K. Palágyi Sylvia szerk.: Balácai Közlemények 2001/6. (Veszprém, 2001)

FACSÁDY, R. ANNAMÁRIA: Roman Gold Jewelry in the „Laczkó Dezső" Museum, Veszprém - A veszprémi Laczkó Dezső Múzeum római aranyékszerei

4. Fragment of a gold necklace. (Inv.no: 99.1.1.) (Fig. 6.) Site: Baláca (Sylvia Palágyi's excavation, 1999) L: 5 cm Fragment composed of four parts made of flattened gold wire. The gold wires were bent back and twisted. They correspond in size to the beads on both ends with each element being hooked to the next. The original pierced beads can be found on three elements: one is of a coral-red color while the other two have a metallic shine, appearing as bright blue beads. This type of necklace was well-known and common all over the Empire, generally employing real pearls and emeralds. It was wide-spread not only in space but in time. This type was already produced in the AD 2

nd c, but it became a common dress element in the 3

rd c. Generally, the closing of the clasp makes a more exact dating possible, but in this case we do not have that opportunity. This type is known in Pannónia in Aquincum

6

, Balozsameggyes

7

, Poetovio

8

, but necklaces made using similar methods can be found in Rhenish

9

, Gallián

10 and Britannic

11 find assemblages. Two of the pieces of gold jewelry, which came to the museum from somewhere in the Veszprém area, represent completely different types of necklaces, albeit fragmenty. Another is a gold hairpin. To be more exact, only the head of the hairpin is made of gold, the pin itself is of silver. Most of the jewelry, four rings, display different forms and technical process. Despite the small numbers, the combination of the pieces from several find locations, and the form, the manufacturing techniques exhibited in this jewelry represent well some of the characteristic features of Pannonian jewelry. The early Roman period is represented by the homogeneous, simply formed Somlójenő ring. This type was known over the whole of the Empire and followed early Italian traditions. It was often made from other materials, especially bronze and ornamented with chiselled various plant and animal figures

12

. The jewelry type that belongs to the simple work employed in the Baláca necklace was also well known. A characteristic form of jewelry from our territory was the so-called amphorashaped

13 hairpin, which was unfamiliar in the western provinces. Only the head, which functioned only as a decoration, was made of gold, usually with a kind of bead - mostly emerald or green vitreous paste - encrustment. The more practical version was a pin was made of silver. Similar pieces have come to light from other hoards: the find found in Szálacska in 1910

14

, which now is only known from the literature, the hoard from Balozsamegyes

15 and the Szálacska 1931/2 hoard

16 included such pieces. These are, as the one allegedly from Pozsaverác

17

, finely worked, convex pieces, while the find from the Tüskevár sarcophagus (Fig. 7) is more simply processed. The head of this latter one was bent from four thick gold plates, four handles were attached. Its manufacture was altogether less labor intensive. Neither is the work on the encrustment of the emerald bead decorating the top of a very high level. Maybe the Tüskevár ring, which is of the same quality, was made in the same workshop (Fig. 8-9.). An analogy to this ring comes from Brigetio.

18 It is an almost identical piece, decorated with blue vitreous paste. The wavy decoration which resembles the opus interrasile technique composed of flattened