Archaeologists found the plaque with an image of a wild animal during the excavations in the KrivAya LUka area of the ChernoYArsky District in the Astrakhan region in 1976.
As scientists found out, the item was crafted in the 6th century BC. At that time, the so-called ‘animal style’ dominated the jewelry business. Craftsmen depicted animals on jewelry: women’s jewelry, fasteners, decorations of weapons and horse harnesses. Most often these were rams and deer, wild predatory cats and eagles. As a rule, animals were depicted in a styled manner: in general terms, they were either humble and calm, or, conversely, belligerent and attacking. The animal species can be guessed by the outlines of the muscles, teeth, muzzles and tails. In our case, the wild cat has fallen to the ground, its mouth is ajar, its long sharp claws are extended. However, the image of the beast is devoid of deliberate predation; the cat is depicted not furious, but rather frozen.
The Volga archaeological expedition has been working in the Volgograd and Astrakhan regions since the 1950s. The researchers studied the monuments of different eras - from ancient burial mounds to medieval fortefeid towns and cities of the XIV century with the remains of settlements.
And in the 1970s, the Volga archaeological expedition focused on those monuments that fell into the construction zones and were subject to destruction. For example, in the ChernoYArsky District of the Astrakhan Region, the construction of a huge Kalmyk-Astrakhan rice irrigation system was started, and there was a danger that many ancient mounds would be destroyed and flooded. Many of them were full of treasures that told researchers about the culture and life of long-disappeared peoples.
The excavations of the mounds were arranged along the dry bed of one of the ancient channels of the Volga delta. It was called KrivAya Luka. After the water that used to flood the delta during the so-called Novocaspian transgression of the Caspian Sea (approximately 6th – 5th millennium BC) left these area, some channels remained full-flowing for a long time. Later, they dried up, but the water sometimes broke out of the Volga or concentrated there after the rains. The tribes of the ancient Delta lived and buried their dead near such channels.
As scientists found out, the item was crafted in the 6th century BC. At that time, the so-called ‘animal style’ dominated the jewelry business. Craftsmen depicted animals on jewelry: women’s jewelry, fasteners, decorations of weapons and horse harnesses. Most often these were rams and deer, wild predatory cats and eagles. As a rule, animals were depicted in a styled manner: in general terms, they were either humble and calm, or, conversely, belligerent and attacking. The animal species can be guessed by the outlines of the muscles, teeth, muzzles and tails. In our case, the wild cat has fallen to the ground, its mouth is ajar, its long sharp claws are extended. However, the image of the beast is devoid of deliberate predation; the cat is depicted not furious, but rather frozen.
The Volga archaeological expedition has been working in the Volgograd and Astrakhan regions since the 1950s. The researchers studied the monuments of different eras - from ancient burial mounds to medieval fortefeid towns and cities of the XIV century with the remains of settlements.
And in the 1970s, the Volga archaeological expedition focused on those monuments that fell into the construction zones and were subject to destruction. For example, in the ChernoYArsky District of the Astrakhan Region, the construction of a huge Kalmyk-Astrakhan rice irrigation system was started, and there was a danger that many ancient mounds would be destroyed and flooded. Many of them were full of treasures that told researchers about the culture and life of long-disappeared peoples.
The excavations of the mounds were arranged along the dry bed of one of the ancient channels of the Volga delta. It was called KrivAya Luka. After the water that used to flood the delta during the so-called Novocaspian transgression of the Caspian Sea (approximately 6th – 5th millennium BC) left these area, some channels remained full-flowing for a long time. Later, they dried up, but the water sometimes broke out of the Volga or concentrated there after the rains. The tribes of the ancient Delta lived and buried their dead near such channels.
