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In comparing the European situation to that in the Near East, there were notable differences in the dissemination of bronze. In the Near East, the early stages of tin bronze metallurgy involved long-distance exchange networks, controlled by powerful urban centres in Mesopotamia. This usually resulted in directional trade from site to site, based on demand and supply.The scene in Europe was quite different.With no cities to organise caravan trade, bronze products were circulated amongst the villages on an altogether different model, which was more diffuse.Another reason given for these distinct models is the availability of tin.Although most regions in Europe had to import tin, the tin deposits scattered across the continent made it a more accessible commodity than was the case in the Near East, where tin was very rare, problematic to obtain, and subject to monopolies.
In the Caucasus, we have traced the gradual appearance of arsenical bronzes in the late fourth millennium through the advent of tin bronzes in the third millennium.By the Middle Bronze Age (ca.2600 BC),bronze was widely used for a diverse range of products, from weapons and implements to jewellery and other decorative items.This variety of applications indicates that bronze was appreciated for more than its technical benefits of hardness and malleability. It was valued for its tactile and visual qualities, too – its patina and colour, and its capacity to be decorated with arresting designs and transformed into objects of desire.
Bronze reached a new level of importance in the Caucasus by the middle second millennium BC.The sheer quantity of bronze alone, such as we have in the Koban culture, suggests that the metal had a standard value – what Sherratt has termed ‘proto-currency’ in the European context.42 Neither too common nor too rare, bronze was used to craft a variety of objects that were both appealing and useful across diverse cultures and value systems. Likewise, the physical characteristics of bronze – its ability to be melted and re-cast – meant that it could be easily converted into items specifically suited to local tastes. This, I think, is what happened in the Late Bronze Age Caucasus, which is defined by roughly similar metalwork assemblages across the whole area. Functional items such as axes were adopted more or less unchanged across traditions, while more personal objects were tweaked or converted to reflect regional choice. This feature of ‘liquidity’ took bronze items out of the prestige category, such as the items owned by a privileged few in the Middle Bronze Age, and endowed the metal with value that could be exchanged. Over the centuries, then, the importance of bronze was transformed through a process of commoditisation.
KOBAN METALWORK
Studies on Koban metalwork have favoured typologies based around shape, in the first instance, and then material.Valentina Kozenkova, and before her,
42 Sherratt 1993: 17.
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Bagrat Tekhov and Evgenii Krupnov produced fundamentally important regional sequences.43 More recently, Reinhold has taken a broader view, bringing together in a thorough study the bulk of the material from across the northern Caucasus. Following in part her predecessors, she has grouped the material into five main functional categories, which I will adapt and compress into three groups: weapons, tools, and horse trappings; costume accessories and associated jewellery; vessels.44 Scythian-influenced late Koban material falls outside the parameters of this book and will not be dealt with.
Weapons,Tools, and Horse Trappings
This category comprises about half of the total Koban grave depositions, highlighting the military character of its burials. Items are manufactured from bronze and iron,though some pieces were worked in stone and antler.Weapons consist of several different types of ranged and hand-held types: blades (daggers, knives and swords), axes, blunt weapons (hammers and clubs), ranged weapons (spearheads and arrowheads), and armour (helmets, shields and body armour).45 Most of the organic components of composite weapons such as bows, quivers, and wooden handles and shafts have not survived.
Bronze Daggers:These offensive weapons, used at close quarters, constitute one of the largest categories of artefacts.They are generally grouped according to the design of the handle and the shape and thickness of the blade. More than half of the total number of daggers has a tang, a spike to which the handle was attached.These represent the earliest type of daggers.Their blade can be triangular with a sloping shoulder and no rivets, broad with concave sides, or straight-sided (the most lethal of the daggers) with rivet holes at the juncture of shoulder and tang.46 The latter two types were also forged in iron. Flangehilted daggers constitute another group and can vary considerably in length. They have their hilt and blade cast in one piece, and the edges of the hilt and ricasso are raised to hold in place the inlay of bone, wood, or other perishable material.These daggers appeared throughout the Near East in the early second millennium, and gradually spread to other areas, including the Caucasus, where they were modified to local taste.47
43Krupnov 1960;Tekhov 1977; Kozenkova 1982, 1995, 1998.
44Reinhold 2007: 29.
45These categories are slightly different to those proposed by Reinhold (2007: 29), who groups weapons according to functions – stabbing, slashing, throwing, ranged and defensive.
46Reinhold 2007: fig. 13 pl. 1, lists 1 and 2 (category DoA1A–B) for triangular; fig. 13 pl. 2, lists 5–10 (category DoA3A–F) for straight-sided; fig. 14, pls. 7–13, lists 14–25 (categories DoB1–6, C1–C2, D1) for the broad blade.
47Reinhold 2007: fig. 15, pls. 14–18, lists 26–35 (categories Kgd A1-5, B1–3, C1–3).
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There are also daggers with a solid, waisted handle, which again have the hilt and blade cast in one piece.Typologically, they share attributes with examples as far apart as Iran and central Europe, but many are uniquely Caucasian in their ostentatious design and decoration.48 Bimetallic daggers are quite distinctive and constitute the last type.They have a bronze handle and iron blade, and are often referred to as the Kabardino-Pyatigorsk type, stretching as they do across the northern foothills between Koban and east Chechnia.49 With origins in north-western Iran in the Iron Age I, they soon appealed to communities in the northern Caucasus, where local artisans manufactured a distinctive series. At Serzhen-Yurt (Burials 26 and 44), for instance, the smiths reached a high level of metallurgical sophistication, having produced high-carbon steel blades.
Bronze Axes: Arguably the icon of the Koban metal assemblage, the forms of bronze axes are distinctive – from a fluted shaft hole and rectangular butt a long and sinuous neck extends to a wide and rounded blade. One third of the axes are highly decorated, with incised designs depicting dynamic animals and geometric patterns, often executed in a metopic fashion.These showy pieces are particularly common atTli,where they formed part of a warrior’s accoutrements (Figure 9.3(1)).The rest were plain and utilitarian.50 These axes are particularly common in the central Caucasus (northern and southern Ossetia) and western Georgia. Whether they ought to be classified as ‘Koban’, ‘Colchian’, or ‘Colchian-Koban’ axes has been a matter of debate.51 Iron axes were also produced in the Caucasus and they are generally placed in the seventh century BC. Stone axes and hammers, mace heads and sceptres belong to the category of blunted weapons and ceremonial items and they form a varied group.
Spearheads: One of two main-range weapons (the other being the arrowhead), spearheads have been well studied.52 They are ubiquitous and were manufactured throughout the Late Bronze and Iron Age periods. Most have a base that is cast and hollow and inserted over the wooden shaft. The rest have a thick sheet that wrapped around the top of the wooden shaft. Both types often have a pair of rivet holes. Forms range from ‘leaf-shaped’, the most common, to those with a narrow central ridge that runs all the way to the tip. Iron versions are amongst the key elements that define the Early Iron Age.Amongst the types, those with a narrow stem and an oval blade with no ridge are common.53
48Reinhold 2007: fig. 16, pls. 19–22, lists 36–49 (categoriesVgd A1–3, B, C1–5, D1–3).
49Reinhold 2007: fig. 17, pls. 23–30, lists 50–58 (categories Bmd A, B, C1–3, D1–4).
50Reinhold 2007: 50, pls. 45: 7–13, 46–8.
51Reinhold 2007: figs 20–21, pls. 38–41, lists 77–93 (categories Ax A1–6, B1–4). See also Tekhov 1980, 1981, 1985; and Kuftin 1950, who prefers to group them as ‘ColchianKoban’ axes. For an overview of the typological schemes, see Pantskhava et al. 2003.
52Tekhov 1977 (Tli assemblage); Kozenkova 1982 (the northern Caucasus); Picchelauri 1997 (central and eastern Georgia).
53Chernykh 1976; Reinhold 2007: figs 25–6, pls. 59–62, lists 150–66 (categories LzE1–3, F1–4, G1–6, H, J1–2).
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Most have a blade the same length as the stem. Flint and obsidian hollow-based arrowheads continue in the Late Bronze Age, but by the time of the late Iron Age they give way to the long-stemmed twoand three-leafed metal arrowheads found throughout the Eurasian steppes and presumably deriving from the Pontic steppes.54
Horse Harnesses: These varied artefacts are amongst the most studied items from the Caucasus, Europe, and the Near East.The jointed snaffle consisting of two rounded bars linked at the centre is the most common item.55 Its ends form a single or double loop, which was either circular or stirrup-shaped. Like other metal categories, there are multiple variations based on ornamentation and bar form.Another important bridle element is the bar cheek piece (psalia). There are essentially two basic types, with multiple variations. One type has three equidistant rings attached to one side, whereas the other has three perforations.The most basic of the former is a straight bar, sometimes capped at either end, with three loops. In cross-section they are round or square.All types are found mostly in the north-western Caucasus and the Kislovodsk area, in the lower reaches of the Kuban valley. Like the snaffle bits, the main focus for them is the piedmont region.56 Horses were also ridden with bone and antler cheek pieces, which were either straight or curved.57 One distinctive type, originally from the north Pontic steppes and termed Belozerka, has a swollen bar and perforated mushroom-capped ends.
Jewellery and Costume Accessories
Jewellery played an important role in social identity amongst Koban communities and the tombs are replete with items that adorned several parts of the body. Headgear included ornamented diadems (broad metal strips), so far found only at Tli and Styrfaz.58 For added appeal, bronze rings made of thin wire, some quite large, were hung from the diadems (Figure 9.3(3)). Lunate hair rings with overlapping ends can have fl attened ends decorated with grooves. These are ubiquitous throughout the Near East, but in the Caucasus were popular at the headwaters of the Kuban River.
Rings and Spirals: Rings with multiple spirals hung from a diadem or head band around the temple, and large spiral armbands, are distinctly north Caucasian (Figure 9.4(3–4)). Some rings are 6 cm in diameter and can have two or three spirals.They were manufactured from solid wire or folded wire,
54Reinhold 2007: fig. 27, lists 167–87 (categories PfA1–4, B1–3, C1–3, D1–3, E1–4).
55Val’chak 1997a, 1997b; Dietz 1998.
56Reinhold 2007: fig. 29, pls. 63–73, lists 214–40 (categories Tk A1–4, B1–4, C1–2, D1–2, E1–2, F1–2, G1–6, H).
57Reinhold 2007: fig. 29, lists 247–51 (categories Tk Kn A, B1–2, C–D).
58See, for example,Tekhov 1971 (Styrfaz), 1977 and 1980 (Tli).
Figure 9.4. Koban jewellery (1) torque; (2) bangle; (3, 7) arm band; (4) temple spiral; (5–6) pins; (8) buckle; (9–10) fibulae; (11) pendant or finger ring (after Reinhold 2007; Bedianashvili and Bodet 2010; Bedianashvili 2016).
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with fl attened or cut-off ends.59 Spirals made from coiled wire were produced mainly in eastern Chechnia and usually measure about 6 cm in length, but most distinctive are the long spirals (up to 35 cm in length) with up to twenty turns that dangled from the temple. One of the best concentrations was found at Serzhen-Yurt. For added decorativeness, some examples terminate in a tight volute.
Rings were also worn around the neck. The most popular design was the torque, found throughout the western Caucasus, from Chechnia to the Black Sea coast, and especially at Tli.60 Torques terminate at both ends in an eyelet formed by a tightly wound spiral.They can be plain or decorated, as well as thick and massive (Figure 9.4(1)). Clothing pins are the most common jewellery items, as they are in the southern Caucasus, with four basic categories and more than sixty types.61 The most convincing approach is to classify them according to the broad shape of the head: plain profile or small-headed; ornate; ‘racket-headed’; openwork.Within these basic categories there are multiple variations (Figure 9.4(5–6)).
Fibula: Many studies on fibulae revolve around place of manufacture – imports versus local – which has significant implications for chronology.According to Friedhelm Pedde, the fibula originated in Europe and was transmitted through the Mycenaean world via Cyprus, eventually reaching the Near East.62 This model is convincing and the examples from the Caucasus are to be seen as part of this transfer. Fibulae are not as plentiful in the Caucasus as pins, but their typology, like their chronology, has been much debated. Both low and high chronologies have been proposed. Amongst the low are the schemes of Yuri Voronov and Nino Sulava, who place the appearance of fibulae in the Caucasus around the late ninth to early eighth century BC, largely on the basis of European and Mediterranean parallels.63 By contradistinction Georg Kossack and Valentina Kozenkova place their introduction much earlier: the eleventh century (Tli Phase B) and the twelfth century (Koban II) respectively.64 Some measure of certainty is afforded by the single radiocarbon date
59Reinhold 2007: fig. 31, pls. 89–94, lists 303–33 (categories SrA1–3, B1–5, C1–3, D1–6, E1–2, F, G1–3; SsPA1–3, C).
60Reinhold 2007: fig. 32, pls. 95–100, lists 341–59 (categories HrA1–3, B1–5, C1, D1–2, E1–3).
61There are several pin typologies for the northern Caucasus (Tekhov 1977: 36–51; Kozenkova 1982; Motzenbäcker 1996: 81–102), but I have, on the whole, followed Reinhold’s (2007: 81–90, figs 33–4, pls. 101–19, lists 361–434 (categories Na A1–3, B1–8, C1–2, D1–3, E1–4, F1–7, G1–5, H1–2, I1–3, K1–2, L1–3, M1–2, N1–5, O1–8, P).
62Pedde 2000. Earlier studies on Near Eastern fibulae include Stronach 1959; see also Muscarella 1967; Kossack 1983. An early classic work is Blinkenberg 1926. On Italian fibulae and their wider European setting, there is Toms 2006 and Lo Schiavo 2006; for Greek fibulae, see Sapouna-Sakellarakis 1978.
63Voronov 1984: Sulava 2005.
64Kossack 1983; Kozenkova 1996.
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from Tomb 9 at Koban, with its thickened bow fibula, which accords best with the higher chronology.65
Essentially, fibulae generally have a semi-circular bow (or arc), and are best classified according to the decoration on the two ‘arms’ of the bow (Figure 9.4(9–10)). Other components of a fibula include the spring (the coiled end of the pin-stem), the pin-stem (a pointed wire that pierces the fabric on which the fibula is worn), and a catch (one end of the bow opposite the coil that catches the pin-stem). Most fibulae are made of bronze, with a small number shaped in iron. Reinhold proposes four categories: simple and undecorated; continuously decorated bow; keel-shaped arc with an ‘apex’; and zoomorphic.66 Of the simple bow fibulae, which can have either a circular or lozenge-shaped cross-section, Reinhold has noted that sites in the mountainous regions have yielded the largest examples. The ornate fibulae generally have their bow incised all over with an intricate herringbone pattern, giving it a knurled look.These are generally considered to be the earliest type, with close sub-Mycenaean analogies. Other ornate fibulae are decorated with bead and collar moulding, or a continuously ribbed bow, or with varied ribbed, cross-hatched and plain mouldings.
Bangles, Bracelets, and Arm-Rings: This jewellery category can be grouped together. The simplest form and most diverse group is the solid type with a round or, less commonly, triangular cross-section; size generally determines whether they are bangles or arm rings (Figure 9.4(7)).Their ends can be cut vertically, or diagonally, or be worked – hammered into a snake’s head or formed into a knob. In this group, we can also include leg-rings, which could be mistaken for solid arm-rings were it not for their in situ context at Tli and Koban.
Belts and Buckles: Leather belts sewn onto bronze hooks and buckles were fashionable, but only in the central Caucasian range; there is a conspicuous absence of them at sites in the northern Caucasus.67 Although hooks are fairly standardised, belt clasps offer more variety. One category is the long and narrow metal plate, as wide as the belt itself, and perforated along the edge of one side.Whereas some plates are unadorned, a good many are highly decorated with elaborate incised geometric patterns, or empanelled running spirals
65Bedianashvil and Bodet (2010: 282) point out the correspondence between the absolute date and Kossack’s ninth-century (late Tli C) and Kozenkova’s broad tenth–seventh centuries (Koban III) date for typologically similar fibulae.This accords with the LBA– EIA/Villanovan I phase (ca. thirteenth century–830 BC) in Lo Schiavo’s (2010) exhaustive study of fibulae.
66Reinhold 2007: 90–93, fig. 35, pls. 120–30, lists 436–78 (categories Fi A1–4, B1–7, C1–5, D1–2, E1–3, F1–3, G1–2, H, I).
67Reinhold 2007: 98–103, fig. 37, pls. 144–54, lists 539–614 (categories Gh A1–2, B1–3, C1–2, D1, E1–2, F1–4, G1–4, H1–2, I, J1, K1; GbA1, B–D, E1–5).