UDC 903.29

The article deals with plate head guards designed to protect the horse in battle. There are two types of them: the first - with a round convex upper part decorated with concentric circles, and a trapezoidal elongated lower part with curved sides; the second - with symmetrical fan-shaped expanded ends and curved sides. New archaeological materials have made it possible to limit the time of existence of these headstones to the second half of the IV-beginning of the III century BC. For the first time, a complex from the mound near the village of Plastunovskaya is published, which is important not only for dating the headstones, but also for solving the question of the time of the appearance of so-called votive hoards, or "strange" complexes. It is the earliest known votive hoard. Probably, it was here, in the Kuban region, in the Syrak environment that this rite originated, and later, in connection with the raids of Sarmatian tribes, it spread to the North-Western Black Sea region.

Key words: Meotes, Sarmatians, headstock, bit, amphora, chronology.

In the Kuban region, we can now distinguish several types of bronze plate headpieces that were part of the horse harness. We will focus on two that have repeatedly attracted the attention of researchers. The first type (Fig. 1) is a head covering with a round upper part and a trapezoidal elongated lower part with curved sides, fan - shaped expanding downwards. The upper part usually has a raised bulge, sometimes with a hole in the center, and is decorated with concentric circles. Headrests of this type differ in the degree of curvature of the sides and details of the design of the upper part. There are two options: with semicircular projections decorated with circular ornaments, and without them. The second type (Figs. 2, 1, 2) - head caps with symmetrical fan-shaped extended ends and curved sides. They differ in the degree of deflection and width, the presence or absence of an ornament. Head guards of both types were designed to protect the horse in battle. Their average length is 34-37 cm.

For the first time such head caps were found in the Trans-Kuban region during predatory excavations by D. G. Schultz [Report..., 1907, pp. 129-130]. Moreover, in the first publication, these objects were correctly identified as "horse heads", possibly because they were lying on the skulls of horses. A. P. Mantsevich doubted the attribution of D. G. Schultz and tried to prove that the plates are decorations of "Thracian" type shields [1958, p. 462]. Having published a similar-shaped bronze plate (headpiece of the first type) from the Volno-Aul mounds, V. B. Vinogradov interpreted it as a breastplate for strengthening the leather carapace, and dated the plate (headpiece of the second type) from the Khankal border 45 to the IV century BC and associated it with the shield cover [1972, p. 128, 129, fig. 4, 5; 34, 4]. V. Y. Murzin and E. V. Chernenko proved that plates from Nikopol, Volno-Aul mounds and from the collection of D. G. Schultz are horse headstones [1980, pp. 158-163]. Later, this conclusion was confirmed by the discovery of such plates on the skulls of horses.

B. B. Piotrovsky associated the headstones from the collection of D. G. Schultz with the Kelermes mounds [1955, p. 43]. After him, V. Y. Murzin and E. V. Chernenko also attributed them to the circle of Kelermes antiquities. The headstones from Nikopol, as well as from the Volno-Aul mounds and the collection of D. G. Schultz, were dated no later than the sixth century BC. The authors justified the date by the similarity of the Nikopol headstones with those from Karmir Bloor and Maly Kurgan in the Mil steppe and more than probable, in their opinion, the connection of plates

Fig. 1. Bronze plate-shaped head caps of the first type. 1-Black Forest burial ground, destroyed burial; 2-Korenovsky mound, destroyed burial; 3-Krasnodar reservoir, accidental discovery; 4-Novolabinsky IV hillfort burial ground, border 50.

2. Bronze plate-shaped headpieces of the second type (1, 2) and amphorae (3, 4).

1, 3, 4 - burial ground of Starokorsun settlement No. 2, border 238b; 2-Prikubansky burial ground, accidental discovery.

from the collection of D. G. Schultz with the Kelermess mounds (Murzin and Chernenko, 1980, pp. 163-164, note 33). However, the researchers could not prove this connection. Moreover, as they noted, the headstones from Karmir Bloor and Maly Kurgan in the Milsk steppe are not exact analogs of the Nikopol ones [Ibid., p. 159]. L. K. Galanina, in her work devoted to the analysis of horse harness from the Kelermes mounds, questioned the Kelermes origin of plates from the collection of D. G. Schultz [1983, p. 159]. 54, note 35].

The first type of bronze head caps found in the Kuban region in 1988 also cast doubt on their belonging to the Scythian archaics. And then, at the request of I. I. Marchenko, L. K. Galanina clarified the location of the headstones from the collection of D. G. Schultz. It turned out that they were found near the village of Tsarskaya (now Novosvobodnaya) and were not associated with the Early Scythian Kelermes mounds. At the same time, I. I. Marchenko suggested that all the first-type headstones should be dated to the second half of the IV century BC [1988, p. 7; 1996, p. 77]. In her monograph, L. K. Galanina, once again specifying that the plates from the collection of D. G. Schultz were found near the village of Novosvobodnaya, excluded them from the Kelermes antiquities and accepted this date [1997, p.30]. However, in the volume" Steppes of the European part of the USSR in the Scythian-Sarmatian period", published in 1989, bronze headstones were still listed as part of finds from the Kelermes mounds [Petrenko, 1989, Tables 88, 5, 6]. This work turned out to be the most accessible for researchers who are not engaged in the archeology of Kuban. Thus, in his article on the chronology of monuments in the Southern Trans-Urals, A.D. Tairov attributed the second-type bronze headstones from the Bolshoy Klimentovsky Mound to stage B (second half of the VI - mid-V century BC), adhering to their old dating [2004, p. 3, Figs. 6, 54, 55].

Similar materials from burial ground No. 2 of the Tatar settlement near Stavropol were dated by researchers of the "reliably" complex from the accompanying inventory to the IV-end of the III / beginning of the II century BC [Kudryavtsev A. A., Kudryavtsev E. A., Prokopenko, 2000, pp. 42-44]. The reason for this was the handles of Rhodes amphorae found in the mound of the mound. One of them, with the brand of the manufacturer Aristarchus, is attributed by the authors to 220-180 BC [Ibid., p. 46]. If we assume that the handle of the amphora gives a "reliable" date for the complex with headstones, then it is necessary to date them to this time, excluding the IV century BC. However, the handle comes from the mound of the mound and can be associated with the trizna of a later time. In any case, all the analogs of bits, varvorki and nalobnikov given by the authors belong to the IV century BC.

Most of the first-type headstones originate from the territory of the North Caucasus: Novosvobodnaya (2 specimens), Plastunovskaya, Korenovsk, Chernolesky burial ground, Novonikolaevsky I, mound 30 of Nacherzievsky,

mound 7 of Goverdovsky, burial ground of the village N 5 hut. Lenin cemetery (3 copies), necropolis of Starokorsun settlement No. 2, accidental discovery from the Krasnodar reservoir, burial ground of Novolabinsky IV settlement (8 copies), Tatar burial ground No. 2 (3 copies), Volno-Aulsky mound. Two localities are located in Ukraine: Nikopol (2 copies) and kurgan near the village of Chistenkoe (Crimea). There are much fewer known nalobniki of the second type: Novosvobodnaya (2 specimens), Prikubansky burial ground, Starokorsun settlement No. 2 burial ground, Khankalsky burial ground and Bolshoy Klimentovsky Kurgan in the Southern Trans-Urals (2 specimens). As you can see, the largest number of nalobniki comes from the territory of the Kuban region. To the findings that have already been put into scientific circulation, we should add those that have not yet been published or are little known to researchers.

The first type of headstone was found in the mound of a mound destroyed in 1952 on the territory of the Korenovsky sugar factory No. 2*. Another one comes from the Novonikolaevsky I kurgan burial ground (excavations by A. N. Gay) [Kamenetsky, 1989, Tables 99, 3]. Bronze headstones of the first type from burials 65, 111, 240 of the ground burial ground near the village N 5 hut. The rocks found on horse skulls (excavated by O. P. Kulikova in 1980-1981) belong to complexes that were dated from amphorae of the Solokha-1, Ust-Labinsky, and other types. the second half of the IV century BC [Aptekarev, 1982, p. 46]. Currently, amphorae with a mushroom-shaped crown and a cube-shaped leg are attributed to the Cnidian production and date from the first quarter to the middle of the IV century BC (Monakhov, 2003, pp. 101-104, Tables 71, 72). Unfortunately, the collection of objects from the burial ground at village No. 5 is not available to researchers, and most of it has been lost. A similar headpiece was placed on the horse's skull in the ruined burial ground of the Black Forest burial ground (see Figs. 1, 1). The complex includes a bowl of the IV century BC and a rod with strict cross-shaped attachments, the ends of which are bent in the form of spikes (type I according to I. I. Marchenko) [Marchenko, 1996, p. 72, Fig. 20a]. New materials from Meotian burials (necropolis of the Starokorsun settlement No. 2, Prikubansky burial ground) allow us to clarify the time of the existence of this type of bit. In the Prikubansky burial ground, they are found with amphorae from both the first quarter of the IV century BC and the end of the IV-beginning of the III century BC, and in Starokorsun at the latest, border 44b with such bits is dated from the stamp on the Sinop amphora to the beginning of the III century BC [Limberis and Marchenko, 2005a, p. 223 - 224].

Eight headstones of the first type are also known from the excavations of G. E. Bespalyi at the site of the ground burial ground IV of the Novolabinsk settlement (Raev and Bespalyi, 2006, pl. 13, 2; 19, 2, 3; 24, 2, 3; 28, 10; 31, 3; 32, 5]. In border 10, an amphora was found together with the headpiece [Ibid., Tables 13, 3], which has no analogues, but, according to S. Yu. Monakhov (oral report), it can be attributed to the beginning of the third century BC. One of them is ordinary, the other is distinguished by the design of the upper part in the form of a five-petaled rosette and an additional ornament of engraved circles in the lower part (see Figs. 1, 4) [Ibid., tab. 28, 10; 31, 3)]. E. A. Beglova considers this headpiece to be the final one in the development of the first type and dates it the beginning of the third century BC [2008, p. 42]. In burials 10 and 50, along with the head plates, there were also pseudo - attic helmet pads with three-dimensional images, which allowed B. A. Raev to attribute these complexes to the beginning of the third century BC [2007, pp. 379-381].

In all (except one) complexes of the Novolabinsk burial ground, bits with strict cross-shaped attachments were found, the ends of which are loosened into blades with spikes (Figs. 3,3, 5). Earlier, due to their small number, bits with such attachments were considered by I. I. Marchenko as a Type I variety, although it was noted that they appeared later than attachments with the ends bent in the form of spikes [1996, p. 72]. Now that their number has increased, bits with attachments, the ends of which are loosened into blades with spikes, can be separated into a separate Type I option. In addition, there are more reliable chronological indicators. Thus, in border 239b of the burial ground of Starokorsun settlement No. 2, two amphorae of the Spit circle of the end of the IV - beginning of the III century BC were found together with such rods (Limberis and Marchenko, 2007, p. 72) (see Figs. 103 of the Prikubansky burial ground date back to the fourth quarter of the IV century BC. Therefore, at the moment, the most reasonable date for the considered bits can be considered the fourth quarter of the IV-beginning of the III century BC. e. In border 50 of the Novolabinsky burial ground, bits were found both with such attachments and with spikes on cross-shaped psalms (type II, option 1a according to I. I. Marchenko), previously dated to the first three quarters of the third century BC (Marchenko, 1996, pp. 72-73) (Fig. Now it is possible to extend the scope of psalms of this type** to the first quarter or even to the first half of the second century BC on the basis of their presence in border 140 of the Tenginsky-1 burial ground (Fig. 4, 2) [Beglova, 2002, p. 159, Fig. 1, 2, 6; 2004, 9, 4-6], which is dated from this time by imported tableware [Beglova, 2004, p. 95-97].

E. A. Beglova suggested, in our opinion, a well-founded relative chronology of bronze breastplates, analyzing their ornamentation. But hers

* Currently stored in the Krasnodar State Historical and Archaeological Museum-Reserve without an inventory number.

** E. A. Beglova incorrectly determined the type of psalms (I instead of type II of variant 1a according to I. I. Marchenko) and, accordingly, their date [2004, p. 98].

3. Bronze plate breastplates (7, 4)and iron bits (2, 3, 5) from the burial ground of Novolabinsky IV settlement.

1-3 - border 10; 4, 5-situation 3.

4. Iron bits with cross-shaped psalms (1, 2) and a bronze headpiece (3).

1-burial ground of Novolabinsky IV settlement, border 50; 2, 3-Tenginsky burial ground, border 140.

the scheme needs to be clarified and adjusted. The researcher writes that "the surface of the earliest plate (a mound near the town of Nikopol) is decorated with relief concentric circles, the breastplates from item 10 of the Novolabinsky burial ground and burial ground No. 2 of the Tatar settlement [Kudryavtsev et al., 2000] are ornamented only with engraved concentric circles, on other later specimens (Novolabinsky burial ground, item 50, 2000 3, 4, crypt No. 1 of Vasyurina Gora, Tenginsky ground burial ground, p. 140), an engraved circular ornament is combined with a punch pattern" [Beglova, 2008, pp. 42-43]. However, the Nikopol plates are decorated with engraved concentric circles [Murzin and Chernenko, 1980, p. 155], so they should not be singled out as a special group*. In addition, the bib from border 21 of the Novolabinsk burial ground belongs to the early group, but it is necessary to exclude border 50 of this burial ground from the late group, since there was no bib in it. Neither in the description of the burial site nor in the drawings of things there are any indications of its presence [Raev and Bespaly, 2006, pp. 30-34].

The relative chronology of bibs proposed by E. A. Beglova is also confirmed by the mutual occurrence of headpieces and individual types of bits with them. With early breastplates (see Figs. 3, 7), we found first-type head guards and bits with attachments, the ends of which are loosened into blades with spikes (see Figs. 3, 5), and with late ones (see Figs. 3, 4)- only bits with spikes on cross-shaped psalms (see Figs. 3, 5; 4, 1, 2), and the first type of head covering was never encountered. At the same time, the sets of horse harness from the Tenginsky burial ground contain decorative head guards of a different shape (see Figs. 4, 3), which are not genetically related to those that served to protect the horse.

Of interest is the mound 2 complex near the village of Plastunovskaya (excavated by A. A. Nekhaev in 1977). It included a bronze headpiece of the first type (Fig. 5, 1); six pairs of iron rods, three of which had strict cross-shaped attachments of type 1 (Fig. 5, 10-15); two pairs of iron and one of bronze

* E. A. Beglov was misled by photos of not very good quality in the article by V. Y. Murzin and E. V. Chernenko.

5. Objects from the Plastunovsky mound.

1-bronze plate headpiece of the first type; 2-5-iron rod-shaped psalms; 6, 7-iron psalms with loose ends; 8-iron pin; 9-bronze rod-shaped psalms; 10-12-iron bits with cross-shaped attachments; 13-15-iron bits.

rod-shaped psalms with an eight-shaped extension (Fig. 5, 2 - 5, 9). Especially noteworthy is a pair of iron psalms with their ends loosened into blades, in which three holes are made for hanging some ornaments (Figs. 5, 6, 7). In border 10 of the Novolabinsky IV burial ground, the same type of psalms is found but with a twisted rod, they are also combined with bits with cross-shaped attachments of type 1 (see Figs. 3, 2, 3). The mound 2 complex near the village of Plastunovskaya was dated to the second half of the IV century BC (Marchenko, 1996, p. 77). Now, taking into account the updated chronology of bits with attachments, the ends of which are loosened into spiked blades, this date can be adjusted within the fourth quarter of the IV-beginning of the III century BC. The Plastunovskaya complex is important not only for dating the headstones, but also for solving the question of the time of the appearance of the so-called votive hoards, or "strange"ones E. F. Redina and A.V. Simonenko, considering such complexes of the late II-I centuries BC, noted that they are not funerary equipment. In addition to the absence of human remains, this is indicated, in particular, by the number of bits - from two to six pairs [Redina and Simonenko, 2002, p. 85]. The Plastunovskaya complex is the earliest known votive hoard. Probably, it was here, in the Kuban region, in the Syrak environment that this rite originated, and later, in connection with the raids of Sarmatian tribes, it spread to the North-Western Black Sea region.

Of the seven headstones of the second type, only one-from border 238b of the burial ground of the Starokorsun settlement No. 2-was found with well-dated items. Here are found kosskaya (?) amphora and Mediterranean amphora of an unidentified production center (see Figures 2, 3, 4), which allow us to date the burial to the end of the IV century BC [Limberis and Marchenko, 2007, p. 71, Fig. 11, 3, 4; 14, 1]. Nalobnik from the Prikubansky burial ground, despite the fact that it was found outside the complex and can be attributed to the IV-beginning of the III century BC, since the time of existence of the necropolis, determined from more than 300 amphorae of various types, covers exactly this period*, although amphorae from the late IV - beginning of the III century BC from the burials studied make up a minimal percentage of those that date back to different quarters of the IV century.

* Previously, the time of functioning of the Prikubansky burial ground was determined by us within the IV century BC [Limberis and Marchenko, 2005B, p. 166], but recent studies have been carried out in the same way. Monakhov's efforts to clarify the time of existence of a number of amphorae from this pyamyatnik made it possible to extend its chronological framework to the beginning of the third century BC.

Thus, the main part of nalobniks comes from the territory of the North Caucasus, and mainly from the Kuban region, where they are found in 13 monuments*. Outside of this territory, they are found only at six archaeological sites. Such a concentration of nlobniks in the Kuban region gives reason to assume their local, i.e., Meotic, origin. It should also be noted that the largest number of plate head guards and all known plate bibs were found in the Trans-Kuban region, as well as all bits with spikes on cross-shaped psalms. Perhaps this is due to the functioning of a local center for the production of horse harness here.

List of literature

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The article was submitted to the Editorial Board on 25.11.08.

* Two head guards of the first and second types, which probably originate from the Kuban region, were put up for sale on the site: www.ancienttouch.com

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