Beads, Pendants and Charms: the Evil Eye Belief among the Greek and Indigenous Population of Taurica
Stolba V. F.
The article concerns the collection of beads and charms found at the necropolis of Panskoye I, the rural Greek site in the distant chora of Tauric Chersonesos. Their peculiar distribution pattern, with the majority of the finds deriving from child burials, as well as the prevalence of blue and eyed beads suggest that their role was hardly limited to serving as simple personal adornment. The archaeological and ethnographic data available indicate that these finds may be regarded as important evidence for deep-rooted religious superstitions (such as the evil-eye belief) among the ancient population of the northern Black Sea littoral. The cowrie-shell pendant which was found in child grave K39 M4 along with three glass beads furnishes further proof of this superstition. The shell, whose dome was broken off for suspension, belongs to the Monetaria (Cypraea) annulus L. species, also known as gold-ring cowrie, which is generally restricted to the Oman and East African coasts. Despite the attempts to view such shells as a symbol of womanhood, fertility, birth and wealth, the resemblance of their undersides to a half-closed human eye and the repeatedly suggested association of cowries with the vulva point towards their apotropaic purpose: to avert the influence of the evil eye. Other cowries found in the Greek and indigenous graves of the Pontic area most likely served as charms too – a function which they were supposed to have both during the lifetime of their owner and in the afterlife. The author argues that an apotropaic value might have also been tributed to a single crab’s claw found in grave K43 M3 of the Panskoe I Necropolis as well as to isolated finds of unnaturally deformed iron nails. Basing his work on the closed deposits and associated finds, the author suggests a number of adjustments to the chronology of several bead varieties.