A luxury Calaf from the Barrow Bolshaja Bliznitsa: the interpretation of personages
A luxury Calaf from the Barrow Bolshaja Bliznitsa: the interpretation of personages

Summary/Abstract: The Calaf with gold decoration was found in the kurgan, known as Bolshaja Bliznitsa. It was located on the Tamanskij peninsula. The plot of the image is defined as a battle scene, or griffinomachy. The composition is conventionally divided into six groups (2-3 figures). There are two versions of the definition of anthropomorphic characters, depicted on a gold decoration of Calaf. According to one version the warriors were men. In another version anthropomorphic characters were women. The presence of several details in the images allows us to consider these warriors as armed women the legendary Amazons. The battles of the Amazons with the griffins belong to the items that were popular in the Bosporus in the second half of 4 BC. It is believed that this plot resonates with the scenes of laceration animals by griffins, is well-known in works of the so-called Greek-Scythian art. These images appear to illustrate some local versions of myths about the Amazons, well known not at the mainland Greece but at the periphery of the ancient world (southern Italy, Thrace) and on the Scythian lands.

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