Need help with a piece of jewelry.

[Mathis]

Ok, so a few years back I was given a necklace for my birthday. I really liked it and have been wearing it almost every day since then, mostly because of the person who gave it to me. Whenever it's visible I've had several strangers come up to me and ask me about it, about where it's from, what it means etc. etc.

I don't think the symbol itself has a particular meaning outside of "looking nice", but a few of the people I've talked to have been very determined that they have definately seen it somewhere else on carvings and the like.

So I thought I'd ask the collective head of information that is you guys the playground. Will you please be so kind to give me some help with this? Have you seen anything like this before? Can you help me determine if it's just a random piece of jewelry or if it has some meaning in some ancient culture? It's made of silver and attached to a black leather cord. It's about 3/4 of an inch (2 CM) in diameter.

Here it is for your scrolling convinience:
http://i862.photobucket.com/albums/ab182/martinand1990/Picture0013.jpg

[Tricksy Hobbits]

Kinda looks like a sun, but there were alot of cultures that venerated that, so I don't know.

[Fifty-Eyed Fred]

It could be Celtic, Bronze Age European or South American. There may be other cultures it could feasibly come from as well.

[Xyk]

The shape is the same as a Wiccan medallion I've seen, but I can't say about the carvings.

[Mathis]

Just as varying as the other replies I've gotten hehe, I guess it's just a random pattern that looks nice. I like the sun explanation though, seems like the symbol it most resembles.