Earrings (1)

The goat-heads are formed in embossed sheet gold halves (left and right) and are detailled. The eyes were probably once enamelled. The necks are decorated with filigree. The hoop is formed of plain wires all hammered into a single wire at the point. The loop in the goat's mouth links to the end of the hoop.

Representations of woman wearing similar earrings on terracottas and bronze mirrors suggest that most of these earrings were worn with the head at the front but upside-down.

Lion-head earrings are the earliest type in the long series of animal-head hoop earrings. They seem to have been first developped in Etruria (Italy) but have been found everywhere in the Greek world.