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MAIASP. 2024. No. 16 Mikhail Treister
(Bonn, Germany) Bosporan cosmetic spatulas of the Hellenistic period DOI: 10.53737/2713-2021.2024.13.61.011 Access this article (PDF File) Pages: 289—302 |
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This paper focuses on bronze instruments of an unusual
shape, which at one end are shaped like a flat or diamond-shaped spatula,
divided at the very end into two points, and the other end can be shaped like
a small round spoon. Outside
the North Pontic area, analogies to such
instruments, the catalogue of finds of which forms the basis of the article,
are unknown, and most of the finds come from Pantikapaion
and its necropolis, as well as the necropoleis of
the Taman Peninsula and Gorgippia, dating broadly
from the late 4th to the 2nd centuries BCE. The
latest are female burials from the middle — second half of the 2nd
century BCE in
the tombs of the Artyukhov burial mound. In
cases where the grave goods provide grounds for assumptions about the sex of
the buried, they were found in female burials. Contrary
to the opinion of some researchers, there is no reason to consider them as
sophisticated medical instruments. Despite
the fact that the instruments in question in the complexes show a connection
with both spindle-shaped unguentaria and mirrors,
it is hardly possible to consider them only as a tool for extracting incense
or ointments from the flasks, because in
general, in the vast majority of cases, unguentaria
in various areas of the ancient world are found in burials without any tools. Perhaps,
in this case, we can suggest such a connection as a regional feature. It
is obvious that we are dealing with a specific form of cosmetic instrument,
characteristic only for the |
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Key words: North Pontic area, |
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Received June 1,
2024 Accepted
for publication June 18, 2024 |
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About the author: Treister Mikhail ( E-mail: mikhailtreister@yahoo.de |