Delightful Etruscan scaraboid engraved with a jumping goat. Scarabs and scaraboids are a class of material that enjoyed popularity in the pre-Roman world starting from the early Iron Age. Often relegated to the broader category of minor objects, they actually constitute an indicator of the relationships of pre-Roman populations with the rest of the Mediterranean basin and of the complex underlying cultural issues. The amber route – a trade route that connected the Roman Empire with the Baltic Sea – had its glory particularly in the first century AD. But trade already existed centuries and centuries before! The credit must be attributed mainly to the Etruscans, their great culture and the search for new materials in the period from the 8th to the 6th century BC. Baltic amber necklaces, scaraboids earrings and rings created by the Etruscans once again confirm the great importance of "Northern gold", discovered through trade routes with the Baltic tribes. the object comes from a London collection and is now preserved for sale in an American collection.