On Tuesday, April 5, 2022, at 7:00 p.m., we’ll be having our monthly meeting virtually, featuring…
The Cultural History of Garnets—The First 4,000 Years
with Lisbet Thoresen
Members, watch your email for connection information!
The details…
Producing glyptic–carved seal stones, lapidary, beads, and inlays for jewelry and objects of decorative, votive, or practical utility was a huge industry for thousands of years. It is among the earliest craft industries in the world’s most ancient cultures. Garnets appeared quite early but infrequently until about the third century BC, when they began circulating widely throughout the ancient world via an international network of trade, with sources and routes of transmission shifting over time. An overview is presented on the historical and cultural setting for the use of garnets from early antiquity (mid-3rd millennium BC) through the Dark Ages (5th–10th centuries AD). Their prospective origins are considered in the light of chemistry and inclusion features, which enables isolating garnet glyptic to culture-specific clusters and sometimes to known gem-producing regions.
About the presenter…
Lisbet Thoresen is an independent researcher specializing in ancient gem studies, specifically gem archaeology: the identification and origins of gemstones used in ancient glyptic (carved gems) as well as their transmission and trade in the ancient world. The geographic provenance of garnets is of particular interest. Her work has been published in professional journals, conference proceedings, and books. Previously, Lisbet worked in all aspects of the preservation, analysis, authentication, exhibition planning, and conservation of antiquities as Associate Conservator at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu, California. Over a 17-year museum career, Lisbet also performed research and lectured on topics related to art conservation and archaeological science.