Golden Pectoral from Tovsta Mohyla

The Tovsta Mohyla burial mound, meaning fat barrow, is in present-day southern Ukraine near the city of Pokrov.

The ancient Scythians were a semi-nomadic Iranian people that lived around the northern area of the Black Sea with territory that stretched up into the Ural and Altai Mountain region.

The pectoral is made of solid 24 carat gold, with a diameter of 12 inches (30.6 cm) and weighs just over 2.5 pounds (1150 g)[2] It is in the shape of a crescent and can be stylistically broken down into three sections.

[3] The top section, which is widely agreed to be the main focus of the piece, reflects Scythian daily life.

Being that there are so many delicate details in this section the artisan(s) chose to solder all of the individual elements to a solid gold plate which serves as a backing for structural support.