Barry Cunlife - The Scythians

of gods, beliefs, and art
10.14 Petroglyph of a recumbent stag from Tsagaan Salaa, Mongolia, dating to c.900 bc.
The recumbent deer as well as felines and, less often,
birds are frequently found on early first millennium
bc rock engravings—the deer in particular persisting
largely unchanged through to the fourth century and
later. Compare, for example, the rock carving of the
deer at Tsagaan Salaa in Mongolia with the deer emblem
used a central motif on Scythian arrows, the noble stag
from Kostromskaya in the Kuban dating to the seventh
century, the soulful creation from Tápiószentmárton
in Hungary probably a century later, and the more stylized
representation from Kul’-Oba in the Crimea made
in the fourth century. This image in its various guises
persists over a considerable area for more than half a
millennium. The coiled feline wound back upon itself is
another recurring image. One of the earliest representations
came from Arzhan 1 in southern Siberia and must
be of the ninth century. A closely comparable example
from somewhere on the steppe is in the collection of
Peter the Great, while an openwork plaque of the same
10.15 (Above left) Gold recumbent stag from Kostromskaya, Kuban
region (sixth century bc).
10.16 (Left) Gold recumbent stag from Kul’-Oba (fourth century bc).
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