A child burial with a necklace from the Triangle cemetery in Prague-Střešovice

Abstract

The Triangle cemetery in Prague-Střešovice was the only preserved part of the great burial site from the 9th–10th century AD; this site was partially destroyed beginning in the 18th century by the extraction of clay for the Strahov brick factory. A total of 49 graves, all dated to the 10th century, were uncovered in the preserved part of the cemetery in 2012. Children’s grave no. 16 was the richest of the children’s graves and the second richest of all graves in the cemetery. A total of 19 silver jewels were found in the grave: kaptorga – amulet container, beads, hollow spherical pendants – gombiks. A technical study was performed to describe the construction of the different types of jewels and identify the material used to manufacture them. The artefacts were examined with a stereomicroscope, subjected to X-ray radiography and observed and analysed with scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (SEM/EDS). A replica provided practical information about the time of realisation of each type of jewel. Analogies from the technical and thematic points of view were further searched. The set of jewellery comes from the production of the Prague workshop which enriched the tradition of Great Moravian jewellery with new elements inspired by cultural influences from the west, east and south.