Aesthetic qualities of glass jewellery found in Early Medieval cemeteries of the Chelmno-Dobrzyń zone

Markiewicz, Małgorzata

doi:0066-5924

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Title: Aesthetic qualities of glass jewellery found in Early Medieval cemeteries of the Chelmno-Dobrzyń zone

Abstract:

In assessing the aesthetic qualities of glass jewellery discovered in cemeteries of the Chełmno-Dobrzyń zone, one must attempt to unravel the aesthetic expectations of its users, their way of thinking, available technical skills, and their individual and communal needs. Criteria applied by traditional Early Medieval communities to jewellery, as well as the level of their glassmaking technology and techniques, imply that glass was a highly desirable material for the production of jewellery. It offered the flexibility needed to create jewellery in a wide array of shapes and colours, with various levels of transparency and different modes of ornamentation. Early Medieval women of all social levels were thus given the opportunity to create not only fashionable but also individual designs, which could serve as a means to stand out, attract attention and even communicate one’s social status. Jewellery could also convey certain symbolic meanings, which are now difficult to unravel, as suggested by the practice of including glass ornaments among grave goods. Glass jewellery appears to have been particularly coveted by women and children, as illustrated by finds from the cemeteries in question

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