Jet necklace

Printer-friendly version

Jet necklace, Bronze Age 4,000 years ago

Field collection: Pitreuchie Farm, Forfar, Angus

Loaned by Mrs Graham
Museum number: 1969-254

Jet was important in the Bronze Age, perhaps for its electrostatic properties Objects such as jet necklaces and bracelets have been found in some Scottish Bronze Age burials. True jet comes only from Whitby in Yorkshire It appears that the jet beads in this necklace was worked by skilled craftsmen before it left Whitby, though repairs made locally have been observed. Sometimes the locally available cannel coal or shale was used as a substitute for jet in Scotland. This necklace consists of different forms of beads, some of which are cannel coal. It may have been assembled from parts of different necklaces.