In
the Roman excavations, and in those of other early remains, many
objects are found in which there may be a sapphire, an emerald, or
several other stones, pierced, and pendant on a gold wire, with a blank
space between, showing that something was there originally. This object
has apparently decomposed and fallen away. We may reasonably suppose
that it was either a pearl or a glass bead, and it is unlikely that
glass would be used in connection with the more precious materials.
This pearl or glass may have been affected by the organic acids or the
acids resulting from the decomposition of the body with which the
ornament was buried for a score of centuries.
Among
the ancient jewels containing pearls which are preserved in the
Hermitage at St. Petersburg, we may mention a broken gold fing with a
roughly cut turquoise and two pendants, each set with two pearls
separated by a garnet. This object was found in southern Siberia
during the reign of Peter the Great, and may belong to the second
century before Christ. Also may be noted a pair of gold earrings, with
an engraved six-rayed star, in the center of which a pearl is set,
while below hang three pendant sticks, two of which'have a pearl at the
extremity. These earrings were found in 1892 in a tomb situated close
to the site of the ancient town of Chersonesus, in the Crimea. As a
coin of the Emperor Gordianus III (224-244 a.D.) was discovered in the same tomb, we may assign the earrings to the first half of the third century A.D.
Beside
another pair of earrings, one of which is set with a pearl, and two
pearl-headed pins, all from the neighborhood of Tiflis, in the Crimea,
we may especially refer to an earring made of a plain, thick, golden
wire, on which seven pearls are threaded ; one of these occupies the
center and the others are grouped around it. This earring was purchased
in 1903 by the Russian Imperial Archaeological Commission from a
collector residing at Odessa ; it is said to have been found on the
site of the ancient Greek colony of Olbia, but we have no definite
external or internal evidence to sustain this view.
We may also note the gold necklace and earrings1 containing
pearls found near the site of Olbia during the reign of Napoleon III,
and now in the collection of the Roman, Campana. These objects are
especially interesting owing to the fact that the pearls are drilled
and a gold cap is set on each side.
A
pair of pearl earrings were found in a tomb on Mount Mithri-dates, near
Kertch, in the Crimea. These earrings probably belong to the third or
fourth century of our era. Of the four pearls which originally adorned
the cross-bars, only one has been preserved. Another pair of earrings
was discovered in the same place. It is probable that
1 Imperial Museum of Archaeology, St. Petersburg, Russia.
