Three Silver Dishes from Yugra

We introduce medieval silver dishes found near Peregrebnoye, Oktyabrsky District, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug–Yugra, Western Siberia. In our opinion, they are associated with the Peregrebnoye I fortified site, dating to the late first to early second millennia AD. They may also have belonged to an Ob Ugric sanctuary. A chronological and cultural attribution of the dishes is proposed. The dish likely representing an ibex is considered to be Sogdian, belonging to the second stage of School A, according to B.I. Marshak. It has several parallels among the medieval silver vessels from the Kama basin. The tripod dish, showing a lion clawing a deer against a background decorated with a circular stamp, is either Sogdian or eastern Iranian, dating to late 8th to 10th centuries. The one representing a king riding a horse and accompanied by two warriors is a somewhat simplified replica of Sasanian prototypes, and could have been manufactured in one of the trade centers of eastern Iran or Central Asia no earlier than the 8th century—likely in the 9th–10th centuries. The Peregrebnoye finds are analyzed with reference to the 8th–10th century Sogdian and eastern Iranian silver vessels from the Lower Ob region. Their distribution area includes the Severnaya Sosva and Synya Rivers, and the vicinity of Berezovo.