Gold lunula (plural: lunulae) is the term used to describe a distinctive type of late Neolithic or (most often) early Bronze Age necklace or collar shaped like a crescent moon. They are normally flat and thin, with roundish spatulate terminals that are often twisted to 45 to 90 degrees from the plane of the body. Gold Lunula are found most commonly in Ireland, but there are moderate numbers in other parts of Europe as well, particularly Portugal and Great Britain. Although no lunula has been directly dated, from associations with other artefacts it is thought they were being made sometime in the period between 2200-2000BC (Needham 1996, 124). Of the more than a hundred gold lunulae known from Western Europe, more than eighty are from Ireland;[1] it is possible they were all the work of a handful of experts. Several examples have a heavily crinkled appearance suggesting that they had been rolled up at some point. One Irish example has had its original engraved decoration beaten over to erase it (not quite successfully), and then a new scheme added. This and the fact that it had been folded over several times suggest that it had been in use for a long time before it was deposited.[2] The two examples shown illustrate roughly the range of widths of the lowest part of the lunula that is found.
Three lunulae were discovered in Kerivoa, Brittany in the remains of a box with some sheet gold and a rod of gold. The rod had its terminals hammered flat in the manner of the lunuae. From this it is thought that Lunulae were made by hammering a rod of gold flat so it became sheet-like and fitted the desired shape. Decoration was then applied by impressing designs with a stylus. The stylus used often leaves tell-tale impressions on the surface of the gold and it is thought that all the lunulae from Kerivoa, and another two from Saint-Potan, Brittany and Harlyn Bay, Cornwall were all made with the same tool. This suggests that all five lunulae were the work of one craftsperson and the contents of the Kerivoa box their tools of trade.
Most gold lunulae have decorative patterns very much resembling contemporary beaker pottery, using geometrical patterns made up of straight lines, with zig-zags and criss-cross patterns. The curving edges of the lunula are generally followed by curving border-lines, often with decoration between them. The decoration is typically most dense at the tips and edges, and the broad lower central area is often undecorated between the borders.[3] The decoration also resembles that on amber and jet spacer necklaces, which are thought to be slightly later in date.
Gold lunulae have been classified in to groups called:
The style is sometimes found into the Iron Age, now also in silver.
The Roscommon Lunula - Gold Lunula and discs found in Roscommon, Ireland