STERLING SILVER JEWELRY HAS BEEN AROUND FOR A LONG TIME!
Sterling silver jewelry is beautiful, silver being one of the first precious metals used by ancient artisans. It’s harder than gold, but early craftsmen and women found silver soft enough to hammer into wonderful designs.
Sulfur in the air is what turns silver from its polished beauty to a dull grey or black. This is one of the challenges archeologists have to face when they discover a cache of ancient treasure. It must be amazing to polish an ancient silver pendant, and watch that beautiful silvery sheen reappear after hundreds or thousands of years. Pretty magical!
How Ancient Sterling Silver Jewelry Was Worn
Something I just read piqued my interest. Apparently it’s not always easy to figure out how a particular piece of ancient silver or gold jewelry was worn. The string that fastened a silver pendant around one of our far, far distant relative’s necks might have decomposed after so many years. This could make it hard to determine if a particular piece of jewelry was meant to be a silver earring or a pendant, or even a hair decoration.
But…when ancient, undisturbed graves are discovered, the jewelry might still be in place on the skeletal or mummified remains. Many ancient cultures placed jewelry on their dead before burial.
Sometimes the art of the period can give clues on how the jewelry was worn. Murals where everyday people were depicted decorate ancient palaces and tombs, unveiling the gold and silver jewellery fashions of the time.
When the grave of Tutankhamen was discovered in the 1920s, archaeologists were astounded at the richness of the gold and silver jewelry in the tomb. What an opportunity to discover the jewelry making methods of that time! It was especially exciting because, although this tomb probably wasn’t one of the richest, all the items were still there, undiscovered by grave robbers.
Age of Ancient Jewelry
Locating silver necklaces, silver bracelets and silver charms from the far past is only part of the puzzle. It isn’t so easy to date them, because the chemicals that make up sterling silver and gold don’t change much with time. Sometimes the history and age of the piece can be figured out under a microscope. Experts who know when certain processes were used in creating jewelry can see the detail well enough to make a determination.
Mesopotamia was another site where ancient jewelers crafted gorgeous designs. These Sumerian jewelers used gold and gemstones in their simple, elegant designs. Sometimes they inlayed stones within their silver or gold jewelry designs.
But ancient Egyptian jewelry is my favorite. Since I am a sterling silver artist specializing in animals, the artisans from that period have a special place in my heart. Animal jewelry was quite popular. I was just flipping through one reference book and came upon a wonderful Egyptian vulture necklace. Imagine! I absolutely adored it.
I think it’s incredible the skill with which this gorgeous vulture necklace as well as many other pieces were created. Even though the equipment of these early artisans was pretty crude, they managed to make some really sophisticated gold, and to a lesser degree silver jewelry. Their furnace was a simple bowl made of fired clay, kept hot by charcoal. Their control of the heat was probably not precise, but they were able to melt metals and create some wonderful pieces nonetheless.
Their tools may have been primitive, but the methods used were the same as those used by jewelers today! I think it’s amazing to have that tie with the past.
