Ancient Jewellery

See also: Ancient Jewellery: Introduction - Middle Eastern Jewellery - Egyptian Jewellery - Eastern Mediterranean & European Jewellery -Minoan Jewellery - Greek Jewellery - Roman Jewellery - Byzantine Jewellery - Medieval Jewellery

Eastern European & Near Eastern Jewellery

Scythian Jewellery

Excavations of royal burial sites have produced much jewellery of the Scythians, a nomadic people of the Eurasian steppes.

Scythian jewellery copied both Middle Eastern and Classical Greek jewellery styles of the 5th and 4th centuries BC to good and interesting combined effect.

Common Scythian jewellery pieces of the 1st millennium BC were stamped gold plaques in the form of stags and other animals, inlaid with coloured stones or glass.

Large plaques were for ornamentation rather than personal jewellery but small plaques were attached to clothing.

The largest collection of Scythian jewellery is found in the Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg.

 

(alternative spelling: Eastern European jewelry, Near Eastern jewelry, Scythian jewelry)