Pietroasele treasure

The Pietroasele treasure (or the Petrossa treasure) found in Pietroasele, Buzău, Romania, in 1837, is a late fourth-century Gothic treasure that included some twenty-two objects of gold, among the most famous examples of the polychrome style of Migration Period art. Of the twenty-two pieces, only twelve have survived, conserved at the National Museum of Romanian History, in Bucharest: a large eagle-headed fibula and three smaller ones encrusted with semi-precious stones; a patera, or round sacrificial dish, modelled with Orphic figures [Campbell, Joseph. "The Masks of God: Creative Mythology". 1968.] surrounding a seated three-dimensional goddess in the center; a twelve-sided cup, a ring with a Gothic runic inscription, a large tray, two other necklaces and a pitcher. Their multiple styles, in which Han Chinese styles have been noted in the belt buckles, Hellenistic styles in the golden bowls, Sasanian motifs in the baskets, and Germanic fashions in the fibulae, [Herbert Kühn, "Asiatic Influences on the Art of the Migrations" "Parnassus" 9.1 (January 1937, pp. 13-16, 43) p. 14] are characteristic of the cosmopolitan outlook of the Cernjachov culture in a region without defined topographic confines.

When Alexandru Odobescu published his book on the treasure, [Odobescu, Alexandru, "Le Trésor de Petrossa", Paris, 1889-1900.] he considered that such magnificent work could only have belonged to Athanaric (died 381), leader of the Thervings, a Gothic people. Modern archaeologists cannot connect the hoard with such a glamorous name.

The treasure was shipped to Russia in December 1916, as German armies advanced through Romania in World War I, and was not returned until 1956.

ee also

* Ring of Pietroassa
* Romanian Treasure

Notes

External links

* [http://www.mnir.ro/ro/colectii/tezaur/Pietroasa/tezaur-Pietroasa-1.html Pietroasele treasure] , at the National Museum of Romanian History
* [http://www.mnir.ro/ro/colectii/tezaur/Pietroasa/tezaur-Pietroasa-foto.html Illustrations]
* [http://www.geocities.com/romaniancoins/500lei01pietroasa.html Coins depicting the treasure]
* [http://www.hp.uab.edu/image_archive/ujg/metalwork02.jpgA great gold eagle brooch]
*"Vivid: Romania through international eyes", Tim Judy, "The treasure of the Pietroasa" [http://www.vivid.ro/index.php/issue/77/page/archaeology/tstamp/0 Part I: December 2005] [http://www.vivid.ro/index.php/issue/78/page/archaeology/tstamp/1143716354 Part II: January 2006]