Bird's Head Chapes from the Early Iron Age of the Central Caucasus and Their Analogues in the Scythian-Siberian Animal Style

Abstract

The article explores the origin of bronze chapes [scabbard mountings] in the form of bird of prey images [protoma] found in sites of the Central Caucasus from the seventh century to the mid-sixth century BCE. Two stylistic types of depictions can be distinguished. The first type (exemplified by the Faskau burial sites, the Nizhnii-Chegem burial site, and Verkhnii Aul) is characterized by a ring-shaped beak, a sharp-pointed and slightly outwardly-bent tongue, and a not-large round eye. This type is similar to the early Scythian imitations of the depiction of an eagle-headed griffin of the early Greek type. The second type (exemplified by the Faskau, Koban, Klivana, and Dvani burial sites) features a beak that is strongly curved inward and made of two bands, a large round eye, and a semi–ring-shaped tongue. The first type is stylistically more homogeneous than the second, and is the earlier of the two. The idea of depicting bird of prey on chapes continued at Scythian sites of the mid-sixth century through the mid-fifth century BCE in the North Caucasus, western Transkubania, in the Dniepr region of Ukraine—and in the midst of other cultures, in Transylvania and the Lower Volga Region.