A GOLDEN PLAQUE OF THE HELLENISTIC PERIOD FROM ZERAVSHAN, UZBEKISTAN

Abstract

A rare Sogdian golden plaque from Zeravshan, Uzbekistan, dating to the Hellenistic period, is described. Results of the sciencebased analysis are relevant to the assessment of sources of gold and technology. Stylistic analysis helps to establish cultural ties and contacts between various manufacturing centers of the Hellenistic era in Central Asia. In terms of decoration, the Zeravshan plaque is indirectly paralleled by several Early Iron Age toreutic items from southern Siberia and Central Asia, specifically those from Peter the Great Siberian collection, Oxus and Kargaly treasure hoards, and Tillya-tepe. The central part of the Zeravshan specimen is reminiscent of Near Eastern and Scythian toreutic art and of Xiongnu bronzes. Similarly rendered heads of animals are found on late first millennium BC carved bone artifacts from the southwestern Siberian forest-steppe (Novotroitskoye, Ust-Ishtovka). This similarity may be due to close contacts between various manufacturing centers in the Early Iron Age. The distinctive feature of the Zeravshan plate is its small size. The artifact evidently belongs to the Yuezhi-Kushan cultural complex (200 BC–100 AD). A high content of gold in the plaque may be due to its having been manufactured from native gold, which is a rather archaic technique.