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24342, 24343, 24344). There are another three bracelets with narrowed terminals and a
broadened bow (TMR 24337, 24338, 24339, 24340).
Hollow bracelets are a characteristic Liv female ornament form.
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They include
heavy cast examples, as well as hammered pieces. Cast solid bracelets with a plane-convex
cross-section are known in Scandinavia already in the 7th century; later they are decorated
with a plaited band design that also became widespread on the eastern shore of the Baltic.
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In the view of Vladislavs Urtāns, the hollow bracelets from the area of present-day Latvia
developed after the example of the heavy cast hollow bracelets of Gotland.
12
In contrast to
the heavy, cast, hollow bracelets made of bronze, among the hammered bracelets there are
also examples in silver.
13
Hammered bronze bracelets with narrowed terminals represent
the most widespread bracelet form in the Lower Daugava area. Silver bracelets sometimes
also occur with burials. Thus, silver bracelets have been found with four burials (120, 161,
296 and 309) at the cemetery of Salaspils Laukskola.
14
Hollow bracelets with narrowed ter-
minals were also worn by the Gauja Livs. Here, the light forms of the hollow bracelets were
in use.
15
According to the classification of Roberts Spirģis, the hollow bracelets of the Ra-
gana Hoard correspond to Variant 3d of this type, having parallels with finds from Burial
161 at Salaspils Laukskola,
16
Burial 113 at Doles Rauši and the cemetery of Aizkraukle.
Based on these grave inventories, the bracelets may be dated to the late 12th century.
17
Silver bracelets also occur in hoards. Fragments of two narrow, hollow bracelets are known
from the Ipši Hoard, found in the vicinity of Ogre and dated to the second half of the 11th
century.
18
Hollow bracelets in silver are also known from silver hoards in Estonia. Four
bracelets were found together with one Arabic dirham, 135 German coins, 14 English coins
and 3 Danish coins in the Paimre Hoard (present-day Paimvere), not far from Soontagana
Hill-Fort in Estonia. It is significant that this hoard also includes a circular shield-like pen-
dant with a geometric design and cross motif, completely analogous to a pendant from the
Ragana Hoard (TMR 24346). The Paimre Hoard is dated to the second half of the 11th or
early 12th century.
19
Bracelets with a broad bow have been found in Barrows 7 and 13 at Allažu Saknītes-
Atvasītes, dated to the 11th/12th centuries. Developing from the Liv hollow bracelets, forms
with a broadened bow developed further in the Estonian lands in the 12th century, both on
Saaremaa and the Estonian mainland. Whereas in the late 12th century bracelets no longer
occur with female burials in the Vidzeme region, in Estonia they become broader and are
decorated with triangle and circle designs – the “wolf ’s tooth” motif.
20
Silver bracelets with
a broad bow and narrowed terminals occur in the Muhu Hoard in Estonia, dated to the
late 12th / early 13th century.
21
In Latvia, two hollow bracelets with a broad bow have been
Guntis Zemītis
• Ornaments of the Krimuldas Ragana Hoard
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