A gold necklace buried with an elite Scythian woman more than 2,300 years ago may contain images that scholars have misunderstood for decades, according to a new study.
Mikhail Treister, an independent researcher based in Bonn, Germany, argues that dozens of winged figures on the necklace represent women with bee-like bodies. He also suggests that a tiny female head at its center may depict an Amazon. The unusual combination could have links to Artemis of Ephesus, whose religious traditions included associations with both Amazons and bees.
The necklace comes from the North Tomb of the Oguz burial mound near Nyzhni Sirohozy in southern Ukraine. The fourth-century B.C. tomb held a high-status woman sometimes described as the “Bosporan princess.” Her exact identity remains uncertain.
Treister published his analysis in the 2026 volume of Drevnosti Bospora. The study adds to evidence of the close cultural contacts between the ancient Greeks and Scythians around the Black Sea.
Winged figures may have bee bodies
The elaborate necklace contains 84 gold beads separated by double lotus flowers and decorated with rosettes and hanging figures. Thirty-four complete small pendants survive, along with fragments of two others. Each depicts a woman with an exposed upper body and crescent-shaped wings. Below the waist, the body narrows into a ridged, cone-like form.
A 2,300-year-old Scythian gold necklace may hold a hidden link to ancient Greek beliefs.
A new study suggests its mysterious winged figures are “bee-women,” while a tiny figure at the center may depict an Amazon, possibly connecting both symbols to Artemis of Ephes pic.twitter.com/K8UKvEQFGa
— Tom Marvolo Riddle (@tom_riddle2025) September 10, 2026
Earlier interpretations identified the figures as snake-legged goddesses or compared them with sirens from Greek mythology. Treister offers another explanation. He argues that the lower section resembles an insect abdomen rather than snake-like limbs or a siren’s body. He identifies the figures as hybrid “bee-women.”
The closest known parallels come from Rhodes and Melos in the Aegean. Similar female-bee figures appeared there during the second half of the seventh century B.C., about three centuries before the Oguz necklace.
The central figure could represent an Amazon
The necklace’s central pendant adds another clue. Measuring only 0.9 centimeters high, it depicts a female head wearing what Treister identifies as a Phrygian cap. Greek artists frequently showed Amazons wearing similar headgear. Treister, therefore, argues that the figure may represent an Amazon, although no close parallel to the pendant is known. That interpretation could connect the necklace to Artemis of Ephesus and her ancient cult.
Amazons had strong mythological ties to Ephesus, while bees played an important role in the city’s religious imagery. The connection is particularly significant because bees became an important symbol of ancient Ephesus, appearing prominently on the city’s coinage.
Evidence also shows that the cult of Ephesian Artemis reached the Cimmerian Bosporus during the fourth century B.C. A gold earring from Nymphaion provides a striking comparison. It depicts Artemis seated on a doe and includes a tiny bee attached to its setting. Treister argues that craftspeople probably made the Oguz necklace in a Bosporan workshop.
The study does not prove that the necklace was an object of the Artemis cult. Instead, it offers a possible explanation for why bee-women and an apparent Amazon appear together. Known for decades, the necklace may now reveal something more: how Greek religious symbols and artistic traditions traveled, survived, and took on new meaning in the Scythian world.
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