Metal

Bracelets from the Basarabi hoard (Dolj County)

MNIR
139637-139638
Medieval
14th - 15th century
silver
MNIR
 
 
 
  •  
     
     
    Bracelets from the Basarabi hoard (Dolj County)
     
    Text: Silviu Oța; photo: Marius Amarie.
     
     
    In 1963 a hoard was discovered in Basarabi, Dolj County, 150 m south from the Craiova-Calafat road, in the area of kilometer 76. The hoard, which had been placed in a ceramic recipient that was destroyed during agricultural works, comprised 561 coins issued during the reigns of Wallachian princes Mircea cel Bătrân (1386-1418) and Mihail (1418-1420) and four silver bracelets. 
    Two of the four bracelets reached the collection of the National History Museum of Romania, one is kept at the Museum of Oltenia and one was lost. 
    The bracelets in the collection of the National History Museum of Romania are each made of three rectangular, twisted silver bars. In each case, in the bare spaces resulted from the twisting of the bars, three silver spiraled wires were introduced. The ends of the bracelets were flattened through hammering and are trapezoidal. The bracelets were decorated using the filigree and granulation techniques. The space between the body of the bracelets and the extremities was marked by pasting a silver dome-shaped mass. On the sides of the bracelet ends a filigreed flattened wire was pasted, forming a frame. At the base of each end, there are three silver, distanced granules. The ends were divided in half into two registers through a tube-shaped bent wire. On each plaque there are other two frames made of small granules. Next to them, other granules forming triangles were pasted from place to place. Within each half of the bracelet ends was pasted an “S” made of filigree wire. On each end of the letter “S” was pasted a silver granule. Because of a deterioration, it can be seen that the whole decoration of the bracelet ends was made separately and then pasted on the trapezoidal flattened bars. One of the bracelets was bent.
    Pieces stylistically resembling the bracelets found in Basarabi were discovered, north of the Danube, in Banat (unknown discovery place) and Oltenia, in Jiana Mare. In the neighbouring areas of Romania, such bracelets were found in Bulgaria (Vidin and Arcar), northeastern Serbia (Juhor), Hungary (unknown discovery place). Also, a bracelet of this type, but with unknown place of discovery, is part of the National Museum of Serbia’s collection