Body jewelry is of great importance for the study of ancient cultures. As an important symbol of that time, it offers insight into cultural values, but also the identities of the jewelry wearers. The analysis of a Neolithic necklace shows once again that even a single find can bring great insights.
In 2018, a well-preserved stone box tomb was discovered in the approximately 9,000-year-old village of Ba’ja in southern Jordan. Inside were the remains of an eight-year-old child, along with a finely engraved mother-of-pearl ring, a large stone pendant, and more than 2,500 colorful stones and beads. Among them were two extraordinary amber beads, which represent the oldest evidence of fossil amber in the Levant, the countries on the eastern Mediterranean.
A research team led by Hala Alarashi from the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Spain, has now examined the composition of the materials and the craftsmanship of the jewelry. Although a significant proportion of the beads are made from exotic rocks and mother-of-pearl, scientists suspect the necklace was made in Ba’ja. From the spatial distribution of the finds in the tomb, the researchers concluded that a single piece of jewelry had previously existed that had disintegrated over time in the tomb. Her reconstruction resulted in an imposing, multi-strand necklace with a complex structure. This replica is now on display at the Petra Museum in Jordan and can be seen in the image above.
As one of the oldest pieces of Neolithic jewelry, the necklace provides important information about the complex interplay of art, trade, the status of individuals and burial culture. It has been meticulously crafted and contains exotic materials, suggesting complex social dynamics among members of the Ba’ja village community, such as artists, merchants, and individuals of high status who commissioned such jewelry. Their addition to the grave of a young child testifies to the particularly high social status of the deceased.
“Apart from its symbolic function related to the child’s identity, we believe that the necklace played a key role in the performance of funeral rituals, which were understood as public events where families, relatives and people from other villages gathered,” according to the study published by the researchers. “In this sense, the chain belongs not only to the realm of the dead, but rather to the world of the living. It materializes a collective memory, shared emotions and social cohesion.”