Long before they became a symbol of Easter, the people of the Bronze and Iron Age already valued decorated eggs – especially large ones: artistically decorated ostrich eggs were widely traded in the Mediterranean and the Middle East. Archaeologists are now presenting insights into the history of these unusual luxury items. Her research results indicate an astonishingly complex background in production and trade.
They were engraved, painted and sometimes also made of fine materials: decorated ostrich eggs are known from numerous grave finds in the Mediterranean and the Middle East, say the researchers led by Tamar Hodos from the University of Bristol. Especially in the period from the third to the first millennium BC They were therefore popular with the elites and probably represented a status symbol. The eggs were also widely traded: Since ostriches are not native to Europe, decorated eggs from archaeological contexts of the Bronze and Iron Age in Greece, Italy and Spain from the Middle East or North Africa, where ostriches were common at the time.
Luxury goods of a special kind
Such well-traveled pieces included five decorated ostrich eggs from the British Museum’s collection. They come from an Etruscan tomb in Italy that dates from 625 to 550 BC. BC is estimated. The eggs are engraved and painted. The decorative motifs include animals, floral elements, but also people and chariots. All eggs had been processed into vessels with metal elements. Although these parts have not been preserved, the researchers report that discoloration on the eggshells shows where the metal necks were once fixed. The style seems to suggest that they come from the Middle East or North Africa.
As part of their study, Hodos and her colleagues examined these five pieces and other ostrich eggs from the British Museum’s collection from a total of 15 sites in the Mediterranean, North Africa and the Levant using modern methods of archeology. The focus was on information about where the ostrich eggs came from, whether the ostriches had been kept in captivity, and information about the artistic techniques.
“Stolen” eggs and complex trade
To investigate the origin, the researchers analyzed isotope patterns in the egg shells. “Ostriches were native to the eastern Mediterranean and North Africa. Using a large number of isotope indicators, we were able to differentiate between eggs that were laid in the different climate zones, ”explains Hodos. “It turned out that eggs from climatic zones were found in locations in the other climatic zones, which suggests more extensive trade routes. This shows how surprisingly connected the world was at that time, ”says the scientist. Comparisons of certain characteristics of the eggshell also showed that, although there is historical evidence of the keeping of ostriches in antiquity, the eggs for the production of the objects of art were apparently taken from the nests of wild birds. As the researchers emphasize, the procurement was therefore not without its dangers, because ostriches can give life-threatening kicks.
As the researchers were able to show through microscopic examinations and experiments, the artists used different tools and techniques to decorate the eggs. “In the experiments, we also found that eggs need a certain amount of time to dry before the shell can be processed. This certainly had an economic impact because storage was a long-term investment, ”says Hodos. “The entire system of producing decorated ostrich eggs was much more complicated than we had imagined,” summarizes the scientist. So many questions are still open. As the researchers emphasize, the publication is, as it were, an interim report of their work: they now want to investigate the secrets of the decorated ostrich eggs.
Source: University of Bristol, technical article: Antiquity, doi: 10.15184 / aqy.2020.14