|
The
article discusses eleven horse prometopidia
(frontlets and chanfrons) and four cheek-guards
found on the territory
of Stavropol Upland. The artifacts in question were revealed while exploring
archaeological sites and findspots near Stavropol;
these are: the burial ground No. 2 of Tatarskoe Hillfort (crypt No. 1), the burial ground No.4 in
selfsame area, the hoard of horse body armor and ornaments found northwest of
Stavropol and dated back from the 4th to the 2nd
century BCE, and, finally, some artifacts found near Aleksandrovsk. In
the 4th century BCE, in addition to battle protective equipment
per se, some casted frontlets and chanfrons were used exclusively for ornamental purposes. As a rule,
some of these are small in size, to only cover a
part of a horse’s head, and some are openwork. In total, three bronze
frontlets and two chanfrons are
dated back to the 4th century BCE. These include: (a) two
elongated trapezoids found near Aleksandrovsk, (b) an openwork rectangle-shaped frontlet of the Stavropol hoard,
punctured with rows of triangles, with rectangular projections along the end
margins, and (c) zoomorphically shaped plate-like chanfrons and cheek-guards of the same hoard. In the vicinity of Stavropol,
a total of five prometopidia and two cheek-guards
are reported to be found, which are similar to those discovered in Kuban
Region. These finds are dated back to the late 3rd
and the early 2nd
century BCE. Judging by decorative features of the barding equipment occurred
from Stavropol Upland, local craftsmen of the 4th
and the 3rd century BCE
were influenced from two sources. Specifically, some distinctive elements of
the traditional art of the Koban cultural and
historical community and the Kuban version
of the Scythian animal style are observed. A pair of
S-shaped ornamental cheek-guards representing images of a cockerel or a hippocampus is of Middle
Dnieper origin.
|
|
Key words: Central
Ciscaucasia, Stavropol Upland, horse decoration, lamellar armbits, horse patches, the art of Koban
culture, Scythian animal style, metal working.
|