Earring, 500–400 BCE, Cyprus. Gold and agate. Diameter: 2 cm. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade, 1916.131.

The use of agate in jewelry dates to the Indus Valley Civilization, between 3300 and 1300 BCE.

This earring is made of a simple gold loop with gold, agate, and feldspar beads strung on it. One of the gold beads is in the shape of a dolphin’s upper body with a small ball in its mouth. Earrings were extremely popular throughout the ancient Mediterranean, often decorated with animal heads like dolphins, bulls, and goats.