Horse Headband

This gold headband was a bridle decoration of one of the six horses accompanying a noble Scythian warrior to the afterlife. The plaque is cut off a gold sheet in the form of a fish with a rhombic relief, scale imitation, embossed on it. The applique`s edges were bent, and the holes in them were made to connect the plaque by nails to the wooden base, which was adjusted to the leather belts of the bridle. There were six bridles with bronze, gold and silver decorations found in the grave, with different kinds of weapons, Greek bronze helmet, breastplate, bone-plated armour, Scythian and Greek dishes. A gold torque was on the warrior`s neck, a quiver, decorated with gold plaques and carrying 250 arrowheads lay down near his lower back, and a silver ritual cup was near his knees. Such bridle decorative sets with plaque headbands were widely spread, along with winged cheekpiece plaques in the 5th – 4th century BCE Scythia. They were probably made in the workshops of the North Black Sea region.