- Museum number
- ML.1533
- Description
-
Copper alloy basket-shaped earring, decorated with cordons, two of which are ribbed.
- Production date
- 600 BC - 400 BC (circa)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 10.10 millimetres
-
Weight: 0.90 grammes
-
Width: 18.50 millimetres
- Curator's comments
- Stead and Rigby 1999
Context: Earrings
Sheet metal earrings, in a deep basket shape, terminating at one end in a long tapering hook. They occur in gold as well as in bronze, singly and in pairs, and usually in women's graves. The gold earring (of a different type) from Berru is sometimes quoted as an example from a man's grave, but see p. 166. Legendre and Eluère (Legendre, R.-M., and Eluère, C., 1986, Deux boucles d’oreilles en or fu Musée de Châlons-sur-Marne (Marne) ‘Mémoires de la société d’agriculture, commerce, sciences et arts du département de la Marne’ (101),
11-32) discuss the gold earrings from France, with list and distribution map, and refer to comparable pieces in Hallstatt D contexts in Switzerland and southern Germany. They distinguish plain from decorated earrings in France and assign most of the former to Hallstatt D and the latter to La Tène I. Judging from the few reliable associations, the basket-shaped earring in Champagne, both gold and bronze, seems to be a Hallstatt rather than a La Tène type (cf. Fig. 1, type J). The only example with a La Tène I brooch is in Morel's Bussy-le-Château grave 1, which might reflect on the reliability of that group (the type R brooch is not the earliest of La Tène I brooches). See also Déchelette, J., 1914, ‘Manuel d’archéologie préhistorique, celtique, et gallo-romaine’ 2, 3 ‘Second âge du fer ou épogue de La Tène’, Paris, 1263-4, fig. 542; Joffroy, R., 1960, ‘L’oppidum de Vix et la civilisation hallstattienne finale dans l’est de la France’ (Publications de l’université de Dijon, 20) 44-8; Bretz-Mahler, D., 1971, ‘La civilisation de La Tène en Champagne (Gallia, supplément, 23) 74-8, pl. 77; Thénot, A, 1982, ‘La civilisation celtique dans l’est de la France, d’après la collection de Baye’, Paris, 85; Rozoy, J.-G. 1987, ‘Les celtes en Champagne’ (Mém. Soc. Archéol. Champenoise, 4) 1, Etude, 277, fig. 229.
Morel was present when a pair of gold earrings was discovered in grave 24 at Witry-les-Reims 'la Voie Carlat' in 1899 and he contributed a note to the report (Bournin, A., 1909, Les cimetières gaulois de Witry-lez-Reims, ‘Bulletin de la société archéologique champenoise’ (3), 78).
Bibliography: Morel, L., 1898, ‘La Champagne souterraine’ Reims, pl. 3, fig. 14.
- Location
- On display (G50/dc13)
- Department
- Britain, Europe and Prehistory
- Registration number
- ML.1533