Bridle Ornaments

These silver horse trappings include a shaped noseband with chased ornament and a lion-head protome; two cheekstrap plaques decorated with a combat scene between a lion and a winged deity; four square plates; two discs; two conical studs and a ring.
Horses were an essential part of Scythian everyday life, which was reflected in their burial ritual. The royal barrows of the kings of steppes are carrying tens, sometimes hundreds, of horse graves with bronze, silver and gold sets of bridle pieces.
Fourteen horse graves were found in Ohuz barrow. They were accompanying Scythian kings to the afterlife. A wife (or a daughter) of a Scythian king was buried in the North burial site of the barrow, so the gold adornments and appliques were dominating among the findings: approximately six thousand pieces in total. TThree horse skeletons wereing at the entrance, each decorated with the silver “Thracian type” bridle. Such products were widely distributed in the North Black Sea region in the 4th century BCE thanks to the contacts with Thracia.
Essential and attractive parts of this set are the cheekpieces with an image of a winged deity or a hero-forefather fighting a beast, scenery typical to Indo-European mythology. There are images relatable to the religious and magical believes of the Scythians on the other parts of the bridle. Shaped plaques with the stylised image of the four gryphon heads are connected with the sun deity cult by form and meaning. It is likely that the gryphon heads and other images were thought to offer protection for both horse and rider.