The Technology of Loop-in-Loop Chains in the Third Millennium B. C. Author(s): Fotini Athanassopoulos, Eleni Banou, Nanita E.

Barchi, Melanie Ellis, Lucinda Rasmussen McCallum, Jacqueline A. Nash and Cynthia G. Orr Reviewed work(s): Source: American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 87, No. 4 (Oct., 1983), pp. 547-548 Published by: Archaeological Institute of America Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/504113 . Accessed: 22/01/2013 11:26
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1983]

ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTES

547

vase and several East Greek vessels, for examFrancois ple, belong to Hephaistos returning to Olympos on a mule.28 Similarly, Amazons are occasionally portrayed riding on skins in Classical vase painting."9The kalypter riders should therefore probably be regarded as gods.30 Unlike the saddle tree, a cloth does not aid the rider in getting on or off the horse. Hence the majority of Greek horsemen may have believed that to use saddle-cloths was to succumb to an extravagant Oriental fashion which at the end of the sixth century came to be identified, even more adversely, with the Persian host. Nonetheless in some city states the cavalryman's equipment could have included a showy saddle-cloth.31The adoption of Thracian dress by Athenian horsemen would serve as an analogy to such a regional practice. The evidence from Sicily is not conclusive in this regard. The value of colorful saddle-cloths as emblems of certain distinguished individuals, however, should not be underestimated, since the Dorian aristocrats of the West may have availed themselves of saddle-cloths to display their high position in society.
GEORGE SZELIGA 512 ELLIS STREET NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT 06051

tamia, and Egypt, and on Lemnos and Crete. Although the loop-in-loop chain has been discussed from a stylistic viewpoint,' because of the foreign contacts implied by the goldworking tradition of which it is a part,2 the technology of the system has rarely been investigated in detail.3 The exception is Higgins' microscopicexamination of chains from the "Aegina Treasure."4 In Anatolia this type of chain is found on gold diadems, pendants and earrings from Troy and the Troad,5 and two earrings from nearby Poliochni on Lemnos.6 Mesopotamian examples were recoveredfrom the Royal Cemetery at Ur, most from Early Dynastic tombs, with a few others found in Predynastic and Sargonid graves.7 Here they are mainly used in head ornaments consisting of two lengths of gold chain attached to a wire holding large and small beads of lapis lazuli, carnelian and gold. One Dynasty VI loop-in-loop chain is known from

THE TECHNOLOGY

OF LOOP-IN-LOOP B.C.*

CHAINS IN THE THIRD MILLENNIUM (Pl. 70, figs. 2-3)

The loop-in-loop attachment system produces a distinctive type of chain first known from gold jewelry of the middle phases of the Early Bronze Age (pl. 70, fig. 2). Early examples have been found in Anatolia, Mesopo28 F. Brommer, Hephaistos (Mainz vase: pl. 1978)-Francois 1, 2; black figure amphorain Zurich:pl. 11, 4; North Ionic dinos: vase does not have scalpl. 11, 3. Since the cloth on the Francois loped edges, it cannotbe regardedsimply as an iconographicdetail borrowedfrom East Greece. 29Anderson(supra n. 1) 80. 30These riders are discussedin my dissertationThe Dioskouroi on the Roof. Archaicand Classical EquestrianAcroteriain Sicily and SouthItaly (Bryn Mawr College 1981) passim. 31 B.S. Ridgway rightly surmisesthat on some equestrianstatues the saddle-clothmay have been representedin paint.

Ill. 1. Method of bending individual links to produce the loop-in-loop system. (Drawing N. Barchi)
2 For the implications of the foreign contacts, and for bibliography, see J.V. Canby, "EarlyBronzeAge Trinket Moulds,"Iraq 27 (1965) 51; G. Bass, "A Hoard of Trojan and SumerianJewelry,"AJA 74 (1970) 338-41. 3 Mention has, however, been made of the casting of chains in Greece:DarSag 1.2 (1918) 968-69. 4 The "AeginaTreasure"consistsof gold ornamentsof doubtful provenance and unusual style. The loop-in-loop chains in this group are made of individualloops of wire solderedtogether.R.A. Higgins, The Aegina Treasure(London 1979) 56 and fig 56. 1 Troy: H. Schliemann,Ilios: The City and Countryof the Trojans (New York 1881, reissued 1968) nos. 685, 686, 687, 768, 769, 770, 771, 822, 823, 832, 833, 847. The Troad: Bass (supra n. 2) pl. 85, figs. 3, 4, 5, 6, and pl. 86, fig. 19. 6 L. Bernab6 Brea, "A Gold Treasure Comparable with the 'Great Treasure' of Troy: A RemarkableDiscoveryfrom a 4500year-old Site on the Isle of Lemnos,"ILN 231 (Aug. 3, 1957) 197, figs. 12-15. 7 C.L. Woolley, Ur Excavations2: The Royal Cemetery(New York 1934) 527 and 588, pls. 159b (cat. no. U.8002) and 146 (cat. nos. U.13793, U.13794, and U.13796 A and B).

* This note results from a seminarat the Universityof Pennsylvania, "Aegean Technology in the Bronze Age," Spring 1982, taught by Dr. Philip P. Betancourt.Many thanks are extendedto Dr. Betancourtfor his valuable assistancein this project,to Dr. G. Roger Edwards for permissionto study the examples in the University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, and to Nicholas Hartmann for taking the photographs. I A good generaldiscussionis given by R.A. Higgins, Greekand RomanJewellery2(London 1980) 14-15.

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548

AMERICAN JOURNALOF ARCHAEOLOGY

[AJA87

type are known from several Cretan sites (Ayia Triada, Mochlos, Platanos and Sphoungaras).9 To make this chain a circular link is pinched in the center to form a narrow oblong shape. It is then bent to a U-shape. A second elliptical link is turned sideways and passed through the upper looped ends of the first link; it is then turned ninety degrees and folded into a U-shape. The next link would be threaded through this one, and so on, until the chain is completed (ill. 1). A significant advantage of this technique is the increased strength of the chain. By eliminating any joints, except at the ends, the chance of breakage is greatly reduced. The third millennium chains are made in a miniature technique, with individual links 3 to 3.5 mm. in diameter. In order to ascertain the techniques used to manufacture the loop-in-loop chains, the earrings from the Troad in the University Museum'o were examined under a binocular microscope (10x-60x). This observation indicated a complete uniformity in the size of the links, with no joints in the links themselves. In a very few cases, a "lip"could be seen where the gold evidently ran over the side of the mold (pl. 70, fig. 3), indicating that the links were individually cast, despite their small size. Probably the goldsmith first prepared an open mold by making a series of shallow, circular drillings with a hollow reed and an abrasive. The technology for drilling such a mold existed among seal cutters and bead makers as early as the Jemdet Nasr period in Mesopotamia, ca. 3000 B.C.1"Since the amount of gold would be too small to be poured, it would need to be placed in the circular cavities in some other form, such as a row of the same tiny globules used for gold granulation (a technique which appears on many of the same pieces which use loop-in-loop chains). With heating, the globules would melt to form the individual links. By casting the component parts of loop-in-loop chains, goldsmiths could rather quickly produce a chain of uniformly sized links. The inherent malleability of gold would also facilitate the process of bending. The end product was not only aesthetically attractive, but
8 W.M.F. Petrie, The Arts and Crafts of Ancient Egypt (London

Egypt (from Mahasnah).sPendantsand chainsof this

also had greater durability than chains made with gold wire. The fact that this rather complex type of chain was found in several distinct geographical regions offers further evidence for interconnections in this early period. If investigation reveals that the same technique was used for all these third millennium chains, a solid technological bond among Early Bronze Age jewelry hoards from the Aegean and the Near East might be assumed.
ELENI FOTINI ATHANASSOPOULOS, BANOU,NANITA E. BARCHI,MELANIE ELLIS, LUCINDA RASMUSSEN

A. MCCALLUM, JACQUELINE NASH,

CYNTHIAG. ORR CLASSICAL ARCHAEOLOGY UNIVERSITY MUSEUM UNIVERSITY PENNSYLVANIA OF PENNSYLVANIA PHILADELPHIA, 19104

ETRUSCAN FILIGREE: WELDING TECHNIQUES OF TWO GOLD BRACELETS FROM VETULONIA* (Pls. 71-72)
Electron microprobe analysis, which was used to study the granulation on two Etruscan artifacts from Marsiliana d'Albegna,' has also been applied to two filigree bracelets from tombs at Vetulonia. The aim was to understand the technique of joining the various wires which compose the filigree. One of the main technical problems in making openwork patterns without a background lies in successfully welding all the separate wires, which are not always in continuous contact with one another.2 Serpentine and plait wires, made by twisting thin strips of metal sheet, did not have a uniform thickness.3 Also, the wires had to be set in patterns freehand, so that the spacing of the wires was not always the same.4
Expedition 22.1 (1979) 29.

1910) fig. 94. 9 Ayia Triada: L. Banti, "La grande tomba a tholos di Haghia Triada," ASAtene 13-14 (1930-1931) 195 fig. 63 top. Mochlos: New York 1912) figs. 11.II.19 (fifth from left), 11.11.30,11.11.35, 20.IV.14, 25.IV.31 a and b, 43.XIX.20, and 43.XIX.22; C. Davaras, "Early Minoan Jewellery from Mochlos,"BSA 70 (1975) pl. 21a; Higgins (supra n. 1) pl. 2d (British Museum No. 26.31.419), provenancenot stated. Platanos: S. Xanthoudides, The Vaulted Tombsof Mesara (London 1924) pl. 57, 484. Sphoungaras:H.E. 10For the objects,see Bass (supra n. 2). This investigativetechnique has provensuccessfulin past studiesof similar problems:see Higgins (supra n. 4). 1 H. Frankfort,CylinderSeals (London1939) pl. 6j; L. Gorelick and A.J. Gwinnett, "AncientSeals and Modern Science,"ExpediHall, Excavations in Eastern Crete (Philadelphia 1912) fig. 24. R.B. Seager, Explorations in the Island of Mochlos (Boston and

tion 20.2 (1978) 41; L. Gorelick, "AncientLapidaryTechniques,"

* We wish to thank Dr. G. Gavelli for performingthe microprobeanalysis. I P. Parrini, E. Formigli and E. Mello, "Etruscan Granulation: Analysis of Orientalizing Jewelry from Marsiliana d'Albegna," AJA 86 (1982) 118-21. 2 About the phases and techniques in the making of filigree bracelets:E. Formigli, "L'anticatecnica dei braccialia filigrana," StEtr 44 (1976) 203-10. 3 Formigli (supra n. 2) 204; and "Modi di fabbricazione filo di metallico nell'oreficeriaetrusca," StEtr 47 (1979) 281-92, with und ihre bibliography;E. Foltz, "AntikeGoldschmiedetechniken Jacobi, "Drahtzieheisender Latenezeit,"Germania57 (1979) 11. 4 Formigli (supra n. 2) 205.
Erkennung," Arbeitsblitterfiir Restauratoren 2 (1981) 60-62; G.

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PLATE

70

SZELIGA;

ATHANASSOPOULOS

ET

AL.

Zi

A of

: . -: ::. :..........::

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FIG. i. Gela, Athenaion,fragmentof a kalypter. (After L. Bernab) Brea, ASAlene 27-29 [1949-195 1176 fig. 74)

;"

5
16

Ij
FIG. 2. Earrings allegedly from the Troad using loop-in-loop chains. University Museum nos. 66-6-3a-b, University of Pennsylvania. (MASCA photo by N. Hartmann)

C At *Ulw~

cm3~

2"

:-41,

FIG. 3. Earrings allegedly from the Troad, closeup of the links on no. 66-6-3a. Note the lip from casting (arrow). (MASCA photo by N. Hartmann)

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