Despre un cercel roman din aur de la Cârjiți, județul Hunedoara
About a Roman Golden Earring from Cârjiți, Hunedoara County

Summary/Abstract: The goal of this archaeological note is to present one jewel made of gold, from Cârjiți, Hunedoara County. There is no data regarding the time or context of the discovery. The item is part of the old archaeological collection of the Museum of Dacian and Roman Civilisation (Fig. 1) and represents a Hercules knot type earring. The hoop type earring has a loop and hook closing system. It was made from golden wire, sheet and spherical pearls, and is lushly decorated in the filigree and granulation technique (Fig. 2). It weighs 5.02 g and now measures 2.8 cm. The object is deformed since antiquity and was broken in two (Fig. 3). When in use, the diameter of the circular artefact was under 2 cm. The eight shaped head is widened – Hercules knot.Our piece is part of a well-defined series of jewels, born under Hellenistic influence. The central ornamentation of the adornments is the Hercules knot motif, sometimes excessively decorated with filigree and granulated elements. These jewels are spread in a limited space comprising parts of the Roman provinces Upper Moesia, Lower Pannonia, Thracia, and Lower Moesia, to which Dacia is added. Dated in the 2nd-3rd centuries, the earrings reveal three variants evolving from the items with the knot fully visible, the filigree and/or granulated decoration covering here and there the wire structure, to the ones with an entirely decorated head. The relevance of the artefact from Cârjiți also resides in the fact that it is the first golden earring similar to the ones from the Lower Danube provinces coming from Dacia. Sadly, as the archaeological context, material associations and close dated analogies are lacking, the chronology of the item is subject to the large time span of the 2nd-3rd centuries.A Roman settlement was reported in the area where the earring was discovered, with a close by necropolis, both supplied from a small stone quarry (Figs. 4-5). In the lack of archaeological research and petrographic analyses, we cannot discuss the amplitude of the habitation and its character or the scale and destination of the stone exploitation. However, we must note the position of the site in regards to the main (on Mureș and Strei valleys) and secondary (for example, on Cerna valley) Roman communication routes, but especially related to Micia and the Poiana Ruscă iron exploitations or the copper ones in the Deva area (Fig. 6).As a hypothesis, we believe that the golden earring could have come from the Roman tomb described by Téglás Gabor at the end of the 19th century. Moreover, we consider that this funerary structure could be framed in the category of baldachin type monuments, only few being archaeologically documented in the province of Dacia.

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