Barry Cunlife - The Scythians

of gods, beliefs, and art
10.21 Gold finial from the kurgan at Bratoliubivskyi in the Khersonska region. A leopard, possibly a snow
leopard, attacks a fallen stag.
the equivalence of humans and the predators in their relationships to the productive
power of the earth. That said, the animal predator was the enemy of humans as is
clearly displayed in the hunting scene on the gilded silver bowl from the Solokha
kurgan showing humans and beasts in mortal conflict.
It is the dominance of the prey–predator image in the Scythian world that
impresses. It was everywhere to be seen. Even in the remoteness of the Altai Mountains,
away from the influence of the Greek and Persian worlds, it pervaded life, on the
saddle covers from kurgans 1 and 2 at Pazyryk, on a leather flask, and even Âtattooed
287