A Glass Pendant from the Tenedos Necropolis

Abstract

The male head-shaped glass pendant discussed in this study was found together with a terracotta statuette, a terracotta head (or a protome), and some knucklebones (astragali) in a pithos burial during rescue excavations in 1993 in the Tenedos necropolis. The rod-formed pendant has a beard, big eyes, a long nose, full lips, and a slightly protruding chin. Trails of opaque yellow, white, and turquoise glass were applied to the translucent dark blue body of the pendant. Such glass pendants are considered to be of Phoenician and/or Punic origin and are distributed throughout the Mediterranean basin, the northern coast of the Black Sea, and Eastern Europe. They range in date from the 7th century to the middle of the 1st century BC. The Tenedos glass pendant is compatible with M. Seefried’s “Type C” (male head with curly hair) and dated between the 5th century and 3rd century BC. It belongs to the C1 subgroup (head with curly hair and sleek beard) of this type. The head-shaped glass pendant is a rare find from the northeast region of the Aegean. In the context of the other finds from the tomb, notably the standing female figurine, the glass pendant can be said to belong to the first half of the 5th century BC. Moreover, this find indicates the contact between the Phoenician and/or Punic world and Tenedos in this period.