Description

When the dead man was found in grave 1 of Glauberg, the excavators discovered two small rings made of gold wire in the area of his head. With diameters of less than 8 millimeters and a maximum wire thickness of 1.45 millimeters, their use as earrings seems questionable. Surprisingly, comparable rings appear sporadically in the graves of high-ranking personalities from the 6th to 4th centuries BC in southwest Germany. BC. The gold rings seem to have had a certain function as a display of power. This thesis may be supported by the fact that they were also recovered individually, so wearing them in pairs was not a given. The small gold rings were not just at ear level. Their location near the shoulder or neck, together with their small diameters, argue against their use as earrings. It is possible that men wore them as a decoration for fine braids to indicate that they belonged to an elite group.