Glass beads of ram head shape from the Iron Age

Abstract

This article compiles the coloured ram head beads from the Lower Carniola Hallstatt Culture/Dolenjsko group which represent the »highlights« of Hallstatt glass making. The figural beads first appear in the 6th century BC, the majority dates to the 5th century BC and latest examples still occur in the phase Lt B2. The main distribution concentrates on the Southern part of Lower Carniola/Dolenjsko. Interestingly, roughly at the same time ram head beads also appear in the Mediterranean basin where they are supposed to be produced by the Phoenicians or respectively Carthaginians. Some evidence indicates a slightly earlier date of the Carthaginian-Phoenician beads and the possibility that the Slovenian beads derive from these prototypes. Several details show that the Slovenian ram head beads were produced locally. Finally the assumption that wearing ram head beads goes back to an Egyptian tradition stands to reason.