Jettmar, Karl

Propylaeum-DOK

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S P E C I A L NUMBER 
ANCIENT PAKISTAN 
B U L L E T I N O F T H E D E P A R T M E N T OF A RCH A E O L O G Y 
UNIVERSITY OF P E S H A W A R 
VOLUME III—1967 
Pt. IV: Sec. 2, Iron Cheek Piece 
SECTION 2 
AN IRON CHEEK-PIECE OF A SNAFFLE FOUND AT TIMARGARHA 
By PROF. KARL JETTMAR 
When the Italian Archaeological Mission dug for Buddhist antiquities 
in Swat in 1961, they detected a group of graves with a somewhat barbaric 
appearance and obviously belonging to an earlier period than that sought. 
Up to now, three cemeteries are known: Butkara II, Loebanr I and Katelai 
I. They have many features in common but also show differences on the 
other hand, so that they may belong to different periods of a long sequ­
ence. In some graves there were objects made from iron, in others none.1 
At Timargarha in Dir State a cemetery of the same kind was exca­
vated by Professor Dani, University of Peshawar. Moreover, he discovered 
similar graves in Bajaur (Inayat Qila) and in the Talash Valley (Ziarat). 
It seems that we here have to do with a facies spread over a considerable 
part of what was once called Gandhara, hence Dani coined the term Gan­
dhara Grave Complex. 
Dani grouped the material belonging to this complex into three 
"cultural — and possibly chronological periods". Period I "should be 
dated sometime in the second half of the second millennium B.C.". To 
period II he assigned a duration of two centuries, i.e., the 10th and 9th 
centuries B.C. Period III according to him falls into the 8th — 7th centu­
ries B.C.2 The reason for the dating of the last period is that Dani observes 
distinct affinities with the material from Charsada (6th — 4th centuries 
B.C.), but he considers the grave goods from Timargarha to be more pri­
mitive and, therefore, a little earlier. 
It is interesting to compare the statements made by Stacul.3 He, 
top, grouped the graves from Bulkara II, Loebanr I and Katelai I into 
three periods with all the graves containing iron objects assigned to period 
III, though in many other aspects there is a considerable difference. Stacul 
lays stress on the analogies with pottery recovered from the deepest levels 
at Charsada (6th — 4th centuries B.C.). 
ii. 
My own opinion had been that the Dardic tribes settled in this area 
• j i - a ^ ^ r ^ a ' 
Originalveröffentlichung in: Ancient Pakistan 3, 1967, S. 203-209
JETTMAR iancient Pakistan 
before the coming of the Pashtuns included at least one component which 
had its home in Western Turkestan, i.e., in the area now called Kazakhs­
tan and Middle Asia by Soviet scholars.4 In this respect I am perfectly in 
accord with Litvinskij5, and therefore have sought analogies between the 
Bronze Age cultures of Middle Asia and the Gandhara Grave Complex. I 
believe that these will be forthcoming in the next years. Here, only two ex­
amples may be mentioned. 
In the Gandhara Grave Complex we see that the graves have an upper* 
hollow, rectangular in shape, and at the bottom a smaller pit covered with 
slabs. The lower pit is lined with dry rubble­stone masonry. Here the body 
of the dead person was placed in an empty chamber, whereas the upper 
cavity was filled with earth and stones. 
One can reasonably compare this structure (and the ritual behind 
it) with the graves of the Andronovo culture, which was an extensive cul­
ture flourishing in the western steppe­belt during the second half of the. 
2nd millennium B.C. It had however earlier beginnings continued in cer­
tain areas down to the 8th century B.C. Especially close to it are the grave 
types from Central Kazakhstan of which an example is here shown6. 
In Loebanr a laurel leaf shaped object with a central rib and a flat 
circular base­like support7 was found. I have seen this piece in the Swat 
Museum and I was permitted to photograph and publish it in "East and 
West". In fact there is more than one rib to be seen and patently the object 
was not "fit for common use",,8 so there is: a considerable similarity to the 
leaf­shaped blades from the Sukuluk Hoard found in Kirgizia which was 
tentatively dated about the turn of the 2nd to the 1st millennium B.C. 
(PL Lb, la, lb)9. 
III. 
The structure of the Andronovo graves was the same for several 
centuries, so the dating of the Sukuluk Hoard is rather dubious, nor can 
other comparisons, which I omit here, be used for exact dating. More pro­
mising in this respect is an object found by Professor Dani at Timargarha 
(Grave No. 142) which was attributed to period III, simply because it is 
made of iron. Dani recognized it as being a piece of horsegear.10 The phy­
sical anthropologist working with him at Timargarha, Dr. Bernhard, drew 
my attention to this object, and I saw it myself later in Peshawar in the 
well exhibited university collection.Photographs were presented to me 
and I was granted permission to publish it, a task which was very welcome 
204 
a. Nos. 1—4 terracotta net sinkers; No. 5 Schist net sinkers; No. 6 iron spear 
head; No. 7 iron nail; No. 8 iron spoon; No. 9 terrocatta antimony phial 
b 2a. Iron 
cheek piece, 
Grave'142 
Ul 
Ji 
b la- Leaf-shaped object from Leobanr. (Museum 
Mingora, Swat), b lb. Copper blade from 
Sukuluk hoard, Kirgisia (after Kuzmina 
1966). 
b 2b. Method of connecting a three 
hole cheek piece to the 
bridle straps. 
PI: L. Timargarha 
Terracotta human figurine, Grave 183, front view b. Terracotta human figurine, Grave 183, back view 
PI: LI. Timargarha 
Vol. Ill, 1967] Pt. IV: Sec. 2, Iron Cheek Piece 
to me because of my previous studies on the cultures of the Steppes. The 
object is in fact the cheekpiece of a bit, or, in German, "Trensenknebel''. 
(PI. Lb, 2a). Reviewing all metal types from the Bronze and Early Iron Age 
it is impossible to arrive at any different conclusion. Indeed, we have a 
rather clear survey of the development of the bridle and the bit in the Step­
pes, from Europe to the borders of China." Smirnov12 has demonstra­
ted, the evolution which took place in some parts of the Asiatic Steppes, es­
pecially in the Volga­Ural area, in the late 2nd and early 1st millennium 
B.C. lessen showed what had happened in the European part of the Soviet 
Union between the 9th and 7th centuries B.C'3 and from Kossack we have 
a valuable review correcting the chronology.14 The following period is also 
well documented in a general survey by Liberov.15. 
The definitive study, however, showing the common trend in the Step­
pe­belt of Asia was written by Grjaznov16. In a short article, in fact, he gives 
much more than a characteristic of the Majemir culture in the Altai. We 
learn that after the introduction of bits made of metal but still before the 
end of the 6th century B.C., the construction of the snaffle was rather uni­
form in the Steppes17. At each side of the horse's head the leather cheek­
straps were split into three strands to be affixed to three holes in the cheek­
piece. Previously, the middle strand had to pass the rein­ring on the end of 
the bit (PI. Lb, 2b). 
The cheek­piece might have been made from bronze or bone (perhaps 
also from wood, but no pieces of this kind were preserved). Very seldom 
check­pieces18 with three openings were made of iron, but they existed in 
areas where iron was available earlier than elsewhere, e.g. in Pontic Scy­
thia19 (early 6th century B.C.). The shape of these iron cheek­pieces is evi­
dently taken from cheek­pieces made of bronze. 
Starting with the 5th century B.C. or a little earlier, we meet a dif­
ferent system. The cheek­piece now has only two openings. It is itself passed 
through the ring on the end of the bit like a toggle. The cheek­strap has 
only two strands to be connected with the two holes of the cheek­piece. Iron 
is more and more used for both the bit and the "Trensenknebel". 
So in the Steppes20 we know quite well when cheek­pieces with three 
openings went out of fashion. It is more difficult to say that this type star­
ted at an exact date. We do not know where to put the limit. 
From the very beginning, beside round or elongated cheek­plates we 
see more slender rods with three holes, the central one, however, put at a 
205 
JETTMAR [Ancient Pakistan 
right angle to the outer ones. Often the central opening is considerably lar­
ger and is sometimes divided into two parts. Evidently the bit, made of 
plaited leather straps, passed through it. The first artifacts of this kind can 
be dated to the middle of 2nd millennium B.C.21. At the beginning of 
the 1st millennium a wide diffusion can be observed, reaching from 
Europe to Transbaikalia22. 
The next step in the development of the bridle was perhaps taken in 
the 10th century B.C. Then the type cf cheek­piece appears which we already 
know: three holes, all in the same plane23. They were still used together 
with a bit made of leather straps or some other perishable material24. Most 
such cheek­pieces were made of bone, but we know some specimens made 
from bronze as well, in early (Karasuk: Irmen's I) as in late levels (7th­
6th centuries B.C.)25. 
Gradually the leather bits were replaced by jointed mouth­pieces 
made of metal, a type already in use for a considerable time in the South, 
e.g., in Caucasia. Evidently this change did not necessitate any fundamental 
change in the system of straps for the horse's head­gear. Doubts have been 
expressed26 about the practicability of such apparatus, but, in fact, since the 
end of the 8th century B.C., bits made of leather or ropes came out of use. 
The System of the Steppes, which combined a pair of cheek­pieces with a 
metal bit, without firm joint, even expanded to the South, in areas where it 
replaced more rigid constructions, as we may assume from Assyrian re­
liefs27. 
We now incline to date the necropolis of Sialk B in the 8th century 
B.C.28, i.e., somewhat later than proposed by Ghirshman. This means that 
snaffles of the kind found in the Necropolis (e.g. in tomb 15) do not indi­
cate that the origin of the whole type was here in the South. It is rather a 
hint that the horsemen buried in such graves used horsegear of northern 
provenance such as like Timargarha. 
For three­holed cheek­pieces of this kind several different shapes are 
possible. A cheek­piece may be short ^r long, straight or curved, with studs 
on one or both ends, etc. For south­eastern Europe we have a typologically 
consistent system29. It shows that straight and simple pieces mainly occur 
late, e.g., m the 6th century B.C.30 But in many cases the reason is that 
the blacksmiths had difficulties in forging in iron the complicated shapes 
which could be easily produced in bronze foundries. 
In the Asiatic Steppes a typology of the various possible shapes of the 
cheek piece is rather sketchy^1. A certain parallel to Europe is assumed. 
20.6 
Vol. Ill, 1967] Pt. IV: Sec. 2, Iron Cheek Piece 
I t may be mentioned that in some cases only one cheek-piece or a 
fragment of it was found in graves where no horse-bones could be obser­
ved32. Evidently in this case the object was used as pars pro toto. 
IV. 
Let usi return to our piece from Timargarha. It is clear that it belongs 
typologically to those groups which p layed a great role in the Steppe­belt 
between the 10th and the 6th centuries B.C. Its shape is rather similar to 
late pieces­ in Eastern Europe (6th century B.C.), also in iron, but this could 
be due to a parallel evolution, i.e., a simplification caused by the use of the 
new metal. So a more exact dating depends still upon the question when 
iron arrived in the Indian subcontinent. Today the trend is to assume that 
it came earlier than in the Steppes. 
We must, however, ask whether cheek­pieces with three holes did not 
persist much longer south of the Hindukush than elsewhere. Once more we 
are without answer, because we have no systematic typology of the snaf­
fles etc. for the Indian subcontinent. In my opinion most relevant pieces 
are still unidentified in the stores of the museums. 
With attention to all the other objects in the Steppes, a dating in the 
7th or 6th centuries B.C. could be tentatively proposed, and this agrees quite 
well with the dating of period I I I as proposed by Dani (without, however, 
discouraging a later dating, which Stacul evidently has in his mind33. 
The real importance of the piece lies in the fact that it once more 
points to the Steppes as one of the several sources of the Gandhara Grave 
Complex, and that it encourages us to look for other articles of horsegear 
in the material f rom sites in the subcontinent. 
1. Antonini 1963; Alciati and Fedeli 1965; Cenna 1965; Stacul 1966; cf. also TUCGJ 1963. 
2. Dani 1966a, b, c. 
3. cf. Stacul 1966, pp. 66 and 78. 
4. Jettmar 1966, pp. 47­48. 
5. Litvinskij 1964, pp. 143—151. 
6. Margulan 1966, pp. 71—196. 
7. Stacul 1966, p. 58. 
8. cf. Antonini 1963, p. 22. 
9. Kuz'mina 1966, p. 52, Fig. VI1I/13 and 16. 
10. MS 1966 (?), p. 3. 
11. The book written by Potratz in 1966 is of no use tovs here. Only a small part of Soviet archaeologists' studies 
are known to him, so that his typological ordering of objects from the Asian Steppes is far from the reality. 
12. Smirnov 1961. 
13. Jessen 1953, 1954. 
207 
KKM! dbwil) ocwi » JETTMAR [Ancient Pakistan 
14. Kossack 1954. 
15. Liberov 1954. 
16. Grjaznov 1947. 
17. But there are areas which do not follow the general trend, e.g., the eastern part of Central Asia. Cf. Tolstov 
and Itina 1966. 
18. Soviet authors instead permanently use the term "psalion", but this is not correct. Cf. Anderson 1961, pp. 
60—61. 
19. Liberov 1954, p. 151. 
20. In China, however, since the Middle Chou Period in about 950 B.C., the second system (psalion passed 
through the ring of the bit) prevailed. Cf. Dewall 1966. 
21. Mozsolics 1954, 1960. 
22. Smirnov 1961, pp, 64—65. 
23. Smirnov 1961, pp. 66—67. 
24. As we know from undisturbed graves, the horse was equipped with cheek-pieces though no bit was found. 
25. Grjaznov 1956, p. 74. Kuz'mina 1966, PI. XV/40. 
26. Potratz. 1966, pp. 92—94. 
27. Barnett, PI. 68 (time of Assurbanipal). 
28. cf. Calmeyer 1964, pp. 40-^12. 
29. cf. Kossack 1954/55 pp. 146—147. 
30. Liberov 1954, PI. 1/23—25. 
31. Grisirt I960, p. 129. 
32. Sosnovskij 1941, pp. 288—289. Sorokin 1966, p. 45. 
33. Stacul 1966, p. 78. 
— « - > 
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209 


An iron cheek-piece of a snaffle found at Timargarha

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An iron cheek-piece of a snaffle found at Timargarha

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