Gold pendants from Kranj and Koper (Slovenia)

Abstract

In this paper I discuss two gold pendants, from the Late Antique or Early Mediaeval Period, which are somewhat unique finds for Slovenian territory. The first pendant is from the Late Antique site of Kranj-Lajh (Carnium); it is leaf-shaped, and the chronologically older pendant of the two. The child grave in which this pendant was found is interpreted as belonging to an individual of the local Late Antique elite. The grave is notable also because some of the grave goods were made in the middle of the 5th century AD, even though the burial presumably dates to the first half of the 6th century AD. On the basis of a single-sided comb with low handle, I assume that the individual did not belong to the Gothic cultural milieu. The second pendant, a tear-shaped specimen, was found in one of the oldest settlement layers of Early Mediaeval Koper (Iustinopolis), at the site of Kapucinski vrt. I argue that it was worn not as a pendant on a necklace or earring, but rather as an integral part of an earring. This interpretation is based on earrings from another time (the second half of the 3rd century AD and the 4th century AD) and place (south-western Crimea), with which the pendant from Koper shares many features.