Kolts and Temple Rings

We had always thought of kolts (kolty) and temple rings as Slavic, but there turn out to be numerous examples of this, perhaps Byzantine-influenced, type of jewelry in Germanic areas (including what are now Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands) in the 11th century, and perhaps as early as the 9th. Similarly, we only knew of precious metal or copper alloy jewelry from Slavic contexts, but we have recently learned of a number of tin or tin alloy examples and many molds in which tin ornaments were cast. So we are jumping in, and learning as we go. We are also considering making other jewelry based on the excavated Russian molds, so we hope you will let us know what you like and what you need. And, please, do share with us any resources from which we can learn more!

We have a Pinterest page of pewter/tin kolts and temple rings and molds to make them. We invite you to visit it.