LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Although it was uncovered nine years ago, this is the first time a picture of the priceless 17-bead necklace has been shown since it was found in the Altai Mountains by archaeologist Yelena Borodovskya. Academics have released the images in the hopes of finding experts who may be able to pinpoint the necklace's exact origin.
 
"It has a striking variety of colors, beautiful shades of deep and light yellow and blue," Professor Andrey Borodovsky of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography, Novosibirsk says. "I have worked with Altai antiquities for more than 30 years, and this necklace is probably the most beautiful find I've ever seen."

Borodovsky said that the intricate beads were made using the "Millefiori technique," which involves production of glass canes or rods with multicolored patterns that can only be seen from the cut ends.

The jewelry is believed to pre-date the Egyptian queen Cleopatra, who died in 30 BC. Professor Borodovsky wants to find experts to help him date the piece.

The owner of the necklace was believed to have been 25-years-old when she was buried with the beads around her neck. The owner is believed to have been a "blue-blooded" woman, who was likely to have come from a highly regarded tribe or clan.

"It is quite likely she was a priestess," Borodovsky says. "What points to this status is a bronze mirror which was packed into her 'burial bag.'

"The mirror had a chain of bronze pendants attached to it; also there was a set of sacrificial bones with a little butcher knife.

"It shows that the mirror was treated as a living creature, which points to its magical function.

"If she performed some priestly functions, she could have been a virgin, not having a family and belonging to a completely different social sphere."

The mystery necklace owner is suspected to have been a kinswoman of the famous tattooed "Princess Ukok," whose body artwork was preserved in ice following her death.

An artifact such as this has never been found in Russia before, although Professor Borodovsky said that he was not surprised that the jewelry reached remote Siberia from Egypt more than two millennia ago during the Scythian period.

"Siberia has always been a kind of 'stream of civilization' - a transit territory, rich with resources and attractive for migration," he said.

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