6 research outputs found
The technique of gold inlaid decoration in the 5th-4th centuries BC: silver and iron finds from the early Sarmatian barrows of Filippovka, Southern Urals
The present paper addresses silver and iron objects (iron sword awl, silver quiver hooks, and an iron knife with a silver handle) decorated with inlaid gold strips and plates. The artefacts were excavated recently in the barrows near the village of Filippovka, in the Southern Urals, and were dated to the 5th-4th centuries BC. Typological and stylistic analyses are complemented with the study of technological features of the objects. Analysis under the Analytical Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), carried out during the restoration of the objects, revealed the specific features of Urals gold. Most of the objects analysed represent local forms of the early Sarmatian culture. This technique of gold inlaid decoration was spread by the nomads of the Eurasian steppes from the Altai Mountains in the east to Central Kazakhstan and the Southern Urals in the west during a period between the 7th and the 4th centuries BC; furthermore, the technique is also attested in Achaemenid metalwork. A unique silver black patinated handle of a knife, shaped in the form of a stag, was inspired by the âAchaemenid international styleâ, but the peculiarities of style and the inlaid technique do not exclude the possibility that it could have been manufactured in a provincial Achaemenid workshop for a Sarmatian customer.Lâarticle traite les objets en fer et argent (Ă©pĂ©e et alĂȘne en fer, agrafes de carquois en argent et couteau avec poignĂ©e en argent) dĂ©corĂ©s de bandes et de feuilles dâor, trouvĂ©s rĂ©cemment dans les tumulus proches de la ville de Filippovka, dans le sud de lâOural, et datant des ve-ive siĂšcles av. J.-C. Les analyses stylistiques et typologiques sont complĂ©tĂ©es par lâĂ©tude des dĂ©tails techniques des objets. Les observations rĂ©alisĂ©es sous microscope Ă©lectronique Ă balayage (MEB) pendant leur restauration ont rĂ©vĂ©lĂ© les caractĂ©ristiques de lâor de lâOural. La majoritĂ© des objets analysĂ©s appartiennent aux formes locales de la culture Sarmate ancienne. La technique de dĂ©coration par inclusion dâor, observĂ©e dans le travail du mĂ©tal des AchĂ©mĂ©nides, a Ă©tĂ© diffusĂ©e pendant le viie-ive siĂšcle av. J.-C. par les nomades des steppes Eurasiennes, Ă partir des monts AltaĂŻ vers lâest jusquâau Kazakhstan central et vers lâouest jusquâau sud de lâOural. Une poignĂ©e de couteau, piĂšce unique en forme de cerf patinĂ© Ă lâargent noir, a Ă©tĂ© inspirĂ©e par le style AchĂ©mĂ©nide international, mais les particularitĂ©s du style et de la technique dâinclusion nâexcluent pas la possibilitĂ© dâune fabrication dans un atelier AchĂ©mĂ©nide provincial destinĂ©e Ă un Sarmate