Silver greave from the Thracian Agighiol Tumulus

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Silver greave from the Thracian Agighiol Tumulus
Silver greave from the Thracian Agighiol Tumulus

A highly significant north Thracian tumulus burial was discovered at Agighiol, a small village in present-day eastern Romania, just south of the Danube Delta, close to a former estuary that would have provided a direct connection to the Black Sea. The ancient Greek port of Istros lies just to the south.

The main chamber-tomb of the tumulus contained the skeletal remains of two women, one eighteen to twenty years old (with an intentionally elongated skull), and the other one twenty-one years old. Grave goods were mostly silver, with some gold, and contained pieces of armor (a helmet and two unmatched right-leg silver greaves), several phialai, assorted vessels, and three sacrificed horses along with their trappings. The style of the helmet and the greaves - ceremonial armor - is considered to be north Thracian.

The shape of both greaves is derived from earlier Greek bronze examples, but the knee is decorated with a facing head, perhaps a goddess. Stylized snakes or animal-headed serpents ornament the sides. Beside the snake on this greave is a mounted horseman holding a bow, and below are a seated man holding a drinking horn and a bird of prey. These symbolic images appear to belong to the pictorial realm of the steppe tradition.

Silver, ca. 350-300 BCE.

Bucharest, National History Museum of Romania (inv. 11175)

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Taken on: November 20, 2024
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