P50B
The gold ribbon
Among the several graves of the necropolis of Alba Pompeia, the tomb n. 20 stands out for its value
(showcase 20, n. 3). The ash of the female deceased was contained in a funeral urn and she decided
to put with her the wooden beauty-case, of which only the semi-circular handle and the pill have
preserved. In the beauty-case, there were the jewels of the woman: the rectangular bronze mirror, a
bone spatula, which she used to exploite to pull-out the unguents and the cosmetic dusts from the
small pots; seven glass unguentarii. The ribbon composed by gold threads was found among the
grave gods. It constitutes a very important finding due to its preciousness and to its rarity. The
ribbon consists of several very thin gold threads weaved with a fibre; three parallel thread constitute the warp; two threads compose the woof. The gold ribbons were usually used by the noble women to increase the preciousness of the clothes, to decorate the accessories, to create their hair-style, as written and iconographic sources show; the head – recently heavily restored – preserves the original hair-style.