Fashion And Jewelry 429
As for true and proper jewelry, the pieces found in burials of the fourteenth
to sixteenth centuries were for the most part simple objects made of copper,
silver, gilt silver, and, rarely, gold. Shell, silver, and coral necklace beads of vari-
ous shapes have also emerged from cemeteries in Sardinia. Known as patreno-
stres, they were worn around the neck or waist. Small branches of uncut coral
were also used as a pendants, mounted on a silver cap. A particularly beautiful
and precious one was recently discovered in a woman’s grave from the late
fifteenth to mid-sixteenth century in the cemetery in the church of S. Michele
in Alghero.31 The coral pendant was considered a good luck charm, especially
around the necks of children, and is frequently depicted in paintings.
The most frequently recurring jewelry items in late medieval burials are
rings. In Sardinia, in addition to simple gold, silver, or bronze bands, uncapped
bronze thimbles with a dotted band are common. Also fairly widespread is a
type of ring with a conspicuous square, rectangular, oval, or circular setting.
The setting nearly always holds a piece of transparent, white, or deep red glass
in obvious imitation of a diamond or ruby (Fig. 16.11). These objects find lit-
tle comparative material in continental Italy and the village of Rougers.32 A
few examples, found both in the northern and southern part of the island in
31 Marco Milanese, ed., Lo scavo del cimitero di San Michele ad Alghero ( fine XIII–inizi XVII
secolo). Campagna di scavo giugno 2008–settembre 2009 (Ghezzano-Pisa, 2010), p. 153.
32 Demiens d’Archimbaud, Fouilles de Rougiers, pl. 479, nos. 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and fig. 480,
nos. 1–6.
Figure 16.10 Bronze circular belt buckles (14th–15th c.).