The Complex of Bronze Snaffles from the Area of Malye Semibratnye Barrows

Abstract

Anapa archaeological museum stores a bronze snaffle complex, which was found on arable lands near Chekon khutor in 2013. The complex was found in the area of the barrow group known as Malye Semibratnye barrows. Complex includes two pairs of two-hole snaffles: a pair with a sickle-shaped blade and an L-shaped pair. Sickle-shaped snaffles have analogies in the materials of the IV Semibratnyy barrow. L-shaped snaffles are among the most common ones in Scythian burial monuments. They are famous by finds from the burial mounds of the necropolis of Nymphaeum and Semibratnye barrows. The existing analogies allow us to date the complex to the 5th century BC. The complex of horse equipment items found in the inter-burial space is similar to the topography of Scythian and early Sarmatian necropolises famous for individual burial complexes and complexes of ritual items including horse equipment found outside of the barrows. Perhaps the complex was a set of pair horse harness of a funeral wagon. The discovery expands the idea of the funeral and memorial rites of the Sindian nobility, allowing to connect it with traditions that existed in the Scythian and early Sarmatian societies.