantium, and the earliest pieces are likely copies of styles current in the province (" theme ") of Macedonia between the 8 th and 11 th centuries. Production of this jewelry continued throughout the Ottoman Period, with Islamic elements blending with Slavic types into the early Modern Period. Regional variations appear in various societies from Eastern Europe to Greece; and the characteristics of each are often distinctive enough to assign even unprovenanced pieces to specific places and times of origin. Stolovat jewelry is not limited to finger rings, but encompasses a wide assortment of headpieces, temple rings, earrings, necklaces, pectorals, brooches, buttons, bracelets and belts. Even the modest base metal varieties from the early Modern Period are undoubtedly reflective of the sumptuous styles which once adorned the imperial court and haut monde in Constantinople and other cultural centers in the Eastern Empire. Should one wish to visualize the adornment of the average man or woman in Byzantine society, stolovat jewelry is a good place to start. While wandering through a bazaar in Sarajevo in 1875, the British antiquarian and archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans remarked on the traditional forms of jewelry being crafted and sold in Bosnia and Herzegovina: " Here sat a whole street full of cunning artificers, pinching and twisting the precious metals – but chiefly silver – into brooches, beads, rings and earrings of filigree work – charming, both from its intrinsic elegance and from its clearly marked Byzantine parentage. " 1 Some of these rings are also suggestive of 9 th and 10 th century types from the Kingdom of Great Moravia; styles themselves predicated upon imported jewelry from Byzantium and the Frankish and Germanic kingdoms further west. 2 Usage of stolovat jewelry appears to have increased following the socioeconomic downturn affecting Slavic societies after the Ottoman conquests of the 15 th and 16 th centuries. As access to higher-end pieces diminished, so did demand for locally produced and less expensive alternatives. Most of the pieces illustrated here reflect jewelry of the lower echelons of society, including merchants, craftsmen, townspeople and the " peasant " classes residing in villages and countryside. 3 This assumption is reinforced by the prevalence of these types in common burials dating to between the 9 th and early 20 th century. Mortuary assemblages are one the few ways of determining how these people were adorned during their lifetimes. Genre painting per se was uncommon prior to the Dutch and Flemish schools of the 17 th and 18 th centuries, and few depictions exist of how most people must have appeared in preceding periods: their dress and demeanor of little concern to the artisans commissioned to memorialize the appearance of secular and religious

This article will hopefully incentivize researchers to consider examining the untoward thousands of unprovenanced base metal and silver alloy finger rings being uncovered at sites from the U.K to Eurasia. Documented artifacts from controlled and stratified environments are of course essential towards understanding ring typology and routes of transmission across temporal and spatial environments. However, these standard methodologies should not preclude consideration of random and under-documented finds from non-professional sources. The rationale is simply that, within the last several decades, a significant proportion of new finds have in fact been made through amateur channels; and the rings they've uncovered may potentially contribute to our understanding of these underreported artifacts. Within the last few decades, the proliferation of metal detecting and use of the internet have ensured the issue is no longer of availability, but identity. The era of scarcity is obviously over, in view of the burgeoning array of base metal rings encountered on the international market. Any a priori disqualification of such a vast resource of emerging data is to ignore an untapped resource towards our understanding of ancient societies and the material culture associated therewith The need for reliable and broadly accessible reference material becomes increasingly apparent as more and more finger rings are uncovered and presented through on-line and other sources. Types which were once familiar only to academics have suddenly flooded the public conscience; but with little increase in resources towards the understanding of these artifacts. Small finds such as bronze finger rings are routinely uncovered at archaeological sites in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and Eurasia. They are typically noted in excavation reports, then cataloged and archived in places such as universities and museums. Unfortunately, both the reports and rings themselves are rarely accessible in mediums available to the general public. In most cases, only other professionals – such as academics and historians – are even aware of their existence. In terms of accessibility, most of this research has been compiled in unfamiliar languages and arcane formats which, to the general public, might as well be written in cuneiform and buried on the dark side of the moon. Many in English speaking countries have some proficiency in languages such as French, German and Spanish. But how many would understand technical reports written in Russian, Polish, Slovak, Bulgarian, Serbian, Romanian, Hungarian, Turkish or Greek – the languages in which much of this research has been published? Unfamiliar languages and limited/restricted formats are significant impediments toward the dissemination of this otherwise invaluable material.

What are the origins of the styles and symbols which defined base metal and silver alloy finger rings in Europe in the Medieval Period? Like so many details regarding medieval society, the evolution and diffusion of jewelry amongst the lower classes is difficult to contextualize for a number of reasons. Illiteracy was endemic in the pre-modern world; thus written records from the echelons who actually wore these rings are nonexistent. The thoughts, feelings, religious beliefs and interpersonal exchanges which influenced their choice of adornment must be determined solely from the scant remains at burial sites associated with these populations. But this type of evidence is rare and, when found, is often ambiguous and difficult to interpret. For example, the discovery of an early medieval finger ring with the image of a four-armed cross is an unreliable indicator of this individual's religious beliefs, as cruciform symbols are widely utilized in pagan practices prior to the advent of Christianity. The interpretation of much symbology in the post-classical and early medieval centuries is especially problematic for a number of reasons; including the fragmentation of late Iron Age society, the shifting demographics on the continent, and the gradual assimilation of Christianity into the culture and mindsets of inured to the centuries of pagan beliefs under the Pax Romana. This article will hopefully assist in identifying the origins and routes of transmission of common rings in Europe from late antiquity to the end of the Medieval Period. To-date, there is a limited amount of readily available research in English regarding the dissemination of these ring types in the post-classical period. Much study remains on the development of specific ring typologies and their diffusion from the Eurasian Steppe and Byzantium into the societies of continental Europe. Jewelry from the early Medieval Period is a mixture of numerous traditions, including late classical, Byzantine, Celtic, Germanic and Scandinavian elements; as well as more oriental forms introduced by migratory Eurasian tribes which began arriving in the 4 th century. Influences from the Middle Eastern Caliphates are also apparent; including the 'arabesque' and curvilinear zoomorphic motifs traditional to Islamic art. However, the major impetus for the development of early European art was the adoption of Christianity by the Frankish and Germanic tribes which gradually gained control over the former western provinces between the 4 th and 8 th centuries. It is unlikely the material culture we recognize as " medieval " would have evolved in its recognizable forms without this integration of classical traditions and the ascendancy of Christian theology. The demographics of Europe in the late classical and early Medieval Periods is a confusing agglomeration of displaced populations and migratory tribes of varying ethnicities and trajectories; often in conflict over rights to settle into the fertile lands of the former Roman provinces. These new arrivals often entered into temporarily alliances to solidify their positions in lands newly bereft of imperial control; and inhabited by decimated late provincial populations which possessed few resources for the management of these new arrivals, or the rapidly evolving sets of social dynamics. Relative to the Greco-Roman period or Byzantine Empire, the Migration Period is poorly documented; due not only to widespread political instability and incessant warfare, but also to the relative lack of literacy characteristic to these centuries. In most areas, there were simply not enough people recording contemporary events for a concise historical picture to emerge. It would take generations for medieval

Throughout Europe and areas adjacent to the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas, a recurring motif in the visual arts is one or more anthropomorphic figures with one or both arms upraised in varying gestures of incantation, invocation, supplication, benediction or mourning. Although the significance of the expression varies in both style and context, the depictions always appear related to specific cultic/religious practices within the societies in which they appear. The commonality of this body language is not surprising, as some indeterminate location 'above us in the sky' has traditionally been considered the 'realm of the gods'; and as such it is towards this other-worldly direction most people direct their prayers and invocations. Amongst the earliest depictions of Christians at worship – surviving on 2 nd to 4 th century frescos in Roman catacombs – is the " Orant " (alternately orante/orans: from the Latin 'orare " , meaning to plead or pray), standing figures who gesticulate with upraised arms. This ancient gesture is still common in modern liturgies of the Latin and Orthodox Church. In the historical period, the depiction of an anthropomorph with upraised arms is likely the continuation of Neolithic and earlier cultic practices which, unfortunately, have left scant evidence in the archaeological record. In the Bronze Age, these figures appear frequently and in various contexts; most notably the terracotta " goddess " figurines uncovered at cultic sites in Crete, Cyprus and elsewhere. They also appear in various media within Bronze Age cultures in Italy, Sicily, Egypt and Greece. In the Iron Age, the gesture is encountered in art and artifacts at widely dispersed locations in Europe, the Mediterranean and Aegean areas, including the Hallstatt and La Tène cultures of Central Europe and beyond. In this later period, the " goddess " figurines so prevalent in the Bronze Age no longer appear to predominate; and both male and female depictions are encountered. This transition is perhaps most notable in the " warrior culture " images of the various Celtic tribes dispersed across Europe during the La Tène period, circa 5 th through 1 st centuries BCE. The Celts were an Indo-European cultural complex originating in Central Europe during the Hallstat culture of the 9 th to 6 th centuries BCE. In succeeding centuries these tribes migrated across the continent and the UK; and southeastward along the Danube River into Italy, the Balkans, Greece and Anatolia. Their distinctive designs were incorporated into artwork of the various Hellenistic kingdoms; as well as areas which later constituted the Roman provinces of Illyria, Thrace, Dacia and Pannonia. At times it is difficult to sort out imported Celtic from native designs on artifacts in their areas of settlement. In the Migration and later Medieval Periods, the influence of Iron Age " warrior " motifs is evident on many rings from sites within modern Hungary, Romania, Albania, Bulgaria and the Balkan States. Although a linear progression from Iron Age to Medieval iconography is unlikely, a continuation of earlier artistic traditions is certainly a possibility. Byzantine influences are also evident on pieces dateable from the beginning of the Christian era until approximately the 13 th century. For example, the " warrior saint " depictions which proliferated in the Migration Period were predicated upon late classical imagery of the Emperor Constantine aside his mother, Saint Helena. 1 The mixed-ethnic populations responsible for medieval jewelry in these areas drew upon a number of pre-existing traditions, including Celtic, Illyrian, Thracian/Dacian, Byzantine, Slavic, Bulgar, Magyar, Germanic and Byzantine designs. The resulting iconography on anthropomorphic rings is also reflective of efforts by various religious and socio-political entities to convert these largely pagan populations to Christianity. Repeated attempts at conversion were made between the 6 th and 13 th centuries, involving both ecclesiastical persuasion and military inveiglement. 2 These efforts met with only mixed results; and the ambivalence of many Slavic and other tribes towards their new faith is evidenced by the survival of pagan artifacts and burial customs in ostensibly " Christian " cemeteries as late as the early 14 th century. 3, 4 As previously cited, these anthropomorphic rings have been uncovered at widely dispersed medieval sites from Central Europe to northern Greece. Although the engraved bezels contain a mixture of late pagan and early Christian traditions, the development of this imagery and its dispersal across space and time is not well