Late Hallstatt Female Head/Hair Decoration in the Southern Carpathian Basin. Temple Rings of the Ciumbrud and Donja Dolina Types

Abstract

The Late Hallstatt period in the southern Carpathian Basin is marked by complex cultural relations for which the current knowledge is mostly based on the analyses of cemeteries. One of the most prolific forms of female jewellery in graves is bronze and silver temple rings that were used to decorate the head or hair. This is testified to by finds from the inhumation graves in Donja Dolina, where several pairs of temple rings, often of different forms, were located on both sides of the women’s heads. Four basic types have been distinguished according to differences in the design of the terminals, and there are different variants according to the method of shaping the body. The oldest burial phases in Donja Dolina are characterized by smooth temple rings with a conical thickening at the terminals (Ciumbrud type), which have been found in the highest numbers in the inhumation graves in Transylvania. Temple rings of the Ciumbrud type from Donja Dolina should probably be seen as a reflection of established contacts and cultural transfer, but we should not completely rule out the possibility of the individual mobility of women. The reconstruction of how they were worn makes it possible to analyse the female bodily ornamentation, indicating that these are gender-specific items, which became an important part of the visual identity of women.