Golden Jewellery of the Vodoslavka Scythian Burial-Ground of the Second and Third Quarters of the 4th Century BC

Abstract

The Scythian barrows investigated near Vodoslavka in the Sivash region form a tribal burial-ground for one of the groups of the steppe population dating from the second and third quarters of the 4th century BC. In several barrows of this Scythian burial-ground, which contained burials of representatives of the local élite, a spectacular and most unusual set of gold items was discovered. These items served as decorations on the clothes and headdresses of the men and women buried there. The comparison of materials from Vodoslavka with finds from other élite Scythian kurgans of that time allowed the identification of a group of barrows, in which identical series of plaques and other decorative elements for clothing and headwear were found, including those made using one and the same matrix. The presence of gold in the Scythian burials could be regarded as an unmistakable marker of the high position within their community which the deceased had enjoyed. The specific range of categories of artistic objects made of gold, or decorated with gold, is assumed to have been different for men and women. This includes headdresses, torques and necklaces, rings, decorations for garments, vessels and so on: the combination of such items characterized the place of a specific individual in society. The female burials, which are similar in many respects, not only reflect the centres of power dominated by certain Scythian clans, but also demonstrate the existence of the shared hierarchical system of those clans, based in places far apart but all within the single territorial entity that was Scythia. The selection of images on the plaques of female headwear is worth noticing as well. It includes various mythical beasts: dragons, various types of griffins and sphinxes. Their depiction is virtually obligatory. All this clearly emphasises the specific status of the buried women and illustrates yet unknown themes of Scythian mythology and ideology.