Postcard 2 of 300: A 2200 year old stone statue of a young Etruscan infant adorned with a beaded necklace.
Similarly to the Prehistoric children’s jewellery in Postcard 1, when I initially conducted my research during the 90’s - this infant statue was my EARLIEST ‘find’ actually depicting a child ‘wearing’ jewellery that wasn’t from a grave group.
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The statue dates to the 2nd Century BC and is considered to be extremely rare as it’s not common to have examples of archaeological evidence from the Etruscan world - never mind one representing a child adorned with jewellery! (Thanks to the advancement of ‘the internet’ I now have found additional statues.)
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The young infant is seen here wearing a necklace constructed from beads strung together on a length of string or chord, with three pendants suspended at the front.
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The two outer pendants are similarly curved in form, possibly made from shells or animal teeth, and hang on either side of a large middle pendant, which is described to be a ‘bulla’.
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The ‘bulla’ is a well documented, ‘lens-shaped’, hollow container, which was worn by the Etruscans as a typical amuletic pendant. Its popularity dates back to the 5th century BC when it was worn by both sexes and all ages, later aspiring to ‘amuletic’ status with the purpose of holding perfume or a charm.
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The bulla was such an integral part of Ancient life, that the Romans later adopted it after they defeated the Etruscans in the 3rd century BC. And during Roman times the bulla became more child specific.
This really is a ‘little gem’ of history!
Postcard 2 is fig 32 of my PhD thesis: 2nd Century BC
Stone Statue of a Young Infant - Museo di Villa Giulia, Rome
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