On the Time and Context of the Earliest Bronze Mirrors in the Northern Pontic Region

On the Time and Context of the Earliest Bronze Mirrors
in the Northern Pontic Region

DOI: 10.17746/1563-0110.2018.46.4.059-066

T.M. Kuznetsova
Institute of Archaeology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Dm. Ulyanova 19, Moscow, 117036, Russia

Attempts to push the Archaic Scythian culture back in time have led to a disagreement between archaeological and narrative sources relevant to the appearance of Scythians in the region north of the Black Sea. In the last two decades, this event was moved from the late 7th century BC, as the written sources suggest, to the mid 7th century BC. In this study, one of the chronological markers motivating this date is subjected to a critical revision. On the basis of new facts, the dates of “Scythian” and Greek mirrors found at Northern Pontic sites have been analyzed. Importantly, both “Scythian” and Greek mirrors were cultural innovations marking the migration of Scythians from Eastern Eurasia and the Greek colonization of the area. Because the local nomads lacked the skills required for manufacturing “Scythian” mirrors, the tradition declined in the 5 th century BC. The contacts between the Scythians and people of the Northern Pontic forest-steppe zone and of the Greek colonies are reflected in the changed construction of the “Scythian” mirrors: instead of the central (“Scythian”) loop-handle, a “Greek” side-handle appeared, giving the mirrors a “Greek” shape. It is concluded that replicas of Greek prototypes in the Northern Pontic region can serve as chronological indicators, since we know the centers where these prototypes were manufactured—Corinth and Argos. Because mirrors appeared in Archaic Greece in the 6th century BC, Scythian assemblages with such artifacts cannot be earlier.

Keywords: Mirrors, Scythians, Greeks, Northern Black Sea region, contacts