The pendant is in the form of a water (?) bird, with a long neck and tail, and very short legs, stretched forward in the same line as the tail and belly. Its eyes are plastically rendered as two disc-shaped appendages. In the middle of its back there is a suspension ring. It was probably worn as an individual pendant or as part of a necklace or, even, as a belt ornament suspended maybe by a complex type of decorative chain.
It is solid (?) and cast. It stands out for its relatively large size and weight, as it approaches 10 cm in length and height, and weighs more than 300 grams.
It belonged to the Georgios Papailiakis Collection, which was donated to the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki by his heirs. Its provenance and finding circumstances remain unknown. However, its particular stylistic features allow us to date it to the Early Iron Age (1100/1000-700 BC), perhaps even a little later. Moreover, stylistically it resembles the bronze bird/cock pendants from Olynthos, making it likely that it was made locally, in Chalcidice.
This bird-shaped pendant belongs to the so-called “Macedonian Bronzes”, a large group of bronze artefacts that were used mainly as personal jewellery and ornaments for clothing, such as pendants, necklaces, collars, beads, pins, fibulae, bracelets, rings, accessories for belts, hair and headdress ornaments, etc. They were produced in Macedonia, the northwest Aegean and the south-central Balkans and they circulated from the Mediterranean South to the Balkan North, and from Italy to the Caucasus. They date back to the transition from prehistoric to historical times and, particularly, to the so-called Iron Age, the beginning of which is placed around 1100/1000 BC and its end around 700 BC, or the beginning of the 6th century BC, or even later.
The bird-shaped pendants, in particular, represent one the most numerous and diverse categories of the “Macedonian Bronzes”, with many distinct typological types and variations. Such bird pendants occurred in the Balkans and central Europe sporadically during the Late Bronze Age and much more frequently in the late Iron Age. They are also found in the Caucasus region and Persia. The great diversity that characterizes their geographical and temporal distribution also characterizes the interpretations about their origin or their perceived artistic influences, with some scholars considering them to be Paeonian, others Caucasian, and others Oriental.
You can see this bronze bird pendant (with the inventory no. ΜΘ 7250) in the temporary anniversary exhibition “Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki: 60 Years | 60 Moments” (thematic unit no. 14 “1976 |The Museum and its donors”).
