Sarmizegetusa bracelets

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The Sarmizegetusa braceletsBogdan Constantinescu'*, Ernest Oberlnder-Tarnoveanu^,Roxana Bugoi', Viorel Cojocaru' & Martin Radtke^

We present the authentication and analysisof these beautiful Dacian bracelets of therst century BC, originally pillaged bytreasure hunters and recovered thanks toan international crime chase. They wereoriginally fashioned from gold panned fromthe rivers or dug from the m ines ofTransylvania and h amm ered into the formof coiled snakes. The lack of context is thegreatest loss, but a votive purpose is likely givetheir proximity to the great sacred centre atSarmizegetusa Regia.

Keywords: Romania, Sarmizegetusa, Dacian, first century BC, gold, bracelets, hoard, sacredcentre. W orld Heritage SiteDiscovery and recoveryBetween 1999 and 2001 several hoards containing at least 24 gold spiral bracelets wereuncovered by organised gangs of illegal treasure hunters in five different spots in the area ofSarmizegetusa Regia, in the Ortie Mountains, Romania (Figure 1). In January 2007, aftera long series of investigations by the Romanian authorities in collaboration with Interpol,four spiral-shaped gold bracelets were recovered and returned to Romania from France andthe USA. A fifth gold bracelet was recovered thanks to co-operation between the Romanianand French judiciary authorities, while the sixth bracelet was recovered by the RomanianBorder Police in June 2007 from a member of a criminal gang. Three more bracelets wererepatriated in August 2007 from collectors in Switzerland and the USA, while two morebracelets were brought back from the USA in December 2008. The latest bracelet to be

1 Horia Huluhei National Institute for Nuclear Physics and Engineering, Atomijtilor 407 , Bucharest 07712 5,Romania2 National History Museu m of Rom ania, Calea Victoriei 12, Bucharest 03002 6, Rom ania3 BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research an d Testing, Richard- Wilbttter-Strasse 11, Berlin D-124 89,Germany


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Bogdan Gonstantinescu et al.

Sarmizegetusa Regiasacred area

Eigure 1. Satellite view ofthe Sarmizegetusa sacred precinct (150 x 200m), showing the approximate findspots of theDacian gold hoards.

recovered arrived back in Romania in July 2009. Twelve bracelets had thus been recoveredby the time this paper was submitted in December 2009 (Figure 2).

As was later discovered during the criminal investigations and the subsequent judicialinquiry, the gold bracelets were found together with gold staters of pseudo-Lysimachustype, silver Thassos type 2 tetradrachm s, D acian tetradrachm s of Rduleti-Hunedoa ra typeand other objects. Sarmizegetusa Regia is the site of the ancient capital of the Daciankingdom (Daicoviciu &c Daicoviciu 1 963; Daicoviciu 1972) and is on the U N E S C O W orldHeritage list. All the findspots are today located in dense forest around the sacred precinct(Figure 1). Unfortunately, since the excavations were made by treasure hunters rather thanarchaeologists, most ofthe context of these remarkable discoveries has been lost.

Description of the hoardsThe inquiry determined that there had been five hoards or deposits, with contents deducedas follows.

Hoard 1 (March 1999) was found in a location called 'Muchea Cetajii' (loosely translatedas 'The Fortress Ridge'). It included six gold bracelets (Bracelets 1-4 c 7-8).

Hoard 2, also known as 'Eureka', (spring of 1999) was from the top ofthe hill behind the


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The Sarmizegetusa bracelets

Figure 2. The 12 Dacian gold bracelets recovered up to December 2009.

Hoard3, otherwise 'Professor Glodariu's loo',^ (summer of 1999) included two bracelets(5 & 9), 200 staters of Lysimachus type and 500 tetradrach ms (Thassos tetradrachm s of thesecond type and Dacian tetradrachms of Rduleti-Hunedoara type).

Hoard 4 (6 May 2000) included ten gold bracelets in a cist beneath a large rock situatedon the steep slope of the Cprreafa Hill. From this group the only one to be recovered upto now is Bracelet 6. The context was spectacular: a pit covered with a large slab made outof mica-schist. Th e bracelets were set in pairs in two d istinct superimposed com partm ents(Ciuta 2008) .Hoard 5 {IG-Uyidcy 2001) was from a location called 'The Reservoirs', on the lowerslopes of the Cprreaja Hill. It included five gold bracelets, from which only Bracelets 10and 11 have so far been recovered.

The late-arriving Bracelet 12 probably belongs either to hoard 4 or 5.DescriptionT he 12 bracelets recovered by the Ro ma nian authorities up to De cem ber 2 009 are show n inFigure 2, and are currently on pu blic display in the Treasury of the Natio nal H isto ry M us eumof Ro m ania in Bucharest. Th ese are the first solid gold bracelets of Da cian craftsma nshipto be discovered in Romania, although similar bracelets made from sliver and silver-gilt are


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hn>,ure 3. Bracelet 2.

The bracelets are spiroform with beast-head terminals (Figure 3). They have externaldiameters ranging from 91 to 123mm and weigh between 682.30 and 1196.03g (Table 1).The zoomorphic terminals probably represent snake's heads (Figure 4) emanating from fiatrectangular strips with incised decoration (Figure 5) continued as lobed bodies resemblingstylised palm leaves or palmettes (Figure 6). In most instances, seven palmettes decoratebot h en ds o fth e bracelets (in tw o cases. Bracelets 8 and 11 , just six palm ettes are present).

Taking into a ccou nt the scarcity of Dac ian g old artefacts discovered so far, their impressivedimensions, the large amount of gold from which the artefacts were craft:ed and their overallappearance, the Samizegetusa spiral gold bracelets represent one of the most importantarchaeological finds ever made in Romania.

Authentication


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Figure 4. Zoomorphic (snake's bead) terminal on Bracelet 9.

Table 1. The physical parameters of the 12 Dacian bracelets recovered up to December 2009 (thenumbering o f the bracelets reflects the order in which they were subsequently recovered).Bracelet no. W eight (g) Length (m) External diam eter of the spires (mm ) N um be r of spires

123456789

10U12

982.201076.721115.31927.98764.951062.551196.031136.06682.301047.00825.00884.37

2.882.692.822.072.381.772.512.532.122.612.222.69

12311210210111512312212211411211291

7 (5 -1 - 2 halves)8 (6-1-2 halves)9 (7 -1 - 2 halves)7 (5 -h 2 halves)7 (5 -h 2 halves)5 (3 -1 - 2 halves)7 (5 -1 - 2 halves)7 (5 + 2 halves)6 (4 -f- 2 halves)8 (6 -1 - 2 halves)7 (5 -1 - 2 halves)

10 (8-1-2 halves)

form (Figure 7), with snake's head terminals (Figure 8) and lobed strip with palmetteornament (Figure 9).Further supporting the authenticity of the gold bracelets was the matt patina observed


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Figure 5. Terminal on Bracelet 5, showing snake's head and strip.


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Eigure 7. Oac uiu siliur bra celet Jrotn llw .^ciii-itui hoiird (National History Museum of Romania, Bucharest).


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Bogdan Constantinescu et al.

Figure 9. Stylised palm leaf pattern on a silver-gilt bracelet from the Coada Malului hoard (National History Museum ofRomania, Bucharest).

Figure 10 . Black spots on the surface of Bracelet 11 showing contamination b y burial.

Analysis of alloy


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The Sarmizegetusa braceletsTable 2. The elemental composition of the Dacian gold bracelets obtained through ED-XRFmeasurements. The relative uncertainty ofthe reported results is less than 1% for gold, increasingup to 10% for silver and copper and being around 20 % for the tin conce ntrations.Bracelet no.

12345678910U12

Au (wt%)89.878.282.491.592.892.092.985.087.188.786.183.5

Ag (wt%)9.5

20.316.28.16.97.16.312.8

12.210.312.614.3

Cu (wt%)0.61.51.40.40.30.90.72.10.60.90.71.0

Sn (mg/kg)200


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Bogdan Constantinescu et al.

CO

1000000

100000 -

10000 -

1000 -

100 -

Energy (keV)Figure 11. ED-X RF Spectrum of Bracelet 10 .

sylvanite (Au,AgTe4), are quite oft:en found with Transylvanian native gold, to our knowledgethis element has only rarely been reported in archaeological gold artefacts (Hauptmannetal. 1995).Additional analysis by Pieter Meyers was performed on Bracelet 5 in 2006using Laser-Ablation Inductively-Coupled Plasma Mass-Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). The

concentrations of the major elements identified were very similar to the ED-XRF resultsreported in Table 2. He also found significant traces of Sn, Sb, Pd and Pt, indicating goldfrom placer deposits. His conclusion was that the composition was entirely consistent withthe use of natural panned gold that had not been deliberately alloyed or purified.While the ED-XRF results on the bracelets are consistent with the micro SR-XRF resultson Transylvanian native gold samples, in general the bracelets have a higher proportion ofcopper. This might be related to the presence of accompanying minerals in gold dust andnuggets - e.g. chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) (Hauptmann et al. 1995) or to the processing of theraw material by craftsmen also working with bronze. Given the high copper content of

Bracelet 8, for example, the possibility that a tin bronze was used to alloy the gold cannotbe excluded (Dube 2006). The varying amounts of tin imply that the bracelets were most


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The Sarmizegetusa hracelets

Vi

1000000

100000 -

10000 -

1000 -

10 300Energy (keV)

Figure 12. Micro SR-XRF spectrum of a sample of alluvial gold fiom Valea Ariejului.

as shown by results from different regions of the same armband. This implies that thegoldsmiths were not using an advanced technology: most likely, a mixture of gold nuggetsand gold dust was melted down without being perfectly homogenised (Raub 1995).According to a theory much publicised in the media, the bracelets could have beenproduced in modern times from metal obtained from melting ancient gold coins (Dacian

staters of KOSON type, Lysimachus staters struck by craftsmen in the Creek towns onthe western Black Sea coast - Tomis, Callatis, Istros - or late Roman Republican aurei).However, the analyses performed so far on coins of the aforesaid types shows that in alinstances the goldfinenessof the Greek and Roman coinage was much higher (> 9 5 % gold)2000).

Method of manufactureThe primary technique for manufacturing all of the bracelets was the cold hammering ofa rectangular-shaped gold ingot (Figure 14), while their decoration was made by punchingand engraving (Deppert-Lippitz 2008; Oberlnder-Tarnoveanu & Constantinescu 2008).


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CD

Q _

1000000

100000

10000

1000

100

10 30 400

Energy (keV)Eigure 13. Micro SR-XRE spectrum of a primary (mined) gold fiom Valea Morii.

in using the raw material, implying that the ancient craftsmen had at their disposal largeam oun ts of gold (Dep pert-Lippitz 200 8).

The tools used to produce the artefacts were probably wooden or metallic hammerswrapped in animal hides, wooden anvils and a wooden cylinder to roll the bracelet. Toproduce the decorations, several punches, engraving chisels and a set of hemispherical orflat-edged pun cheo ns were used. The punches used to produ ce the palmettes were probablymade out of bronze using the lost-wax technique. A large number of slightly differentpunches were used, even for the same bracelet. Sometimes two (or more) punch strikes wereneeded to achieve the desired pattern. All the bracelets were manufactured using the sametools and techniques. The ancient goldsmiths mastered quite particular procedures, typicalof those used to produce Dacian jewellery from the fourth century BC to the first centuryA D . This technology seems nowadays lost and replication of such objects would present aserious challenge to a modern artisan.

Purpose and date


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Figure 14 . Snake's head on Bracelet 3 showing hammering.

It is possible that the gold Dacian bracelets were royal insignia or symbols of the authorityof a high priesthood. Some scholars have speculated that they were worn on the upper partof the arms. However, most of the spirals show no traces of wear, being more or less in thesame condition as when they left the workshop. Moreover, their large diameters and heavyweight would make wearing them on the upper arm rather uncomfortable. An exception isBracelet 12, the smallest so far recovered, which also has the highest number of spirals (ten).This object could fit the arm of a gracile woman or teenage boy.

On the other hand, based on the context of previously discovered Dacian silver hoards,one could suppose that the bracelets formed parts of ritual offerings. In favour of this ideais their discovery near the sacred area of Sarmizegetusa. The manner in which some ofthe bracelets were placed in a specially constructed pit and their careful arrangement (inpairs, the bracelets of small diameter being inserted in bracelets of larger diameter) (Ciuta2008) point towards an intentional deposit, rather than a quick concealment in times ofdanger. Therefore, the votive character of the deposit of such precious objects should notbe excluded.

Som e chronological evidence of the date of dep osition is provided by coins tha t were foun dwith some of the bracelets. T he Lysimachus-type staters belong to the late po sth um ou s seriesof these issues, struck by the Greek mints from Dobrogea (Tomis, Callatis and Istros) in thelate second century BC and the first decades of the first century B C, durin g the M ithridaticwars. The climax of the West Pontic golden coinage of Lysimachus-type coins was reachedduring 90-72 BC. The largest number of coins were tetradrachms of the second Thracian


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Bogdan Gonstantinescu et al.three decades ofthe second century and the first decade ofthe first century BG {c . 130-90BG) (Preda 1998).

Thus the evidence gathered so far implies that the Dacian gold bracelets were depositedaround the sacred area of Sarmizegetusa sometime during the first decades of the firstcentury BG. The same temporal frame (around 100-70 BG) is also supported by the generalchronology of similar silver bracelets, which are dated to not later than the first quarter ofthe first centu ry BG (Medelet 1994).

ConclusionIn spite of the fact that these precious objects were pillaged by criminals from a WorldHeritage site, we have learnt m uch about them and their context of deposition, and a certainnumber have now returned to Romania for safe-keeping and display. The authenticationprocess was both necessary and complex, involving the participation of a multi-disciplinaryteam of experts. The reward lays not only in the confirmation ofthe objects as ancient, butin new research.

Visual examination of the artefacts revealed strong stylistic analogies with silver Dacianbracelets ofthe same kind. The matt patina layer, as well as the reddish, black and greenspots resulting from the interaction ofthe bracelets during burial with the minerals presentin soil, were further argum ents in favour of their authenticity. Th e ED -XR F measu rementsdetermined compositions that were consistent with those of natural panned gold that hadnot been deliberately alloyed or purified, mixed with primary mined gold. The analysis ofthe physical properties of the artefacts, dimensions and weight as well as the marks left: bythe tools, revealed the technology used by the ancient goldsmiths: cold hammering followedby punching and chiselling.

The general circumstances of the deposition, as so far ascertained, imply that thesebracelets were components of votive offerings in association with the sacred centreat Sarmizegetusa Regia. But better understanding can only come from the scientificarchaeological investigation of deposits that will hopefiilly be kept safe for futureresearch.

ReferencesBERBELEAC, 1. \985. Zcminte deaur. Bucuteti:Editura Tehnic (in Rom anian).ClUTA. M. 2008. Considetations tegatding anatchaeological context discoveted at SarmizegetusaRegia: an atchaeological-fotensic ex perimen t, in A .L azt, B. Deppert-L ippitz &c P.G. Fetti (ed.)Com bating the criminality against the Europeanarchaeological heritage. Proceedings ofthe

International Conference on C ombating theCriminality against the European ArchaeologicalHeritage, Alba Mia, 28-31 May 2007: 190-202.

COJOCARU, V. 200 7. O n the ptovenance of ancient goldtreasures discoveted in Romania, in C. Degtigny, R.van L angh, 1. Joosten & B. A nkersmit (ed.)METAL 2007: 1. When archaeometry an dconservation meet: interim meeting ofthe ICOM -CCMetal W G, Amsterdam, 17-21 September 2007:45-52. A msterdam: Rijksmuseum A msterdam.CO JO CA RU, V ., B . CO NSTA NTINESCU, 1. TEFANESCU &C.-M. PETOLESCU. 2000. ED-XRF and PAAanalyses of Dacian gold coins of'koson' type.

Journal of Radioanalyticalan d Nuclear Chemistry246(1): 185-90.


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The Sarmizegetusa braceletsDAicovrciu, C. & H. D A I C O V I C I U . 1963.

Sarmizegethusa: les citadelles et les agglomerationsdaciques des Monts d'Orastie. Bucarest: EdituraMeridiane (in French).

DAICOVICIU, H. 1972. Dada de la Burebista la cucerirearomana. Cluj-Napoca: Editura Dacia (inRomanian).

DEPPERT-LIPPITZ , B. 2008. Dakische Goldspiralen ausden Ortie Bergen, in A. Lazr, B. Deppert-Lippitz& P.G. Ferri (ed.) Combating the crim inality againstthe European archaeological heritage. Proceedings ofthe International Conference on Com bating theCriminality against the European ArchaeologicalHeritage, Alba lulia, 28-31 May 2007: 246-88.Bucharest: Lumina Lex (in German).

DuBE, R.K. 2006. Interrelation between gold and tin: ahistorical perspective. Gold Bulletin 39(3): 103-13.H A U P T M A N N , A., TH. R E H R E N & E. P E R N I C K A . 1995.T he com position of gold from theancient miningdistrict ofVerespatak/Roia Montana, Romania, inG. M orteani & J.P. N orthover (ed.) Prehistoric gold

in Europe mines, metallurgy and manufacture:369-81 . Berlin: Springer.MEDELET, E 1994. in legtura cu o mare spiral dacicdin argint aflata n Muzeul Nacional din Belgrad.

Analele Banatului 3: 192-230 (in Romanian).

O B E R L X N D E R - T R N O V E A N U , E. & B.CONSTANTINESCU. 2008. Surface andcompositional analyses regarding the genuineness ofsome 2"' ' - l" century BCDacian gold braceletsfound at Sarmizegetusa Regia, during illegalmetal-detectoring works: exploring the limits of theclassical andmodern type forensic investigations inthe case of the archaeological artefacts, inA. Lazr,B. Deppert-Lippi tz & P.G. Ferri (ed.) Combatingthe criminality against the European archaeologicalheritage. Proceedings of the International Conferencon C ombating the Criminality against the EuropeanArchaeological Heritage, Alba lulia, 28-31 May2007: 327-33. Bucharest: Lumina Lex.

PERNICKA, E. 1986. Provenance determination of metalartifacts: methodological considerations. NuclearInstruments and Methods in Physics Research SectioB: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms 14:24-9.

PREDA, C . 19 9 8. Istoria monedei in Dacia preroman.Bucurejti: Editura Enciclopdica (in Romanian).RAUB, C H . J. 1993. The metallurgy of gold and silver inprehistoric times, in G. Morteani & J .P . Northover(ed.) PrehistoricgoU in Europe mines, metallurgyand manufacture: 243-59. Berlin: Springer.T Y L E C O T E , R.H. 1987. Th e early history of metallurgy i

Europe. London; New York: Longman.


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Sarmizegetusa bracelets

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