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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.
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Key words: Central
Ciscaucasia, Stavropol Upland, horse decoration, lamellar armbits, horse patches, the art of Koban
culture, Scythian animal style, metal working.
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