2nd-1st century BC. A fine round-section trichinopoly band with loop and collar to each end, series of five graduated gold hinged discoid plaques each with an inset blue or red glass cabochon; from the lower edge of the central plaque, a hinged cruciform pendant of one discoid and three piriform garnet cabochons with granule below, two lateral securing chains. Cf. Platonov, S. and Taruta, S. Masterpieces of Platar, Kiev, 2004, item 155-6. 37 grams, 35.5cm (14"). From a European collection; formerly in an old Oriental collection; acquired 1960. Supplied with a positive X-Ray Fluorescence metal analysis certificate. This type of necklace was manufactured by the Sarmatians in the time of their greatest expansion, when they inhabited the area from Vistula River to the mouth of the Danube and eastward to the Volga, bordering the shores of the Black and Caspian Seas as well as the Caucasus to the south. The style of necklace was copied from the late Greek Hellenistic jewellery, especially from the colonies in the so-called Pontic region. A necklace with a nearly identical pendant was found in the Olbia treasure, dated to the 2nd century BC, which suggests that this particular necklace was manufactured in this city or surrounding area. Olbia's importance and influence declined in the Roman expansion period, and by the 1st century AD, the former important centre of Greek culture became a minor provincial town, ruled by Sarmatian kings.