The Thracian silver Greaves(?) and the silver Vessel from Mastyugino — Possibilities of an Alternative Interpretation
Abstract
The human face, still visible on the fragmentary preserved silver vessel from Mastyugino (Voronezh district, Russia), impresses with the gilt lines, which most probably indicate a tattoo. They find a close parallel in the Thracian silver gilt greaves dated to the 4th century B. C. The upper part of these four artifacts, all found in rich graves with tumuli, is shaped as a human face predominantly interpreted as imaging the Great Mother Goddess. Despite the obvious similarity between these four items, they form two distinctive subgroups: the human faces on two of them are tattooed (the parallel with the Mastyugino vessel is self-imposing) while the human faces on the other two are without a tattoo. Each subgroup shows a similar or almost similar decoration of the lower part of the artifacts: beneath the human faces not marked by gilt lines, i.e. by tattoos, different figural scenes are represented, while beneath the tattooed faces such figural scenes are missing. A thorough analysis of these four items puts forward the necessity of questioning the traditional opinion that they were produced and thought about as greaves and of offering an alternative interpretation of the human faces. Two possible reconstructions of the Mastyugino silver gilt vessel are offered as well.
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References
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