The multi-spiral bracelet from the museum’s collection features nine incomplete turns. At each end, there is a sculptural element in the zoomorphic style in the form of a snake’s head. The heads are detailed, with eyes, nostrils, and mouths, as well as folds of skin. In front of the sculpted tips on the bracelet, there is a geometric pattern consisting of triangles and dots. The bracelet was made by pouring molten metal into a mold. The design is adorned with a chased geometric pattern.
Multi-spiral bracelets symbolized a coiled snake.
In ancient times, the snake held a special place within the system of religious beliefs in many cultures. The image of the serpent was associated with chthonic deities. Initially, they were personifications of the forces of the underworld — a realm simultaneously influenced by the earthly human world and the heavenly, aerial world.
The image of snakes was a frequent motif in jewelry pieces made from precious metals. Snakes were considered the embodiment of ancestral spirits, guardians of offspring, families, and homes. It is well-known that the sacred snakes that lived in the sanctuaries on the Acropolis were regarded as guardians of the state of Athens.
Depictions of snakes were considered an effective amulet. The popularity of snake cult worship in ancient Greece and the prevalence of chthonic elements in it led some scholars to suggest that bracelets ending with snake heads served not only decorative purposes but also religious ones. These artifacts may have been associated with specific beliefs and practices, such as those related to the cult of the dead or the underworld.
Between the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE, snake-headed bracelets were also in use at Scythian sites in the Steppe region. In the Lower Don region, in the 5th–3rd centuries BCE, there were large bronze and iron bracelets, one end of which was adorned in the form of a stylized serpent’s head with eyes and a mouth. From the 4th century BCE, spiral bracelets and cuffs began to appear in Scythian jewelry. Some of them featured images of snakes as well.
