[Jewelry making - Article 00123] - Re: [Orchid] Jewelry from the Stone Age

[Len and Judy Bjorkman]

========[ Invite a Friend - http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm  ]========

>      the early Bronze Age, and I think that's about as early as metal
>     jewelry gets (maybe 3000 BCE). 

>     ...very interested in any other research or information on late
>     Neolithic and early Bronze Age jewelry and the techniques used. I
>     doubt that granulation fits into this category--wasn't it
>     originated by the Etruscans? 

    Lisa, there was metal jewelry, even in Neolithic period.  It was
    made possible by the fact that copper,  gold, meteoritic iron, and
    possibly lead, occur  in a native state, i.e., can be gotten "as is"
    without smelting ores.  Some of the best examples of early metal
    jewelry are from  Turkey -- Cayonu Tepesi (Cu  wire pin,  ca. 7,000
    BC), Catal Huyuk (Cu beads and finger rings, made from  sheet
    copper; the "lead" beads found were shown by later x-ray diffraction
     to have been galena and cerussite, not metallic lead; ca.  6000
    BC),  Hacilar  (hammered native copper beads, ca. 5,000 BC); Can
    Hasan (copper  bracelet,ca. 5000); Mersin (several Cu pins,  ca. 
    5000  and  4200).  From northern Syria, Chagar Bazar (Cu bead, ca.
    4800) [and so on -- if you want more, and any of the references to 
    these artifacts,  let me  know].  As I mentioned in an earlier post,
     the so-called  copper pendant  from  Zawi Chemi in  northern Iraq,
    dating to about 8500 BC,  was not mineralized copper but was copper
    ore to begin with (if you see  a  photo  of it, its  shape alone
    should have told  the  excavators that it  was stone, not metal). 

    One thing that always puzzles me is that gold jewelry does not 
    appear earlier than it does.   Maybe they were as ferocious about
    recycling (or burying) it as we  are  today.  There are some thick
    gold/electrum rings from  a Chalcolithic cave at Nahal  Qanah  in
    "western Samaria" (Palestine/Israel), dating to the 4th  millennium
    BC -- they seem not to  be jewelry (ring-ingots?) but are beautiful
    and fascinating,  as are the other artifacts found there (see the
    review in  Current Anthropology, vol. 11 [1990] p.  436ff.). 
    Analysis showed them to have been cast (probably in a clay mold),
    hammered, and subjected to surface enrichment.  The reviewer
    suggests, "It is conceivable that to achieve a desired yellower
    appearance the producers subjected the silver-rich items to surface
    oxidation, perhaps in an open fire or in salty  sand, then cleaned
    them with natural organic  acid (fruit juice?) and hammered them to
    produce their final shape  and restore their brightness."   There
    are also some references there to earlier gold artifacts -- check on
    the Varna artifacts from Bulgaria (search under Varna gold
    artifacts, Bulgaria). 

    Granulation was originated at least a thousand years before  the
    Etruscans.  There are lovely examples from the Old Babylonian period
    in Iraq (ca. 1850 BC). 

    I also want to thank Erin Esin for the Turkish site with gold
    jewelry. For some of the gold things from the Royal Cemetery at Ur,
    search the University of Pennsylvania Museum, and go to Online
    Gallery, Art and Artifacts.  Or,  buy the book, Treasures from the
    Royal Tombs of Ur -- it's great eye-candy and does have some
    comments on how  things were made. 

All  the best,
Judy Bjorkman

____________________________________________________________________
T h e   O r c h i d   L i s t
Open Electronic Forum for Jewelry Manufacturing Methods and Procedures
____________________________________________________________________
Orchid FAQ:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/faq.htm
Orchid Archives:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/archive
Orchid Galleries:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/gallery.htm
Invite a Friend:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm
____________________________________________________________________
Tips From The Jeweler's Bench - Article Archive
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/tip_sear.htm
The Jeweler's Selected Bibliography List
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/jewelry-books
Buy Orchid Jewelry:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/shop
____________________________________________________________________
-Unsubscribe:
-Email: orchid-request AT ganoksin.com Body=unsubscribe subject=blank
____________________________________________________________________