Openwork Applique with Stylized Scene A Hero Hunting a Deer

A “Tree of Life” is placed in the centre. By the right side of the tree, a horseman is depicted shooting from his bow. One of his arrows stuck in the deer`s shoulder.
This piece comes from the tomb of a noble warrior, who was accompanied by a horse caretaker and two horses, one of which had been crowned with a leather headband adorned with an exact gold openwork plaque (the leather base didn`t survive).
There are a couple of theories about the depicted scenery. Main theory speaks of rethinking the Greek myth about the hunt of the god Apollo based on Scythian tradition (there`s a Scythian god with the same functions called Oitosyros).
This openwork applique is a unique piece of Scythian art of the Northern Black Sea region. Similar scenery is known in distant eastern regions: Caucasus and Iran, where Scythians used to live for some time.