The Aravissos Hoard (Final Neolithic / approximately 4500-3200 BC) is an assemblage of six gold artefacts (2 ring-shaped pendants, 2 band-shaped ellipsoidal sheets, 1 disc-shaped sheet and 1 ring) found accidentally in the area of Aravissos near Pella. They are believed to originate from a cemetery, which unfortunately has not been located yet. They belong to known types from other sites in the Aegean, the Balkans and the Black Sea.
The ring-shaped pendants from wrought sheets are thought to be schematic representations of the human figure. They have been interpreted as apotropaic or religious symbols. Similar artefacts made of other materials, such as silver, marble, stone or clay, have been found in many sites throughout Greece. A rock-carving from the site of Plaka on the island of Andros depicts figures with ring-shaped pendants tied around their wrists.
The gold artefacts from Aravissos are an important assemblage not only for their precious material but also because they denote the capability of Neolithic people to acquire personal prestige items, which sometimes accompanied their owners to the afterlife. This is an indication for the community's care for the deceased, and the 'investment' in the ideology of death, as part of communal beliefs shared within Neolithic society.