Fashion by rituals: Rosette glass beads found in Sarmatian and Sântana de Mureș-Chernyakhov cultures (1st c. BC – 4th c. AD)

Abstract

This paper will analyse the rosette glass beads (TM XXIII/362) found extra and intra Carpathian Basin, especially in graves belonging to the so-called Sarmatian and Sântana de Mureș-Chernyakhov cultures, during the 1st c. BC – 4th c. AD. I will also discuss to the possible origins of these types of beads: production within the borders of the Roman Empire and outside the Empire – in Pontic workshops or native production in Barbaricum. The manner of wearing the rosette beads will be another important topic, since they appear in rich female graves, probably the funerary features of female elite. Regularly they are accompanied by other polychrome beads and Roman products, especially enamelled brooches or disc-shape brooches.