Really Metallic Wood Boring Beetles

How about another post that links archaeology and entomology? While in New England for the Christmas and New Year's holidays, Leon and I took an afternoon in Boston to visit the Museum of Fine Arts. One object in particular caught my eye. This necklace was excavated by the Harvard University-Museum of Fine Arts expedition to Giza. It was found in the coffin of Impy, who was the chief royal architect during the reign of Pharaoh Pepy II. Pepy II ruled from about 2278 BCE to about 2184 BCE, and is thought to have been the longest ruling king in ancient Egypt. The piece caught my eye because the oval gold pieces around the outer edge of the necklace are in the form of buprestid (metallic wood boring) beetles.