jewellery from grave 10 of Pontezuelas in Colonia Augusta Emerita (Mérida, Spain): family heirlooms?

Abstract

Between 1934 and 1936, the archaeologist Antonio Floriano directed excavations in the city of Mérida, the ancient colony Augusta Emerita. Some years later, once the Civil War had ended, he published a good deal of the finds. These included the explorations conducted in the Oriental Necropolis of the city, an area whose extent he established and considered as a whole for the first time. Grave-goods from this cemetery were recorded, including the so-called Grave 10 of Pontezuelas. The grave is pinpointed on the published excavation plan and the grave-goods listed, but no mention is made of the context of their find. This highly interesting assemblage is particularly opulent due to the gold jewellery it contains. Especially noteworthy is a bracelet combining pairs of gold hemispheres—in the style of well-known examples from Pompeii but technically very dissimilar—with jet beads, some of which follow the model of the gold pieces. Other pieces consist of a ring with a highly original sandal-shaped bezel whose closest reference is to sandal-shaped fibulae known in the provinces of the limes, from Britannia to Pannonia; several hollow pieces; an earring; and a brooch. Various considerations point to the broad timespan of the types of jewellery in the assemblage and could indicate that they represent family heirlooms, brought together over a lengthy period of time (perhaps spanning over a century), passed on from generation to generation.   On cover:Late Roman wall, the portion immediately south of the West Gate (Porta Oea) with re-used blocks from first-century mausolea (Drawing by Francesca Bigi) and Tombstone of Regina from South Shields (Arbeia) (Tyne and WearArchives and Museums/ Bridgeman Images). E-ISSN (online version) 2611-3686 ISSN (print version) 0065-0900