(Figure 9.4(8)). Some also bear vibrant figurative animal designs – opposing stags, a pair of horses, or ornate metopes with other dynamic animal figures. Chantre reports at least ten bronze buckles from the Koban inlaid with iron.68 These belt buckles are clustered at Tli and Koban, and also along the west Georgian coast, in particular at Ergeta and Ureki. Different in appearance and fewer in number are the semi-circular variety of buckles, most likely produced in Koban workshops. Bedianashvili and Bodet come to the same conclusion in their comparison of buckles from the Koban and from the southern Caucasus, where communities had their own local decorative preferences.69

Pendants:The final category of jewellery is the pendants.These are numerous and diverse, and are scattered across the northern and western Caucasus.70 Zoomorphic pendants (or finger rings) are by far the most common (Figure 9.4(11)). A range of animals are represented – deer stags, horses, wild sheep and goats, boars and birds are favourites, though the occasional turtle appears too. Human figures are also attested, though in stylised form. Pendants in the form of miniature swords, axes, openwork rattles, spheres with knobs, and even an astragalus, along with a plethora of geometric shapes, complete the repertoire.

METAL VESSELS

Bronze vessels are few in number and popular in the highland settlements.The range is restricted: cups, bowls, jugs, buckets, and jars. Bowls and cups often display an S-profile and can be ribbed or decorated with rows of dots. Buckets are usually pear-shaped, narrow-necked, and footed.

CERAMICS

Pottery is generally handmade and poorly fired.The slow wheel was known and especially used over the mountain ridge in South Ossetia. On the whole, vessels are dark in colour – grey to black and, rarely, brown. Pottery containers are quite uniform and display a limited range of forms: cups and mugs with up-swung handles, deep and shallow bowls, often with an S-shaped profile, jars, jugs, and a few closed shapes such as bottles.71 There are also wide-bellied pots, some rather squat with an accentuated girth, and bowls – the hemispherical types and those with an out-turned rim.72 Within each of these forms there

68Chantre 1886: 27.

69Bedianashvili and Bodet 2010: 279–81.

70Reinhold 2007: 104–10, figs 38–40, pls. 156–8, lists 621–726 (categories An A1–4, B1– 6, C1–2, D1–6, E, F1–4, G, H1–2, I–N; Tan A1–6, B1–12, C1–4, D1–2, E; Sonstiger Schmuck; Zs A1–6, B1–4, C, D1–3, E, F).

71Reinhold 2007: 115–27, figs 42–4.

72Reinhold et al. 2012: figs 4–6.

is quite a range of profiles, which need not detain us here, suffice to say that the profile of vessels became more accentuated with time. At the transition between the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages, communities preferred deeper pots, often with a tall neck and low shoulders. Surfaces can be decorated, but not lavishly.Crude ornaments – horizontal flutes,all-over jabs or finger impressions, or various incised geometric patterns – derive from Middle Bronze Age prototypes.The squatter vessels were often decorated around the upper part of the body in metopic fashion with a band comprising blocks of vertical lines edged with a fl ame pattern or rows of hatched triangles. Occasionally, pendant semi-circles, again edged with a fl ame pattern, hung from the base of this decorative band.

CONCLUSION

Like the artefacts of the Maikop culture some 2,000 years before, the early collections of dazzling Koban metalwork stimulated a deep interest in the northern Caucasus and its position in the ancient world. Situated between the Eurasian steppes and the ancient Near East, the character of the Koban culture is defined by a handful of excavated settlements and many hundreds of tombs. Koban settlement patterns are presently known through two different village types: the stone-built, linear agglutinative layout situated in the highland region that might be connected to pastoral practices, and the smaller, mostly singleperiod hamlets, situated in lower altitudes.These hamlets were not fortified but were strategically positioned, some no doubt near metal sources. Subsistence practices show no change from earlier periods. Villages were agricultural in nature, showing also a preponderance for animal breeding. The few house plans we have tell us little about social organisation, as the domestic arrangements do not reflect the variations in burial evidence.

Bronze metallurgy also played an important role in the economy.The sheer quantity of grave goods in the cemeteries, including those in neighbouring areas of the Caucasus, suggest that some of the objects were exchanged, or plundered in military campaigns. Graves were richly equipped with metal objects and ceramics, and reflect a strict gender code. Males were buried with a warrior assemblage – weapons, tools, and horse gear, as well as costume items – while female burials are characterised by jewellery, including pendants and figurines. The importance of costumes amongst the Koban communities is striking, suggesting that dress was an important mark of social identity in what must have been a multi-ethnic population.

While metal production unquestionably defines the Koban culture, it is the industrial scale and technological advances that distinguish it from preceding periods. This surge brought with it a high level of achievement in the art of the central Caucasus. Human representation is part of the repertoire, but it is the vivid depiction of wild animals and hunting scenes that

capture the imagination. Creativity is also evident in the greater confidence the smiths show in control of the medium, as well as the range of techniques used. Despite this industrial activity, we know little about mining or the metallurgical processes. One thing is certain, though, namely bronze had reached another level of importance, as a convertible unit of value. There would have existed throughout the Caucasus a circulation in bronze items.Whether between the Koban and Colchian systems, or the LchashenTsitelgori system and its neighbours, bronze became a commodity.This idea is strengthened when we consider that scrap metal was kept and hoarded, a topic that we discuss in Chapter 10. All the while, the bronze smiths of the northern Caucasus busied themselves keeping up with local demand to produce items that refl ected both the warrior nature of their society and its appetite for finer items of adornment.