National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

CHAPTER VII

OBJECTS DERIVED FROM THE SARMATIANS

Once again it is Rostovtzeff who furnishes us with the most accurate inform-
ation concerning the successors of the Scythians in the vicinity of the Black Sea,
the Sarmatians (1). We know of them in the Kuban as far back as the IV and
III centuries B.C., but we do not find much of their work before 200. They
ruled over the western Steppes for more than four hundred years, until they
were overthrown by Celtic and Germanic invaders. The date of many Sarmatian
monuments is uncertain, as is also the provenance of the most important examples.
Of the gold objects which thanks to Peter the Great are now in the Hermitage,
we only know that they came from Siberia. However Sarmatian influence was
felt far into Asia, and its effect on Chinese northern frontier art may be explained
in a very natural way.
1) Plaques as belt fasteners.
Among other inventions, the Sarmatians discovered a new way of fastening
the belt, consisting of two metal plaques cast in pairs to be placed at either end
of a leather strap (2). This object, when reproduced at the Chinese frontier,
thus forms part of the inheritance from the second ethnical group that produced
art in the western Steppes. As for the ornamentation, it is derived as much from
other influences as from the Sarmatians. Before dealing with the motives in
detail, we must first make certain general remarks that are applicable to all belt-
plaques.
The two metal plaques meet at the middle of the belt, so that the hook of one
enters the loop or opening (often in the from of a half circle) of the other. The
principal shapes are those of a rectangle or of a B lying on its back with the outer
circle higher than the inner. Specimens found in the western Steppes are the
oldest examples of the type. Among the better known pieces are the silver
plaques from Maikop (3) (Hermitage), and the silver-gilt plaque from Bulgaria,
now in the British Museum (4). There are gold objects that come from farther
east, among them those that belonged to Peter the Great. The constant ap-
pearance of this object is verified by documents all over Asia, but its use is
often uncertain, above all in our region, the eastern Steppes. The hook that