Neolithic Age (6800-3300 BC)

In Greece man's penchant for personal adornment can be traced back to remote prehistory. The earliest ornaments evidently appeared in the Palaeolithic Age, as some seashells pierced with suspension holes indicate. Regular jewellery - beads, pendants, earrings and bracelets - began to be produced in the Neolithic Age, mainly from .stone, clay, bone and seashell. Metal ornaments were extremely rare in this era.

Fig. 1 Gold earrings from Poliochni, Lemnos. (Athens, National Archaeological Museum, 7159). Mid-3rd millenium BC.

The stone ornaments are plain and of simple shapes, usually rings or small discs with a short pierced stem for suspension. They were used as pendants or earrings. Beads, bracelets and buttons were made of bone or shell. Notable are some Neolithic ornaments in gold and silver, such as the gold pendant from Sesklo in Thessaly and the gold strips and pendants from the Zas cave on Naxos and Aravyssos in. Macedonia. A gold bead has also been found in Macedonia, in the Neolithic settlement at Sitagroi. Silver beads and a pendant were found in the Alepotrypa cave at Diros, Mani.

Fig. 2 Silver bracelets from Leukas. (Athens, National Archaeological Museum, 6285). Mid-3rd millenium BC.

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