Pages: 137-144

The paper presents an iconographic and semantic analysis of a small ritual Sarmatian cauldron with three different zoomorphic apotropoaic handles and a tubular spout, which represents an isolated finding from the leſt bank of the lower Dniester (near the town of Slobozia). The obtained results suggest that the cauldron was manufactured by a craftsman who was strongly influenced by some religious ideas typical of Central Asian region, and who might have been brought into the North-Western Black Sea area by one of numerous waves of migration (by Alani). Some analogous cauldrons are thought to have been used in some mysteries accompanied by incense psychotropic substances and preceding the funeral ceremony.

Keywords: Sarmatians, Alani, apotropaic, cauldron, zoomorphic handles

Information about authors:

Serghei Kurchatov (Kishinev, Moldova). Cultural Heritage Institute, Moldova Academy of Sciences.
Nicolai Теlnov (Kishinev, Moldova). Doctor of history. Cultural Heritage Institute, Moldova Academy of Sciences.
E-mail: [email protected]