Salve,
a quick entry today -
I want to share with you several finds from the Internet related to the famous pectoral from on of the Pontic steppe kurgans (barrows) - Tolstaya Mogila Kurgan (or the Tovsta Mohyla Barrow)
Great article on the subject with good images - http://www.wumag.kiev.ua/wumag_old/archiv/1_98/pectoral.htm
Another take on the Pectoral http://www.wumag.kiev.ua/index2.php?param=pgs20052/32
An English language book to read related to this amazing piece of art, and the Scythian art in general, is the work by a scholar named Esther Jacobson - The Art of the Scythians http://books.google.com/books?id=ciZquFt9IFIC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=false
MET article on the 'Scythian' excavations in Soviet Union, including the 1971 Tolstaya Mogila kurgan excavation.
Ukrainian language article on the Pectoral as the symbol of the Scythian Mythology/religion http://www.nbuv.gov.ua/portal/Soc_Gum/Nvmdu/Ist/2009_27/02_27.pdf
Films on youtube -
1. Пектораль - in Russian - history of discovery
. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAxZb0W2FrE&feature=player_embedded
2 in Ukrainian. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eACe3EHCICY&feature=player_embedded
3. and short film on the Scythian imagery in gold relief - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCVNuzBB1lU&feature=related
