Earrings have been quite common jewelry in Russia since the 9th century. From that time they can be found almost everywhere during archaeological excavations in Russia.

The object presented in the museum’s collection was discovered in one of the abandoned villages on the territory of the Bolsherechensky district of the Omsk region. It is a flat bronze plate of irregular shape, covered with a pattern — dotted at the edges (punch), and on the rest of the surface — floral. In the upper part of the object there is an eye with a bent half-ring wire threaded through it, which was supposed to be inserted into the hole in the earlobe.

Below the eye the earring has two symmetrical spherical protrusions on both sides. There are two through holes in the area of these protrusions on the plate. Perhaps it is a technological defect. In the central part of the earring there is a recess (in the form of a half ball) for inlay. At the bottom of the earring there are two more decorative protrusions on both edges.

The type of such earrings is also called “dove-like, ” due to the fact that the ancient Russian prototype earrings were a stylized image of two doves.

The origin of the earrings dates back to the Stone Age — they were inserted into the ears of men who had passed the initiation ceremony. Since then, in subsequent eras, such objects served as an indicator of the social status of their bearer. In Russia, earrings retained their significance as a symbol of initiation: one earring in the left ear was necessarily worn by knights of the princely squad who passed the ritual of initiation into warriors. The earrings could even tell the history of the owner’s family and his or her position in it.

In the Middle Ages, after the Mongol invasion, earrings gradually lost their importance as a decoration for men — they began to be worn mainly by slaves (it was their symbol of belonging to the owner), Gypsies and Cossacks. However, this affected women to a lesser extent: earrings were worn by representatives of all social strata and groups, only the material and quality of manufacture of the object mattered.

Since the middle of the 18th century, the social significance of earrings disappeared — now any representative of society can wear them.