Pendants should be discussed alongside necklaces, for frequently they are hung in groups around the neck, and they can be attached to solid neck-rings as well as being Incorporated in ‘standard’ necklaces. Their positioning Is not restricted to the neck area, however: they are often found at the hip or waist, suggesting that they were suspended from a belt. Though found in both male and female graves, they appear to be most frequently associated with children, who are, however, generally underrepresented in most cemeteries, which makes statistical analysis difficult. Bronze pendants include such shapes as shoes or boots, figures (frequently ithyphallic), faces, wheels, birds, baskets, axes, open bronze triangles or squares, etc., the significance of most of these being currently beyond our comprehension. Amber occurs in the form of large beads or shaped pieces, and in some graves there are pieces of broken glass bracelet and fragments of bronze arm-ring, animal teeth (such as bear), naturally pierced stone (e. g. chalk, sandstone), pieces of stone axe and whole or broken glass beads. The use of raw branches of coral in the late Hallstatt and early La Tene periods has been explained as being apotropaic, for there are later classical references to its use to ward off the evil eye.
Also found in the breast area in some burials are highly ornamented openwork discs, usually of bronze, which may have been worn as pendants or perhaps have been sewn to clothing. They are heavy, and are usually two-sided, so the latter is less likely than the former; but there are rarely signs of suspension or the wear patterns associated with it, so the real nature of such ornaments is unclear. Gold-decorated iron plaques and discs with coral and/or amber inlay found in some rich graves are also difficult to classify in terms of function.
World History
