Ancient Roman Pearls

[pattye]

The Portland radio station I listen to just reported on that earring and its perfect condition! Thanks again, Nora, for the photos and links.

 

[Satine De La Courcel]

That's a good one to bring up next time when you hear someone complaining that pearls (or emeralds) are not durable enough

Beig such soft stones generally are not "durable" these happened to be extremely well preserved. Licky us

Anyone knows what makes these old buried pearls extra irridescent? The effect barely shows in the pictures, but it seems to be there.

Sometimes it depends on where the pearls are from, I doubt the fact they were burried has anything to do with it or we would find more that look like this instead of pieces or badly preserved/mostly decayed pearls if any are found at all.

My bet is they were from the "Persian Gulf region". those are the most beautful pearls in the world even today. Repeatedly sought after in recorded history due to their "orient and lustre" 2000 years ago would also have been a main source for Pearls in the Knowne world of that time as well. Not the only source but a main source during this time.


I feel we are so Lucky with this find!! Great Pictures! Lovely piece!

thanks!

Ash
Who is back to lurking and life which has kept her hopping lately and lots of travel. To visit home and help parents during this time of recovery.

 

[nlerner]

Another article on the earring:

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1036082.html

 

[Valeria101]

C'mon... no surprise that emerald endured well underground. They usually sit steady under mountains of hard rock until someone caresses them with dynamite, pickax and grinding wheel then sells them as fragile jewels to be kept in little padded boxes

Those in the earring look rather rough...


Now, from many digs 'pearl' jewelry emerges with little empty gold stalks with a tell-tale stopper tips The usual explanation is that pearls melt away if the surrounding medium has slightly increased Ph and some moisture. And the discussion I am recalling here was about medieval buttons cca. 1300 - that's 1300 years younger then the earring. Obviously, no one can tell what kind of pearls have melted, but there are lots of such lost pearl examples and trade points south to Ottoman Turkey for the origin of important jewels. At least some should have been Gulf pearls...

If memory serves, the oldest pearl jewelry comes from the early German digs in Irak is many centuries older then the earring. The pieces on display in Berlin show whole pearls of slightly grayish color and unnatural irridescence. The effect also appears on newer escavated pearl items, but those were the most stryking I have found anywhere on display... could be just a matter of age, but who knows... I am surprised that this effect is not more studied (maybe it is, but Google Scholar is not yet the best library for everything) I'm tempted to guess that time breaks down the organic stuff in pearls and brings up irridenscence - like some of those dreaded bleaching treatments, only way more. But, who knows...

A poster on GO found this little slideshow on Yahoo News

You'd thing it came fresh from Druzzydesign or the like!

Any guess how large the parls might be? It looks quite substantial on.

 

[pearlescence]

One thing I just noticed is that it is sideways facing whereas our earrings now tend to be front facing - the earring is hard mounted onto the hook rather than swiveling
I also notice that the model seems to be wearing it in the correct ear - one pearl on this one is slightly higher than the other hinting that its pair was the other way around

 

[J Marcus]

One clue to the mystery of the pearls preservation is that desert soils tend to be significantly more alkaline than those subjected to more rainfall. Water moving up from groundwater below evaporates leaving it's salts behind.

Such a beautiful jewel on the ear of such a beautiful young woman. . . Sigh. . .

 

[J Marcus]

Gold lasts and the Romans were everywhere.
They conquered you just like they did us. Remember?

Well!!--They didna' conquerrr Scotland lassie!! Rrrrememberrr Hadrrrians wall!! Built by the Rrromans to keep us Picts frrrom carrrvin' 'em up!!!....

 

[pearlescence]

But Scottish law retains elements of Roman law while England and Wales has the Common law

 

[nlerner]

One thing I just noticed is that it is sideways facing whereas our earrings now tend to be front facing - the earring is hard mounted onto the hook rather than swiveling
I also notice that the model seems to be wearing it in the correct ear - one pearl on this one is slightly higher than the other hinting that its pair was the other way around

Or simply the pin with the pearl is bent, the two pendants were probably the same length.

 

[nlerner]

One clue to the mystery of the pearls preservation is that desert soils tend to be significantly more alkaline than those subjected to more rainfall. Water moving up from groundwater below evaporates leaving it's salts behind.

Such a beautiful jewel on the ear of such a beautiful young woman. . . Sigh. . .

Not in this case, Jerusalem is very wet and damp in winter. The desert only begins outside the city on its eastern slopes. It could have been stuck in a dry crevice between stones. Pity the papers didn't supply more
information.

The model, who is one of the excavating team, is most likely from the Ethiopian Jewish community, whose women are known for their beauty !!!
Men !!!......

 

[Slraep]

A very charming design. I agree it is a great find too. Amazing that something so ancient can be worn today and not look one bit out of place.

Slraep

 

[Valeria101]

Finnaly! (took a bit to find a clear report)

Ancient source of emeralds in Egipt and the Roman world.

Does anyone have a good source tracking sources of pearls for the period?

I am somewhat aware that the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Mannar were credited with the best pearls towards the end of the Western, then in the Eastern Roman empire, while the ones from NW Europe were just in and out of the news... but haven't seen the bits of evidence put together in one reasonably authoritative place yet.