Regardless of their intrinsic artistic value, the inclusion of jewellery in burials – linked also to their use during funerary rituals – is a particularly important factor in that it constitutes an indicator of both the financial possibilities and social status of the deceased. The practice does, however, adhere closely to the codes of values and regulations of each specific society. In Rome, for example, it was prohibited in the mid-Fifth Century (laws of the XII tables).
From the second half of the Fourth Century, following the custom of the Macedonian aristocracy, jewellery became more widely used also among men, increasingly showy and more varied in terms of models. The Etruscan, Italic and Magna Graecia productions adapted to Greek taste, with Taranto distinguishing itself as an important processing centre. In the Third Century, a few female burials attained unprecedented levels of opulence, possibly seizing on a moment of relaxed controls which coincided with Rome’s expansion.
Exotic elements were particularly prized, as is clearly visible in the Montefortino Tomb VIII, with its wreaths and a bezel ring produced respectively in Northern Greece and in the Eastern Mediterranean. At times the jewels were made specifically for the burial, as with the Certosa fibulae of the Tomb of Nerka, where the gold coating also on the spring would have caused it to break if actually used. After the Second Century BCE, jewellery was rarely seen in burials, with the importance and rank of the tomb deceased instead conveyed by other features such as their grandiose exteriors.