“Upside down” – a strange way of wearing pendants

Acta Academiae Artium Vilnensis

Abstract

This paper examines the phenomenon of “inverted” pendants found in archaeological sites in the Baltic region, particularly from the Stone Age. These anthropomorphic and zoomorphic pendants – depicting human heads, birds, snakes, and elks – were often worn in a reversed orientation, or in other words “upside down”, as indicated by the location of the drilled holes.

It is suggested that contemporary perceptions of “upside-down” imagery may be influenced by cultural biases, including linguistic and symbolic associations with misfortune, inversion, and disaster. On the contrary, archaeological evidence suggests that upside-down pendants were not necessarily seen as anomalies but may have had symbolic, ritual, or practical significance.

Similar cases are found in ethnographic contexts, including the shamanic practices of indigenous North American tribes, where amulets and spirit images were sometimes worn in unconventional ways. This paper considers whether the inverted amulet was worn out of necessity (e.g. due to broken perforations) or whether it was a conscious choice with a deeper meaning.