Iranians and Greeks in South Russia - Robert Bedrosian's Armenian ...

SCYTHIANS IN SOUTH RUSSIA 51
displayed. Very characteristic also, the golden tore or diadem, the
rosettes of which are inlaid with onyx.
I must also mention another find of this period : the tumulus of
Shumeyko's farm, in the district of Poltava : it dates from the sixth
century, as is shown beyond question by a fragment of a black-figured
vase. The most important object in this find is a dagger, the sheath
of which is mounted in gold and decorated with embossed figures in
the Scythian animal style (pi. VIII, 3). Here we must notice the
combination of embossed work with very delicate granulated work.
The pieces of bridle-trappings in bone, found in the same tumulus,
are examples of the pure animal style, with its characteristic predominance
of birds' heads.
I shall often have occasion to speak of that Scythian animal style
which we here encounter for the first time : but I shall mention, before
going farther, its most characteristic features. I said above that it was
at once very primitive and highly refined. The main principle is the
purely ornamental treatment of the animal figure. In the archaic
specimens which we have before us, there is none of the geometrical
tendency noticeable in the pottery of Susa, nor any tendency to
transform the figure of the animal into a vegetable ornament. In
general, the animals are treated realistically. And the realism is
vigorous and powerful. But at the same time the animal figure is
used exclusively as ornament. There is no attempt to form groups
or scenes : the sole preoccupation of the artist is to decorate the object
with a number of figures. The only kind of group is the antithetic
or heraldic. For the sake of ornamental effect, the artist does not
hesitate to place his animals in attitudes which are sometimes taken
from nature, but which are immoderately exaggerated and occasionally
quite fantastic. He allows himself to cut the animal into pieces, and
to use the head of a bird, for instance, as if it were an ornament. The
bird's head is often repeated dozens of times, and is employed to form
friezes and borders. A common practice is to shape the extremities
of animals as birds' heads or griffins' heads. As a general rule, however,
the artist shows no predilection, as yet, for the fantastic creatures
of Babylono-Assyrian art : he restricts himself to real animals naturalistically
rendered. Note that he already employs a polychromatic
inlaid technique, even for the figures of animals : for example, for
the ears of the golden lion from Kelermes ; also in the belt-clasps
from the same place, and in the diadem from Melgunov's find.
In the weapons, then, and in the tomb furniture from Kelermes,
we find Greek objects side by side with Assyrian and with specimens
of a mixed style which we may call Scytho-Assyrian : on the other