Pages: 569-570

A fragment of a bone/antler cheek-piece was found at the multi-layer settlement Shibaevo 1 in the Esaulsk district, Chelyabinsk county, Russia. It was uncovered in the layer of the Alakul culture (the Late Bronze Age). The cheek-piece is ornamented with a carved spiral design, which is usually called the «Mycenian» style. Almost all of cheek-pieces and other elements of horse harness with the «Mycenian» design in the southern Ural area are dated from the Late Bronze Age. Similar finds dated to the border between the Middle and Late Bronze Age are very rare. The spatial distribution of the finds in the Lower Don, Lower Volga and southern Ural areas supports the idea that the «Mycenian» style proper spreads from west to east whereas various elements of horse harness could spread in opposite direction.