Adornments in Funeral Contexts: Analysis of a Necklace from the Bronze Age Cemetery at Cândești, Romania

The Cândești necropolis is currently the largest excavated Bronze Age necropolis in Romania, with approximately 800 graves. Notably, one grave from an earlier phase of the Monteoru culture (c. 2200–1850 BC) contained a remarkable necklace composed of 22 perforated gastropod shells and a metal pendant. Our investigation adopted an integrated approach, including taxonomic identification, taphonomic, technological and functional analyses, experimental studies, and physico-chemical investigations (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy) of the pigment traces present on the shells’s surface. For the metal pendant, X-Ray Fluorescence analysis was conducted to ascertain its elemental composition. The combined analysis yielded unexpected insights: the shells, belonging to the genus Conus, originated from the Mediterranean region. The perforations were not the result of anthropic intervention; rather, they were the result of natural processes, indicating that the shells were collected from thanatocoenoses. The shells were assembled into the necklace using a thread colored with a red pigment. The perforations show signs of prolonged use, suggesting that the necklace was not only a funerary offering. In conclusion, our study indicated that these exotic shells were collected post-mortem already perforated through a rubbing process in the seashore sediments, transported to the site from a distance, and prior to the death of the owner, had been previously worn as personal adornment before being deposited as grave goods.