Zoomorphic Figurine from the Odoevsky Hillfort

Abstract

In 2023, during the study of the Odoevsky hillfort, a zoomorphic figurine made of bone was found. It was discovered in a layer together with ceramics of the Vyatka-Vetluzh culture of the Ananyinsky cultural and historical region (AKIO). The individual finds identified in the cultural layer of the Odoevsky hillfort are not original, and are widespread throughout the territory of the AKIO. The attribution of this product made it possible to define it as a partial image of a horse's head to the shoulders. According to the manufacturing technology, the figurine belongs to relief images and is a non-utilitarian object, most likely a pendant that was sewn on clothes. According to a combination of features: iconography, analogies, accompanying finds in the cultural layer and radiocarbon dating, the time of production of this product was established – the end of the V – middle of the IV centuries BC. And this is not accidental, since it was in the late period that the tradition of depicting a horse in AKIO flourished.

Keywords

• archaeology
• vetluga river area
• early iron age
• vyatka-vetluga culture of ananyino cultural and historical region (akio)
• partial figurine
• images of a horse
• dating
• late akio period