As in many ancient societies, jewellery was an important social marker used to demonstrate wealth and richness. In Ancient Greek culture jewellery was worn in everyday life but was also buried with the decease as part of his or her funerary outfit. Jewellery might have been enriched by precious and semi-precious stones and decorative motives would have included popular myths, gods, goddesses, and heroes. Earrings such as these became very popular from the 6th century BC onwards and thicker models have been found also in the Greek colonies of south Italy. The most common models included many zoomorphic heads, such as bulls’, lions’, goats’ heads and dolphins, and depiction of gods and goddesses. Jewellery such as this was crafted for everyday use, instead of being destined exclusively to a funerary purpose.
To discover more about jewellery in the Ancient World, please visit our relevant post: Jewellery in Antiquity.
