Scythian Dagger from Pilyugino village (South Urals) with Zoomorphic and Ornamental Hilt Decorations

Abstract

The article publishes information about a series of daggers of the Scythian period from the Urals with zoomorphically decorated and patterned grips. They fit into a series of iron blades with similar decorations. This series has eastern origins, but is closely connected with the Southern Urals. Twelve daggers discovered in different years in the Southern Urals are distinguished by both a unified artistic program for the decoration of iron daggers and swords, and labour-intensive manufacturing. The hilts of the daggers bear heraldic schemes combining predators, traditional Scythian mythology and a unified visual tradition. This series of weapons belongs to the Filippovka cultural horizon of the 5th–4th centuries BC. The author considers this series of blades to be inherent in the Scythian culture and in no way connected with the culture of the historical Sarmatians. This culture formed in the Urals of the 6th–4th centuries BC. It is interpreted as a Scythian phenomenon that existed in the region until the late 4th century BC. In the historical context it can be identified with the culture of the so-called “deposited Scythians” of Herodotus. Chance finds of daggers may mark trade routes along the edge of the steppe zone along which caravan roads passed. These routes were controlled by the Scythian nomads. They used swords and daggers for ritual ceremonies (prayers to the god of war, or commemoration of fallen heroes, etc.). In such ritual places along trade routes, daggers were left behind, which explains why “accidental” finds of Scythian swords and daggers are so frequent in present days.