Folia archeologica 5.

br. Ghillány Éva: A szurdokpüspöki szkíta lelet

GHILLÁNY : SCYTHIAN FINDS OF SZURDOKPÜSPÖKI 55 character of their art gives evidence of their early appearance ; they kept their national character only for a short time, at latest until 4th-3rd century B. C. (Ibid. p. 334.) P. Reinecke

1

5 determined the date of the Scythian culture in Hungary as beetween the end of 7'h century B. C. and 4'h century B. C., and L. Márton

l

b proved that the grave-goods of Gyöngyös could not have got into the earth before 4

l

h century B. C. ; so these correspond. The gold finds from Tápiószentmárton and Zöldhalompuszta show

1' that the Scythian culture reached its zenith in Central-Hungary about 5'h century B C. On the basis of these the archaic feature of our find does little to help in the determination of its period. From the developed character of the motive we may conclude to a certain degree, that the bone implement does not derive from the very early times. So much can be indicated that it fits completely into the material of the Russian Scythian culture. The two bone carvings from Taman show strongly archaic features, as the meeting of the surfaces in a converging edge ; the spirals on the thigh, etc. The double notching of the shoulder is characteristic. An analogy to this may be seen on a quite archaic piece from Jelizavetovskaja stanica (in the delta of -the river Don.)

1

8 The shoulder cord of this carving appears similarly as on the goldstag of Tápiószentmárton, which dates from 5'h-4

t'

1 century B. C., 1

5 P. Reinecke, Magyarországi shytha régiségek (Scythian relics in Hungary) AÉ. 1897, pp. 11 if. 1

6 L. Márton, Skytha sírleletek Gyöngyösön (Scythian grave-goods at Gyöngyös.) AÉ. XXVIII, 1908, p. 52. 1

7 Fettich, A zöldhalonipusztai szkita lelet (The Scythian find from Zöldhalompuszta.) Arch. Hung. Ill, Budapest, 1928, p. 16. 1

8 Borovka, Scythian Art. London, 1928, pp. 52, 56, 64, PI. 22 A. Budapest rather from the end of the former century.

1

9 As we have seen the formation of the bird's head on the tail on the bone carving from Taman s strikingly similar to that of the griffin's head decorating the find from Szurdokpüspöki. The part which represents the horn on the bird's beak, in both cases stands more vertically than generally and is extraordinarily strongly emphasized. The conception is in both cases the same and thus their date may also be the same. The two finds from Szurdokpüspöki are both crafstman's utensils and here the question arises with greater emphasis, whether they are imported goods or local products. If imported then it throws light on the close connection existing between Hungary and Russia, when they got even utensils from there. But if local products, then it points to the intensity of Scythian life here in Hungary and also how permanent were the ancient forms. These two objects were by no means of the earliest Scythian times, as they are industrial utensils, and show traces of frequent use. They must have appeared at such a time when the Scythians were quite settled here. Taking this into consideration I should say these two implements were used in the second half of the flourishing period of the Scythian culture. As these two finds are both utensils, goldsmith's and potter's utensils respectively, further questions will arise among which the most important is, whether specimens of local production may be found on the Scythian cultural area in Hungary, or better to say, can they be distinguished from the imported material from Russia. But this problem requires a more detailed study and lies beyond the frame of this short article. 1

8 Fettich, op. cit. p. 16. Baroness Eva Ghillány