About Attribution of scythian snaffle Metal Plates in shape of Animal’s Paw or Human Hand

Abstract

Among the diverse accessories of Scythian snaffle there is a huge group of metal plates, an image of which is handled by the scientists as animal’s paw or a human hand. Preference to this or that attribution is given without one’s own point of view argumentation or on the basis of matching with the natural prototype — a human hand or a cat’s, bear’s or wolf’s paw. Additional information for the problem solving in favour of zoomorphic or anthropomorphic attribution of such metal plates can be derived by analyzing the particularities of iconography of a hand on the Scythian images of a human. On Scythian stone statues a hand was often depicted isodactylous. The same tradition of hand depiction can be seen on one of the finials of the Alexandropolsky burial. So the handling of depiction of pentadactyl metal plates with unrecognized thumb as a human hand or the possibility of their ambivalence is on the edge of zoomorphism or anthropopathy can be assumed rather acceptable.