"Thousands of prehistoric graves exist in vast cemeteries throughout Bosnia and the Herzegovinaâsimilar ones are found in Servia, Montenegro, and High Albania. They yield many bronze and iron objects of the highest interest, for the patterns are still worn, or have been till recently, by the peasants of Bosnia, Servia, Albania, even of Bulgaria. The rayed ball or circle is not only a common pattern in silver, but is also a traditional tattoo pattern (see illustration)."
High Albania by Edith Durham
Top: Pair of earrings with a green stone in the centre and small balls arranged around it in a star pattern. Pitt Rivers Museum. Sarajevo, Bosnia. Collected in c. 1906 by Edith Durham.
Middle: (1) Silver gilt earring decorated with coral beads. V&A Museum. Bulgaria. Made in c. 1850 and acquired in 1872 at the International Exhibition in London.
(2) Silver earring shaped like a half wheel with beads on the ends of the spokes. V&A Museum. Jerusalem. Made in c. 1850-1870 and acquired for the Museum in Jerusalem in 1873. "The design is more typical of the kind of earring worn in the Balkans, particularly in Bulgaria, than those from the Syrian region. It is possible that it was an import, brought by a pilgrim to the Holy City, but it is equally likely to have been made locally."
Bottom: Illustration from High Albania by Edith Durham, 1909.
1. Prehistoric Bronze Ornament, Bosnia (Sarajevo Museum, Sjeversko, T. 2).
2. Modern Silver Earring, of type common to Bosnia, Servia, Bulgaria, and Kosovo Vilayet.
3, 4, 5, 6. Common Catholic Bosnian Tattoos.
