The gold chain on display was discovered during the excavation of the Tanais necropolis by the Lower Don Archaeological Expedition in 1969. Tanais was an ancient emporium, a trading settlement, which is now an archaeological site. It was located near the modern-day village of Nedvigovka, in the Myasnikovsky District of the Rostov Region. In the 3rd century BCE, the city began playing an important role in facilitating trade between the Greeks and local populations, becoming also a major center for craft production and agriculture.
The chain from the museum’s collection is composed of individual links in the form of loops that are folded in half. Two links at the ends are attached to loops, which are formed by twisting a gold rod, or wire, twice. Beads made of black glass in the shape of truncated trapezoids are strung onto these rods, with one bead on each side. These beads are framed by golden rings that are two to three millimeters in width. The rings are created from a corrugated gold strip with a groove running through the center.
The beads are decorated with griffin heads. These griffins have lion’s heads, triangular ears, round-shaped, deep-set eyes, and a flattened nose. Their manes and whiskers are represented by notches. Their mouths are open, with parts of the fastener protruding from them. One part has a hook with a sharpened end, while the other forms a loop.
The heads are adorned with stylized horns. One of the heads features horns made of wire that are square in cross-section, measuring two millimeters in width, with notches. These horns are positioned horizontally, with their tips resting on the bead. The opposing head is crowned with horns that project slightly above the head and rest on the griffin’s neck on either side.
The griffin is a mythological creature with wings. In ancient myths, they are described as “dogs of Zeus” and are said to guard the treasures of the Riphean Mountains in the country of the Hyperboreans from the one-eyed Arimaspi, a mythical race that lived in the far northeast of the Ancient World. Griffins also pulled the chariot of Nemesis, a winged deity of retribution, which symbolized swift punishment for sins.
