6th-4th century BC. A group of ten gold plaques of circular form with repoussé decoration of seven bosses; pierced for attachment. 6 grams total, 21mm (1"). Property of a London gentleman; acquired from a major Mayfair gallery; acquired on the London art market before 2000. From the River Dnieper region, Ukraine/Crimea, the river was known to the Greeks as the Borysthenes and was part of the Amber Road, a trade route for the transfer of amber from coastal areas of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. Prehistoric trade routes between Northern and Southern Europe were defined by the amber trade. As an important raw material, sometimes dubbed the gold of the north, amber was transported from the North Sea and Baltic Sea coasts overland by way of the Vistula and Dnieper rivers to Italy, Greece, the Black Sea, Syria and Egypt. Gold from the river was plentiful and was exploited by the native Scythian population, as well as the Greek colonists, and was exported widely across the ancient world. [10]

Very fine condition.