Archaeology · Dacian world
Gold in a spiral
Late Iron Age · Dacian goldwork
The exhibit
Dacian gold bracelets combine multiple coils with carefully worked ornamental terminals, revealing extraordinary metalworking skill.
The line turns, returns and rises again. Surviving gold bracelets from the Sarmizegetusa area make the spiral a tangible form rather than an abstract code. Their makers shaped heavy precious metal into coils and decorated the ends with elaborate motifs. The National History Museum discusses them in the setting of Dacian wealth and royal power.