Study of Findings from the Artemision at Ephesos

In the course of the publication "The Peripteros and the Eastern Area/Section" the project "Beads and Pendants from the Artemision of Ephesos" aims at both a systematic registration and a scientific documentation of all objects within this particular area. In the first instance the whole spectrum of the - so far only fragmentarily investigated - group of finds is to be presented according to typologic criterions. As the beads and pendants from Artemision have been excavated stratigraphically, it is possible to provide a relative sequence of single particular types within closed complexes. This favourable precondition permits gaining new aspects in chronology which can be compared and discussed within supra-regional chronologies. In addition comparisons with finds from other sanctuaries should help to clarify the place of origin and the spreading of the beads and pendants. They also can give further information about the international importance of the sanctuary and about cultural contacts. The origin of the beads and pendants and the method of their manufactoring can`t be traced out only by the means of archeological observation/studies. Physico-chemical analyses should bring new results in these points. For the purpose of a technological analysis, ethnological comparative studies will have to be applied. The analyses of the function and the highly symbolic importance of the beads as well as the reconstruction of the way they were worn is one of the central points of the project. It is a declaired aim within these studies to explain the importance of the beads -finery in the attire of the gods and goddesses of the Artemision. The study of the beads and pendants from the Artemision should contribute to a better understanding of their roles in all fields of religious/spiritual and profane life.