Necklace made of gold and agate from Karashamb, Armenia, dated to 2200-2000 BCE. From a collection of the Museum of History of Armenia, Yerevan.
It consist of gold beads and spacers, and beads made of carnelian and sardonyx.
The centerpiece of the necklace is a large oval bead of brown and white sardonyx. On its sides are symmetrically arranged small sardonyx beads, a long tube-shaped gold spacer, and another beads of sardonyx and red carnelian. Another element is a golden rectangular spacer with a red carnelian in the middle. Four rows of small golden round beads come out of it.
Source:
UNDER THE SPELL OF MOUNT ARARAT. ARCHAEOLOGICAL MASTERPIECES FROM ARMENIA IN DRENTS MUSEUM. Press release, 20 April 2022
https://drentsmuseum.nl
Museum of History of Armenia record:
“In the center is an irregular oval-shaped pendant made of red-brown agate (7 x 5 cm) with a longitudinal through hole in the center for wearing on a cord. Biconic carnelian beads line both sides of the piece, followed in a symmetrical sequence by gold and carnelian beads of varying shapes. The necklace is decorated with four rows of small hollow biconical gold beads. Particularly noteworthy in the manufacturing technique are two large hollow cylindrical beads that form part of the ornament, stamped with large beads and bead separators. The two beaded spacers are one of a kind in the necklace beading. These are two-layer squares with a spiral-shaped edging around them, on the areas of which pyramids of “running spirals” stand in a row. In their center, in a deep rosette, there is a pink carnelian. On the opposite side of the squares, 12 tubes are welded in 4 rows, through which the threads of beads that were part of the necklace pass.”
Collection : Archaeological collection, Inventory # : 2867/4
Period : Middle Bronze Age
Era : 22-21 centuries BC.
Location : Kotayk
Locality : Karashamb
Material : Gold, carnelian