Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 42 (3) 2014

Annotation:  Zooarchaeology and Taphonomy of the Middle-Upper Paleolithic in Bondi Cave, Republic of Georgia Development of a Virtual 3D Model of Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains Holocene Seal Imagery in the Lake Baikal Region of Eastern Siberia The Organization of the Mortuary Space in the Late Bronze Age: The Stary Sad Burial Ground, Baraba F Cheek-Pieces for a Horse Harness from the Kamenny Ambar Settlement “Hoofed Carnivore” Image Carved on a Bone Spoon from the Sara Burial Ground, Eastern Orenburg Region Subsistence and Ritual Practices at the Polui Fortifi ed Settlement, Western Siberia (Based on Fauna Revisiting the Chronology of the Early Sculptural Art of Kashmir, India New Belt of the “Byzantine Circle” from the Medieval Bayanovsky Burial Ground in the Perm Territory Alloy Composition in the Prestigious Silver Ware of the Old Turkic Period of Southern Siberia Concerning the History of Russian Archaeology in the Studies of A.D. Pryakhin (For the 75th Annivers Elements of the Inau Cult in Ethnic and Cultural Contacts of the Southern Far East The Mount of Yzykh Tagh with Relation to the Sacred Space and Ritual of the Khakas (Late 19th–20th C Native Populations of the Northern Altai: Demographic Processes of the Late 19th–Early 21st Century Bilateral Asymmetry of Long Bones in Bronze and Early Iron Age Pastoralists of the Altai   

“Hoofed Carnivore” Image Carved on a Bone Spoon from the Sara Burial Ground, Eastern Orenburg Region

V.K. Fedorov.

A composite image of a “hoofed carnivore,” carved on a horn spoon from an early nomadic burial at Sara, Orenburg Province, is described. It combines the features of an ungulate and a carnivore – an open mouth with large canines and hoofed legs. Two interpretations, none of which is easy to substantiate, are discussed: either the carving represents a fantastic image or it is the artistic rendition of an actual animal – a musk deer. None of these versions is unambiguously supported by any animal images dating to the Scythian period. Nevertheless, there are reasons to believe that the image of a “hoofed carnivore” originated somewhere east of the Urals, possibly in the Altai or Tuva.

Keywords: Early nomads, Scythian period, horn spoons, Animal Style, syncretic images, Southern Urals, Eastern Siberia.