Barry Cunlife - The Scythians

predatory nomads
4.4 Tagar period bridle fittings, bits, and cheek pieces from the Minusinsk Valley.
Fig 4.4
heads), daggers, and battleaxes. The arrowheads are of various forms, both bilobate
and trilobite, the former being the earlier. Daggers, with handle and blade cast as
one, often have butterfly-shaped guards and flat or ring-shaped pommels. The battleaxes
were cast with short tubes, set at right angles to the blade, to facilitate the
attachment of the handle. Other items found in graves include ring-handled knives,
bronze cauldrons, circular bronze mirrors, bone combs, and a variety of wooden
vessels.
Horse gear features large in the repertoire. In about 800 bc the bone cheek pieces
of the Karasuk type were replaced by bronze cheek pieces with two or three perforations
for rein attachments. Bits were two-linked with ends terminating in rings or
stirrup-shaped openings and there was also a variety of strap junctions and decorative
pendants. The amount of horse gear recovered and the numerous rock carvings
depicting horses leave little doubt that riding now played a significant part in the life
of the community.
Finally there is the animal art which pervades Tagar culture: isolated animals cast
in bronze for attachment to fabric or wood, animals integrated with the casting of
other objects like mirrors, rattles, or battleaxes, and petroglyphs carved on the stone
slabs retaining the burial mounds. The animals depicted include felines (possibly
snow leopards), argali sheep with recurved horns often standing in characteristic
pose with feet together, and recumbent deer with feet tucked beneath the body, head
raised, and antlers splaying out behind. Less often there are depictions of horses,
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