MAIASP. 2019. No. 11 PECTORALS
OF THE IRANIAN-SPEAKING AND IRANIZED PEOPLES IN ANTIQUITY DOI: 10.24411/2713-2021-2019-00002 Access this
article (PDF File) Pages: 33—72 |
Pectorals
of the Iranian World in the 7th c. BCE — the 7th c. CE
were very rare costume accessories, usually
made of gold. Many of them had no décor. They are almost not
represented in the visual arts and are not
mentioned in written sources. The ritual value of pectorals is demonstrated
by rites with them and their owners (placing
them separately from the dead body, as if hanging over him; remove all the
lower pendants; finding graves with
them on the edge of the necropolises etc.). There are differences in the
subjects between women (1—2 rows of
hoofs) and men (torment of large animals or fighting, two symmetrical pairs —
three men). The original impulse came
from the Bronze Age NW China and since the 7th c. BCE from Tuva, in the second
half of the 6th c. BCE they appear in the Achaemenian
Empire and since the mid. 5th c. BCE in European Scythia. In the western regions they were influenced by
the peculiarities of the Urartu pectorals. Their purpose was probably different for
different peoples (in Tuva — the symbols of the
dominant clans, in |
Key words: pectorals, ancient Iranian World,
stages of distribution, specificity of regional usage, ritual and social
functions, gender difference, rites with pectorals. |
Received December 12, 2019 Accepted for publication
December 29, 2019 |
About the author: Yatsenko Sergey Aleksandrovich ( E-mail: sergey_yatsenko@mail.ru |