gems, ancient jewelry, Pontic, Black Sea, necklace, garnet, beryl, emerald, glass, gold

I. Introduction. North Pontic polychrome necklaces of the 1st century AD. Analysis of the structure and decorative motifs of necklaces with pendants in the shape of butterflies makes it possible to single out their characteristic features: (1) the main part of the necklace consisted of a chain intricately plaited like a braid, known as a ‘fox-tail’; (2) the central part of the necklace consisted of cabochon inlays, usually in oval settings or cells. Apart from one such necklace, which originated from the island of Ithaka, all necklaces with butterfly-pendants for which the find-spots are known come from the North Pontic region, mainly from Olbia and its environs, but also from Chersonesos and the Ust’-Alma necropolis in the western Crimea (I shall be discussing at this point in time 15 such finds and have also prepared a comprehensive study of these objects complete with a catalogue, so here I shall be confining myself to the conclusions drawn on the basis of this research). There is also a variant from the north-western part of the Pontic region (Porogi) of jewellery reflecting strong barbarian influence, made up from flat and ribbed spacer-beads, pendants in the form of small circles, and a central pendant in the form of a highly stylized butterfly, the head of which consists of a round cell, while the wings and abdomen are represented by drop-shaped cells. The pendant of the necklace from the Burachkov collection found at Kerch is a still more stylized depiction of a butterfly—the cells have been arranged on a rhomboid plate: a round one and others which are drop-shaped and heart-shaped representing the head, wings, and body of the butterfly. Finally, there is a necklace from a Sarmatian burial near the village of Petriki with a crescent-shaped pendant, which—considering its specific structural features—had originally also been a pendant in the form of a butterfly, not a crescent-shaped pendant, but from the start a butterfly-shaped pendant, and the necklace with the crescent-shaped pendant had probably originally had a pendant in the shape of a butterfly.