As I’ve been saying before, throughout human history, we have enjoyed dressing up and wearing beautiful things. Such items were not necessarily just beautiful to look at, they also said something about the status and rank of the person wearing them. Fine objects could also be used for trading, and to make powerful alliances.

During the Roman period, the demand for beautiful, high quality objects was growing in Scandinavia. Objects in which could show status and rank was really in demand. Some of the finest goldsmiths could produce were small elaborate drop-shaped pendants in gold called berlokk. A berlokk is a small, pear-shaped piece of jewelry, like a pendant. The word berlokk comes from the French word “breloque” which means pendant.

There were many truly skilled craftsmen in Scandinavia at the time. The art of fine-smithing developed in a rapid speed in Scandinavia during the Roman period. The craftsmen, especially the smiths, were highly inspired by the Romans. The techniques they used, they had most likely learned from goldsmiths in the Roman Empire. However, they soon developed their own idiom and peculiar shapes, the design of the jewelry was distinctly Scandinavian. They mastered very advanced techniques such as filigree work and granulation techniques, and many of the objects they designed were fully on par with today’s goldsmith art. Some of the objects that the smiths made are just so nicely made that one struggles to recreate them today.

We don’t know if the craftsmen traveled from farm to farm to work or if the richer farms had their own craftsmen, but we do know that both the craftsmen and the objects they made were highly valued, and when we find these objects today, they can tell us a lot about the people in the graves or in the area.

The berlokks were, as far as we know, primarily worn by women from the upper strata of society. Most of the berlokks have been found in Østfold and Vestfold, but also several other places in southern Norway. By looking at other objects, such as beads, brooches and other objects connected to women, we know that these berlokks also were worn by women. One thinks the berlokks has to do with a kind of ‘husfrue’ or housewife, that it has been a kind of symbol of it. It seems that married women in particular have worn these pieces of jewelry.

Together with the berlokk they found two combs made of horn, to spindle whorls made of soapstone, two spindle whorls made of bronze, and two finger rings made of gold.

Photo 1: Combs (C7341), Ulla Schildt, KHM, CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 NO
Photo 2: Finger ring (C7345), Kirsten Helgeland, KHM, CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 NO
Photo 3: Spindle whorl (C7082), Ulla Schildt, KHM, CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 NO
Photo 4: Finger ring (C7331), Kirsten Helgeland, KHM, CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 NO

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Regardless of the gender of the person wearing these, they they tell about a very rich society during Roman times. It is first and foremost people with status in society who have owned these jewelries. It says something about the social environment in Østfold (where most of the berlokks have been found) at that time. Most likely it was a goldsmith with a workshop attached to a rich chief. According to the sources I have from 2015, there are approximately 25 charms found in Norway, seven of them originating from Østfold. They are dated between the years 50 to the year 150.

The berlokks are all very similar to each other, except for small individual differences. In general, the shape and filigree work are the same for all of them. Filigree is a form of intricate metalwork used in jewelry and other small forms of metalwork. It involves tiny beads or twisted threads, used alone or together in a combination, soldered together or to the surface of an object of the same metal and arranged in artistic motifs which may resemble lace. The word filigree is shortened from the earlier use of filigreen which derives from Latin “filum”, meaning thread and “granum”, meaning grain, in the sense of small bead.

Together with the berlokk they found two gold beads.
Beads C37688 a and b found together with berlokk C37688.

Photos by Kirsten Helgeland, KHM, CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 NO

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Some of the berlokks have a few details, others are very elaborate with a lot of decor. Common to them all is that they are teardrop-shaped or pear-shaped. Often there is a ring at the top so that the pendant could be hung on a string or a chain. Very often the ‘drop’ is divided into parts, both horizontally and vertically (as seen on six of the berlokks in the pictures above). Two or more thin twisted threads mark the division. In between the division, there is just the base of the teardrop and some details with another thin twisted thread forming an arch. In the lower part of the berlokks, there is something that looks like a cluster of grapes formed by bigger and smaller beads of gold.

Some berlokks have also been found that look a little different than the ‘standard’ berlokk.

Information:
UNIMUS
Norgeshistorie.no
NRK
NAOB Ordbok