Seventh-Eigth Centuries Finger-Rings Discovered in Transylvania

Abstract

Finger-rings of the 7th–8th century discovered in Transylvania were yielded only by cemeteries, both of inhumation and biritual. The inhumation burial grounds where finger-rings were identified include those of Gâmbaș/Cetățuie or Cimitirul reformat/further Gâmbaș 12, Sâncrai3 and Teiuș4. In biritual cemeteries, finger-rings were found in the burial grounds of Bratei 25 and Sibiu/Gușterița6. The few cemeteries with finger-rings is linked to the small number of burials which contained objects of respective type, and concurrently, with the small number of finger-rings. The Avar cemeteries count a total of five burials with finger-rings among the grave goods, their number amounting to eight exemplars. In the biritual cemeteries mapped in Transylvania, two cremations yielded each a single finger-ring and just one inhumation which contained a single finger-ring. Typologically, finger-ring types are few as well. They come down to two main groups, namely plain finger-rings and finger-rings with ornaments in the upper part of the ring hoop. Plain rings are represented by simple hoops made of iron, bronze or silver threads or thin bars. To the second group belong finger rings of thin sheet, with an ornament in the upper part in the shape of round spheres or round or oval plates. The small number of Avar cemeteries and graves from Transylvania in which finger-rings were found may be the result of various causes. It is very likely that finger-ring wearing was not fashionable in the Avar communities of Transylvania. A second element that may be taken into consideration to interpret the few such artefacts at the level of the archaeological sites from the Transylvanian Plateau is related to the assertion of social standing of those buried with finger-rings as well. The typological identity of the finger-rings from Transylvania (type B), together with the few items and graves where these were discovered may be interpreted as the display of ethnic identity of finger-ring bearers. Lastly, another interpreting acceptable for the finger-rings present in the Avar cemeteries of Transylvania is that of magical object playing an apotropaic role.