Temple ring

A temple ring is an ornament that hangs from a headdress or in braids of hair in the front area at the side of the head – i.e. near a person's anatomical temple. Temple rings were part of Slavic, Scandinavian and others' medieval women's dress. Most were made of base metals such as copper alloys or iron, though silver and even gold were occasionally used. These were known as temple rings because they were worn on the head, near the temples of a woman or a girl.

History
The earliest temple rings were found in burials of the Catacomb and Unetice cultures, as well as in the burials of Mycenae and Troy of the Bronze Age. In the east, temple rings are found in burials of the Karasuk culture.

In a later era, temporal rings characterize the burials of the Chernoles culture.

However, temple rings reached their true peak and diversity in the Slavic culture of the Middle Ages (8th-12th centuries). There is evidence that the design of the rings could have been influenced by Arab and Byzantine culture. The lunar temple rings of the "Nitransk type" found in the Gnezdovo burial mounds and the Monastyrek settlement testify to the familiarity of Dnieper craftsmen with the Great Moravian jewelry tradition.

Slavic temple rings, like other jewelry, began to penetrate into Scandinavia from the second half of the 10th century, possibly together with their wearers, and as a means of payment - most of these ornaments were found in the form of scrap. Also in the late Middle Ages, temple rings were found in burials in the territory of the North Caucasus (in Karachay-Cherkessia and Ingushetia).

Among the temple rings found in the Croatian burial grounds of the Istrian peninsula, wire rings of small diameter were widespread. The ends of many of them were wrapped in small loops, with the help of which they were connected. In addition, head rings with a pendant in the form of a bunch of grapes, as well as two- and three-bead rings with filigree beads were widespread.

Slavic temple rings
Temple rings were characteristic decorations of Slavic women. Different tribes had their own designs and they were made out of various metals. The rings were attached to a string that became part of a headdress or they were woven directly into braids of hair. The earliest archeological evidence of temple rings was found in the Catacomb culture, Únětice culture and Karasuk culture. Later they were also found in the Chernoles culture. Temple rings were most popular between the 8th and 12th centuries, possibly influenced by the Arab and Byzantine cultures.

In later fashion styles, a temple ring was replaced by the kolt hanging from a ryasna.

European temple rings
Early ray temple rings, which served as prototypes for the seven-ray and seven-bladed adornments of the Radimichi and Vyatichi, are of Danube origin. These include the rings of the Zaraysk hoard of the 9th century, among which there are five-ray rings with false granulation on the shield and three balls at the ends of each ray, and seven-ray rings with one ball at the ends of the rays. The seven-ray rings of the Poltava hoard (9th century) also belong to this group of temple adornments.

Close to the Zaraysk ones is the temple ring with seven sharp rays found at the Novotroitsk settlement (9th century). The Novotroitsk rings, probably cast on site, copy adornments brought from the Danube region. The seven-ray temple ring of the Khotomel settlement in the Pripyat Polesie dates back to the 8th-9th centuries. Ray rings of the same appearance were also found at the Gornal settlement of the Romenskoye culture, at the Titchikha settlement of the Borshchevskoye culture in the Voronezh Don region, in Kvetun near Trubchevsky, as well as at the Gnezdovo settlements near Smolensk and Supruty in the Upper Oka region. In general, they are dated to the 9th-10th centuries, the Gnezdovo find to the turn of the 9th and 10th centuries.

The first temple rings in Eastern Europe were bronze spirals dating back to the 3rd-4th millennia BC (Trypillian culture). By the 8th-9th centuries AD, they had become so popular among the West Slavic tribes that they were considered typical Slavic jewelry. Gradually, the fashion for temple rings spread to the Eastern Slavs, reaching its peak in the 11th-12th centuries. Slavic women hung temple rings from their headdress (crown, povoy) on ribbons or straps that framed their faces. Different tribes had their own characteristic forms. The rings were hung on ribbons or straps from the headdress, sometimes stuck into a ribbon or strap, sometimes fixed directly into the hair or threaded through the earlobe. They were made of silver, bronze, copper.

kabłąki was first used in 1883 in Poland, to describe an object in the shape of an open ring bent into a bow with one end formed into an S-shaped ear. In the late 1940s, it was recognized that the distinguishing feature of this type of jewelry is the way it is worn. Thus, these are metal objects used to decorate the head, worn around the temples, and this is where they got their name.

Temple rings were an ornament for women and young girls. Only in exceptional cases were they found in male graves, but their location indicates that they were placed in the graves as a gift, not as an ornament. In female burials they are found near the skull, most often singly on one or both sides of it. However, they also often appear in larger quantities, even up to 11 pieces, and then there are more pieces on one temple than on the other.

The method of wearing temple rings can be inferred from the finds of rings together with fragments of leather, fabric and Iniany strings. Holes were cut in the leather or fabric strip through which the rings were threaded. The S-shaped ear prevented the ornament from slipping out of the headband. If several pieces were to be placed in the headband, the holes were made one after the other. Another method of attaching the rings was to sew them or tie them to the headband with string. In some burials, both methods of attaching the rings were observed, i.e. they were threaded through holes in the foreheads (bands) and additionally attached with string.

The basic raw material for making temple rings was bronze and silver. Slightly less frequently, lead and tin or an alloy of both metals were used for their production.

African temple rings
Africa offers examples of jewelry that are an intermediate between a temple ring and an earring: suspended at the temple, the jewel also passes through the ear.

Types of temple rings

	Type	Ethnic origin	Description	Region	Time period
	Seven rays	Ramensk, Radimichs, Severians		Kursk Oblast	8th–12th centuries
	Braceleted	Krivichs	Wire rings with a diameter of 5 to 10 cm, with the ends tied in a knot. Sometimes additional dandles or bangles were added to the ring.	Vitebsk Region Minsk Region Pskov Oblast, Kaluga Oblast, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Ryazan Oblast Smolensk Oblast	5th–7th centuries
	Shield	Ilmen Slavs	bronze rings with the shape of a lozenge either hammered into the ring or attached.	Gatchinsky District Novgorod Oblast.
	Seven blades	Vyatichi		Moscow Oblast
	Spiral	Severians		Kursk Oblast Poltava Oblast
	Three beads	Dregovichs		Kyiv Oblast Chernihiv Oblast

Sourced from Wikipedia