Jet Bear

Brown bears are thought to have gone extinct from most of Britain around the year 500 (with some populations potentially surviving a few centuries more in Scotland), while the Roman occupation of the southern half of the island lasted approximately from 100 B.C. to 450 A.D. This means that Romans and bears cohabitated the island for centuries, and the empire could potentially have assisted in the local extinction of the species. So it isn’t surprising that bears feature prominently in a Roman funerary ritual from the former Britannia.

At least eight figures of Eurasian brown bears, carved out of jet, have been found in the tombs of children dating back to Roman colonization. The example in Malton Museum is displayed in a recreation of how the skeleton was found, with the jet bear and a bead, along with metallic objects like a bracelet and coin. Jet is a form of coal, known for washing up on beaches, such as the nearby Whitby It was particularly valued for its dark color and properties with static electricity, which lead to a beachcombing industry dedicated to sourcing the mineral.

The former Eboracum (now York) and what is now Malton were both home to Roman forts as well as workshops where minerals like jet were worked into jewelry and artifacts. With its properties often likened to magic, a figure such as a bear carved out if it and offered as an afterlife amulet would have likely represented protection for young children in the afterlife. The presence of a coin in this burial also links back to the Classical belief in rivers to the underworld, like the Styx and Acheron, and the need to pay a ferryman to assist in their crossing.

Jet would eventually fall out of fashion (save for a brief period in the Victorian era when it became valued again for its dark hue, appropriate for mourning) but the Malton Museum’s collection showcases its former importance. Complementing those found in the burial, other pieces of jet jewelry like bracelets and pendants support the belief that the material was linked to religious practices and belief in supernatural forces like magic.