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How have I never seen this?

scythian

Holy shit, look at this thing! It’s a tiny part of this necklace which was found in a grave in Tolstaya Mogila, Ukraine and is thought to date from about 400 BC. (Here’s a big, color view of that detail).

It’s Scythian. I mean, I’ve heard of the Scythians, but I won’t say I knew anything about them. I had no idea they were exquisite goldsmiths. Wikipedia says they were a group of Iranians, the very first horse warriors. So, proto-Mongols. Famous warriors.

But I can’t get over the workmanship on this, particularly given the date. Banging around the web looking for more information, much has been said about how this particular piece had influence from classical Greek art. And it clearly does. But the stuff that isn’t classically inspired is still lovely and technically sophisticated. See Google Images search.

And still most of the articles are about how martial they were. Boo.

November 7, 2016 — 10:31 pm
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