Антропоморфная подвеска из собрания херсонского областного краеведческого музея

Anthropomorphic pendant from the collection of the Kherson regional local lore museum

Abstract

In this paper, we will discuss a bronze anthropomorphic pendant from the Lower Dnieper region – “Oleshkovsky Pіski” locality. The find was uncovered at the beginning of the 20th c. and immediately transferred to the collection of the Kherson Regional Local Lore Museum.

The anthropomorphic pendant is a stylized human figure. There is a loop behind for suspension. It has a drop-shaped head with a hat. The face has a slightly visible stylized protrusion representing the nose, and small indentations in place of the mouth and eyes. The figure has a thin neck, a rectangular protrusion for the shoulders, straight arms with distinguishable tassel-like hands, and a straight torso. The stylized legs are bent at the knees, which have distinguishable feet pointing in opposite directions. The hands are connected to the legs at the knee area. Between the legs, there is a third straight protrusion (exaggerated phallus), connected to the legs in the area of the feet (fig. 1, fig. 2).

The find belongs to the end of the 4th – 7th c. and it relates to the products of the Black Sea and the Caucasus region, Kovalevska/type 1, small bronze or silver one-sided pendants (fig. 3). The depiction is male, nude and phallic. The head is rounded or with a cone-shaped headdress. Facial features are either absent or schematic. Shoulders are straight and body is elongated. The line of the legs repeats the line of the arms. The loop for hanging is on the back of the head. Similar finds have been discovered at sites in the North Caucasus, the Crimea, and on the coast of the Azov Sea (fig. 8).