Finial. Griffin Holding a Stag’s Head in its Beak. © The State Hermitage Museum. The antlers here resemble the snakes of Medusa.
Epoch. Period: Early Iron Age
Date: Pazyryk Culture. 5th century BC
Place of finding: Pazyryk Barrow No. 2 (excavations by S.I. Rudenko)
Archaeological site: Altai Territory, Pazyryk Boundary, the Valley of the River Bolshoy Ulagan
Material: wood and leather
Technique: carved
Dimension: h. 23 cm
Inventory Number: 1684-169
Wikipedia says:
The Pazyryk culture is a Scythian[1]Iron Agearchaeological culture (c. 6th to 3rd centuries BC) identified by excavated artifacts and mummified humans found in the Siberianpermafrost, in the Altay Mountains, Kazakhstan and nearby Mongolia.
Deers with exuberant antlers are a prominent feature of prehistoric art of central Asia. See Mongolian Deer Stones.
