Bracelet from Salamatino: Problem of Identifying Zoomorphic Images

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of zoomorphic images on a spiral gold bracelet from the Sarmatian burial of the 1st century AD in Salamatino village in Volgograd region, as well as the problem of interpreting the image of a fantastic animal on the bracelet ends. The stylistic and technological peculiarities of the jewelry can serve as indicators of cultural identity of the subject. The bracelet is made, most likely, by a barbarian craftsman modeled after some kind of non-locally made jewelry. The closest dupe in compositional and pictorial characteristics to the incomprehensible animal on the ends of the Salamatino bracelet is a fantastic creature on the pair of bracelets from the Oxus Treasure (British Museum), stylistically different from the images of Iranian art of the Achaemenid era. The origin of this pair of bracelets is unknown, however, some stylistic features allow for non-exclusion of the assumptions of Chinese or Central Asian jewelry production or the existence of certain jewelry workshops in a region affected by the cultural influence of both Iran and China. Another distant analogy in style for the pair of bracelets from the Oxus Treasure is represented by images of predatory animals on gold torcs from the Stavropol treasure. The chronological gap between the Salamatino bracelet and the jewelry from the Oxus and Stavropol treasures does not allow one to link them unequivocally, but the similarity features certainly indicate the presence of common cultural roots. Identifying a fantastic hybrid animal on the ends of the Salamatino bracelet as any specific mythological creature is not yet possible.