Burial of the Scythian Period with Bridle Set in the Animal Style from the Burial Adryg

Abstract

Scythian and Syberian animal style is a specific peculiarity of archeological culture in the Scythian era. The distinctive manner for animal representation is widely used in cultures of the late Bronze and early Iron Age. A special set of poses and images is the main feature of the Scythian style. At the moment the following groups of animal imaging have been defined: hoofed mammals, predators, birds and mythic animals. The given article investigates and describes a set of objects designed in animal style and used for bridle decoration, e.g. metal plates found in Adryg burial excavations in Oktyabrsky Region of Kalmyk ASSR in 1978. The article gives a full description of the burial as well as compares the findings with similar bridle sets from the burial near Khosheutovo settlement. The authors came to conclusion that the analyzed sets (from burials Adryg, Khosheutovo and Novoprivolnoye) are totally identical. It should be noted that the sets of objects from Khosheutovo burial are the most numerous on the territory of Kalmyk Republic.