国立情報学研究所 - ディジタル・シルクロード・プロジェクト
『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ

enable us to place it under the above heading and allow us to trace its path.
This north China disk is in every way allied with another from the region of
Kiev (12). The latter has been placed in the V Slav period which comes just
after the year 1000. The openwork and primitive dragon is duplicated in another
European example from the extreme west of the Steppes, in Hungary, once again
after the period of the "occupation of land" in the IX century (13). This
representation should certainly descend from the Slavs who inhabited the east
of Russia towards the end of the I millennium. We actually know but few open-
work disks from that region, only those with geometric designs, none with
animal designs (14). In any case the date of the Chinese object is proved by
these parallels to be the beginning of the II millennium.
4) Ear-ornaments.
At first the purpose of the object of Plate XXXII no. 8 seems obscure.
The regular ellipse along nearly one third of its outline has an oar-shaped pro-
jection decorated at the outside edge with a beaded ribbon, and inside with three
beaded lines above a striped background. Bronzes from eastern Russia help us
to understand the meaning of this object. In that region the earring in various
forms and geometrically ornamented is known by numerous examples (15).
The contour is always broken for a short distance so that one section can be
bent to pass through the pierced lobe of the ear. This earring is nearly contem-
porary to the openwork disk we have just described (beginning of the II mill-
ennnium).
Parallels from east Russia also explain a bronze, the purpose of which has
been misunderstood until now (Plate XXXII no. 9). Andersson has published
a similar specimen as a belt buckle (16). But that it was designed to be an orna-
ment for the ear is clear when one examines the two ends. Even the ornamentation
helps us to reach the correct solution. It is composed of three dotted lines from
which issue three projections. Below is an antilope-head in the round, the
eyes and nostrils of which are inlayed with turquoise. This head can only be
understood vertically, never horizontally as on a belt-clasp. It seems possible
to date this piece with an animal decoration earlier than the example with but
a geometric design, and it may be of about 1000.