Barry Cunlife - The Scythians

crossing the carpathians
6.14 Detail from a gold arm-ring found at Rodenbach, Germany. It is typical of the Early Style of Celtic
art and dates to the fourth century bc. The central head is framed by two backward looking recumbent
deer highly reminiscent of Scythian animal art.
the dominant contribution comes from the reflected beasts of the steppe. The same
arrangement, though on a larger scale, is to be seen in the wooden carving of the late
second century found in a ritual shaft at Fellbach-Schmiden in Germany.
The final comparison to be made is, perhaps, the most striking. From kurgan
1 at Tuekta in the Central Altai came a circular wooden carving, the frontal plate
of a horse bridle. It depicts two griffins in the form of fantastic birds with predatory
beaks and powerful wings, their manes resembling deer antlers. They perch
on a central roundel ready to fly off and strike. At the other end of Eurasia another
circular boss, slightly larger and made of bronze, was dredged from the Thames
at Wandsworth in 1858. Here again are two bird-like beasts with fearsome beaks
and great spreading wings tensely balanced on either side of a central roundel. The
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