In 1993, the Seversk museum launched the excavations at the Savinsky burial mound. The Tomsk archaeologist and historian Lyudmila Pletneva led the expedition. During excavations, gold earrings in the form of a ring with a hollow cone-shaped pendant were found. Lyudmila Pletneva dated the find to the 5th — 4th century BC and attributed it to the Shelomok culture.

The mound in which the earrings were found was the largest of all. The burial belongs to the elite ones — people with high social status were buried in places like this. The grave was heavily plundered: the skeleton bones were thrown away, so when the archaeologists found them they were not put in the anatomical order.
The Shelomok archaeological culture dates back to the 7th — 3rd centuries BC. It ranged from the mouth of the Tom River in the north to the modern city of Novosibirsk in the south, and from west to east it was found along the entire interfluve of the Ob and the Tom Rivers. Peoples who spoke the Samoyedic languages, which are part of the Uralic language family, inhabited this territory.

The Shelomok archaeological culture belongs to the Scythian-Siberian cultures. According to written sources, such peoples are known as the Scythians, Savromats, Sakas, and others. Researchers know about the Shelomoks only from archaeological sources. For all these cultures (nationalities), a common defining feature is the so-called Scythian triad: the Scythian-Siberian animal style in jewelry, specific weapons, and horse tack.

The Shelomok people had a variety of occupations: they hunted, fished, and raised livestock, especially horses. They also knew how to cultivate land, create cast bronze tools, and carve bone, process stone, leather, wood, and birch bark. The Shelomok people began using iron rather late — only in the 4th-3rd centuries BC.

They buried the dead in earthen mounds that were up to one meter high. According to the objects in the burials, one can distinguish the graves of the nobility, warriors, and ordinary members of the society. Gold earrings, which are housed in the museum, were found in the burial of a wealthy representative of this culture.

Полное наименование: Gold earrings
Дата создания: the 5th-4th centuries BC
Размеры: 1.6×1.5×2.1 cm
Правообладатель изображений: Seversk Museum
Техника: handmade

The museum collection contains a bronze mirror, which is about 2500 years old. Instead of an anchor, there is a figurine of a goat with two steeply curved horns on the back of the mirror. The legs of the animal almost converge in one point, the artisan made the eyes in the form of small indentations, and the tail was made in the form of a short lowered protrusion. The mirror has a diameter of 6.4 centimeters.

The artifact was found in 2001 during excavations led by the Tomsk archaeologist and Doctor of Historical Sciences Lyudmila Pletneva. The mirror was located on the monument of the 6th — 4th century B.C., on the settlement of Shelomok II.

The study of the settlement provides insight into the religious views of the people who used to live in this territory. During the excavations, the scientists found a ritual object with an area of 27 square meters. In ancient times, it was a building with 21 circles of masonry stones and one circle containing the fragments of ceramic dishes.

In the center, the researchers found several bronze objects: figures of a lion, a deer, a panther curled up in a circle and an image of two horses. As well as two embroidered patches and two mirrors, including one with the image of a goat. The horses, the deer, and the mirror were found next to each other. The lion’s figure was found standing on the northern side, the panther was to the northeast, and the mirror with the goat was found on the southern side. All the items were facing upwards. Their location at a certain distance and in a certain order indicates that some ritual actions were performed at this settlement.

The Shelomok people believed that each animal occupied a certain place in accordance with their views on the world’s structure. The members of the Scythian-Siberian cultures used to divide the world into the Upper and Lower ones. Predators were considered the representatives of the Lower World, while the goat, the deer and the horse belonged to the Upper World.

The image of a goat is quite common among the cultures of the Scythian-Siberian circle. The animals could be depicted statically, or in a jump — in this case, the goat’s hind legs were bent to the front, like the figure on the mirror found during excavations. In some cultures, the animal was depicted with a beard, and in others, as in Shelomok, it was beardless.

The figure of the goat is depicted in the Scythian-Siberian animal style. The images of animals were divided into four characteristic groups: ungulates (deer, goats, wild boars, and elks), birds of prey, feline predators, and fantastic animals that combined different features — winged or horned horses, griffins, and others. Each animal had an iconic pose: deer and goats were often depicted standing on the tips of their hooves, and predators were coiled in a circle.

Полное наименование: Mirror with a goat figure
Дата создания: the 6th-4th centuries B.C.
Техника: casting
Размеры: diameter 6.4 cm, height 2.6 cm, width 2.1 cm
Правообладатель изображений: Seversk Museum