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LOT 0106
Greek Solid Gold Ring Idol
5TH-4TH MILLENNIUM B.C.
3/4 in. (1.65 grams, 20 mm).
Annular in form with pierced tab.
ProvenancePrivate collection, acquired in the late 1980s-early 1990s; thence by descent.
LiteratureCf. Mărgărit M., and Boroneanț, A., Beauty and the eye of Beholder, personal adornment across the millennia, Targoviște, 2020, fig.2p, for a similar gold ‘Ring Idol’ Pendant from Megalo Nisi Galanis.
FootnotesDuring the Greek Neolithic, certain types of ornaments share common morphological characteristics; one such example is the so-called ‘ring-idols’. The prototype of these ring-shaped pendants seems to have been made out of gold, which began to be used during these late phases of the Neolithic in Greece and the Balkans, in general.
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